Book Vending Machines

I spotted a new book vending machine in BCN. Apparently it is a book distribution method only “popular” in latin countries. I like the futuristic “Here are all your books”.

Installed by Punto de Lectura in Line 3, Passeig de Gracia station.

Relation to my thesis: None… or almost none. It is an example of the reaction of the physical (distributed limited-choice bookstores) over the virtual (online unlimited-choice bookstores) and how the 2 might mix at some point.

The Relevance of Social Issues in Ubiquitous Computing Environments

Jessup, L. M. and Robey, D. 2002. The relevance of social issues in ubiquitous computing environments. Commun. ACM 45, 12 (Dec. 2002)

This papers illustrates how ubiquitous computing challenges individuals, teams and organizations to rethink their behaviors. Because of the new possibilities enabled by ubiquitous computing do not carry their own prescriptions, people must discover new behaviors on their own. The authors suggest the now obvious mix of old and new practices “virtual teams may need to employ older technologies, such as telephones, or even face-to-face meetings to complement their dependence on ubiquitous computing technologies”.

Relation to my thesis: The authors optimistically match new technologies with new opportunities for social actions, organizational forms and business models. All this is true, but they do not really take into account the way to carry pleasant user experience in the shift. Technologies are disruptive and people are most of the time left on their own. They build their own mental models and the goal for ubicomp practitioners is to avoid mismatches in ever growing complex environments. My research questions are related to one research issue the authors mention: How do work teams adopt and adapt ubiqutous compututing technologies?

Beyond the Computer Industry

Norman, D. A. 2002. Beyond the computer industry. Commun. ACM 45, 7 (Jul. 2002), 120

With computers becoming ubiquitous, the traditional computer business must be revisited with one main issue “ease of use”. In this short article, Norman explains the design trade off between simplicity in appearance and simplicity in use. Like Adam Greenfield (Ethical Guidelines for Ubicomp), Norman talks about the increasing risk of the ever-more present technology to be designed from deficient consideration of people, organizations, and cultures.

Relation to my thesis: I am interested on the challenges to integrate ubicomp technologies into people’s life. Recent projects like Philips’ Simplicity-Led Design seem to confuse simplicity in appearance and in use. I keep Norman in mind for his quote “It is time to make technology conform to the needs of people“. In ubicomp, this goal is very honorable, but utopian because of the complexity of the environments. Within human-centered development processes, technological constraints must be taken into consideration. Currently, sharing a part of this complexity to the user seems inevitable. In a discussion with the Ada (very controlled immersive interactive environment) project manager, he mentioned me that the system had many unwanted behaviors (which for him was great, but not for the visitors who were not expecting the unexpected).

Agent Modelling and Simulation Presentation

Yesterday, as part of a doctoral school course, I gave a short presentation on Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation. The talk was mainly focused on a brief theoretical background (differences ABM and conventional models, the methodological approach) example of ABM in social sciences (Schilling). I developed and simulated a basic model I called “coopetitive famers” (coopetition coming from the merge of cooperation and competition) as a heuristic approach to competitive environments with cooperative and individualistic farmers. It was a way to show patterns emerging from basic interaction rules (agent mainly interacting with the environment).

I was advised to have a look at “The Evolution of Cooperation” which discusses how cooperation can emerge in a world of self-seeking egoists when there is no central authority to police their actions.

Relation to my thesis: I worked on this to grasp the possibility to introduce ABM into my thesis as a methodology to get insights on users and groups behaviors in a mobile and ubiquitous environment. For example try to model their interaction rules in cases of zero/bad/avg/good positioning accuracy or latency. As a next step, I need to investigate on the way to integrated GIS into ABM.

The Design and Realization of Real-World Multi-Media Systems

This week I attend a serie of lectures given by Dr. Paul Verschure on methods, concepts and technologies behind complex interactive multi-media installation. Verschure was project leader of the Ada project, a 200 m^2 interactive space that was equipped with tactile, auditory and visual sensors and could interact with groups of up to 30 visitors using sound, light and graphics. This installation was deployed for 6 months in 2002 and was visited by 556000 people. Ada was constructed with the goal to construct an artefact that sensitized the visitor to future brain-like technologies.

The goal of these lectures is to identify and discuss design principles for future complex interactive multi-media systems.

Lecture 1: History and concepts
History of entertainment automata and interactive multi-media systems
> Architectural and scenographical concepts
> Technological and scientific concepts
> Construction and deployment
> Management and planning
> Preceding installations
> Interaction design for interactive multi-media installations

Lecture 2: Technology
> Sensor components
> Effector components
> Sensor processing
> Neuromorphic control strategies

Lecture 3: The user
> Deployment
> User experience
> User data
> User analysis

Lecture 4: The future
> Implications of Behavioral & Experiential analysis for multi-media
> interaction design
> Subsequent applications
> Future projects

Interactive Maps à la SimCity

edushi.com provides interactive maps of various Chinese cities. Instead of a standard map or satellite image, it features an oblique representation of the street layout, along with 2.5 dimensional looking buildings (there is a term for that technique, but I do not remember which one). A good example of the isometric projection technique for maps.

Shangai on Edushi.com

Via Cartography.

Qualitative Analysis of Human-Computer Interaction

Former colleague Jean-Baptiste Haué did a presentation at the EPFL on qualitative analysis of human-computer interaction.

LIFT06. Day 2

Transparency is LIFT second day’s word with Thomas Sevcik‘s Innovation Lab (the spontaneous, very focused, networked based, Al-qaedaesc version of a Think Tank, and deliverable oriented, long-lasting, expensive version of a workshop), Euan Semple experience in knowledge management at the BBC, Robert Scoble‘s new PR, Marc Laperrouza on the control of the Internet in China (what will happen with the majority of the web’s content will be in chinese?) and Jeffrey Huang‘s open design (Alec Issigonis: A camel is a horse designed by committee).

A horse designed by committee. Some much for the wisdom of the crowd and web 2.0.

Unique quote:
“I am totally not agree” Xavier Comtesse

Justice Mapping

Criminal-justice experts name the “million-dollar blocks” phenomenon when the total cost to incarcerate residents from one city block exceeds $1 million.

The Million Dollar Blocks project is part of a two year research and development project on Graphical Innovation in Justice Mapping by the Spatial Information Design Lab of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia.

These maps have attracted attention nationwide from state legislators struggling to balance their budgets. Prison-spending maps highlight the fact that money spent on million-dollar blocks winds up in another part of the state—far from the scene of the crime.

Via Régine

GarbageScout

GarbageScout.com is a recycler’s dream, a cheapskate’s best friend, and a dumpster diver’s companion. It is a spatial annotation tool that put light on the daily physical rejects of the city. This is the kind of very unique and very specific use of spatial annotation I would believe to be engaging. Members of Flickr’s street cleaning vehicles and molested bikes groups ought to us to augment their digital harvesting.