Roland Tanglao's Weblog

e-Campus from Lancaster university, UK

• Context aware tour guide:
• differentiator - like to deploy stuff, put units in the tourist info centre i.e. in the "wild"
• You can't have ubicomp , ubiquitious computing, without deployment!
• What is e-Campus?
• large scale deployment of networked interactive displays across the campus
• put 3 data projectors in underpass
• hard, equipment not designed for 24/7 deployment
• designed reliable system for 8000 pounds
• lessons:
• should have budgeted up font
• want to create open infrastructure that's community resource
• tell stories over place and time
• adapt content as people pass by
• We don't know how people interact with displays
• Group interaction
• Walk up and use
• Stuck because how do you engage large amount of people
• need creativity to figure out new ways
• are using mobile phones for now
• have to make this kind of thing lower cost and easier to maintain
• Opening night was success
• way too many people
• complete rack of equipment: UPS, etc in dank underpass
• Need tools to make content production easier
• Learned
• artists really cared about how content looked
• No need to keep displays busy
• Timing is important
• Had to support a whole load of tools
• Content is eveything
• Decision: if no content, leave it off rather over-exposing
• Campus map application:
• base is phone with no software
• hard to get people to install their custom java app
• Nuffield theatre
• something behind
• Converging on a standard install that uses stock hardware not custom stuff
• typical node is dual platform, pc linux running expiremental software + mac running sony ziis signage software
• gesture based interaction using cameras built into phones
• lot of contributed content
• Lessons:
• Be sensitive to situation/environment you are deploying in (e.g. can't interfere with exams with noisy exhibit)
• Don't underestimate real deployment costs. Test where you are going to deploy.
• Content is the system and how it's perceived. Need to moderate, garden and nurture content as always!
• Where are they now?
• 6 live sites
• content is coming in
• solid hardware and software platform?
• 
  

• We use them every day: programmes, designers, etc have them
• Windows 98 had 9 displays because of Brady Bunch according to Tony
• bezels and things between provide means of organizing
• What happens when we have large displays where we didn't have them before?
• Large displays can change the way we work with computers and people
• Shadow Reaching:
• The computer sees us as 1 eye with a finger, mouse pointer i.e. x-y coordinate, not the rich way we interact with people
• embody users in large displays
• we've interacted with shadows our entire lives
• so that can help us
• use our entire body as interaction mechanism
• What if we had cameras that can figure out where our hands are (touch and drag demo)
• Problems: too large, can't reach etc.
• So instead, follow shadow around
• More fluid
• can also use rendered shadows instead of physical shadows
• Surface Affordances:
• what are large displays good for?
• We do use large displays aka "surfaces": whiteboards, flip charts, etc
• Observed teams of engineers using these surfaces
• Surfaces have to manage info, visibiliity and info-suface coupling
• management - how easy to group
• easy on whiteboard
• not easy to add all info
• visibility:
• horizontal vs. vertical
• what if screen was on table instead of at front of room
• coupling:
• how easy is it to manipulate info independent of surface
• e.g. you can tear flip chart, and move elsewhere, so less coupled than whiteboard info
• the problem is not how to build but
• Really understanding useful apps and how can we use them to work together
• On table top displays, reaching is still a problem
• 
  

Family Blog

• upload photos via Wifi to Family Blog app
• Family Blog is java app
• up to 5 users
• right now upload 1 at a time
• app to upload from phone
• back end is java on "media centre"
• server sits on Home Media PC - can run anywhere Java is situated
• Questions: RSS? permanent link