Phil Turner

How older people account for their experiences with interactive technology

We present a qualitative study, undertaken over a period of nine months, of older people facing the challenges of learning to use interactive technology, specifically personal computers (PCs) and the internet. We examine the range of causal explanations (attributions) voiced by the group in accounting for their difficulties with it. A discourse analysis of these data reveals some factors (anxiety, age-related issues, being too busy to learn and the need for a purpose for the new tools) that support the work of other researchers, while other themes (issues around alienation, identity and agency) deepen understanding of this domain. The implications of the results for how we approach understanding the difficulties faced by older people in this context are discussed.

Place, sense of place, and presence

Recreating real placesas distinct from virtual spaces or environmentsusing virtual reality technology raises a series of significant challenges. Fortunately there is a large body of existing research into the experience of place which might reasonably contribute to our understanding of the task. This paper reviews key aspects of the place literature, relates them to the concept of presence, and then illustrates their application in the context of virtual reality. We conclude that some modification of existing theories of sense of place is necessary for this context and outline proposals for further work.

A web of contradictions

We describe our use of contradictions, a concept central to a popular formulation of activity theory, to derive requirements of a new technical system to support an administrative system. Contradictions are the underlying causes of disturbances in the free operation of workplace activities. We argue and demonstrate that the resolution of such contradictions can be used as the basis for the (user-centred) design of a new system. We conclude that contradictions are both conceptually valuable in understanding the design of systems and are of considerable practical use.

From description to requirements: an activity theoretic perspective

This paper demonstrates how activity theoretic concepts can be used in conjunction with an ethnographically informed approach to derive requirements on a work situation. We present a case study based on a series of collaborative design episodes, the structured description derived from it and show how a preliminary set of contextually-grounded requirements on supporting the design process can be created.

Implementing a wireless network of PDAs in a hospital setting

This paper discusses the introduction of a wireless network of personal digital assistants into a specialist unit of a hospital in Edinburgh. All of the technology has been used ‘off-the-shelf’ and ‘out-of-the-box’. While we are able to report that the heterogeneous elements of this implementation have been integrated, work well together and that the users of the system are happy with it, the hospital context itself introduced a number of significant practical issues. Hospitals are understandably very concerned about the security and confidentiality of patient records and with the potential for mutual interference between the wireless PDAs and other sensitive, wireless telemetric medical systems. Having dealt with these ultimately tractable infrastructural issues we also note the importance of identifying the ‘killer application’ of the PDAs in achieving a critical mass of end users, and indicate areas for further work.

Describing Team Work with Activity Theory

Abstract:The proposal that activity theory might serve as a model or theory for computer-supported cooperative working remains an open question. Here we demonstrate the usefulness of activity theory in elucidating a series of small group software design meetings. The structure and dynamics of the meetings are presented, as are the work processes of transformation and mediation. Finally, we show how a contradictions analysis can support the derivation of requirements on a system to support the design meetings.

Towards an account of intuitiveness

Intuitive systems are usable systems. Design guidelines advocate intuitiveness and vendors claim it – but what does it mean for a user interface, interactive system, or device to be intuitive? A review of the use of the term ‘intuitive’ indicates that it has two distinct but overlapping meanings, namely intuitiveness based on familiarity and intuitiveness reflecting our embodiment (and frequently both). While everyday usage indicates that familiarity means either a passing acquaintance or an intimacy with something or someone, it will be concluded that familiarity might best be equated with ‘know-how’, which in turn is based on a deep, often tacit, understanding. The intuitive nature of tangible user interfaces will in turn be attributed to embodiment rather than tangibility per se. Merleau-Ponty writes that it is through our bodies that we ‘prehend’ the world. A number of disciplines now regard action–perception as so closely coupled that they are better considered as a dyad rather than separately. A modified treatment of action–perception coupling is proposed, with familiarity providing an epistemic core, as the basis of intuitiveness.

Two phenomenological studies of place.

We introduce our initial investigations into the phenomenology of place as part of the BENOGO project. BENOGO is concerned with giving people the experience of ‘being there without going there’. Employing a state-of-the-art mixture of photorealistic, real-time rendered images, three-dimensional soundscapes and augmented reality to create a sense of place. The work reported in this paper we describe as ‘benchmarking’, that is, establishing how people experience and describe places in the real world. We then will be able to compare the BENOGO experience with these benchmarks. This approach should be seen to be more naturalistic and relevant than the use of post hoc presence questionnaires.

An affordance-based framework for CVE evaluation

We argue that a conceptual framework is required to support the practical evaluation of collaborative virtual environments. We propose such a framework based on an extended, three level concept of affordance. The application of the framework is illustrated by way of a case study. We conclude with some reflection on the framework’s effectiveness and identify areas where further tools or conceptual work may be required.

Triangulation in practice

Triangulation is the means by which an alternate perspective is used to validate, challenge or extend existing findings. It is frequently used when the field of study is difficult, demanding or contentious and presence research meets all of these criteria. We distinguish between the use of hard and soft triangulation—the former emphasising the challenging of findings, the latter being more confirmatory in character. Having reviewed a substantial number of presence papers, we conclude that strong triangulation is not widely used while soft triangulation is routinely employed. We demonstrate the usefulness of hard triangulation by contrasting an ontological analysis of in-ness with an empirical study of (computer) game playing. We conclude that presence research would be well served by the wider use of hard triangulation and for the reporting of anomalous and ill-fitting results.