Tomas Sokoler

Ticket-to-talk-television: designing for the circumstantial nature of everyday social interaction

In this paper we discuss a particular perspective on interactivity and sociability in the design of new TV technologies for social interaction. We will argue that current research on Social TV builds on a too narrow conception of interaction in everyday social life. In consequence, rather than turning the TV media itself into an arena for peer-to-peer synchronous interaction amongst TV viewers we will discuss the idea of Social TV as a resource that when part of a larger socio-material fabric can help accommodate the circumstantial nature of social interactions as they emerge and play out on a moment-to-moment basis throughout everyday life beyond the TV screens. We take the phenomenon of ticket-to-talk as our point of departure when analyzing observations made during a study of the ways senior citizens go about socializing in everyday face-to-face situations. We then discuss how this analysis in combination with a series of design-oriented workshops with a group of senior citizens, have guided the design of our Ticket-to-Talk-Television example concept. We will reflect upon the overall approach as well as the design activities that were undertaken in relation to the concept developed.

Beyond the Control Room: Mobile Devices for Spatially Distributed Interaction on Industrial Process Plants

The industrial control room has been a strong shaping image for design of information technology at process plants and even for information and control systems in other areas. Based on recent studies of the work of process operators and on ethnographically inspired fieldwork this paper question the relevance of control room type interfaces. The paper suggests new types of mobile interfaces, which enables the operators to configure and apply individual temporary views of the plant, originating in the problem focus of the operator. To explore the relevance of such new interfaces a number of design concepts are suggested. The design of a particular device: The Pucketizer (Personal Bucket Organizer) has been developed in close collaboration with process operators at a wastewater treatment plant. The paper concludes that mobile interfaces for spatially distributed interaction such as the Pucketizer seem to have generic qualities reaching beyond the immediate context at process plants.

Physically embodied video snippets supporting collaborative exploration of video material during design sessions

In this paper we explore the idea of using physically embodied video snippets as an alternative to todays means for control of video playback during collaborative design oriented meetings. We aim to make video snippets a more integral part of the shared resources and opportunities for action already present at brainstorm like meetings. We present our VideoTable and VideoCards. The VideoTable is an augmented meeting table. The VideoCards are paper card representations of video snippets embedding means for control of video playback. Our implementation is based on modified passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Preliminary observations of use indicate that our VideoTable and VideoCards enable the seamless mix of video snippets with other physical design artifacts we are aiming for.

Walky for embodied microblogging: sharing mundane activities through augmented everyday objects

In this paper we present our ongoing exploration of a theoretical concept: Embodied Microblogging. Looking for a more situated way to communicate mundane activities in local communities, EM informs the design of digital technology to facilitate senior citizens in making their everyday activities noticeable and create more openings for social interactions in their local communities. We use Walky, a design sketch based on walking and walking objects, to exemplify the design space emerging from EM. Investigating EM and putting on display a concrete design example, we contribute to the interaction design research community looking at social well being in Aging in place suggesting EM as informing theoretical concept for designing digital technology for social interaction.

Integrating physiotherapy with everyday life: exploring the space of possibilities through ReHandles

Recently there have been concerns to investigate the general issues of design within the field of designing pervasive rehabilitation technology. In this paper we take these concerns as points-of-departure to explore the possible roles that digital technology can be designed to take, for supporting the integration of physiotherapy with the everyday life of the rehabilitees. Informed by the perspective of embodied interaction we engaged in four design explorations that were driven by a process of sketching-in-hardware. We take advantage of the rich social, material and physical everyday practices of the rehabilitees in these situations to design four interactive sketches. We reflect on the sketches and the explorations and synthesize our experiences in the form of an emerging space of possibilities. We position these possibilities as particular directions that future endeavors can take in order to design rehabilitation technology that supports an integration of physiotherapy with the everyday life.

Social yoga mats: designing for exercising/socializing synergy

Recent works that aim to design for enhancing the physical fitness and/or social lives of senior citizens take limited advantage of the synergistic relationship between exercising and socializing, which is prominently observed during group exercise. In this paper we introduce our design of Social Yoga Mats, which aim to extend this synergy from weekly yoga classes into the home. We approach our design from an embodied interaction perspective and conduct our exploration through a series of sketching-driven co-design sessions with senior yoga students and instructors. We contribute by presenting our design insights in the form of an early articulation of the design space for digital technologies that capitalize on exercising/socializing synergy.

A material focus: exploring properties of computational composites

In this paper we build on the notion of computational composites, which hold a material perspective on computational technology. We argue that a focus on the material aspects of the technology could be a fruitful approach to achieve new expressions and to gain a new view on the technologys role in design. We study two of the computers material properties: computed causality and connectability and through developing two computational composites that utilize these properties we begin to explore their potential expressions.

VideoTable: a tangible interface for collaborative exploration of video material during design sessions

In this paper our VideoTable and VideoCards. The VideoTable is an augmented meeting table enabling collaborative exploration of video material through a multi-user tangible interface. The VideoCards are paper card representations of video snippets. Playback of video is initiated by a pushbutton permanently attached to a VideoCard. VideoCards can be manipulated alongside other physical design artifacts present on the VideoTable. Preliminary observations of use indicate that the physical ebmodiment of digital video provided by our VideoCards enables the seamless mix of video with other physical design artifacts that we are aiming for. Our implementation is based on modified passive Radio Frequency Identificaton (RFID) tags.

Facilitating continuity: exploring the role of digital technology in physical rehabilitation

In this paper we report our early experiences on exploring if, and how, digital technology can help facilitate a stronger sense of continuity in the physical rehabilitation process, as experienced by the therapists and the senior citizens. We recognize four aspects of the design space offered by the notion of continuity, and present two design explorations: MagicMirror, exploring the design for self-monitoring and collaborative articulation; and Walky, exploring the design for self-monitoring and the integration of rehab activities with other everyday activities. Taking a research-through-design approach we have used sketching in a co-design setting with senior citizens and therapists, as the main vehicle for our research. With our MagicMirror and Walky design explorations, we aim to contribute on two levels: firstly, by providing two proof-of-concepts of designing digital technology for the physical rehabilitation of senior citizens. Secondly, and more importantly, we provide a pointer towards a new practice of physical rehabilitation: a practice where the role of digital technology is to support, through the facilitation of continuity, the collaboration between therapist and senior citizens across the private home and the rehab clinic. We speculate that, digital technology, in this way, can become a constructive part of the general move towards successful and more efficient rehabilitation processes for the ever-growing number of senior citizens in need of rehab.

Unboxing the tools for physical rehabilitation: embracing the difference between the clinic and home

An ever-growing body of research concerns the design of tools for rehabilitation integrating digital technology in support of an increased rehabilitee/patient compliance with prescribed treatment (e.g. physical exercises) when at home. Further, recent work urge for a consideration of the difference between the clinic and home environments in the design of such tools. We present three design explorations helping us reflect, by example, on how to embrace this difference. We take an embodied interaction perspective when suggesting how our designs can take advantage of the home as a rich social and material setting in which the acts of self-monitoring, self-articulation, and social scaffolding are carried out. We thereby, in line with more recent work, challenge the hitherto dominant leitmotif of home as a mere extension of the clinic, and the notion that rehabilitation tools, prescriptions and routines can simply be boxed and shipped from clinic to home.