proposal 1 - physical computing

8/9/2019 Proposal 1 - Physical Computing

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IENV7944

Studio II

PHYSICAL COMPUTING

PROPOSAL

Team:

TAK

Members:

Tamarah Walsh 40910646

Adam Finden 41896578

Kim Eupene 40103028

Due Date:

29th

March 2010


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IENV7944 Studio II Project Proposal 2

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................3

2.0 Background research and related work .........................................................................................................4

2.1 The role of the environment on physical activity .......................................................................................4

2.1 Changing behaviour using persuasive physical computing ........................................................................4

2.0 Development of high level concept ................................................................................................................8

3.0 Design .......................................................................................................................................................... 10

3.1 User research ........................................................................................................................................... 10

3.1.1 Physical Space ................................................................................................................................... 10

3.1.2 Users ................................................................................................................................................. 12

3.3 Proposed Design ...................................................................................................................................... 13

3.3.1 Concept ............................................................................................................................................. 13

3.3.2 User Experience ................................................................................................................................ 16

3.3.3 Relevance to Theme ......................................................................................................................... 17

3.3.4 Implementation and Technology ..................................................................................................... 17

3.3 Constraints ............................................................................................................................................... 18

3.4 Project Plan .............................................................................................................................................. 20

3.4.1 Project Schedule ............................................................................................................................... 20

3.4.2 Team Skills ........................................................................................................................................ 20

4.0 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 22

5.0 Reference List .............................................................................................................................................. 23


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1.0 Introduction

Obesity and its related health illnesses are a significant problem in modern society, carrying considerable

social, health and financial costs (www.who.org). The advent of inactive lifestyles is a major contributor to

this problem. Howeverclinical studies have indicated that even small and simple increases to daily activity,such as increasing the number of steps one takes, can produce improved overall health benefits and help

combat the obesity problem (Consolvo, Everitt, Smith, & Landay, 2006).

Technology is increasingly being looked to for ways to help individuals become more physically active. This

report will investigate how physical computing could be used to promote physical activity on the street.

That is, how can physical computing be applied to urban environments to motivate individuals to increase

their physical activity levels?

Within this theme, this report examines the current literature and related work and proposes a high level

concept for promoting physical activity of people waiting at bus stops. The high level concept builds on the

persuasive technology elements of light and sound to encourage movement through dance.

User research of a specific bus stop locale is examined and results in the development of Super Guitar

Hero concept. This design concept develops on the idea of a guitar hero type game that people can play

while waiting for the bus. It promotes easy but intense physical activity (jumping) for a short amount of time

and utilizes aspects of social collaboration and pressure to promote involvement whilst remaining fun.


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2.0 Background research and related work

2.1 The role of the environment on physical activity

The World Health Organisation (1998) suggests that an environment which does not support activity as part

of daily life may play a part in reducing physical activity and increasing overall obesity rates. Foster et al.

(2004) illustrate cases where physical activity levels have been improved by making such activity more

convenient or enticing through modifications of the everyday environment.

For example, studies have shown that improving the physical aesthetics of a stairwell, as well as including

motivational and educational signage and music, increased rates of stair usage, albeit for a short amount of

time (Boutelle, Jeffery, Murray & Schmitz, 2004: Kerr, Yore, Ham & Dietz, 2004). Such research provides

validity in looking at current urban environments and investigating how they can be modified and utilized to

promote physical activity.

Urban environments by definition are densely populated and developed areas (Australian Bureau of

Statistics, www.abs.gov.au). Therefore any attempt at improving physical activity on the street will need to

consider the social environmental factors that may effect behaviour change. Social factors such as social

pressure, collaboration or competition may play a part in whether individuals will take part in physical

activity (Bandura, 1986).

For instance, Rees et al. found that emphasizing the fun and social aspects of physical activity are important

factors to promote physical activity in young people. However, in street settings the relationship of

individuals is often that of strangers, or familiar strangers. Familiar strangers are individuals that we

regularly observe but do not interact with, for example while catching our regular bus (Paulos & Goodman,

2004). Therefore the social factors that may affect involvement in physical activity in urban settings must be

considered or even leveraged within the space of promoting physical activity.

2.1 Changing behaviour using persuasive physical computing

Physical computing provides considerable potential in the space of promoting physical activity. In particular,

persuasive technology is an example of interactive computing systems designed to intentionally change

(without using coercion or deception) people's attitudes and behaviours (Fogg, 2001). The advantage of such

technology is that it is interactive and so can adjust to user's inputs, needs and situations and is more

effective than non-interactive systems at promoting behaviour change (Prochaska and Wayne, 1997).


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Persuasive computing can take many forms, utilizing aspects of social influence, ambient technology,

suggestive technology and self-monitoring technology.

There are a number of examples of persuasive physical computing designed to promote physical activity. A

common example in the Piano Staircase, which was shown to increase the number of people taking the

stairs by making it more fun (www.thefuntheory.com). The creators achieved this by making the stairs

aesthetically look like piano keys and applying sensors into the steps to produce keyboard notes when

activated. In this way, they developed a fun and interactive experience when using the stairs that extended

beyond the non-interactive approaches taken by Boutelle et al. (2004) and Kerr et al. (2004).

Image 1. The Piano Staircase (www.thefunfactor.com)

Wakkery, Hatala, Jiang, Droumeva & Hosseini, 2008 also promote physical activity through the use ambient

intelligent space. Their prototype involves interaction of multiple participants in a cooperative puzzle game

that is solved by coordinated physical actions of the group. The environment is responsive to the

participants actions through ambient audio and light, creating an interactive and fun means for users to be

physically active. Similar uses of light displays have been used in other examples of interactive walls and

floors. For example, GestureXtreme (www.gesturetekhealth.com) is a company that produces a variety of

virtual reality games projected onto wall and floor spaces for fitness, fun and learning. They use gesture

control software to allow users to control the game with body motion, creating an interactive, fun and

physically active experience.


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Image 2. Example GestureXtreme interactive floor (www.gesturetekhealth.com)

A similar physical computing experience is Football Hero, which merges the existing physical game of soccer

with a modified Guitar Hero concept (http://www.designfootball.com/design/kasabian-football-hero/).

Contact sensors that detect vibration are connected to five large coloured pads that act as controllers.

Players have to kick soccer balls at the coloured pads in sync with the game. This is a good example of how

physical computing can be used to create interactivity into physical activity.

Image 3. Football hero (http://www.designfootball.com/design/kasabian-football-hero/)

Further, Harnett et al. examined the way sound can be used in a persuasive and responsive audio device to

influence the activities of young children. The authors created an audio device, which converts movement

(detected by an embedded pedometer) into music tempo. As the children move faster, so does the music

tempo, providing them with a sense of accomplishment, empowerment and control over their environment.

The device also allows children to compete with one another, providing a fun a playful way to be active.


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These examples illustrate how physical computing can be used to encourage physical activity. They all use

features of light and sound in a persuasive physical computing system that encourages physical activity by

making it fun and interactive. Many of these examples also promote or leverage the power of social

competition and/or collaboration.


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2.0 Development of high level concept

Building on the research and examples outlined in the previous section, we developed a high level concept

for improving physical activity using the persuasive elements of light and sound. This concept was presented

to peers and staff for review.

We started by examining routine daily activities in urban environments, looking for instances where

otherwise stationary moments could be injected with a little movement or activity. Bus stops were identified

as instances where people are currently not active, but have an opportunity to be active for a short period of

time whilst they wait.

Extending on the work of Hartnett et al, we transferred the concept of an audio installation to a bus stop

locale, with the aim being to encourage anyone waiting at the bus stop to dance instead of remaining seated

or stationary. As more movement is detected, the song would change, and the music tempo would increase,

creating an outdoor, interactive mini disco.

However, potential users expressed a level of apprehension about the social effects of this concept. For

instance they were worried they would not know the appropriate way to dance and would look silly in a

social setting.

To combat this we incorporated aspects of the projected light displays illustrated in the examples by

Wakkery et al. and GestureXtreme to provide instructional and interactive movements for users to follow.

That is, simple dance moves would be projected as foot patterns on the floor and be demonstrated on a

display for users to follow. In this way, users are collectively performing the same dance moves, reducing the

potential for embarrassment while increasing the possibility for fun interaction.


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Image 4. Sketch of high level concept - creating physical activity at a bus stop using the persuasive and

physical computing elements of light and sound


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3.0 Design

3.1 User research

Feedback from peers and staff regarding our high-level concept identified the need to examine specific

physical spaces and users for such a system. User research was therefore conducted and used to further

guide the overall design and direction of the proposal.

3.1.1 Physical Space

At a high level the proposed physical space was to include a number of bus stops around the Brisbane area.

However rolling out these installations across such a variety of locations presented far too many problems

for both the concept and implementation stage of the project. Therefore we decided to focus on one bus

stop; the University of Queensland Lakes Bus stop.

Located on the eastern side of the UQ campus, the lakes bus stop presents a number of unique attributes

that need to be considered during the design and implementation of our concept, these include:

This stop is the last (or first stop) for five bus routes and acts as one of the major stops around the StLucia/UQ area. There are four stands (A-D) at the location accommodating these five routes, making

it a busy location.

Depending on the time of day and the route, the busses usually run at intervals of five to fifteenminutes (usually no longer than fifteen minutes).

A key differentiator between the UQ lakes stop and Chancellors Place stop is the lakes separationfrom the campus itself. Its closest building is approximately two hundred meters away, compared to

twenty meters for the Chancellors Place stop, illustrated in image 5. This lowers the impact the

lakes bus stop has on surrounding campus buildings.


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Image 5 Arial shot of the University of Queensland

The stop has only limited cover and is very exposed to the elements, as can be seen by image 6.

Image 6 UQ lakes Bus stop

The stop takes up a large area and accommodates busy times well with commuters able to stand ongrassed areas surrounding the stop. Image 7 illustrates this.

University of Queensland

Lakes Bus Stop

Main campus


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Image 7 Peak hour

3.1.2 Users

As one of the primary bus stops for UQ, the lakes bus stop has to accommodate large numbers of

commuters coming and going from the university. To better understand the user and how they interact with

this environment, some observational research was undertaken. The key findings included:

The primary demographic included students aged between 18 -25. Most traffic in the morning consisted of those arriving at UQ (the number of people waiting at the

stop is relatively low) whereas the afternoon comprised mainly of those leaving UQ (the number of

people waiting at the stop is high).

Afternoon traffic: during our observations of the physical space a key finding was that people formedlines without any guidance (see image 8). The average waiting time varied from ten minutes to over

thirty minutes, during this time people simply stand and wait in rigidly formed queues, often

ignoring those around them.


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Image 8 Lines of commuters waiting3.3 Proposed Design

3.3.1 Concept

Based on the findings from this user research, our original concept evolved to more specifically address the

specific context of use.

A key finding was that commuters would spend most of their time standing in line waiting for their bus.

Therefore, users to not have much space to move about and would be unlikely to perform any movement

that might lose them their space in the queue. Therefore, any physical activity must be achievable in a very

limited amount of space - essentially on the spot.

However, the fact that users stand in lines also provides opportunity to leverage collaborative interaction by

groups of people.

From these findings we developed a Super Guitar Hero concept.

The concept is straightforward; five large mats would be placed where the line forms. Each mat would act as

a pressure sensor that would be activated by one or more users jumping on it at an appropriate time. These

mats would interface with a guitar-hero-type game, being that a set of cues would be displayed on a screen

for the user to identify the appropriate time to jump on the mat.


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Image 9 Project concept

To further interact with the unique qualities presented by the location, the game would interface with the

bus schedule so that the duration of each round would be influenced by the arrival time the bus. For

example, if the busses were running at five-minute intervals, each round would last only five minutes with

the difficulty or speed of the game increasing as the buss arrival gets closer. Upon arrival of the bus, the

game would finish and then restart once the bus has left.


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Image 10 - Game Finished


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To accommodate long lines, multiple sets of controls would be installed to allow more people to participate.

Each set of controls would have their own game that they would interact with, creating multiple games

occurring at the same time. Each game would post a score indicating the success of that team; these scores

would be compared live across each team. The comparison of these scores would create a new form of

competition that goes past user vs. machine and introduce a competitive team environment.

Image 11 - Accommodating larger groups

3.3.2 User Experience

For the user a unique need is presented, as we are targeting those standing in a line it is important that the

concept does not interfere with their primary goal, waiting for their turn to get on a bus. The solution must

therefore ensure the lines integrity is maintained. By providing a series of mats that integrate with the line

and requiring users to simply jump on the mats to activate them, participating in the game will not mean

losing their place in the line.

Ensuring users have the choice to not participate is also an important issue. Should a user be unable to

participate or simple wish to not participate the size and placement of the mats will help ensure those users


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can still wait for their bus without concern. However, a secondary outcome of this proposal would be to

observe how group pressure would influence participation.

Game play difficulty will have a significant influence on the users experience. Should the game be too

difficult, users may opt out quickly due to frustration, alternatively too easy and users may lose interest due

to the lack of challenge. The simple controls of jumping to activate should provide a challenge easy enough

that a diverse range of users can participate. The increasing level of difficulty depending on the busses

schedule would also help to ensure an appropriate challenge is provided to maintain interest.

3.3.3 Relevance to Theme

The underlying objective of this project is to promote greater physical activity using physical computing. Our

design is addressing this basic concept by looking at a situation where physical activity is low (a line at a bus

stop), and injecting a motivator via physical computing that gives people a reason to be more active. The act

of jumping on the spot is a simple and achievable task and ensures that a greater number of people will be

able to participate since it requires no special skills or fitness level. In addition to this, the concept is focused

on the street computing space by targeting people at a bus stop locale.

However, this concept also addresses the social factors illustrated earlier in the report, and leverages these

social aspects to promote activity. Because the physical task is simple and collaborative, users do not risk

standing out and looking silly. Further, because the game is based on collaborative team effort, users will

experience a sense of peer pressure to participate. This installation is also located where familiar strangers

are common. The physical activity does not cross any familiar stranger boundaries, whilst allowing for

strangers to collaborate in a fun and interactive game.

3.3.4 Implementation and Technology

The main components needed to implement this concept include:

Pressure sensitive mats: these mats would need to be designed to respond to reasonable pressure(e.g. a person jumping on it), but at the same time not be too hard to activate.

The Game: Currently Frets on Fire (an open source guitar hero type game) presents as a viableoption for the game.

Screens: A series of screens would be needed to display the game and scores.


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Integrating into the Translink bus schedule: The game will need to speed up and be aware of when abus is approaching, this may be as simple as inputting existing timetable data, or for more accurate

and realistic data, as complex as tying into Tanslinks bus location data.

Camera: To further assist with the location of a bus and the status of the game, a camera that canidentify if a bus is currently at the stop would be beneficial. However this would be unnecessary if

bus location data was incorporated into the system.

Implementation of this technology at the proposed site location will require approval from the relevant

bodies (University of Queensland, Translink). However, development and building of the interface will be

carried out within University of Queensland workshop sites and/or within the EDGE facilities.

3.3 Constraints

There are a number of constraints that need that may impact the implementation and overall success of our

proposed concept, some of these include:

Screens: Currently the system relies heavily on screens to communicate the needed information forusers to know when to interact with the floor mats. This presents a number of issues, the first of

which is cost. Accommodating a large installation with multiple large screens would be a very

expensive venture and provides an additional level of intrusion to the existing space. Secondly, as

the bus stop has little cover, rain and other elements may damage the screens. These external

factors may also affect the effectiveness of such technology for users. For example, the direction of

the sun may make it difficult for the display to be visible, or alternatively may make it difficult for

users to look up in that direction. To address these issues, a proposed alternative may be to replace

the display screens with an LED based system that indicates when users must interact with the

system. Figure 1 details this concept.


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Figure 1 Alternative design

Lose of interest: From a long term perspective it is likely that one game would become stale and nolonger engaging to users. To address this having a variety of games may be of value.

Weather and large numbers of people: As the lakes bus stop has little cover and the number ofpeople that pass through the bus stop is high, the final implementation (be it LED or displays) must

be rugged enough to withstand a harsh environment.

Permission: permission will need to be sought to from relevant bodies to modify the public space.Should this permission be denied, alternative locations will need to be identified.

Each coloured square has its own

dedicated strip of LEDs. Coloured light

moves down each strip and the user

must jump on their square when the

light reaches their point.

Moving light

When the light gets to the

mat, the user must jump on

the mat to activate it


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3.4 Project Plan

3.4.1 Project Schedule

The following table outlines a high-level project schedule for major milestones and deliverables.

Week 4 Initial Concept Presentation.

Week 5 Project refinement based on feedback from concept pitch and site research.

Submission of project brief.

Non-teaching week Preparation of Prototype and mock-ups.

Week 6 Development of presentation needed to showcase group progress and project

prototypes

Week 7 Class Presentation (prototype, sketches and mock-ups)

Week 8 Further refinement of concept based on feedback. Finalise all project elements

and prepare for project build.

Week 9 Build

Week 10 Build

Week 11 Build and start preparation for final exhibition

Week 12 Finalise build, focus on testing and preparing project for exhibition.

Week 13 Exhibit

3.4.2 Team Skills

The team members current skill base is summarised below:

Adam Finden:Marketing background and experience with web design and some development skills.

Tamarah Walsh: Linguistics and physiology background; experience with user research and interface design.

Kim Eupene (Project Manager): Maths and arts background; experience with user research and persuasive

technology research.

All members have skills in the following areas:

Design Programming (limited skill base) Documentation


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No group members have direct experience working in the physical computing space. However each member

presents a skill set that should transfer across and assist with the projects implementation. For example all

members have experience with programming. Whilst this experience is not in the physical computing space;

they are skills that will certainly assist with the projects implementation.

Whilst our teams skills are diverse, there is some concern that there is not enough technical knowledge

within the group to successfully complete the project. Identifying this issue early and taking appropriate

steps to address it will be essential to the projects success. The main strategies for addressing this issue

include:

Working closely with teaching staff during all stages of the project to ensure we make the rightchoices regarding its design and implementation based on the teams skill set.

Still to be confirmed, but it is likely that we operate out of The Edge. This will allow us access to theskills and knowledge base of Edge staff.


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4.0 Conclusion

The promotion of healthy living through improved diet and more exercise has increasingly become an issue

for everyday Australians. The increase in obesity and the health problems that accompany this growing

statistic are having a negative effect on society. Yet this effect is completely preventable by simply being a

bit more active and eating a healthier diet. The purpose of this project is to identify a way to help motivate

that increase in activity.

The proposed approach to achieve increased physical activity has gone through a series of iterative design

changes. Investigations of persuasive technologies that can affect a persons behaviour using light, sound

and dance were used to develop a high level concept using these features at a bus stop locale. However

location specific research impacted the projects direction significantly. By identifying a specific location (the

University of Queensland Lakes bus stop) and observing how people interact and use the space, a more

specific solution has been presented.

The user research identified inactivity at the bus stop was not people sitting, but rather from those standing

in a line. This posed the question of how light and sound could be used to encourage those standing in a line

to be more active. Our solution was a Super Guitar Hero concept; an interactive guitar hero type game that

requires users to jump on interactive pads to control the game in a collaborative manner, while standing in

line.

Over the coming weeks our team will explore this concept further with the assistance of UQ teaching staff

and the knowledge base offered at The Edge. The final goal will be to design and build a working prototype

of the concept and present any unique findings.


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5.0 Reference List

Bandura, A. (1986) Social foundations of thought and action: social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, New

Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Boutelle, K. N., Jeffery, R. W., Murray, D. M., & Schmitz, M. K. H.(2004). Using Signs, Artwork, and Music to

Promote Stair Use in a Public Building.American Journal of Public Health, 91(12),

Consolvo, S., Everitt, K., Smith, I., and Landay, J. A. 2006. Design requirements for technologies that

encourage physical activity. CHI '06. ACM, New York, NY, 457- 466.

Fogg, B. J. (2003). Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. San Francisco:

Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Foster, C., Hillsdon, M., Cavill, N., Bull, F., Buxton, K., & Crombie, H. (2006). Interventions that use the

environment to encourage physical activity - Evidence review. Report by the National Institute

for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Retrieved March 16, 2010, from:

http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/whoweare/aboutthehda/hdapublications/interventions_tha

t_use_the_environment_to_encourage_physical_activity__evidence_review.jsp

Harnett, J., Lin, P., Ortiz, L., & Tabas, L. (2006). A Responsive and Persuasive Audio Device to Stimulate

Exercise and Fitness in Children. CHI 2006,April 2227, 2006, Montral, Qubec, Canada.

Kerr, N. A., Yore, M. M., Ham, S. A., & Dietz, H. D. (2004) Increasing stair use in a worksite through

environmental changes.American Journal of Health Promotion, 18, 3125.

Paulos, E. & Goodman, E. (2004). The Familiar Stranger: Anxiety, Comfort, and Play in Public Places. CHI

2004, April 2429, Vienna, Austria.

Prochaska, J. O., & Wayne, F. V. (1997). The transtheoretical model of health behavior change.American

Journal of Health Promotion, 12(1), 38-48.

Rees, R., Kavanagh, J., Harden, A., Shepherd, J., Brunton, G., Oliver, S., & Oakley, A. (2006). Young people and

physical activity: a systematic review matching their views to effective interventions. Health

Education Research (Advance Access). Retrieved March 16, 2010, from:

http://her.oxfordjournals.org

Wakkery, R., Hatala, M., Jiang, Y., Drouneva, M., Hosseini, M. (2008). Making Sense of Group Interaction in

an Ambient Intelligent Environment for Physical Play. TEI 2008, Bonn, Germany.
http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/whoweare/aboutthehda/hdapublications/interventions_that_use_the_environment_to_encourage_physical_activity__evidence_review.jsphttp://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/whoweare/aboutthehda/hdapublications/interventions_that_use_the_environment_to_encourage_physical_activity__evidence_review.jsphttp://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/whoweare/aboutthehda/hdapublications/interventions_that_use_the_environment_to_encourage_physical_activity__evidence_review.jsphttp://her.oxfordjournals.org/http://her.oxfordjournals.org/http://her.oxfordjournals.org/http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/whoweare/aboutthehda/hdapublications/interventions_that_use_the_environment_to_encourage_physical_activity__evidence_review.jsphttp://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/whoweare/aboutthehda/hdapublications/interventions_that_use_the_environment_to_encourage_physical_activity__evidence_review.jsp


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World Health Organization. (2000). Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report by the

World Health Organization. Retrieved March 16, 2010, from:

http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/obesity/WHO_TRS_894/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/obesity/WHO_TRS_894/en/index.htmlhttp://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/obesity/WHO_TRS_894/en/index.htmlhttp://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/obesity/WHO_TRS_894/en/index.html

proposal 1 - physical computing

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