GeoNotes: Social and Navigational Aspects of Location-Based Information Systems

GeoNotes: Social and Navigational Aspects of Location-Based Information Systems by F. Espinoza, P. Persson, A. Sandin, H. Nystrom, E. Cacciatore, and M. Bylund.

In this paper, the creators of the spatial annotation application GeoNotes, argue that location-based systems must allow users to participate as content providers in order to achieve a social and dynamic information space. The focus is on how we can allow the user to regulate the tradeoff between curiosity about spatial annotations and the disturbance. On the one hand we allow all users to participate in creating the information space. On the other, we support navigation by collecting and aggregating users’ usage of the system, and distribute this data to other users in some refined form. They say that mass spatial annotation will need to face the same design challenges as the Web at its beginning. In the same way as the World Wide Web user eventually needed a wide range of navigation support (e.g. search engines, collaborative filters, indexes, navigation bars, and “web-tips”), so will users of location-based information systems.

E-graffiti: Evalutating Real-World Use of a Context-Aware System

E-graffiti: Evalutating Real-World Use of a Context-Aware System by Jenna Burrell and Gerri K. Gay, Where, When?

The authors talk about their study of the usability of a context-aware application and spatial annotation named E-graffiti. They installed E-graffiti on 57 student’s notebooks. Some of the issues that emerged in the evaluation stage included difficulties with a misleading conceptual model (students ended up using it as an IM tool), lack of use to the reliance on explicit user input, the need for a highly relevant contextual focus (i.e. a specific scenario), and the potential benefit of rapid, ongoing prototype development in tandem with user evaluation (no automatic application update).

The conceptual model of the application is very similar to our own ShoutSpace, execpt that ShoutSpace uses maps to support the annotation of places. However it might face the same usability issues as E-graffiti if we do not find more specific scenarios.

The authors were interested to see what type of information users associated with their context of use, whether or not they had problems understanding location-awareness, and if they coud find interesting and novel uses for this type of system.

Results

• After introductin the system to the communications class, use did not extent much beyond initial test messages
• 75% of the users logged into E-graffiti at only 1 or 2 locations on the network during the semester
• Many of the notes users contributed seemed to have little relevance at all to the location they were being associated with.
• Awareness of the presence of others on the system is a type of context-awareness which students expressed a desire for through these types of notes. (No mention to privacy issues here)
• Students used E-graffiti as a type of networked instant-messaging or e-mail system. The conceptual model of the designers did not match the mental model of the students
• A better method for designing context-aware system might have been to use a map of campus to organize the notes and to support attaching notes to locations on the map interface.
• They could have removed the private note functionality entirely to not suggesting too much the e-mail model of communication
• In the questionnnaire users commented 23 times about the lack of use by others as a reason for not using the system. E-graffiti was too open-ended. Students did not know what to write, and did not really have anything to share with others at location. They needed more directions and suggestions about unique ways to use the system. To resolve this issue, context-aware applications might be designed around a highly relevant contextual focus (i.e. a clear scenario).
• In future systems, the authors plan to include a feature that will upload the most recent verrsion of the application to the users computer automatically. This will make the iterative design process more immediate, and allow to make small adjustments and observe results

Etude Ethnographique de Développement d'un MMORPG Mobile

Etude ethnographique sur les développement d’un jeu “Jindeo” de rôle mobile-internet basé sur la géo-localisation des terminaux. Différent points que je peux comparer au développement de CatchBob!. L’originalité majeure de Jindeo était de tenter de déplacer les MMORPG de l’univers des écrans d’ordinateurs connectés vers celui des terminaux mobiles. Dans sa première partie, le papier offre une petite chronique sur le développement et son entrée sur le marché. La deuxième partie décrit la partie “engagements ludiques de proximité” de l’application avec ses problèmes techniques et l’ingénierie des rencontres. Dans la partie un peut plus techinque, il y a certaines situations très similaires à celle que j’ai vécu dans le développement de CatchBob!.

Développement et introduction sur le marché
Au début l’application a de la peine a convaincre. Les experts de l’industrie du jeu remettent en cause un gameplay fondé sur la progression des équipe et sa capacité à motiver suffisamment les joueurs individuels, sur le plan ludique et sur le plan commercial. Le succès est modéré, mais suffisant pour un premier retour d’expérience: 700 visiteurs sur le site la première semaine, 50 abonnés, et ensuite une stabilisation à environ 200 joueurs en moyenne, compte tenu d’un taux important de désabonnement. La supposée pauvreté de l’expérience ludique associée à Nido, n’empêche visiblement pas quelques utilisateurs japonais à s’y investir intensément.

Difficultés Techniques
Les concepteurs étaient presque aveugles aux difficultés interactionnelles que posent les temps de latence des requêtes serveur. De plus, ils pensaient exclusivement en terme de gameplay continu, ce qui n’est pas possible avec la précision de la localisation possible techniquement. Cette impossiblité de localiser plus finement les actants du jeu les uns par rapport aux autres limite considérablement le type d’action et de déplacements coordonées dans le ville et le plan de jeu. Même si la précision pouvait être résolu, les misés à jour du ne sont ni assez fréquentes ni assez rapides pour que le plan de jeu parraisse évoluer continûment, au fur et à mesure des action et les déplacement du joueur. Avec des délais de l’ordre de la minute, un joueur a pu se déplacer pendant au moins une minute sans que son environnement ne se soit modifié sur son écran. Le jeu passa donc d’un modèle continu à un modèle discret. Cette version discrète renonce donc presque totalement à la mise en oeuvre d’engagements ludiques de proximité, ceux-ci devenant même préjudiciables à l’expérience de jeu.

Ingénierie des rencontres
Dans le changement du modèle de jeu, la force du dispositif est devenu mesurable à la capacité de celui-ci à susciter les “rencontres”. L’enthousiasme des utilisateurs japonais a infléchit la conception vers le paradigme de l’ingénierie des rencontres. Le plaisir éprouvé à jouer un jeu basé sur la géolocalisation, dépend de manière critique de la densité de joueurs connectés. Ils prennent un grand plaisir à se voir les uns les autres sur les écrans mobiles, et à commenter les rencontres. L’effort de design est alors orienté vers l’optimisation interactionnelle d’un dispositif explicitement pensé comme une messagerie instantanée mobile géolocalisée.

Conclusion
Un nouvel exemple d’application géolocalisée dont l’usage est changé dans une forme de messagerie instantanée géolocalisée. Le paradigme de conception a glissé d’une ingénierie de déplacements à une ingénierie des rencontres. Au final sort renforcée une représentation où le social apparaît comme réservoir d’interactions en puissance, et les technologies d’information et de communication comme un levier pour concrétiser ce potentiel en multipliant les échanges médiatisés. Un levier qui permet de dépasser l’inattention civile, cette manière si caractéristique de se rendre poliment étranger les uns aux autres: “chacun donne à autrui assez d’attention visuelle pour montrer qu’il se rend compte de sa présence tout en limitant l’attention qu’il lui porte afin d’exprimer que ce dernier ne constitue pas un sujet particulier de curiosité”.

Video of Parc Barcelona Media

A video describing (in catalan) the features of the future Parc Barcelona Media that will be open in 2006.

The Parc Barcelona Media, will be a scientific/artistic park for production, research and education in the media and communication field. This park will be located in the area of the old textile factory Ca l’Aranyó, In the Districte d’Activitats 22@ (Activities District 22@bcn), beside Plaça de les Glòries, and close to a large number of new cultural development (Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, l’Auditori, Plaça de les Arts, Centre de Disseny, etc.). The project renovates the old building of the textile factory Ca l’Aranyó, which will be restored and will contain the Communication Campus of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

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Accurate GSM Indoor Localization

At Ubicomp2005 Veljo Otsason will present his very interesting work on fine-grained GSM positioning.

Accurate GSM Indoor Localization, Veljo Otsason, Alex Varshavsky, Anthony La Marca and Eyal de Lara, The Seventh International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2005), Tokyo, Japan, September 2005

He shows a way to make accurate GSM-based indoor localization by using wide signal-strength fingerprints in addition to the 6-strongest cells traditionally used in the GSM standard. The wide fingerprint includes readings from additional cells that are strong enough to be detected, but too weak to be used for efficient communication. Experiments conducted on three multi-floor buildings show that our system achieves accuracy comparable to an 802.11-based implementation, and can accurately differentiate between floors in both wooden and steel-reinforced concrete structures.

This paper is mainly based on Veljo’s Master’s thesis “Accurate Indoor Localization Using Wide GSM Fingerprinting“

Mobile Game Industry not Understanding Location Technologies

In a Mobile Games analysis, Kurt Uhlir says that the industry has still many false impressions about LBG. They must understand the complexities, strengths, and weaknesses of location technologies. They need to move past the “all or nothing” belief. Each positioning technology (GPS, WiFi, GSM, …) has its own complexity that is mainly underestimated by developers and publishers. The difficulties involve with integrating spatial data, and the accuracy that are needed in various games situations. When designing games, writing storylines and setting expectations, the industry must think about how accurate the average location will be, how often the player’s location can be updated, how the game will deal with the occasional inaccurate location reading and what the benefits are ton incorporating location into game play.

Designing electronic maps: an ethnographic approach

In Designing electronic maps: an ethnographic approach, Barry Brown and Eric Laurier present and ethnographic study of the city tourists’ practices that draws out a number of implications for sesingin map technologies. They suggest that there are many opportunities for mappingg systems which fit tourist practice better than existing systems.

Collaborative map use
An important par of tourism map use it sharing the use of maps with others. For this reason, maps systems which offer only a small display, or display which can only be used by one user at a time.

Combining electronic maps and guidebooks
Simply copying content into an eBook is unlikely to be successful if that content is much harder to use. One solution to this could be to produce paper maps which are designed to be used with an electronic guidebook

Supporting pre-visiting and planning
We observed that thourists frequently used maps and guides before visiting a place (pre-visiting). In this way tourists can plan what they want to do, but also can pass the time while waiting for public transport. Presenting information to tourists while they are actually at an attraction may have limited utility, since at that point the environment is likely to contain richer sources of information than can be provided by a device. Mobile system could support “occasioned mpas”. These are maps which are drawn for a particular purpose (e.g. a shopping map when going shopping).

Evaluating the Effects of Displaying Uncertainty in Context-Aware Applications

In Evaluating the Effects of Displaying Uncertainty in Context-Aware Applications the authors claim that perfect and reliable context information is hard if not impossible to obtain in context aware systems. They propose and evaluate a feedback mechanism for context aware systems. The idea is to explicitly display the uncertainty inherent in the context information and to leverage from the human ability to deal well with uncertain information. By changing the quality, respectively the uncertainty of context recognition, the experiments show that human performance in a memory task is increased by explicitly displaying uncertainty information. A few quotes

” it is important to take into account that context information might be faulty and uncertain because of missing information, unpredictable behavior, ambiguous situations, and differing interpretations”

“Obviously, systems exist which explicitly model and use uncertainty during inference and decision making. Maybe the most advanced systems like the Lumiere [8] project, the Lookout project [9] or the Activity Compass [10] are based on techniques such as Bayesian modelling and inference, utility, and decision theory. In the context of ubiquitous computing it has been suggested, however, that modelling uncertainties and advanced inference mechanisms might not be enough”

“Chalmers [11] even argues for “seamful rather than seamless designâ€? to reveal the physical nature of the Ubicomp systems in, for example, the uncertainty in sensing and ambiguity in representations.”

“What is common to all of them is to propose the use of different feedback mechanisms and to involve the user in various degrees and forms.”

“The proposal is based on the fact that users are actually used to and highly successful in dealing with uncertain information throughout their daily lives.”

” we propose to display this uncertainty explicitly and leverage from the user’s ability to choose the appropriate action. ”

“Experiment 1 clearly showed that displaying the degree of uncertainty affected performance. Showing uncertainty information had a clear effect on hit rates. They increased substantially when uncertainty information was displayed, especially when tips of high quality were shown and when the task was difficult.”

“Experiment 2 provides converging evidence for the view that displaying uncertainty information increases performance in terms of hit rates, whereas falsealarm rates are much less – if at all – affected”

“One issue to be considered in future work is the tradeoff between the cognitive load, which displaying uncertainty information causes, and the added value that it provides.”

Wireless Campus LBS

Wireless Campus LBS, Building campus-wide Location Based Services based on WiFi technology describes a project that mixes wireless LAN positioning techniques, context awarness of ubiquitous data management systems, and data dissemination for LBS and mobile applications. It has some similarities to my Building a mobile, locative, and collaborative application in presenting the WiFi positioning techniques and the AP mapping. There was an interesting figure (from Satyanarayanan, M (2001) Pervasive computing: Visions and challenges. IEEE Personal Communications, 8:10-7,2001) on the evolution from distributed to ubiquitous computing. I never thought about making a path from distributed systems to ubicom.

There was also a mention to (un)certainty management:

Another factor of context for any system is the (un)certainty of the information it provides, and providing the user with relevant information about that uncertainty will also be part of the CaompusLBS services.

Limitations of the Medium

In Introduction to Mobile Game Development, Nokia defines 6 limitations to developping mobile applications:

• Small screen size: developpers must still optimize their applications for different phones
• Limited color and sound support
• Limited application size
• High latency. Latency is the aount of tie it takes between the moment a machine makes a request and the moment it receives a response. While the carriers are working to expand the amount of bandwidth available to mobile phones, they have not made latency a priority.
• Interruptibility is crucial. the application must be able to pause and recover without crashing, causing play problems
• Evolving technologies. Need to support hanset specific APIs