Stéphane Conversy

Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families

We describe a new method for use in the process of co-designing technologies with users called technology probes. Technology probes are simple, flexible, adaptable technologies with three interdisciplinary goals: the social science goal of understanding the needs and desires of users in a real-world setting, the engineering goal of field-testing the technology, and the design goal of inspiring users and researchers to think about new technologies. We present the results of designing and deploying two technology probes, the messageProbe and the videoProbe, with diverse families in France, Sweden, and the U.S. We conclude with our plans for creating new technologies for and with families based on our experiences.

Auditory illusions for audio feedback

Sheppard-Risset tones are sounds that seem to go up (or down) indefinitely. We have designed an elevator sound based on this auditory illusion and have implemented it in the ENO audio system. The sound is synthesized in realtime and can be controlled in real-time through high-level parameters. We have used this sound for audio feedback when scrolling and for monitoring the progress of long system operations.

Wind and wave auditory icons for monitoring continuous processes

This article presents the design and the use of two new auditory icons: the sounds of waves and wind. A synthesis algorithm is described to compute and control these sounds with high-level parameters in real-time. These auditory icons can be used effectively to monitor background activities, in particular when there is a need for continuous monitoring or when there is a need to prevent problems rather than to address them. They are a first step in the realization of controllable cohesive sound ecologies.