Summary
In this chapter, Slater writes about Elizabeth Loftus and her work trying to demonstrate that false memories are far, far more common than repressed memories surfacing. Dr. Loftus has a particular focus on fighting charges of sexual abuse that come from such a source.
Discussion
I still feel this book is a little long on the flowery prose when it should be focusing a bit more on experiments, etc. But I digress. What Loftus believes seems like common sense to me; unless I've taken careful pains to memorize something, I wouldn't talk about my own memories as hard facts.
Here's my interesting thought for the chapter: On 9/11 (Sorry, no Challenger), when my old man called from the barber shop and told my mother to turn the TV on, I was eating cereal at the breakfast table in our dining room. I know these things for facts, since in addition to the images I memorized my own account of the morning. Doing it in words is kind of like digital instead of analog storage for me; it self repairs every time I think about it.
The interesting part is this: I couldn't tell you what kind of cereal I was eating. Given my preferences and how they've changed over time, it's 60/40 between the one thing and another. Now, I'll bet that if I believed all memory was stored and just needed to be recalled, I would think it was one or the other, with certainty. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the ramifications of that, if any.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Microblog #28, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 9"
Summary
This chapter is on Samoan opinions of personality. Noncommitalism seems to be the norm.
Discussion
Dr. Mead does a better than in many of the previous chapters of drawing comparisons well between western and Samoan culture. However, I expect I would go insane if I lived in a culture where "I don't know" was a favorite answer. The statement about having to taboo "search me" was telling as to the degree of this.
This chapter is on Samoan opinions of personality. Noncommitalism seems to be the norm.
Discussion
Dr. Mead does a better than in many of the previous chapters of drawing comparisons well between western and Samoan culture. However, I expect I would go insane if I lived in a culture where "I don't know" was a favorite answer. The statement about having to taboo "search me" was telling as to the degree of this.
Microblog #27, "Emotional Design, Chapter 2"
Summary
In this chapter, Dr. Norman expounds on the role of emotion in design. A special attention is given to both sentimental association of objects and to the role of a sense of accomplishment.
Discussion
Dr. Norman wanders further off base in this chapter than he has at any point previous. I could make a snide remark about how his opinion of amateur photography clearly proves he's never met my mother, but instead let's consider the case of the video game system.
Dr. Norman says that the class of devices currently designated video game systems has a massive, untapped market for similar devices that tell and teach you how to cook or fix your car. He's half right, but still manages to be completely wrong. A video game system is not a device that needs to be broadened into other fields. Rather, it is a computer over-optimized for gaming. What he's actually advocating is reverse engineering the computer from the Playstation, an approach that hardly makes sense.
In this chapter, Dr. Norman expounds on the role of emotion in design. A special attention is given to both sentimental association of objects and to the role of a sense of accomplishment.
Discussion
Dr. Norman wanders further off base in this chapter than he has at any point previous. I could make a snide remark about how his opinion of amateur photography clearly proves he's never met my mother, but instead let's consider the case of the video game system.
Dr. Norman says that the class of devices currently designated video game systems has a massive, untapped market for similar devices that tell and teach you how to cook or fix your car. He's half right, but still manages to be completely wrong. A video game system is not a device that needs to be broadened into other fields. Rather, it is a computer over-optimized for gaming. What he's actually advocating is reverse engineering the computer from the Playstation, an approach that hardly makes sense.
Paper Reading #12, "Detecting and Leveraging Finger Orientation for Interaction with Direct-Touch Surfaces"
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-12-disappearing-mobile.html
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-12-teslatouch.html
Detecting and Leveraging Finger Orientation for Interaction with Direct-Touch Surfaces
Feng Wang & Xiangshi Ren
Kochi University of Technology, Japan
Xiang Cao
Microsoft Research Cambridge
Pourang Irani
University of Manitoba
This is paper, not a presentation, and as such has no specific venue.
Summary
In this paper, the authors present an algorithm to detect the orientation of fingers and not just the point of contact for usage in touch screen interfaces. The algorithm is based on input shape only. Extant work foundational to this project includes mouse interactions that can be adapted, and prior work in the area of finger interactions beyond simply point of contact (not necc. limited to orientation).
The math to determine vertical vs. oblique touch and direction is included in the paper, although not the code. The most difficult part, determining between one direction and its opposite, is done by tracking the order in which pixels are contacted. Orientation is continuously tracked afterward.
The algorithm was tested by running it past eight adults who had no experience in touch screen controls. The five trials (Disambiguation success, orientation stability, orientation precision, dynamic orientation precision, involuntary position rotation) all showed results between "good" and "excellent".
The paper finished the section on the algorithm description with sections on what tasks are possible with this interface and what can be inferred from finger orientation.
Limitations of the algorithms include vertical presses, oblique touches that deviated from the usual method, and fingers other than index. These were of varying degree; the last was least serious. The authors believe that portability should require minimal tweaking.
Future work described in the paper is mostly aimed at building upon and expanding the concepts here (more precision, better geometry, multiple fingers from the same hand in use at once), rather than a completely new direction. In fact, this paper is clearly described as "proof of concept".
Discussion
This paper represents a large step forward in detail from the previous classes I have been reading, something I appreciate. This research isn't particularly exciting to me, being a refinement of something (touch screens) I have little knowledge about rather than a big leap or something in my areas of interest. It does, however, strike me a good step toward significant improvement in its arena.
The best part of the paper was the attention to detail, while I feel the strongest part of the algorithm is being able to dynamically track changing finger orientation. It just seems that would be the most technically difficult piece of work.
Something I would have liked to have seen would have been the proficiency of test users in this system contrasted to the proficiency of test users in conventional touch screens.
The direction they are taking with the research seems about right. I am particularly fascinated by the idea of being able to use all ten fingers to increase proficiency and speed with such displays.
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-12-teslatouch.html
Detecting and Leveraging Finger Orientation for Interaction with Direct-Touch Surfaces
Feng Wang & Xiangshi Ren
Kochi University of Technology, Japan
Xiang Cao
Microsoft Research Cambridge
Pourang Irani
University of Manitoba
This is paper, not a presentation, and as such has no specific venue.
Summary
In this paper, the authors present an algorithm to detect the orientation of fingers and not just the point of contact for usage in touch screen interfaces. The algorithm is based on input shape only. Extant work foundational to this project includes mouse interactions that can be adapted, and prior work in the area of finger interactions beyond simply point of contact (not necc. limited to orientation).
The math to determine vertical vs. oblique touch and direction is included in the paper, although not the code. The most difficult part, determining between one direction and its opposite, is done by tracking the order in which pixels are contacted. Orientation is continuously tracked afterward.
The algorithm was tested by running it past eight adults who had no experience in touch screen controls. The five trials (Disambiguation success, orientation stability, orientation precision, dynamic orientation precision, involuntary position rotation) all showed results between "good" and "excellent".
The paper finished the section on the algorithm description with sections on what tasks are possible with this interface and what can be inferred from finger orientation.
Limitations of the algorithms include vertical presses, oblique touches that deviated from the usual method, and fingers other than index. These were of varying degree; the last was least serious. The authors believe that portability should require minimal tweaking.
Future work described in the paper is mostly aimed at building upon and expanding the concepts here (more precision, better geometry, multiple fingers from the same hand in use at once), rather than a completely new direction. In fact, this paper is clearly described as "proof of concept".
Discussion
This paper represents a large step forward in detail from the previous classes I have been reading, something I appreciate. This research isn't particularly exciting to me, being a refinement of something (touch screens) I have little knowledge about rather than a big leap or something in my areas of interest. It does, however, strike me a good step toward significant improvement in its arena.
The best part of the paper was the attention to detail, while I feel the strongest part of the algorithm is being able to dynamically track changing finger orientation. It just seems that would be the most technically difficult piece of work.
Something I would have liked to have seen would have been the proficiency of test users in this system contrasted to the proficiency of test users in conventional touch screens.
The direction they are taking with the research seems about right. I am particularly fascinated by the idea of being able to use all ten fingers to increase proficiency and speed with such displays.
Picture is related because that's what time it was when I finished this entry. (12:18 was the first autosave)
Apologies for any (probably related) drop in quality from my previous writings.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Microblog #26, "Opening Skinner's Box, Chapter 7"
Summary
In this chapter, Bruce Alexander does studies of rats & heroin that appear to contradict conventional wisdom with respect to addiction.
Discussion
I think everyone in this chapter is trying to make things way to simple. To me, the notion that "addiction is overrated" is more disturbing than the traditional view. It's one thing for the American drug using population to be sending their money to destroy Latin America because they can't help it; it's quite another for them to do it for nothing but kicks, over and over.
In this chapter, Bruce Alexander does studies of rats & heroin that appear to contradict conventional wisdom with respect to addiction.
Discussion
I think everyone in this chapter is trying to make things way to simple. To me, the notion that "addiction is overrated" is more disturbing than the traditional view. It's one thing for the American drug using population to be sending their money to destroy Latin America because they can't help it; it's quite another for them to do it for nothing but kicks, over and over.
Microblog #25, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 8"
Summary
In this chapter, Dr. Mead discusses the role of both informal and formal (less common than the former) dances in Samoan society. She emphasizes the reversed prominence of elders and children, as well as correlations between the Samoan dance and Western education.
Discussion
I can see up and downsides to this chapter and activity. The most prominent question I have is how large the role the dance plays is. This is, I now know what is is, but how important it is I don't think is made clear enough to me.
In this chapter, Dr. Mead discusses the role of both informal and formal (less common than the former) dances in Samoan society. She emphasizes the reversed prominence of elders and children, as well as correlations between the Samoan dance and Western education.
Discussion
I can see up and downsides to this chapter and activity. The most prominent question I have is how large the role the dance plays is. This is, I now know what is is, but how important it is I don't think is made clear enough to me.
Microblog #24, "Emotional Design, Chapter 1"
Summary
Between the prologue and the first chapter (I read both) Dr. Norman writes about why the functionality first model he ascribed to in Design of Everyday Things is flawed, how positive and negative environments affect thinking and can help maintain alertness or focus, and the levels of thinking.
Discussion
There was a lot of information packed into this chapter, a pleasant contrast to some of his earlier writing. A lot of it was very interesting, but I felt that there was more hit-and-miss here than before. A fair bit of what is written here is based on philosophical underpinnings I take issue to, and I think that some aspects of the benefits of emotional design are a bit overstated.
Between the prologue and the first chapter (I read both) Dr. Norman writes about why the functionality first model he ascribed to in Design of Everyday Things is flawed, how positive and negative environments affect thinking and can help maintain alertness or focus, and the levels of thinking.
Discussion
There was a lot of information packed into this chapter, a pleasant contrast to some of his earlier writing. A lot of it was very interesting, but I felt that there was more hit-and-miss here than before. A fair bit of what is written here is based on philosophical underpinnings I take issue to, and I think that some aspects of the benefits of emotional design are a bit overstated.
Book Blog, "Design of Everyday Things"
Summary
Design of Everyday Things is Dr. Donald Norman's book, dating from 1988. In it, he outlines examples of what he considers good and bad designs, then explains some of the principles that make it so. The chapters are as follows:
*Chapter 1: Unnecessary complexity, how it happens, how to avoid it.
*Chapter 2: The assignment of blame, usually too much to the user, and too little to the design.
*Chapter 3: Information storage, esp. how design cues can be used to make this easier.
*Chapter 4: Reasonable constraints. That is, how designs can be made more intuitive by limiting the number of actions possible at each step.
*Chapter 5: Categories & causes of errors. Includes forcing functions, which are like constraints but more so.
*Chapter 6: Why bad design decisions are made.
*Chapter 7: How designs will look in the future.
Discussion
Design of Everyday Things was one of those books that gets less interesting the more you read it. There are a couple reasons for this. First, Dr. Norman is essentially pointing out common sense things you never quite seem to see. While this is very valuable, and I am certainly glad I read this book, once you've picked up on his theme it's relatively easy to extrapolate; you know what'll he say before he actually gets around to saying it. Second, there is a high level of repetition between chapters. He makes variations on the same points over and over again, and each is less valuable and less interesting the seventh time around.
Still, as I said, Design of Everyday Things was mostly easy to read, definitely easy to understand, and contained a lot of good information which I should be able to put to good use. If I had to suggest one thing that would make the book more fun for me, it would to spend more time on examples and less on explaining them, but that's at least as much just my personality as anything with the book. I'm the kind of guy who likes to draw his own conclusions.
Design of Everyday Things is Dr. Donald Norman's book, dating from 1988. In it, he outlines examples of what he considers good and bad designs, then explains some of the principles that make it so. The chapters are as follows:
*Chapter 1: Unnecessary complexity, how it happens, how to avoid it.
*Chapter 2: The assignment of blame, usually too much to the user, and too little to the design.
*Chapter 3: Information storage, esp. how design cues can be used to make this easier.
*Chapter 4: Reasonable constraints. That is, how designs can be made more intuitive by limiting the number of actions possible at each step.
*Chapter 5: Categories & causes of errors. Includes forcing functions, which are like constraints but more so.
*Chapter 6: Why bad design decisions are made.
*Chapter 7: How designs will look in the future.
Discussion
Design of Everyday Things was one of those books that gets less interesting the more you read it. There are a couple reasons for this. First, Dr. Norman is essentially pointing out common sense things you never quite seem to see. While this is very valuable, and I am certainly glad I read this book, once you've picked up on his theme it's relatively easy to extrapolate; you know what'll he say before he actually gets around to saying it. Second, there is a high level of repetition between chapters. He makes variations on the same points over and over again, and each is less valuable and less interesting the seventh time around.
Still, as I said, Design of Everyday Things was mostly easy to read, definitely easy to understand, and contained a lot of good information which I should be able to put to good use. If I had to suggest one thing that would make the book more fun for me, it would to spend more time on examples and less on explaining them, but that's at least as much just my personality as anything with the book. I'm the kind of guy who likes to draw his own conclusions.
The mixture of half good predictions, half "it's still the 80s" in the last chapter reminded me of this book.
Picture from amazon.com via GIS.
Paper Reading #11, "Studying and Tackling Temporal Challenges in Mobile HCI"
http://jaiachi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-11-eden-supporting-home.html
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-11-combining-multiple.html
Studying and Tackling Temporal Challenges in Mobile HCI
Joel Fischer, University of Nottingham
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium, Atlanta, GA
10-15 April 2010
Summary
In this paper, the author discusses research he has done and hopes to continue in the area of timing delivery of messages, updates, or other communication to mobile device. This was done, to date, in the context of SMS game Day of the Figurines on mobile platforms, notably the Android OS. Data collection was done by short questionnaires spread over a long period of time, a technique designated Experience Sampling Method.
The objective pitched was to understand how users communicate through their mobile devices over the spaces Who, To Whom, What, How, Where, When, In Which Channel, With What Effect. That is, in spite of the title the actual proposal at the end was not for a strictly temporal study but expanding to other areas.
Discussion
Mr. Fischer is fond of using really large words to describe really simple concepts. There really isn't much here beyond explaining that he had conducted a time based study of mobile device usage patterns using short surveys and wished to expand it into dimensions besides time, padded to two and a half pages.
While the information is certainly useful, I fail to see where it would have an advantage over allowing the user to choose when they wanted to receive inputs/messages from the phone. Simple to implement (effectively done now, and I'm sure a widget to not mute certain numbers when the phone is set to "silent" in general would be easy), and still at least as effective as anything this research is likely to produce.
With that noted, I think the direction I would take this project would be to expand out of gaming rather than expanding out of time. I'm sure there is some useful data to be mined there, perhaps more useful than the spatial data. Certainly, I think the detail would increase the usefulness more than the broadness.
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-11-combining-multiple.html
Studying and Tackling Temporal Challenges in Mobile HCI
Joel Fischer, University of Nottingham
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium, Atlanta, GA
10-15 April 2010
Summary
In this paper, the author discusses research he has done and hopes to continue in the area of timing delivery of messages, updates, or other communication to mobile device. This was done, to date, in the context of SMS game Day of the Figurines on mobile platforms, notably the Android OS. Data collection was done by short questionnaires spread over a long period of time, a technique designated Experience Sampling Method.
The objective pitched was to understand how users communicate through their mobile devices over the spaces Who, To Whom, What, How, Where, When, In Which Channel, With What Effect. That is, in spite of the title the actual proposal at the end was not for a strictly temporal study but expanding to other areas.
Discussion
Mr. Fischer is fond of using really large words to describe really simple concepts. There really isn't much here beyond explaining that he had conducted a time based study of mobile device usage patterns using short surveys and wished to expand it into dimensions besides time, padded to two and a half pages.
While the information is certainly useful, I fail to see where it would have an advantage over allowing the user to choose when they wanted to receive inputs/messages from the phone. Simple to implement (effectively done now, and I'm sure a widget to not mute certain numbers when the phone is set to "silent" in general would be easy), and still at least as effective as anything this research is likely to produce.
With that noted, I think the direction I would take this project would be to expand out of gaming rather than expanding out of time. I'm sure there is some useful data to be mined there, perhaps more useful than the spatial data. Certainly, I think the detail would increase the usefulness more than the broadness.
Day of the Figurines image, from
via GIS
Monday, February 21, 2011
Ethnography Results, Weeks 1-3
So, apparently ethnography is supposed to include individual blog posts and not just a group one. Glad I didn't figure that out any later in the process.
To recap what's happened to me so far:
Week one, I was asked to sit out to avoid overloading the group we were sitting in on with a whole bunch of new guys, so nothing to report there.
Week two, I was there for the gaming session that failed to launch, but I think everything was adequately covered by my group-mates.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should note at this point that I have a lot of gaming experience (Although only with a couple of groups, both of which were atypical in terms of composition and culture. There's still definitely some of that discomfort I was told I had to have in order to be dong this right.), so I'm not as totally lost as Derek and Stuart started out, and have also been kind of acting as a translator.
This past weekend, I went to the same group as Derek, which he has written up in detail on his blog, and after he left accepted an invitation to hang around and play the nBSG game Stuart wrote about in his blog. So, that synced up nicely.
The concluding combat was a lot slower paced than the rest of the session; a lot of that was due to a lot of consulting of the rulebooks, which may partially still be due to the group trying to learn Pathfinder. There was a discussion as to whether the monk's auto-summing on his character had made a math error increasing his attack power 50%, which I understand was going to be fully examined over the course of the week, about which may be wrong.
The actual D&D game slowly ended shortly before 11; there was still discussion of what was happening next while the pieces were being put away. I wasn't really taking detailed notes, being way over the two hours, and actively trying tosave humanity from the evil robots win the game, an activity understandably requiring most of my attention. The game wound up ending a shade after two, for those keeping timescore.
Now, where Battlestar Galactica has stuff to tell us, I think, is mostly in this category:
"Another curious observation was that during this intro time, each players amount of involvement was directly proportional to their distance to the DM. If the person was not at the table, they talked little if at all, this might have only been because they were eating but they did seem to be listening and thinking critically about what was happening. In fact if it weren't for the people to the DM's right and far right the game could have stopped as these two players really pushed the story forward."
One of those two players (the D&D cleric) sat out nBSG, and I jumped in. That was the extent of the changes in player base between the two games. From my perspective, the center of the conversation at the table (which was almost all game talk with a little talk about the show in question, although I may have tuning out quite a bit of other stuff) moved away from the DM and kind of wound up in a triangle of myself, the second aforementioned player, and the paladin's player (I really hope I'm keeping all the right characters with the right players, or I'm going to be really embarrassed) although I felt he was mostly talking because I kept prompting him - due to events early in the game I knew for a fact he was my ally and he was seated right across from me.
In this case, I certainly wouldn't argue that involvement in the game situation was correlated on involvement in this discussion. The two biggest tactical errors were made by the two most talkative players, and certainly the monk's player timed his game winning move well in spite of not being part of my group. Of course, I'm not sure that silence should be taken as disengagement in the case of the D&D game, either. Finally, I want to restate that I didn't have a good "viewing angle" as I was heavily involved and not tracking conversations that I wasn't in or that took place away from me.
To recap what's happened to me so far:
Week one, I was asked to sit out to avoid overloading the group we were sitting in on with a whole bunch of new guys, so nothing to report there.
Week two, I was there for the gaming session that failed to launch, but I think everything was adequately covered by my group-mates.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should note at this point that I have a lot of gaming experience (Although only with a couple of groups, both of which were atypical in terms of composition and culture. There's still definitely some of that discomfort I was told I had to have in order to be dong this right.), so I'm not as totally lost as Derek and Stuart started out, and have also been kind of acting as a translator.
This past weekend, I went to the same group as Derek, which he has written up in detail on his blog, and after he left accepted an invitation to hang around and play the nBSG game Stuart wrote about in his blog. So, that synced up nicely.
The concluding combat was a lot slower paced than the rest of the session; a lot of that was due to a lot of consulting of the rulebooks, which may partially still be due to the group trying to learn Pathfinder. There was a discussion as to whether the monk's auto-summing on his character had made a math error increasing his attack power 50%, which I understand was going to be fully examined over the course of the week, about which may be wrong.
The actual D&D game slowly ended shortly before 11; there was still discussion of what was happening next while the pieces were being put away. I wasn't really taking detailed notes, being way over the two hours, and actively trying to
Now, where Battlestar Galactica has stuff to tell us, I think, is mostly in this category:
"Another curious observation was that during this intro time, each players amount of involvement was directly proportional to their distance to the DM. If the person was not at the table, they talked little if at all, this might have only been because they were eating but they did seem to be listening and thinking critically about what was happening. In fact if it weren't for the people to the DM's right and far right the game could have stopped as these two players really pushed the story forward."
One of those two players (the D&D cleric) sat out nBSG, and I jumped in. That was the extent of the changes in player base between the two games. From my perspective, the center of the conversation at the table (which was almost all game talk with a little talk about the show in question, although I may have tuning out quite a bit of other stuff) moved away from the DM and kind of wound up in a triangle of myself, the second aforementioned player, and the paladin's player (I really hope I'm keeping all the right characters with the right players, or I'm going to be really embarrassed) although I felt he was mostly talking because I kept prompting him - due to events early in the game I knew for a fact he was my ally and he was seated right across from me.
In this case, I certainly wouldn't argue that involvement in the game situation was correlated on involvement in this discussion. The two biggest tactical errors were made by the two most talkative players, and certainly the monk's player timed his game winning move well in spite of not being part of my group. Of course, I'm not sure that silence should be taken as disengagement in the case of the D&D game, either. Finally, I want to restate that I didn't have a good "viewing angle" as I was heavily involved and not tracking conversations that I wasn't in or that took place away from me.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Microblog #23, "Opening Skinner's Box, Chapter 6"
Summary
In this chapter, we learn about the monkey-mother-deprivation experiments of Harry Harlow. He performed controversial experiments involving torturing monkeys to explore various questions, most famously related to motherhood.
Discussion
I wish the author would stick more to the experiments and less to her own editorializing. I can't agree with "I don't know whether humans are more valuable than monkeys"; of course humans are more valuable, and that anyone thinks otherwise is disturbing to me. That's not to say I endorse what Harlow did, mind you. Some of it, perhaps, was viable, but my initial reaction is the parts where he tortured monkeys just to prove what everyone already knew about what would happen to said monkeys when, say, locked in a box for weeks on end crossed a line.
In this chapter, we learn about the monkey-mother-deprivation experiments of Harry Harlow. He performed controversial experiments involving torturing monkeys to explore various questions, most famously related to motherhood.
Discussion
I wish the author would stick more to the experiments and less to her own editorializing. I can't agree with "I don't know whether humans are more valuable than monkeys"; of course humans are more valuable, and that anyone thinks otherwise is disturbing to me. That's not to say I endorse what Harlow did, mind you. Some of it, perhaps, was viable, but my initial reaction is the parts where he tortured monkeys just to prove what everyone already knew about what would happen to said monkeys when, say, locked in a box for weeks on end crossed a line.
Paper Reading #10, "Emotions Experienced by Families Living at a Distance"
http://pfrithcsce436.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-9-performance.html
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-10-enabling-beyond.html
Emotions Experienced by Families Living at a Distance
Hyesook Kim & Andrew Monk
University of York
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium 10-15 April 2010 Atlanta, Georgia
Summary
Another brief paper, Emotions Experienced by Families Living at a Distance, discusses the results of a series of interviews using what is called the "Probe Method" and not further explicitly elaborated upon in the paper itself.
The subjects of the study appear to have been families split between England, which is of course where York is located, and in the Republic of Korea, which I infer to be where Hyesook Kim's background lies. Two interviews were conducted with each. In the first, participants were interviewed about their contact with their families, typical communication between family members, shown examples of the types of technology the researchers hope to develop, and the probes were left. These probes were objects with associated activities:
(The following is copied directly from the paper)
* Spirit of Oracle cards with an invitation to choose a few that elicit thoughts or feelings about your family by writing on the back of the card.
* A digital camera to take photos relating to prompts such as "something you like to share".
* Diaries in which to write about happy or unsuccessful conversations.
* Draw "A journey with my family" where you were happy.
(This ends the quotation)
The second interview followed the first by a minimum of a week, with delay not constant across individuals. It focused on the results of the probe activities, which sometimes were still being performed as the interview was conducted.
The interviews produced 134 pages of transcripts, which were mined for interesting data by text search. The paper concludes with nine examples of interactions, both positive and negative. These are apparently simply to illustrate themes rather an attempt to provide quantitative information and I see no need to reproduce the list here. It can be found by looking up the paper, which is #34.
Discussion
The connection of this specific paper to computer science seems to me to be somewhat tenuous. Certainly I am not trying to suggest that this project isn't up that alley, but this data collection makes no use of uncommon or cutting edge technology and what is being developed isn't presented in this paper itself. Rather, "The themes that emerged are rich resources for design, which will be the focus of another paper. The final step will be to use these findings, with the understanding from a literature survey, to propose and build communication devices for case studies". Now, that paper could be very interesting - and this is a course of action I endorse, not having enough information to formulate a detailed one of my own - but those devices are not the focus of this paper.
With that said, I do like this line of inquiry. I'm a long distance student myself, although of course the great Centennial State is a little bit closer to Texas A&M than Korea is to York, and until someone gets around to inventing the transporter tools like those this team proposes to develop are very relevant to my interests.
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-10-enabling-beyond.html
Emotions Experienced by Families Living at a Distance
Hyesook Kim & Andrew Monk
University of York
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium 10-15 April 2010 Atlanta, Georgia
Summary
Another brief paper, Emotions Experienced by Families Living at a Distance, discusses the results of a series of interviews using what is called the "Probe Method" and not further explicitly elaborated upon in the paper itself.
The subjects of the study appear to have been families split between England, which is of course where York is located, and in the Republic of Korea, which I infer to be where Hyesook Kim's background lies. Two interviews were conducted with each. In the first, participants were interviewed about their contact with their families, typical communication between family members, shown examples of the types of technology the researchers hope to develop, and the probes were left. These probes were objects with associated activities:
(The following is copied directly from the paper)
* Spirit of Oracle cards with an invitation to choose a few that elicit thoughts or feelings about your family by writing on the back of the card.
* A digital camera to take photos relating to prompts such as "something you like to share".
* Diaries in which to write about happy or unsuccessful conversations.
* Draw "A journey with my family" where you were happy.
(This ends the quotation)
The second interview followed the first by a minimum of a week, with delay not constant across individuals. It focused on the results of the probe activities, which sometimes were still being performed as the interview was conducted.
The interviews produced 134 pages of transcripts, which were mined for interesting data by text search. The paper concludes with nine examples of interactions, both positive and negative. These are apparently simply to illustrate themes rather an attempt to provide quantitative information and I see no need to reproduce the list here. It can be found by looking up the paper, which is #34.
Discussion
The connection of this specific paper to computer science seems to me to be somewhat tenuous. Certainly I am not trying to suggest that this project isn't up that alley, but this data collection makes no use of uncommon or cutting edge technology and what is being developed isn't presented in this paper itself. Rather, "The themes that emerged are rich resources for design, which will be the focus of another paper. The final step will be to use these findings, with the understanding from a literature survey, to propose and build communication devices for case studies". Now, that paper could be very interesting - and this is a course of action I endorse, not having enough information to formulate a detailed one of my own - but those devices are not the focus of this paper.
With that said, I do like this line of inquiry. I'm a long distance student myself, although of course the great Centennial State is a little bit closer to Texas A&M than Korea is to York, and until someone gets around to inventing the transporter tools like those this team proposes to develop are very relevant to my interests.
The ultimate dream in long-distance communication.
and the original source is of course the original Star Trek.
Bonus picture: This is what I got when I tried to log in to ACM to access the paper.
It let me read it without logging in, this time, but this is somewhat concerning.
Microblog #22, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 7"
Summary
In this chapter Mead describes the formal sexual relations of the Samoans. The trusted buddy who does one's courting for him reappears prominently, as does sneaking into houses at night and marriages that are monogamous only in theory.
Discussion
Moetotolo was the thing/concept that jumped out at me. How good can the odds actually be that she was actively expecting someone to sneak in and he doesn't actually show up to interrupt? Doesn't speak well to the character of the girls or the integrity of the boys.
In this chapter Mead describes the formal sexual relations of the Samoans. The trusted buddy who does one's courting for him reappears prominently, as does sneaking into houses at night and marriages that are monogamous only in theory.
Discussion
Moetotolo was the thing/concept that jumped out at me. How good can the odds actually be that she was actively expecting someone to sneak in and he doesn't actually show up to interrupt? Doesn't speak well to the character of the girls or the integrity of the boys.
Microblog #21, "Design of Everyday Things, Chapter 7"
Summary
The final chapter of Norman's book basically rehashes everything he has told us so far in it, before discussing briefly designs of the future. This covers some of the same material as Design of Future Things, but from a perspective further in the past.
Discussion
I found that past perspective to be very interesting. "Yesterday's Tomorrows" (to borrow the title of a book I once read) are always fascinating. The most amusing thing to note here was how people of the future would use their phones to tell their VCRs what to record. So close, and yet so far.
The final chapter of Norman's book basically rehashes everything he has told us so far in it, before discussing briefly designs of the future. This covers some of the same material as Design of Future Things, but from a perspective further in the past.
Discussion
I found that past perspective to be very interesting. "Yesterday's Tomorrows" (to borrow the title of a book I once read) are always fascinating. The most amusing thing to note here was how people of the future would use their phones to tell their VCRs what to record. So close, and yet so far.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Microblog #20, "Opening Skinner's Box, Chapter 5"
Summary
Today, Mrs. Slater talks about cognitive dissonance. She begins with discussing an apocalyptic cult of fifty years ago, then goes over her interviews with the mother of a brain-dead then three year old, now being considered for Catholic sainthood.
Discussion
Remember Patrick's essay from a few weeks ago? Here we go again.
First, Mrs. Slater makes it eminently clear her degree is not in history. Isaac Newton did not disown God in favor of science; he died a devout Christian. Christopher Columbus did not prove the world was round; everyone had known that for almost two millennia. Columbus, in fact, concluded that China was reachable from Europe because he underestimated Earth's diameter by a significant amount. He was, at that time, wrong. Fortunately for him, there was something in the way.
Napoleon was not a short man. Back in that time the French had their own system of feet and inches - which was not the same as the English one. British propaganda intentionally failed to convert to British units, leaving the impression Napoleon was short. Further, the Emperor was usually pictured surrounded by the French Imperial Guard, which was a collection of very tall individuals. How many people do you know who wouldn't look short if they were always pictured with NBA stars?
Now that the errors that shouldn't have survived grade school are out of the way, the real problem with this chapter is the author's implicit assumption that Christianity is some kind of defensive response to a theological error. This is actually fairly explicitly stated towards the of the chapter - "remind" rather than "tell" is a pretty clear sign - I'm going to leave aside it being offensive. I'm pretty blunt-spoken myself about such things, from the other side, so I'm not going to attack her for that.
The simple fact of the matter is that it is stupid. The messianic prophesies in Isaiah make it quite clear that the messiah was, to put it mildly, not coming to have a party. Copies of Isaiah antedating 0 exist; there is no possibility of revisionism after the fact. The hypothetical Leon in Mrs. Slater's head evidently made assumptions - rationalizations, perhaps? - rather than doing his homework.
Which leads to the other, massive problem with "Leon's" assertion: the major religion based entirely on rationalizing dissidence isn't Christianity at all. Nor, really, is it Islam or Judaism. Rather, the very foundation of the modern atheist movement is based not on evidence but on a desire to rationalize behaviors not compatible with the moral code of Christianity.
Today, Mrs. Slater talks about cognitive dissonance. She begins with discussing an apocalyptic cult of fifty years ago, then goes over her interviews with the mother of a brain-dead then three year old, now being considered for Catholic sainthood.
Discussion
Remember Patrick's essay from a few weeks ago? Here we go again.
First, Mrs. Slater makes it eminently clear her degree is not in history. Isaac Newton did not disown God in favor of science; he died a devout Christian. Christopher Columbus did not prove the world was round; everyone had known that for almost two millennia. Columbus, in fact, concluded that China was reachable from Europe because he underestimated Earth's diameter by a significant amount. He was, at that time, wrong. Fortunately for him, there was something in the way.
Napoleon was not a short man. Back in that time the French had their own system of feet and inches - which was not the same as the English one. British propaganda intentionally failed to convert to British units, leaving the impression Napoleon was short. Further, the Emperor was usually pictured surrounded by the French Imperial Guard, which was a collection of very tall individuals. How many people do you know who wouldn't look short if they were always pictured with NBA stars?
Now that the errors that shouldn't have survived grade school are out of the way, the real problem with this chapter is the author's implicit assumption that Christianity is some kind of defensive response to a theological error. This is actually fairly explicitly stated towards the of the chapter - "remind" rather than "tell" is a pretty clear sign - I'm going to leave aside it being offensive. I'm pretty blunt-spoken myself about such things, from the other side, so I'm not going to attack her for that.
The simple fact of the matter is that it is stupid. The messianic prophesies in Isaiah make it quite clear that the messiah was, to put it mildly, not coming to have a party. Copies of Isaiah antedating 0 exist; there is no possibility of revisionism after the fact. The hypothetical Leon in Mrs. Slater's head evidently made assumptions - rationalizations, perhaps? - rather than doing his homework.
Which leads to the other, massive problem with "Leon's" assertion: the major religion based entirely on rationalizing dissidence isn't Christianity at all. Nor, really, is it Islam or Judaism. Rather, the very foundation of the modern atheist movement is based not on evidence but on a desire to rationalize behaviors not compatible with the moral code of Christianity.
Paper Reading #9, "Creating Salient Summaries of Home Activity Lifelog Data"
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-9-everybodylovessketch-3d.html
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-9-ir-ring-authenticating.html
Creating Salient Summaries of Home Activity Lifelog Data
Matthew Lee, Carnegie Mellon
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium
10-15 April 2010, Atlanta, GA
Summary
This is a research pitch for a doctoral thesis, somewhat different from the papers previously assigned. In it, Mr. Lee proposes that he conduct research to find out whether monitoring how well seniors (or "elders", as he calls them. Did "seniors" become un-PC when I wasn't paying attention?) perform everyday tasks could aid in the early detection of ailments such as Alzheimer's or related disorders.
The three questions he proposes to address are, in order: Is such an assessment something of value for seniors, relatives, & other interested parties (doctors, caregivers, etc)? What is information is useful to the aforementioned, and how can it be organized and summarized? Finally, how can said information be collected?
He reports that his proof of concept preliminaries were very positive with all stakeholders believing that the information he proposed to collect was of value. Equipment to conduct the research was still in the design stage as of the paper's presentation.
He hopes to carry out the research by placing the devices, when ready, in the homes of ten seniors. The first few months would be to validate the sensors, while after 1-3 the data would be presented to the seniors and after six or more to the rest of the stakeholders.
Discussion
This looks like a very valid field of inquiry. Doctors say you should get tested often for serious diseases - constant statistic monitoring takes that to the next level. Further, there are no privacy concerns with this project since everyone knows it is going on and has agreed to it.
The biggest weaknesses of the proposal - and I suspect both are systematic and unavoidable - are that the process remains somewhat vague, especially the equipment, and that ten is not a very large sample size. However, he can't give knowledge he doesn't have and there are always budget restrictions.
Now, in this space I am supposed to discuss the next place I would take the research were I in charge of it. In this case, I can't really do that as this is a detail pitch for more research and not a "something" I can build on. The best thing I can say is the obvious "if successful, expand it beyond ten".
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-9-ir-ring-authenticating.html
Creating Salient Summaries of Home Activity Lifelog Data
Matthew Lee, Carnegie Mellon
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium
10-15 April 2010, Atlanta, GA
Summary
This is a research pitch for a doctoral thesis, somewhat different from the papers previously assigned. In it, Mr. Lee proposes that he conduct research to find out whether monitoring how well seniors (or "elders", as he calls them. Did "seniors" become un-PC when I wasn't paying attention?) perform everyday tasks could aid in the early detection of ailments such as Alzheimer's or related disorders.
The three questions he proposes to address are, in order: Is such an assessment something of value for seniors, relatives, & other interested parties (doctors, caregivers, etc)? What is information is useful to the aforementioned, and how can it be organized and summarized? Finally, how can said information be collected?
He reports that his proof of concept preliminaries were very positive with all stakeholders believing that the information he proposed to collect was of value. Equipment to conduct the research was still in the design stage as of the paper's presentation.
He hopes to carry out the research by placing the devices, when ready, in the homes of ten seniors. The first few months would be to validate the sensors, while after 1-3 the data would be presented to the seniors and after six or more to the rest of the stakeholders.
Discussion
This looks like a very valid field of inquiry. Doctors say you should get tested often for serious diseases - constant statistic monitoring takes that to the next level. Further, there are no privacy concerns with this project since everyone knows it is going on and has agreed to it.
The biggest weaknesses of the proposal - and I suspect both are systematic and unavoidable - are that the process remains somewhat vague, especially the equipment, and that ten is not a very large sample size. However, he can't give knowledge he doesn't have and there are always budget restrictions.
Now, in this space I am supposed to discuss the next place I would take the research were I in charge of it. In this case, I can't really do that as this is a detail pitch for more research and not a "something" I can build on. The best thing I can say is the obvious "if successful, expand it beyond ten".
"Elder" performing an everyday task. I found it on Flickr via GIS,
and I suspect it originated at www.jeffcampbell.org.
Microblog #19, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 6"
Summary
Dr. Mead describes the social structures of young adults in the Samoan community. Special emphasis is placed on the differences between man and women in these cases, with more detail given to the women, unsurprisingly. She makes careful that the young men's organizations are the backbone of the village, in contrast to the women's, which are already dying out, I presume from Western contact.
Discussion
The discussion of the various ranks and titles and the formal address really jumped out at me this chapter. I have enough trouble keeping of who's "What's up?" and who's "What's up, doc?" around these parts, I can't imagine having a half dozen different formal manners of speaking for different people.
Dr. Mead describes the social structures of young adults in the Samoan community. Special emphasis is placed on the differences between man and women in these cases, with more detail given to the women, unsurprisingly. She makes careful that the young men's organizations are the backbone of the village, in contrast to the women's, which are already dying out, I presume from Western contact.
Discussion
The discussion of the various ranks and titles and the formal address really jumped out at me this chapter. I have enough trouble keeping of who's "What's up?" and who's "What's up, doc?" around these parts, I can't imagine having a half dozen different formal manners of speaking for different people.
Microblog #18, "Design of Everyday Things, Chapter 6"
Summary
In this chapter, Norman discusses the reasons designers make bad design decisions. These include, among others, over-focusing on one aspect, designing for clients rather than users, designing for themselves rather than clients, etc.
Discussion
I found Norman taking a pretty serious shot at the Xerox Star to be the most interesting thing in this chapter. If you recall, that was a machine praised in glowing terms in one of the essays assigned for Tuesday...I need to decide if my estimate of y'all's intelligence is high enough for me to believe that was intentional. Probably yes.
In this chapter, Norman discusses the reasons designers make bad design decisions. These include, among others, over-focusing on one aspect, designing for clients rather than users, designing for themselves rather than clients, etc.
Discussion
I found Norman taking a pretty serious shot at the Xerox Star to be the most interesting thing in this chapter. If you recall, that was a machine praised in glowing terms in one of the essays assigned for Tuesday...I need to decide if my estimate of y'all's intelligence is high enough for me to believe that was intentional. Probably yes.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Paper Reading #8, "iFeel_IM: innovative real-time communication system with rich emotional and haptic channels"
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-8-shadows-no-4-belly.html
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-8-thanatosensitively.html
iFeel_IM: Innovative Real-Time Communication System with Rich Emotional and Haptic Channels
Dzmitry Tsetserukou, Toyohashi University of Technology
Mitsuru Ishizuka, University of Tokyo
Susumu Tachi, Keio University
Alena Neviarouskaya, University of Tokyo
Helmut Prendinger, National (Japanese) Institute of Informatics
CHI 2010 Media Showcase Session 2, April 10-15, Atlanta, Georgia
Summary
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-8-thanatosensitively.html
iFeel_IM: Innovative Real-Time Communication System with Rich Emotional and Haptic Channels
Dzmitry Tsetserukou, Toyohashi University of Technology
Mitsuru Ishizuka, University of Tokyo
Susumu Tachi, Keio University
Alena Neviarouskaya, University of Tokyo
Helmut Prendinger, National (Japanese) Institute of Informatics
CHI 2010 Media Showcase Session 2, April 10-15, Atlanta, Georgia
Summary
I think this picture from the paper pretty much explains the whole thing.
In this paper, the above listed individuals from various Japanese universities present work they have done with the objective to, over web clients, "... imbue our communication with passion and increase the emotional intimacy, ability to be close, loving, and vulnerable." Various devices are worn by the users and respond to stimuli in Second Life, the virtual environment chosen. The heart emulates the users heart rate, with the intention of avoiding false heart rate feedback. The hug hardware puts pressure at the appropriate points (and can make it higher or lower through the use of appropriate smilies!). The HaptiTickler follow the name pretty well. The final piece of worn hardware pictured here, the HaptiButterfly, is intended to model "butterflies in the stomach", so it's was definitely an attempt to be cute. Not pictured is the HaptiShiver, intended to produce "shivers up the spine", which might be incorporated into the butterfly. I'm not quite clear there.
The paper is entirely about their motivations and design; results and feedback from users were not reported.
Discussion
I was really very impressed with this paper. I'm not sure that I want to increase my ability to be vulnerable in cyberspace, but someone obviously but a lot of time, effort, and care into this project, and not just the coding and theory. The design of the pieces (the butterfly really won me over) is aesthetically pleasing while retaining clear correlations to their intended role and that shows a lot of thought went into them.
There's no feedback to comment on, which is disappointing. I think that's a key element to any paper of this sort. That is the biggest flaw of the paper, in my view. The sections that were included were high in information and well written.
The next move I would take in their position would be to attempt to refine the technology, and then find a way to make it marketable. I expect people would buy this. Executing the greedy algorithm for move choices, however, I might see if it was feasible to combine this with some of the nonstandard, pressure feedback interfaces that have already been discussed in the classes.
Microblog #17, "HCI Remixed, Chapters 6,7,9,10,46,47"
6
Summary
This is a history chapter, in which Henry Lieberman, of the MIT media lab, discusses D.C. Smith's early GUI known as Pygmalion. The author credits it with being a predecessor of the modern file system and with the first computer program to make use of icons and "drag-and-drop".
Discussion
It's always interesting to see what kinds of out of the way places history comes from. I certainly hope I'm never in a situation where I have to explain what an icon is.
7
Summary
In this chapter, Sara Bly discusses the "Red Book" instruction manual for the Xerox Star office workstation. The Star was the first of the kind, and pioneered such features as selection and execution being independent.
Discussion
Turns out the function keys are named what they are because that was what Xerox thought would be straightforward of office workers of the 80s. Who would have thought?
9
Summary
Norbert Streitz of Fraunhofer IPSI in Darmstadt, Germany discusses Mark Weiser's 1991 paper "The Computer for the 21st Century". This is a chapter with a little bit of several different subjects. Dr. Weiser, the paper, the author, the "Disappearing Computer" (the topic of the 1991 paper), and how predictive it was are all touched on, but none in extreme detail.
Discussion
I think Human-Information-Interaction is a term that's going to stick with me. That was what got me the most about this chapter.
10
Summary
Anind Dey of Carnegie Mellon University discusses how the "Active Badge Location System" grew into the modern field of location based systems (GPS, Google Maps, and the like). The chapter includes a brief description of features, and a summary of an experiment where all thirty-two employees at Olivetti Research wore the badges. Apparently they like 'em so much they kept using the system afterward.
Discussion
Maybe I'm a throwback, but I don't like the idea of my computers knowing where I am all the time. As long as I have the option to turn it off, it's a convenience. After that, it's tyranny.
46
Summary
Kate Erlich of IBM research discusses how user interfaces can be approved by attempting to sync them up with a users mental model. She then outlines GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods, Selectional rules), an attempted framework for doing so.
Discusses
This chapter caught my attention because of the obvious connection to what we've discussed in Norman's books about mental models. I obviously cannot speak to the efficacy of the model proposed, but just the idea of trying to make the mental model transparent is valuable, I think.
47
Summary
Gary Olsen of the University of Michigan discusses how Fitt's law can be applied to HCI. I'm not going to type the equation out in this ugly format, but in principle the law states that bigger targets can be hit more efficiently. Olsen talks about extrapolating this to icons, with points including that the edge of the screen is of infinite size so edge and corner icons are good, and that dynamic sizing can be used effectively.
Discussion
An angle I hadn't considered (so, I guess he's right that it isn't intuitive!). I think the importance of this one relative to the others may be a little overstated...I think an experienced user should be able to hit a relatively small "target" quickly and reliably.
Summary
This is a history chapter, in which Henry Lieberman, of the MIT media lab, discusses D.C. Smith's early GUI known as Pygmalion. The author credits it with being a predecessor of the modern file system and with the first computer program to make use of icons and "drag-and-drop".
Discussion
It's always interesting to see what kinds of out of the way places history comes from. I certainly hope I'm never in a situation where I have to explain what an icon is.
7
Summary
In this chapter, Sara Bly discusses the "Red Book" instruction manual for the Xerox Star office workstation. The Star was the first of the kind, and pioneered such features as selection and execution being independent.
Discussion
Turns out the function keys are named what they are because that was what Xerox thought would be straightforward of office workers of the 80s. Who would have thought?
9
Summary
Norbert Streitz of Fraunhofer IPSI in Darmstadt, Germany discusses Mark Weiser's 1991 paper "The Computer for the 21st Century". This is a chapter with a little bit of several different subjects. Dr. Weiser, the paper, the author, the "Disappearing Computer" (the topic of the 1991 paper), and how predictive it was are all touched on, but none in extreme detail.
Discussion
I think Human-Information-Interaction is a term that's going to stick with me. That was what got me the most about this chapter.
10
Summary
Anind Dey of Carnegie Mellon University discusses how the "Active Badge Location System" grew into the modern field of location based systems (GPS, Google Maps, and the like). The chapter includes a brief description of features, and a summary of an experiment where all thirty-two employees at Olivetti Research wore the badges. Apparently they like 'em so much they kept using the system afterward.
Discussion
Maybe I'm a throwback, but I don't like the idea of my computers knowing where I am all the time. As long as I have the option to turn it off, it's a convenience. After that, it's tyranny.
46
Summary
Kate Erlich of IBM research discusses how user interfaces can be approved by attempting to sync them up with a users mental model. She then outlines GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods, Selectional rules), an attempted framework for doing so.
Discusses
This chapter caught my attention because of the obvious connection to what we've discussed in Norman's books about mental models. I obviously cannot speak to the efficacy of the model proposed, but just the idea of trying to make the mental model transparent is valuable, I think.
47
Summary
Gary Olsen of the University of Michigan discusses how Fitt's law can be applied to HCI. I'm not going to type the equation out in this ugly format, but in principle the law states that bigger targets can be hit more efficiently. Olsen talks about extrapolating this to icons, with points including that the edge of the screen is of infinite size so edge and corner icons are good, and that dynamic sizing can be used effectively.
Discussion
An angle I hadn't considered (so, I guess he's right that it isn't intuitive!). I think the importance of this one relative to the others may be a little overstated...I think an experienced user should be able to hit a relatively small "target" quickly and reliably.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Paper Reading #7, "Robotany; Breeze"
http://introductionblogassignment.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-7-robotany-breeze.html
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-7-ben-neill-and-bill.html
Robotany: Breeze
Jill Coffin, Georgia Tech
CHI Media Showcase Session 2, 10-15 April 2010, Atlanta, GA
Summary
This paper discusses the appearance of robotic trees at art exhibits in Fribourg, Switzerland and then San Jose. Discussed are the tree itself, briefly, the interaction with the passersby, and then the author philosophizes at length on possible meanings of the interactions.
Breeze itself was, in the first instance, a "roboticized" adult Japanese maple tree. I presume this to mean that the robotic components, an "eye" and audio sensors along with the branch moving mechanisms, were external and that it was not, in fact, a cyborg tree but rather a tree wearing some robotics. In San Jose a donated mountain laurel was used, which the presenter found less effective due to its size. Apparently it refocused attention on the robotic workmanship rather than the tree's actions.
Users interacted by touching, dancing with, singing at, and like responses at both events. The author notes that even a man who said "So the tree moves, so what?" was definitely dancing with it.
There are three narratives that are used to discuss the interactions of the tree with people. The first is in the context of cultural imagery, in which human cultural connotations of trees are discussed. They are familiar and non-threatening, but a moving one is still novel. The second is a phenomological approach, arguing that the tree is important because it represents possibilities. The third attempts to relate the tree to ancient Greek philosophy.
The author does not discuss how or if she intends to further the project.
Discussion
I ran across this tree before when commenting on some one else's paper earlier in the class - I don't know if I linked to it from my post, I had a couple that were over the two a week that I left "off the radar" - and I'm going to begin by restating my point from that comment: I think the main attraction here is the novelty, not the tree itself, inherently.
This paper was long and detailed, which is fine, although some of the phenomological and later stuff was a little more abstract than I am really comfortable with. Hearing about the man toasting the tree was amusing.
If I were running the project, the next step would be to test the novelty hypothesis by putting such a tree in, say, an office lobby to see how people interacted with it over a period of longer than a few minutes.
Obligatory nerd nitpick: Ents are trees, and clearly say so.
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-7-ben-neill-and-bill.html
Robotany: Breeze
Jill Coffin, Georgia Tech
CHI Media Showcase Session 2, 10-15 April 2010, Atlanta, GA
Summary
This paper discusses the appearance of robotic trees at art exhibits in Fribourg, Switzerland and then San Jose. Discussed are the tree itself, briefly, the interaction with the passersby, and then the author philosophizes at length on possible meanings of the interactions.
Breeze itself was, in the first instance, a "roboticized" adult Japanese maple tree. I presume this to mean that the robotic components, an "eye" and audio sensors along with the branch moving mechanisms, were external and that it was not, in fact, a cyborg tree but rather a tree wearing some robotics. In San Jose a donated mountain laurel was used, which the presenter found less effective due to its size. Apparently it refocused attention on the robotic workmanship rather than the tree's actions.
Users interacted by touching, dancing with, singing at, and like responses at both events. The author notes that even a man who said "So the tree moves, so what?" was definitely dancing with it.
There are three narratives that are used to discuss the interactions of the tree with people. The first is in the context of cultural imagery, in which human cultural connotations of trees are discussed. They are familiar and non-threatening, but a moving one is still novel. The second is a phenomological approach, arguing that the tree is important because it represents possibilities. The third attempts to relate the tree to ancient Greek philosophy.
The author does not discuss how or if she intends to further the project.
Discussion
I ran across this tree before when commenting on some one else's paper earlier in the class - I don't know if I linked to it from my post, I had a couple that were over the two a week that I left "off the radar" - and I'm going to begin by restating my point from that comment: I think the main attraction here is the novelty, not the tree itself, inherently.
This paper was long and detailed, which is fine, although some of the phenomological and later stuff was a little more abstract than I am really comfortable with. Hearing about the man toasting the tree was amusing.
If I were running the project, the next step would be to test the novelty hypothesis by putting such a tree in, say, an office lobby to see how people interacted with it over a period of longer than a few minutes.
Obligatory nerd nitpick: Ents are trees, and clearly say so.
A Japanese maple tree, from Flickr via GIS.
Microblog #16, "Opening Skinner's Box, Chapter 4"
Discussion
In this chapter the author begins by discussing the rape-murder of Kitty Genovese, and then a pair of experiments conducted by Darley and Latane at New York University in an attempt to understand the failure of bystanders to intervene. The chapter also touches on the state of America's mind post-9/11 and the effect of front page suicides upon the behavior of the public.
Summary
While the experiments keep increasing in interest, the assumptions and analysis presented here (by the author and others she mentions) are wandering further off into left field. First, however, I want to address the experiment directly.
The first one mentioned here, unlike Milgram's experiment or the second from this chapter, was actually well designed and as such has results that can be applied, both to life in general and to the murder. The first point I want to make is why this experiment is valid and the others aren't; in this case, we do not have any individuals hanging around providing nonsensical social cues and generally serving to confuse the situation.
The behavior of the individuals in this study does provide the most valid explanation for the behavior of the witnesses, and is quite disturbing. The element that is disturbing is not necessarily that the students who thought they were part of a group did not take control of the situation; there isn't enough to be done about a seizure to allow five people to assist, or with a murder to allow thirty-five. Rather, their failure was not ensuring that the situation was under control, regardless of whether they personally were part of the solution. That the assumption was made "Oh, someone else will take care of it" with no evidence to that effect other than that other people knew about it is flatly unacceptable.
There were two other things in the chapter that came up that I feel the need to address. The first is the assumption the author makes that a larger group should "reduce fear" and make people more likely to respond. I don't understand at all, and rather would have gravitated towards what the experiment suggests is the correct conclusion: the driving factor here is not fear but responsibility. Did the witness fear that the murder would hear them calling the police through their locked doors and closed windows? Did the naive students fear that seizures were contagious, through a microphone? I strongly doubt it; I wouldn't have in either case.
The other note I want to make is on the notion that suicide headlines spawn suicides. I really, really doubt that correlation is causation in this case. Rather, I would speculate that when something (the economy, or whatever) negatively affects the public psyche the high-profile are as likely to be caught up in it as the rank and file.
In this chapter the author begins by discussing the rape-murder of Kitty Genovese, and then a pair of experiments conducted by Darley and Latane at New York University in an attempt to understand the failure of bystanders to intervene. The chapter also touches on the state of America's mind post-9/11 and the effect of front page suicides upon the behavior of the public.
Summary
While the experiments keep increasing in interest, the assumptions and analysis presented here (by the author and others she mentions) are wandering further off into left field. First, however, I want to address the experiment directly.
The first one mentioned here, unlike Milgram's experiment or the second from this chapter, was actually well designed and as such has results that can be applied, both to life in general and to the murder. The first point I want to make is why this experiment is valid and the others aren't; in this case, we do not have any individuals hanging around providing nonsensical social cues and generally serving to confuse the situation.
The behavior of the individuals in this study does provide the most valid explanation for the behavior of the witnesses, and is quite disturbing. The element that is disturbing is not necessarily that the students who thought they were part of a group did not take control of the situation; there isn't enough to be done about a seizure to allow five people to assist, or with a murder to allow thirty-five. Rather, their failure was not ensuring that the situation was under control, regardless of whether they personally were part of the solution. That the assumption was made "Oh, someone else will take care of it" with no evidence to that effect other than that other people knew about it is flatly unacceptable.
There were two other things in the chapter that came up that I feel the need to address. The first is the assumption the author makes that a larger group should "reduce fear" and make people more likely to respond. I don't understand at all, and rather would have gravitated towards what the experiment suggests is the correct conclusion: the driving factor here is not fear but responsibility. Did the witness fear that the murder would hear them calling the police through their locked doors and closed windows? Did the naive students fear that seizures were contagious, through a microphone? I strongly doubt it; I wouldn't have in either case.
The other note I want to make is on the notion that suicide headlines spawn suicides. I really, really doubt that correlation is causation in this case. Rather, I would speculate that when something (the economy, or whatever) negatively affects the public psyche the high-profile are as likely to be caught up in it as the rank and file.
Microblog #15, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 5"
Summary
Dr. Mead discusses the social structures formed by boys and girls (principally girls) between the age ranges described in the previous chapter and adulthood. Geographic, age base relationships tend to end with the increase in responsibility that accompanies puberty, replaced by relationships based on blood relation.
Discussion
Quite a different model from the western. It seems a little alien to me, not surprising, as I always considered loyalty a virtue in different ways than the culture being described here does.
Dr. Mead discusses the social structures formed by boys and girls (principally girls) between the age ranges described in the previous chapter and adulthood. Geographic, age base relationships tend to end with the increase in responsibility that accompanies puberty, replaced by relationships based on blood relation.
Discussion
Quite a different model from the western. It seems a little alien to me, not surprising, as I always considered loyalty a virtue in different ways than the culture being described here does.
Microblog #14, "Design of Everyday Things, Chapter 5"
Discussion
In this chapter, Norman describes and attempts to categorize and in some cases explain human errors, common or otherwise. He then applies this information to design at the end of the chapter.
Summary
The book shows a little bit its age again. The recycle bin has been implemented for years now, and the NES was apparently a new fangled, badly designed device (I never had a problem with forgetting to turn the power off, don't know about y'all). He does raise some very good points, however, especially w.r.t. the forcing functions.
In this chapter, Norman describes and attempts to categorize and in some cases explain human errors, common or otherwise. He then applies this information to design at the end of the chapter.
Summary
The book shows a little bit its age again. The recycle bin has been implemented for years now, and the NES was apparently a new fangled, badly designed device (I never had a problem with forgetting to turn the power off, don't know about y'all). He does raise some very good points, however, especially w.r.t. the forcing functions.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Paper Reading #6, "Layered Surveillance"
http://detentionblockaa32.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-7-blowtooth-pervasive.html
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-6-shimon-interactive.html
A Note
Well, this is embarrassing. This is actually the same paper I read for the Special Assignment from last week, even though I said otherwise in paper reading #5. It's correct this time. Apparently, I encountered the mouse dancers somewhere else and got them confused with this paper. In my defense, they are somewhat similar in at least the technical aspects and both belong in the artistic category.
Layered Surveillance
Celine Latulipe, UNC-Charlotte and Annabel Manning
CHI 2010 Media Showcase 2, 10-15 April 2010, Atlanta, Georgia.
Summary
In this paper, Latulipe and Manning discuss an artistic presentation, based on interaction by an audience through one of Dr. Latulipe's dual mouse interfaces with images prepared by Manning. The experiment was aimed both to raise awareness about the experience of illegal immigrants and to explore audience interaction.
The format for the Interactive Lenses Work presentation was a video montage of the images, in which three of the four participants controlled lenses with crosshairs that could be moved around the image, lighting the parts they were on but leaving the rest darkened. Stacked lenses increased the brightness.The fourth controlled tonal features with their mice, likened to Photoshop's "levels" tool. The paper details that the montages used the Ken Burns method, and were done with the software demonstrated in class yesterday (4 Feb). I don't feel that a detailed re-description is required here.
The format of the Interactive Layers Work presentation was different. In this one, each member of the audience controlled an aspect of each of a series of images, generally a single figure. They control brightness, opacity, and clarity of their portion of the image, in a manner that was intentionally not completely intuitive to encourage experimentation and curiosity while engaging interest.
The authors emphasize that this is a case of both art driving technology and technology driving art, which they feel is very positive and aids in the development of both fields.
The authors do not state which direction they intend to take the work next, but looking at the perspective myself I think the next move I would make would be to try to take the dual mouse approach beyond the application level to the system level. Obviously, this is only a small subset of the work, but the mice are the aspect that captured my interest the most.
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-6-shimon-interactive.html
A Note
Well, this is embarrassing. This is actually the same paper I read for the Special Assignment from last week, even though I said otherwise in paper reading #5. It's correct this time. Apparently, I encountered the mouse dancers somewhere else and got them confused with this paper. In my defense, they are somewhat similar in at least the technical aspects and both belong in the artistic category.
Layered Surveillance
Celine Latulipe, UNC-Charlotte and Annabel Manning
CHI 2010 Media Showcase 2, 10-15 April 2010, Atlanta, Georgia.
Summary
In this paper, Latulipe and Manning discuss an artistic presentation, based on interaction by an audience through one of Dr. Latulipe's dual mouse interfaces with images prepared by Manning. The experiment was aimed both to raise awareness about the experience of illegal immigrants and to explore audience interaction.
The format for the Interactive Lenses Work presentation was a video montage of the images, in which three of the four participants controlled lenses with crosshairs that could be moved around the image, lighting the parts they were on but leaving the rest darkened. Stacked lenses increased the brightness.The fourth controlled tonal features with their mice, likened to Photoshop's "levels" tool. The paper details that the montages used the Ken Burns method, and were done with the software demonstrated in class yesterday (4 Feb). I don't feel that a detailed re-description is required here.
The format of the Interactive Layers Work presentation was different. In this one, each member of the audience controlled an aspect of each of a series of images, generally a single figure. They control brightness, opacity, and clarity of their portion of the image, in a manner that was intentionally not completely intuitive to encourage experimentation and curiosity while engaging interest.
The authors emphasize that this is a case of both art driving technology and technology driving art, which they feel is very positive and aids in the development of both fields.
An image from the event, found at
via GIS.
Discussion
Entirely leaving aside the political topic of the work, I think that the presentation of the artwork was well done. I found several things about this interesting and/or warranting further information. First, were the pictures exclusively black and white as depicted or was that also controlled by the audience? If so, was that a stylistic choice or a technical limitation? I ask because I note that yesterday's examples were also black and white.
Second, while I presume that "gyroscopic" implies the mice were not limited to two dimensions, but it would have been nice to actually have that stated. How effective can the mice be used in three dimensions? I know there were issues of precision in using the mice free of the table a year ago, were the mice in the mentioned presentation even that effective, or were they last year's model? I doubt that it matters much for the art here, but the "air mice" are something I find very interesting.
I also noted with the interest the correlation between screen size and audience immersion. I wonder how far that trend is taken; that is, obviously the difference between a wall projector and a 10 inch TV is very significant in such a presentation, but what about the difference between "Cowboys Stadium Video Board" size screens and said wall projector?
The authors do not state which direction they intend to take the work next, but looking at the perspective myself I think the next move I would make would be to try to take the dual mouse approach beyond the application level to the system level. Obviously, this is only a small subset of the work, but the mice are the aspect that captured my interest the most.
Microblog #13, "Opening Skinner's Box, Chapter 4"
Summary
In this chapter the author discusses David Rosenhan's infiltration (he was the ringleader; there were multiple participants) of several psychiatric institutions during the 1960s. The experiment itself, and the backlash are covered, and then Slater's attempt to repeat the experiment in response to Dr. Spitzer's assertion it wouldn't work in 2004. He is wrong, although this time around weak prescription trumps institutionalization.
Discussion
This Rosenhan character is awesome. I also found particularly interesting the backlash of the psychiatrists against Rosenhan; it is understandable, given that in the public eye he demoted them from science to pseudoscience overnight, but still fascinating to see.
I do think the author was unfair to Spitzer over his (lack of) reaction to the news of Rosenhan's current condition. Just because I guy isn't falling all over himself to cry about it doesn't mean he wanted it to happen or has no sympathy. Some folks are just reserved.
In this chapter the author discusses David Rosenhan's infiltration (he was the ringleader; there were multiple participants) of several psychiatric institutions during the 1960s. The experiment itself, and the backlash are covered, and then Slater's attempt to repeat the experiment in response to Dr. Spitzer's assertion it wouldn't work in 2004. He is wrong, although this time around weak prescription trumps institutionalization.
Discussion
This Rosenhan character is awesome. I also found particularly interesting the backlash of the psychiatrists against Rosenhan; it is understandable, given that in the public eye he demoted them from science to pseudoscience overnight, but still fascinating to see.
I do think the author was unfair to Spitzer over his (lack of) reaction to the news of Rosenhan's current condition. Just because I guy isn't falling all over himself to cry about it doesn't mean he wanted it to happen or has no sympathy. Some folks are just reserved.
Microblog #12, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 4"
Summary
Dr. Mead, in this chapter, discusses the interrelations between families in Samoan culture. Emphasis is placed on the role of the children, especially girls, and on how families relate to each other in the context of the nobility.
Discussion
I found children being able to effectively change at will which of their relatives they lived with to be an interesting, of only because of the differences to ours. The structure of the nobility as described here seems pretty Byzantine, and I am somewhat confused by it. I didn't find her explanation of what the role of the selected princess was very clear.
Dr. Mead, in this chapter, discusses the interrelations between families in Samoan culture. Emphasis is placed on the role of the children, especially girls, and on how families relate to each other in the context of the nobility.
Discussion
I found children being able to effectively change at will which of their relatives they lived with to be an interesting, of only because of the differences to ours. The structure of the nobility as described here seems pretty Byzantine, and I am somewhat confused by it. I didn't find her explanation of what the role of the selected princess was very clear.
Microblog #11, "Design of Everyday Things, Chapter 4"
Summary
This chapters continues the authors critique of good and bad design decisions. Today he covers the arcane contraption known as the VCR, the well designed Lego motorcycle, and the importance of sound.
Discussion
There were two things of significant interest in this chapter. First, by spending so much time on the VCR the book shows its age a little. Nothing wrong with that, obviously, but it is interesting. The second is the first point the author made that I strongly disagree with; I want my ventilation to be silent, and will happily take less feedback in exchange for less ambient noise. To allow verification of proper operation a designer can simply but the grate where one can reach up with a hand an check the air flow.
This chapters continues the authors critique of good and bad design decisions. Today he covers the arcane contraption known as the VCR, the well designed Lego motorcycle, and the importance of sound.
Discussion
There were two things of significant interest in this chapter. First, by spending so much time on the VCR the book shows its age a little. Nothing wrong with that, obviously, but it is interesting. The second is the first point the author made that I strongly disagree with; I want my ventilation to be silent, and will happily take less feedback in exchange for less ambient noise. To allow verification of proper operation a designer can simply but the grate where one can reach up with a hand an check the air flow.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Paper Reading #5, "Exploring the design space in technology-augmented dance"
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-5-creating-salient.html
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-5-weight-shifting-mobiles.html
Exploring the Design Space in Technology-Augmented Dance
Celine Latulipe, David Wilson, Sybil Huskey, Melissa Word, Arthur Carroll, Erin Carroll, Berto Gonzalez, and Vikash Singh, UNC Charlotte
Mike Wirth, Queens University
Danielle Lottridge, University of Toronto
Presented at CHI 2010: Media Showcase Session 1 from 10-15 April 2010, Atlanta, GA
Summary
In this paper, the authors (I'm not clear on who actually authored the paper; I have listed credit as the paper did, but I suspect that all individuals involved in any way were listed, possibly including even the dancers) describe a project using mice held, and later worn, by dancers to draw images on a computer screen as kind of a tie-in to the dance. Brief descriptions of the equipment used and some of the performances were included but in any great detail. Unfortunately, the algorithm defining what actions were mapped to what images was not included. However, it was explicitly noted that the dancers were not represented individually but only collectively.
Discussion
So, by coincidence or design it appears that my paper assignment for today was on the same research by the same people as the "special assignment" I completed earlier today. I did not know the subject of this paper when I completed that assignment; whether someone else had deduced I would choose the first pdf on the offered list for that post and timed this accordingly is a question for the conspiracy theorists. At any rate, further commentary is available there.
This paper represents a more advanced stage of the work; besides the dates on the respective readings, this was made most clear by the presence of worn mice rather than held mice, allowing the dancers to perform moves involving hands or moves of sufficient difficulty that their hands might possibly be needed to break any falls.
I can see parallels between this and the paper I covered earlier relating to cellos and computer graphics being generated; it is likewise combining a form of art with technology to create more, somewhat related art.
Critiquing the faults of the work and postulating the future directions are difficult. What makes "good" art and "bad" art? This work has been criticized elsewhere as a waste of government funding, which I'm inclined to agree with (I'm of the political stripe that feels deficit spending should be reserved for emergencies; neither art nor computer research are emergencies).
From a technical standpoint , the two most obvious flaws of occupied hands and 2D mice have been corrected in the last two years. The next step might be additional sensors elsewhere to allow for more inputs.
Something I would be interested to see as progression of this work would be the different images/image progressions for different forms of dance.
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-5-weight-shifting-mobiles.html
Exploring the Design Space in Technology-Augmented Dance
Celine Latulipe, David Wilson, Sybil Huskey, Melissa Word, Arthur Carroll, Erin Carroll, Berto Gonzalez, and Vikash Singh, UNC Charlotte
Mike Wirth, Queens University
Danielle Lottridge, University of Toronto
Presented at CHI 2010: Media Showcase Session 1 from 10-15 April 2010, Atlanta, GA
Summary
In this paper, the authors (I'm not clear on who actually authored the paper; I have listed credit as the paper did, but I suspect that all individuals involved in any way were listed, possibly including even the dancers) describe a project using mice held, and later worn, by dancers to draw images on a computer screen as kind of a tie-in to the dance. Brief descriptions of the equipment used and some of the performances were included but in any great detail. Unfortunately, the algorithm defining what actions were mapped to what images was not included. However, it was explicitly noted that the dancers were not represented individually but only collectively.
Discussion
So, by coincidence or design it appears that my paper assignment for today was on the same research by the same people as the "special assignment" I completed earlier today. I did not know the subject of this paper when I completed that assignment; whether someone else had deduced I would choose the first pdf on the offered list for that post and timed this accordingly is a question for the conspiracy theorists. At any rate, further commentary is available there.
This paper represents a more advanced stage of the work; besides the dates on the respective readings, this was made most clear by the presence of worn mice rather than held mice, allowing the dancers to perform moves involving hands or moves of sufficient difficulty that their hands might possibly be needed to break any falls.
I can see parallels between this and the paper I covered earlier relating to cellos and computer graphics being generated; it is likewise combining a form of art with technology to create more, somewhat related art.
Critiquing the faults of the work and postulating the future directions are difficult. What makes "good" art and "bad" art? This work has been criticized elsewhere as a waste of government funding, which I'm inclined to agree with (I'm of the political stripe that feels deficit spending should be reserved for emergencies; neither art nor computer research are emergencies).
From a technical standpoint , the two most obvious flaws of occupied hands and 2D mice have been corrected in the last two years. The next step might be additional sensors elsewhere to allow for more inputs.
Something I would be interested to see as progression of this work would be the different images/image progressions for different forms of dance.
Dr. Latulipe, via GIS, from her website.
Microblog #10, "Opening Skinner's Box, Chapter 2"
Summary
In this chapter, the author discusses the Milgram experiments. Those are the ones with the simulated electric shocks administered to an actor.
Discussion
The critics are correct; the experiment was certainly not valid. The problem with the experiment was that one of his results was valid: actions are context dependent. In the context of a having knowingly signed up for a study of some sort, the experimentee knew that no one was going to be harmed by it; an experiment that actually, intentionally harmed human beings being run is inconceivable.
In this chapter, the author discusses the Milgram experiments. Those are the ones with the simulated electric shocks administered to an actor.
Discussion
The critics are correct; the experiment was certainly not valid. The problem with the experiment was that one of his results was valid: actions are context dependent. In the context of a having knowingly signed up for a study of some sort, the experimentee knew that no one was going to be harmed by it; an experiment that actually, intentionally harmed human beings being run is inconceivable.
Microblog #9, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 3"
Summary
The author outlines the education of Samoan children, with some but not exclusive focus on the girls. Notably, much of the rearing of very young children is done by the slightly older children.
Discussion
Compared to the fifty United States of today, the Samoan method seems to be involve relatively little direct responsibility from the parents. I don't know that this is necessarily a function of the technological sophistication (or lack thereof) of the Samoans at this time, so where it came from could be an interesting question.
Again, with the brief mention of schools we see that some Western ideas have already begun to reach Samoa by Mead's time.
The author outlines the education of Samoan children, with some but not exclusive focus on the girls. Notably, much of the rearing of very young children is done by the slightly older children.
Discussion
Compared to the fifty United States of today, the Samoan method seems to be involve relatively little direct responsibility from the parents. I don't know that this is necessarily a function of the technological sophistication (or lack thereof) of the Samoans at this time, so where it came from could be an interesting question.
Again, with the brief mention of schools we see that some Western ideas have already begun to reach Samoa by Mead's time.
Microblog #8, "Design of Everyday Things, Chapter 3"
Summary
The author continues to discuss good and bad designs. In this chapter, he focus on information storage and retrieval. In particular, how people remember information or record it, and how environmental cues can make this more or less efficient.
Discussion
The most interesting thing here to me was how the lady stored her safe password. Makes one wonder whether all their written passwords are in a safe spot or not.
The author continues to discuss good and bad designs. In this chapter, he focus on information storage and retrieval. In particular, how people remember information or record it, and how environmental cues can make this more or less efficient.
Discussion
The most interesting thing here to me was how the lady stored her safe password. Makes one wonder whether all their written passwords are in a safe spot or not.
Special Assignment for 3 February
Celine Latulipe and Annabel Manning. Layered surveillance. In ACM CHI 2010 Companion Proceedings, ACM, 3007-3012, 2010.
Summary
The paper describes an art exhibit in which Dr. Latulipe was the coding half of a two-person team. The intention was to create an interactive piece, in which the audience used mice to interact with images of illegal immigrants.
Discussion
The technical and audience interaction standpoints of this remind me of a 410 lecture I attended for Dr. Klappenecker's 411 class last semester. In that one, at Stanford if I recall correctly, the audience used a similar idea to the mice here to draw on a large projected screen, while interpretive dancers interpreted the results.
Summary
The paper describes an art exhibit in which Dr. Latulipe was the coding half of a two-person team. The intention was to create an interactive piece, in which the audience used mice to interact with images of illegal immigrants.
Discussion
The technical and audience interaction standpoints of this remind me of a 410 lecture I attended for Dr. Klappenecker's 411 class last semester. In that one, at Stanford if I recall correctly, the audience used a similar idea to the mice here to draw on a large projected screen, while interpretive dancers interpreted the results.
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