Dourish: Where the Action is (ch6, Moving Toward Design)

One of the first points Dourish makes is that “moving from theory back to design is a hard transition.” He makes the point that “theory and design are fundamentally different sorts of activities, carried out by different people with different training and presented to different audiences.” Then, after giving a few examples to support his theory, he begins to provide support for his theory that “social and tangible computing share a common foundation in embodied interaction.” He then begins to describe a few design principles, but he cautions against labeling such principles as rules: “[W]e will…[explore] a set of principles. These are not design recommendations, rules, or guidelines. Rules would lay down a method for design; guidelines would suggest to a designer what to do. However, given the variety of settings in which the embodied interaction approach is applied, it would be inappropriate to give rules or guidelines here.” At any rate, he proceeds to give 6 principles:

1. Computation is a medium
2. Meaning arises on multiple levels
3. Users, not designers, create and communicate meaning
4. Users, not designers, manage coupling
5. Embodied technologies participate in the world they represent
6. Embodied interaction turns action into meaning

Dourish then proceeds to provide a lot of reasoning, real-world examples, etc. to back up his principles.
The final section of this chapter is entitled “Beyond the Principles.” In it, Dourish interestingly sums up his perspective on the nature of his principles, how they might be implemented, etc.: “Presenting the design implications as principles as I have done here is certainly problematic. For one thing, the principles overlap and interact in a variety of ways; they are certainly not distinct. For another, they suggest directions but do not provide hard-and-fast recipes. However one reason to explore general principles rather than specific design recommendations is in the hope that they will be a little more robust to the rapid pace of technical development.” He goes on to say that “The principles are a starting point, then. They serve to orient us to a set of issues that any specific design may need to explore in more detail. They are the start of a much longer story.”

Physical Interfaces and Electonic Arts (Bongers 2000)

In Physical Interfaces and Electronic Arts, Bongers follows the historical development of physical interfaces with the advent of electronic art forms, focusing on electronic music. He describes how these interfaces have evolved with advancements in sensors. The design of instrument interfaces became no longer constrained by the sound desired. For example, a violin shape is not necessary to produce digital violin sounds, allowing designers to create more ergonomic or human-centered instruments. One shortcoming, however, that designers seek to address is a lack of tactual feedback to music players in terms of what is felt and the sounds produced. Bongers describes three kinds of interactions, "performer-system (e.g. a musician play an intstrument), system-audience (e.g. installation art), and performer-system-audience." He criticizes that many supposedly 'interactive' systems are actually 'reactive' systems, and that instead humans and systems should influence each other.

Bongers also goes into depth about the mechanics of digital sound and sensing technologies, using several examples of digital instruments from his research. Sensors translate "physical energy (from the outside world) into electricity (into the machine world)". Actuators perform the opposite function. Some examples of sensors are: kinetic (pressure, torque, inertia), light, sound, temperature, smell, humidity, electricity, magnetism, and electro-magnetism (radio waves). Some examples of human modalities that would be read are muscle action, blowing, voice, blood pressure, and heart rate. Bongers' taxonomy of movements is as follows: Muscle action - either isometric (pressure) or movement (displacement). Movement - either mechanical contact (rotary pots/dials) or contactless (ultrasound, motion sensors)

Weekly Update #2 - 1/27/2010

This week the team began brainstorming on project directions. After a group brainstorming session, we broke up for some individual concept generation. Each group member presented two or three possible concepts which we discussed. Some of the potential concepts were:

• A field of half cylinder structures that would allow kids to play on top and underneath
• A house like structure made of railroad ties that would allow kids to both climb on the exterior and explore the interior
• A repeating ridge type structure with sound sensors located throughout. The sound sensors would be connected to lights which would change color or intensity based on the play taking place The interior structure would glow during the day and the exterior at night. Also the sound sensor sensitivity would be turned up at night so that it will respond to ambient noise.
• A series of blocks with embedded proximity sensors that will cause the blocks to glow when a person walks past. The length of time the block stays on could be adjusted for a variety of games and exploration.

The team was unable to choose a single idea in time for the one minute madness and will be presenting our favorite concepts so far. The team has discussed another round of concept presentations for later this week and are also creating a formal requirements/specifications sheet to help us select a final concept.

Summary for Tangible Bits

This reading discussed a form of human computer interaction
that involved the manipulation of data by attaching the data to
real, physical objects, called "Tangible Bits". The author's goal
for tangible bits is to devise a way that can join the physical world
with cyberspace by use of interactive surfaces, coupling a bit and
an atom, and the use of ambient media. The reading went on to
highlight these three key concepts of the tangible bits by introducing
three projects that involved these mechanics.

The first project was the metaDESK, in which the user would instantiate
GUI based devices from a simple window, and then the devices would then
be projected by the machine in order for the user to have full, physical
interactions with the tools at his/her disposal.

The next project that was mentioned was called ambientROOM. This device
was designed to be a complement to the metaDESK's interface design with its
use and manipulation of ambient media, which includes lighting, shadows,
airflow, water, and sound. The use of the ambient media is designed so that
the system can relay information to the user through the boundaries of human
perception.

The last project mentioned was the transBOARD, which when combined with
an interactive surface, absorbs the information of physical objects that are around
it and interacting with it. Once the information has been absorbed, it is then
transformed into digital bits, and released into cyberspace.

From this reading, I can tell that it would be possible to incorporate the concept
of ambient media into our project, and possibly the interactive surfaces to a lesser
extent than that of the metaDESK. However, I do not believe it is possible to
incorporate a system such as the one found in the transBOARD to meld the physical
play space with the cybernetic world.

Reiser - Interactivity, Public Art, and Architecture

Reiser begins the paper by bringing up the issue of 'space' in the context of public digital artworks. Since many of the pieces that he is describing involve virtual reality, there are two ideas of space going on in the piece; one is the physical space that the users and installation occupy, and the other is the virtual space that the installation affords. Reiser continues talking about the idea of 'distance' and how the prevalence of digital art works are causing the general public to have a shrinking idea of distance, since everything is becoming so interconnected. Reiser sees an issue with this because the idea of distance is very central to architecture.

Reiser then makes the claims that most of the recent work in the domain of public art installations has been derivative of the work that was done in the early 1960s by the group Experiments in Art and Technology. Their projects and installations range from the use of fm transmitters to infrared cameras, all based around the idea of large scale public art. Reiser notes that the execution of these pieces may have been slighty less polished than more current installations, but that was solely the blame of the technology.

After establishing some concerns about the general notion of public installations, Reiser begins to specify some projects of note. All projects that are generally large scale and in very public locations. He notes the arc de ceil, the Senster robot (which he claims to be the culmination of robotic installations), and the Monument against Fascism.

Reiser then moves onto haptic and tangible interfaces, which are his focus. He describes several projects which involve the users in a physical way rather than just being a passive displayed installation. "The Legible City" invites the user to get onto of a mounted bicycle and ride through a virtual city made up of letters, and "Bar Code Hotel" lets people control their virtual avatar by scanning the bar codes of objects in a physical room.

Reiser closes with note that there are several artists currently involved in projects in a new direction, or perhaps directions, as Reiser states, "there are as many types of public digital art as there are artists."

LeFaivre: Ground-Up City

In Ground-Up City, LeFaivre depicts the shift in playground and play space construction with the rise of "ground-up" ideology, where design is driven from and in consultation with the community. LeFaivre notes key shifts beginning in the 1920s where thinkers like Freud began to position play and playfulness as essential to education and cognitive development. Post-war Amsterdam in particular saw significant change in the design and number of playgrounds with the idea of "child empowerment" and children's rights. Architects and artists began to focus their attention to the design of play spaces, which were just one part of this movement. With this increased attention, designs were challenged and the idea of a playground as a medium for imaginative play rather than having pre-defined functionalities (like swinging) came to be. In 1964, Jane Jacobs challenged the idealism of playground design by bringing attention to the fact that parks and playgrounds were actually primary locations of gang violence. From the realism of her work came another shift to looking at the streets as a context for play and creating community rather than having government associations develop isolated, predefined areas where 'play' was to occur. With this emphasis, participatory design began to occur in urban neighborhoods and people began to have input in the development of play and public spaces. These developments in Amsterdam revolutionized playground design with three primary characteristics. They are participatory (designed in conjunction with people, including the needs of children), intersitial (integrated with the city, not just in one isolated place), and polycentric (part of a network of playgrounds throughout the city). The interstitial aspect is particularly important because it coincides with the design and development of public spaces in cities aimed to increase community in addition to creating opportunities for play.

Summary of Senda's Play Structure pp. 11-43

In Play Structure, Senda begins by explaining that play structures, such as jungle gyms and other play equipment, are only a small part of a child's overall play environment. After clarifying his definition of the play environment, Senda then breaks a child's play environment down into four elements; a place to play, time to play, friends to play with, and methods of play. Senda then breaks the play space into six distinct types; nature space, open space, street space, anarchy space, hideout space, and a play structure space. Senda then expresses a desire to see more nature spaces in cities as play spaces.

Expanding on the play structure space, Senda goes on to describe the developmental stages of play with equipment; first a "functional play" stage, followed by a "technical play" stage, and ending with a "social play" stage. Senda also notes the challenges with designing for each stage.

Senda concludes by outlining the major types of play behavior with play equipment: resting, challenging, thrill play, and game play.

CABE Space: Designing and Planning for Space

This article is all about designing playspaces. It talks about how that should be done, for what reasons it should be done a certain way, etc. etc. At the time this article was written (late 2008) the UK was beginning to get more money for upgrading and creating new playgrounds. Obviously CABE Space would be interested in voicing their opinion at such a significant time.
CABE Space (the author(s)) gives a couple examples of other places where there are "successful" playspaces. Some such spaces include more natural spaces--spaces where dirt, sand, etc. are accessible by children. Other successful spaces are ones that are not just mere formulaic "KFC" (kit, fence, and carpet) playgrounds. CABE Space also suggests that open play areas (i.e. non-easily recognizable play area) are good too. Similarly, they suggest that many play ground constructors are overly concerned with safety. CABE Space notes that Play expert Tim Gill "...believes that these countries are getting it right primarily because landscape architects enjoy a much closer involvement in the process. The starting point is a holistic look at the site, rather than at what pieces of equipment should be bought." CABE Space offers many ideas and thoughts about play, and they list 10 "specific" suggestions for practitioners to consider when constructing a play space. They sum their thoughts in what they call the "one golden rule": a successful play space is a place in its own right, specially designed for its location, in such a way as to provide as much play value as possible.

Shackell: Design for Play Review

The primary objective of this blog was to make the reader look at how
play is important to growing minds found in children, as well as more developed
minds. It also talks about several locations that implement policies to encourage
playing amongst the populace. The second chapter actually talks about how to
design a very good play space for the children. In doing so, the author went on to
state what they believe to be ten important rules that should be followed when designing
a better play space. Several of these include, placing the space close to nature, design so
that the space can evolve with time and maintain itself. Overall, I believe that these points
stated by the author can greatly benefit us when designing the play space for this class.

Progress Report #1 1/15/10

Weekly Meetings, Tuesday 4:30 @ SC

Ideas:
Travis: half-pipe with fiber optics, waves of color going down the tunnel. pressure sensors on the outside/xylophone. If you hit the outside, on the inside it changes colors (ex - blue/green to red). domes with holes on the end. safety exit in middle.

Take elements from existing playgrounds:

- things with bars, outline of cubes
- places to hide
- climbing
- narrative
- metal cacti
- pirate wheel
- tether ball
- sound wall (whisper and hear each other)

Involve adults and children
Get parents to play with their kids with/on/in the structure

- benches

- trail surrounding the structure


Themes
- nature

spiral trench of dirt /gardening
garden, synthetic light
- education

music

health

learning with physical motion (jumping or tugging)

Physics (Rube Goldberg)
- narrative

pirates

wrecked ship

island

tree house

outer space

swiss family robinson

- Food
- Music
bongos

xylophone

speaking sound-transferring things (whistling affecting something)

sliding pipes for kids to rearrange

musical instrument that is also a structure to be climbed on
- swinging, tire swing, climbing with pipe structure
- space for competition

battle with light

human pong

-Farm

--> come up with unifying theme and narrative, role play space