Messeter (2009) - Place-Specific Computing
From Inventiopedia
Messeter, J. (2009). "Place-specific computing: A place-centric perspective for digital designs". International Journal of Design, 3(1), 29-41.
This paper explores the idea that interaction design needs to pay more attention to the complexities of place as context - that is both the social and cultural aspects, as well as the material. "Arguably, we have reached a point at which it makes sense to design interactive digital systems and services for specific places" (p. 29).
"The focus of this article is to discuss a place-centric perspective for the design of digital systems and services, in which functionality, as well as information content, emanate from the place of use." (p. 31)
Location Awareness and Place
"One of the earliest examples of a location-aware system is CyberGuide (Abowd et al., 1997), a mobile context-aware tour guide, which uses location and the history of past locations to provide contextual information to tourists. Prototypes of the system were tested with visitors to a research center at Georgia Tech, but the intended use was for tourist locations in general." (p. 31)
"In the Cyberguide project, despite the technological limitations, Abowd et al. (1997) envisioned systems with dynamic location-based information and user-generated content. These ideas were later realized, for example in the Geonotes system by Persson, Espinoza, and Cacciatore (2001) that allowed users to annotate locations with “virtual notes. Current examples also enable communities to develop around place-specific content. Stewart et al. (2008) have presented Talking Points, an urban orientation system that enhances walking journeys with contextual information about points of interest along a route. The information content is community-generated, rendering users as active contributors rather than passive information consumers. Bilandzic, Foth, and De Luca (2008) take this notion one step further with CityFlocks, a mobile application providing local information to visitors in public urban settings. The application builds on indirect social navigation, through local residents rating restaurants, etc. But, in addition, direct social navigation is also provided, with which the user can get advice from local people via phone or SMS. However, user tests showed that most people prefer indirect social navigation, and that contacting a stranger for advice feels uncomfortable." (pp. 31-32)
"To conclude, by restricting the scope of design to information content and efficient matching of broad user needs, current research on location-aware systems typically assumes a design perspective that is user-centric rather than place-centric." (p. 32)
Place-specific Computing as a Genre of Interaction Design
"...Löwgren and Stolterman (1998, 2004) have introduced the notion of genre to interaction design, which may be understood as a class of digital systems or products that share certain properties deemed as important from a design perspective."
"As a genre of interaction design, place-specific computing may be described as computing in which the designed functionality of systems and services, as well as information provided by these systems and services, are inherently grounded in and emanating from the social and cultural practices of a particular place, and account for the structuring conditions of place – social and cultural as well as material."
Granularity
"One of the most obvious observations from these examples is that place-specific computing can operate on many different scales."
"Places maintain their identity through shared perceptions of their specific culture as part of their on-going social construction. The scale of place, and the scope of place-specific computing concepts, is therefore strongly rooted in identity. Consequently, designing place-specific computing requires an understanding of identity." (37-38)
--Anders Sundnes Løvlie 19:48, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
