Siân E. Lindley

Collaborating around vertical and horizontal large interactive displays: which way is best?

Abstract Large interactive displays are increasingly being placed in work and public settings. An assumption is that the shared surface they provide can facilitate collaboration among co-located groups. An exploratory study was carried out to investigate this claim, and, in particular, to examine the effects of the physical orientation of a display on group working. Two conditions were compared: vertical versus horizontal. A number of differences were found. In the horizontal condition group members switched more between roles, explored more ideas and had a greater awareness of what each other was doing. In the vertical condition groups found it more difficult to collaborate around the display. A follow-up study explored how participants, who had previous experience of using both displays, determined how to work together when provided with both kinds of display. The groups exhibited a more efficient and coordinated way of working but less collaboration in terms of the sharing and discussion of ideas.

Desiring to be in touch in a changing communications landscape: attitudes of older adults

This paper offers an exploration of the attitudes of older adults to keeping in touch with people who are important to them. We present findings from three focus groups with people from 55 to 81 years of age. Themes emerging from the findings suggest that older adults view the act of keeping in touch as being worthy of time and dedication, but also as being something that needs to be carefully managed within the context of daily life. Communication is seen as a means through which skill should be demonstrated and personality expressed, and is understood in a very different context to the lightweight interaction that is increasingly afforded by new technologies. The themes that emerged are used to elicit a number of design implications and to promote some illustrative design concepts for new communication devices.

Wearable cameras in health: the state of the art and future possibilities.

The relationships between lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes usually are based on self-reported data. Such data are prone to measurement error. In response, there has been a movement towards objective forms of measurement that have low participant and researcher burden. The papers in this theme issue in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine assess the utility of a new form of objective measurement in health research, namely wearable cameras. These devices can be worn all day and automatically record images from a first-person point of view, requiring no intervention or attention from the subject or the researcher. The most mature visual lifelogging device is Microsofts SenseCam, a wearable camera worn via a lanyard around the neck. The SenseCam has been increasingly used in health-related research for several years. These theme papers report current research into wearable cameras in health, as presented at the SenseCam 2012 Symposium. Wearable cameras and their associated software analysis tools have developed to the point that they now appear well suited to measure sedentary behaviour, active travel, and nutrition-related behaviours. Individuals may recall events more accurately after reviewing images from their wearable cameras. Aspects of their immediate cognitive functioning may also improve. Despite the benefits of wearable cameras, there are still challenges remaining before their use becomes widespread. Ethical and privacy concerns are important issues that need to be addressed, as well as easy access to devices. In response, an ethical framework and smartphone-based wearable camera capture platform are proposed. In sum, this body of work suggests that the use of wearable cameras will soon be appropriate to understand lifestyle behaviours and the context in which the occur.

Technology heirlooms?: considerations for passing down and inheriting digital materials

Material artifacts are passed down as a way of sustaining relationships and family history. However, new issues are emerging as families are increasingly left with the digital remains of their loved ones. We designed three devices to investigate how digital materials might be passed down, lived with and inherited in the future. We conducted in-home interviews with 8 families using the devices to provoke discussion about how technology might support (or complicate) their existing practices. Sessions revealed families desired to treat their archives in ways not fully supported by technology as well as potential tensions that could emerge. Findings are interpreted to detail design considerations for future work in this emerging space.

Telling the whole story: anticipation, inspiration and reputation in a field deployment of TellTable

We present a field study of TellTable, a new storytelling system designed to support creativity and collaboration amongst children. The application was deployed on a multi-touch interactive table in the library of a primary school, where children could use it to create characters and scenery based on elements of the physical world (captured through photography) as well as through drawing. These could then be used to record a story which could be played back. TellTable allowed children to collaborate in devising stories that mixed the physical and the digital in creative ways and that could include themselves as characters. Additionally, the field deployment illustrated how children took inspiration from one anothers stories, how they planned elements of their own tales before using the technology, and how the fact that stories could be accessed in the library led some to become well-known and popular within the school community. The real story here, we argue, needs to take into account all that happens within the wider context of use of this system.

Theme: Wearable cameras in healthWearable Cameras in Health: The State of the Art and Future Possibilities

The relationships between lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes usually are based on self-reported data. Such data are prone to measurement error. In response, there has been a movement towards objective forms of measurement that have low participant and researcher burden. The papers in this theme issue in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine assess the utility of a new form of objective measurement in health research, namely wearable cameras. These devices can be worn all day and automatically record images from a first-person point of view, requiring no intervention or attention from the subject or the researcher. The most mature visual lifelogging device is Microsofts SenseCam, a wearable camera worn via a lanyard around the neck. The SenseCam has been increasingly used in health-related research for several years. These theme papers report current research into wearable cameras in health, as presented at the SenseCam 2012 Symposium. Wearable cameras and their associated software analysis tools have developed to the point that they now appear well suited to measure sedentary behaviour, active travel, and nutrition-related behaviours. Individuals may recall events more accurately after reviewing images from their wearable cameras. Aspects of their immediate cognitive functioning may also improve. Despite the benefits of wearable cameras, there are still challenges remaining before their use becomes widespread. Ethical and privacy concerns are important issues that need to be addressed, as well as easy access to devices. In response, an ethical framework and smartphone-based wearable camera capture platform are proposed. In sum, this body of work suggests that the use of wearable cameras will soon be appropriate to understand lifestyle behaviours and the context in which the occur.

Designing a technological playground: a field study of the emergence of play in household messaging

We present findings from a field study of Wayve, a situated messaging device for the home that incorporates handwriting and photography. Wayve was used by 24 households (some of whom were existing social networks of family and friends) over a three-month period. We consider the various types of playfulness that emerged during the study, both through the sending of Wayve messages and through the local display of photos and notes. The findings are explored in the context of the literature on play, with the aim of identifying aspects of Wayves design, as well as the context in which it was used, that engendered playfulness. We also highlight the role of play in social relationships, before concluding with design implications.

Shades of lightweight: supporting cross-generational communication through home messaging

Previous work suggests that older adults view communication with family as being worthy of time and dedication, and that they fail to understand the allure of lightweight contact. This paper presents findings from a field trial in which three generations of a family were linked through situated messaging devices, which, while designed to support lightweight messaging, also afford rich and expressive contact. Analysis suggests that communication via the devices provided a valuable additional dimension to the families’ existing practices, but that the type of messaging supported is best understood as one element in an amalgam of communication possibilities. Suggestions for complementary approaches are offered.

Rethinking the web as a personal archive

In recent years the Web has evolved substantially, transforming from a place where we primarily find information to a place where we also leave, share and keep it. This presents a fresh set of challenges for the management of personal information, which include how to underpin greater awareness and more control over digital belongings and other personally meaningful content that is hosted online. In the study reported here, we follow up on research that suggests a sense of ownership and control can be reinforced by federating online content as a virtual, single store; we do this by conducting interviews with 14 individuals about their Web-based content. Participants were asked to give the researchers a tour of online content that is personally meaningful to them; to perform a search for themselves in order to uncover additional content; and to respond to a series of design envisionments. We examine whether there is any value in an integrated personal archive that would automatically update and serve firstly, as a source of information regarding the content within it (e.g. where it is stored, who has the rights to it), and secondly, as a resource for crafting personal artefacts such as scrapbooks, CVs and gifts for others. Our analysis leads us to reject the concept of a single archive. Instead, we present a framework of five different types of online content, each of which has separate implications for personal information management.

Design to promote mindfulness practice and sense of self for vulnerable women in secure hospital services

In the field of mental health care technologies, very limited attention has been given to the design of interventions for individuals who undergo treatment for severe mental health problems in intense care contexts. Exploring novel designs to engage vulnerable psychiatric patients in therapeutic skills practice and expanding on the potential of technology to promote mental health, the paper introduces the design concept of the Spheres of Wellbeing. A set of interactive artifacts is developed specifically for women with a dual diagnosis of a Learning Disability and Borderline Personality Disorder, living in the medium secure services of a forensic hospital in the UK. The women present a difficult to treat group due to extremely challenging behaviors and a fundamental lack of motivation to engage in therapy. The Spheres are designed to assist the women in practices of mindfulness, to help them tolerate emotional distress and to strengthen their sense of self, all of which are vital components of their specialist treatment Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). The Spheres are intended to supplement the therapy of the women and to contribute to our understanding of designing technology to enhance mental wellbeing and quality of life more generally.