interactive systems group

Alex TaylorMicrosoft Research Cambridge

November 2004

2

isg: msr cambridge

The group's vision is fundamentally interdisciplinary

brings together:

hardware engineeringcomputer sciencepsychology and

sociology

addresses the problem of designing technology to support people in their everyday life

3

isg goals

study and build socio-digital systems

examine what people do and whyanything! (not just with technology)rigorous methods, e.g. ethnography

explore new ways of helping people do these sorts of thingswith existing and new technology

4

consider ‘texting’

messages often hand-crafted artefacts

most traffic is to people closest to you:

sustaining or creating intimacy

displayed to close friends

many kept and treasured

some ‘ritualistically’ destroyed

5

texts as gifts

anthropology and sociology of gifting

teenagers are building social worldstext gifts as the building blocks of social networks

6

we can learn from this

MMS could augment the gifting experienceit doesn’t because its design is insensitive to the social organisation of communicationsthis may explain why it has not taken off the way SMS has

one way to improve MMScreate alternative digital means of expression basing design principles on gifting

7

ubiquitous computing and isg

Our definitionthe interplay between physical and digital artefacts in everyday

life

Mainstream research largely mischaracterises human behaviour and social relationse.g. smart home research would have it that lighting,

temperature, networking, sensing, etc. are of pre-eminent concern in home life.

this fundamentally misjudges the idea of home

8

ubiquitous computing

Three approaches to tackling this problem

prototype technologieswasp: wireless actuator & sensor platformSenseCam: a personal black-box recorderzCast: data broadcasting over TV and radio

technology probe studies

ethnographic field work

9

a development platform for embedded devices

integrates wireless with sensing and actuationGPRS/GSM/SMS or Bluetooth in 1st instancesensors include physical location & environmentactuators largely visual feedback

enabler for understandingnew application areasunderlying technology

building working prototypesstimulate innovative application developmenthighlight the real technical and design issuesallow trials and feedback from real users

wasp

10

sensecam

a “Black Box” data and image recorder for the human body

current wearable prototype can be worn for a day and captures up to 2000 images in 12 hours

image capture triggered by sensors, e.g. motion, light, temperature, people in field of view, ...

sensor data is also recorded for later presentation, analysis

11

sensor readings

corresponding images in rapid serial viewer

sensecam data

12

social consequences of wearable capture devices

13

personal memory enhancementWhere did I leave my umbrella?What was the name of that wine we had last week?What was written on the whiteboard?

tourismAutomatic photo journals or blogs of holidays, visits,

trips, ...

clinical support for the memory-impairedaugment diary-keepinghelp remember facestest compliance with medication

applications

14

sensecam status and plans

12 devices built; adding audio trigger and GPS

trials and studiesdomestic probe

give it to people and see what they do

clinical trials with memory-loss patientsethics approval for 20 Cambridge

patients over 3 years

tourism trialsEdinburgh Festival, museums, ...

cross-cultural privacy studyUK, China, India, Egypt, ...

15

zcast

datacasting to fixed and mobile devices

digital radio and digital television transmission (DAB and DVB) covering Cambridge12 MS households taking part

bringing movies, extra programming, Windows Update, etc. to Media Center PCs over the airwaves

3 DAB-enabled PDAs for mobile experiments

research goalscharacterize and improve datacasting networksexplore HCI issues in home/mobile media consumption

16

DVB-TDVB-T

MiltonMilton

MC via BobsledMC via Bobsled

Pocket PCPocket PC

Family CarFamily Car

Media Center + WiFiMedia Center + WiFi NeighborhoodNeighborhood

WM9 WM9 encoderencoder

File File Delivery Delivery SystemSystem

Carrousel Carrousel SystemSystem

WM9 WM9 encoderencoder

DABDAB

MiltonMilton

zcast schematic

17

studies of home life...

18

ast@microsoft.com