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CHI 2007
By John Latta, WAVE 0709 8/3/07

April 30 – May 3, 2007
San Jose, CA

This is the 25th CHI conference. HCI is mainstream and the discipline of learning about what makes for effective interaction between individuals and computers is essential to providing products and services that work. There is pride here in the relatively short history of bringing rigor to the study of how humans interact with computers. Although the discipline has its roots in academia the conference is embedded with individuals from companies including Microsoft, Google, Intel, Yahoo and many others. This is a combination of celebration and the excitement of going beyond the GUI and mouse to the future of making technology useful.

Videowork

Dave Kirk and co-authors at the University of Nottingham and MSR Cambridge, discussed how the collection, editing and use of personal video is accomplished. He laid out a complex lifecycle for video from Pre-Capture to Post-Capture and Sharing. He found that video can be classified into Lightweight video that is spontaneous and heavyweight that is intended collection of video. The former tends to be done with mobile phones and the latter with camcorders. The sharing practices are also different with the mobile sourced video being shared on the spot while heavyweight is distributed on DVD and in the form of gifts. This latter is more like an edited movie. Another major distinction between the two types is that lightweight is not edited and heavyweight is.

Helping Memory

Vaiva Kalnikaite and Steve Whittaker, University of Sheffield, presented research on how to support human memory with devices. Using the notion of “digital prosthetic memory (PM)” which is similar to the 1945 Memex vision of Vannevar Bush, they examined when digital prosthetic memory is most effective and efficient. Used a device called ChittyChatty, which is a PDA based memory recorder, they showed that a device which is more efficient is better than one which is more accurate. When ones memory is poor, such as Alzheimer’s patients, the designers of PM have some hope in building a useful tool.

Sensecam – does it make sense?

MSR Cambridge and University of Cambridge, described a life logging technology reflected in Sensecam, a wearable camera. This also fits the role of a prosthetic memory device. When it came to remembering activities seen with the Sensecam this devices was better at triggering more remembering but those activities supported by Sensecam were forgotten faster. The authors stated that in spite of improving memory of events the issue is quite complex and needs additional study.

Photo Sharing

Andrew Miller of Schematic and Keith Edwards Georgia Tech examined the photo sharing culture. At the center of their examination is the impact of digital on the Kodak Culture. This is the taking of photos with friends and the sharing of the images. Such a culture is well engrained in society but is being changed by digital imaging. Two major impacts are the ability to instantly see the images and accomplishing sharing at a distance. The researchers wanted to know how has the Kodak Culture been impacted by photo sharing sites on the Web? They found that the Kodak Culture is alive and well in the digital world but that the privacy models do not yet support their needs. So far, e-mail is best adapted to their privacy needs.

But when they did the study of Flikr users they found a “contrast class” which they labeled as the snaprs. These latter individuals are almost the polar opposite of the Kodak Culture group. These individuals would shoot photos together, had DSLRs and posted without concern for privacy issues. The process of taking pictures and commenting on them is a social act. Most of what they do photographically is a public act while it is just the opposite of the Kodak Culture group which regards is photos as a private act.

Privacy in Photo Sharing

Yahoo Research Berkeley examined the privacy issues around photo sharing.

Yahoo now provides the ability to ZoneTag cell phone pictures (beta).

http://zonetage.research.yahoo.com/

These are uploaded with 2 clicks and included is automatic location and time metadata. From the phone one can change privacy settings and optionally tag.

In the research Yahoo did they found that photos with a “person” tab was private 72% of the time and only 56% for all submitted photos.

There are 4 themes to privacy: security, identity, social disclosure and convenience. If the object was self or other the characteristics of the privacy varied in each of the themes. One of the major considerations on privacy was identity. Yahoo illustrated these themes with typical statements on how individuals regarded the issues. For example, in identity management comments were made: images were unflattering, this might be embarrassing or my HR department might see me.

This talk was a complement to the earlier one by Schematic and Georgia Tech.

Intel Digital Home Vision

The small booth in the exhibits area was busy. The tag line attractive: Future Intel Digital Home Platform. This was a demo of an interactive display surface which was assembled in 3 months to show a vision for what is possible with off-the-shelf components. It was a PC under the covers but Intel states this is not necessary and the OS it runs is not even important. The core of the platform could be as simple as a web browser.

The central theme of the vision is the family and communications this platform could afford between members. The means is a touch screen display which goes in a central location in the home, shown in the booth illustration is the kitchen. One of the objectives is to show that this does not need a keyboard or a mouse to be valuable to the family.

The design of the interaction surface allows it to move vertically so that the height is adjustable for various family members. The touch screen can be controlled with a stylist or by finger.

This is called a “brush by” interface. There is even the prospect of an interface which is activated when family members are near it.

The central display has two parts: a family calendar which is pictorial and a scratch pad area. Drag and drop and blow up of objects are used to make for easy visualization. Another part of the display are small pictures of the family members and the family together. These are drag targets to move messages to these members.

Other display presentations are possible including web access, television and communications including VoIP.

It is possible to:

Write on the screen simple post-it like notes which can be time stamped for the future or to individual family members;

Access calendars of family members;

Access content on PCs in the home.

Communicate with cell phones.

Designate favorites such as school lunches

Integrate content or functionality with widgets

This is seen as a Web 2.0 extensible platform based on widgets. Shown were functions like personal chores such as cleaning room and walking the dog.

An adjustable clock is integrated with a cute interface to allow for scheduling to be included with communications.

There is one connection to the device – via the power cord. Network connectivity is provided over the power cord.

Intel stated this vision does not have to be on a PC. In fact, they seek to get away from the requirement of a mouse and keyboard. Web browsing is possible but seems almost secondary. Although widgets are supported it was stated that it may be best to use only widgets which are “family friendly” and possibly approved by some organization in advance. Television viewing is also present but again this is not the focus of the device.

Social Impact of Technology

Gary Marsden went from London in 1999 to the University of Cape Town. It was a life changing experience. He is a professor in Computer Science and has sought to bring technology to Africa. His talk was about some of the experiences.

We cannot use our expectations about technology in Africa when

12% of the population has Internet access
10% have land lines
11% pay income tax
77% have cell phones

Cellular does no rely on wires, can be used by the illiterate, can operate when there is no power, the devices are robust, the devices are subsidized and they are relatively cheap.

In bringing technology to this environment requires new design spaces:

There is no PC;

The cellular handset is the primary delivery means;

The technology is fixed and the handset cannot be changed – with the potential for software changes.

The cultural framework is different.

Training cycles can be very long – years

There is no concept of hierarchy

Innovation can be very creative but at a low level by western standards;

The lack of literacy frames many solutions;

There is a general lack of trust of technology; and

User interface is not important as individual have many hours of free time and will study use until they learn how to use it.

Examples were given of how technology has impacted lives.

Individuals share take, keep and share photos on the phone a personal live stories.

Illiterate wildlife trackers have exceptional abilities but communicating what they know is difficult in the bush. But phones which use icons to communicate what they have seen has changed their job.

Communications of AIDS treatment has been made much more effective with phone messaging tailored to this task.

Gary’s work is described in a recent book “Mobil Interaction Design.”

There is an important event coming up in 2008 – DIS in February.

http://www.sigchi.org/dis2008/

Excellent.

Wearable Computers

Eurotech Group of Italy showed a wrist worn computer. These have a 3.5” TFT LCD display integrated. The device is at right angles with one side being the entry pad and the other the display. It is worn on the wrist and fits well. There are multiple models. Pricing is $2,500 and targeted to vertical markets. The OS can be Windows CE or Linux. Eurotech groups seeks to develop the vertical market software as part of the device.

One of the more approachable product designs in the wearable space.

Wikipedia User Dynamics

PARC, in its Augmented Social Cognition Project, asked the question – is Wikipedia based on the power of the few or the wisdom of the crowd?

They began with a mapping of the participatory web sites based on a scale of level of collaboration. On the left with lightweight aboration is dig and reddit while heavy collaboration on the far right is Wikipedia.

The social dynamics have been classified as:

Cathedral – centralized development
Bazaar – decentralized coordination

Open Source assessment reveals that the successful projects have the impression of a “bazaar” development methodology but the reality is that centralization is a component of the success.

When applied to Wikipedia, Jimbo Wales, has commented on the “Gang of 500” and cited that in December 2004 2.5% of the users made 50% of the edits. This is consistent with the significant power the admins have.

Another view is that crowds of users are what is driving the content. PARC asked the question – which view is right?

PARC analyzed 4+ million pages and 58.5 million revisions. This resulted in 800+ GB of raw text. MySQL was used to hold the meta data.

The first analysis showed that the role of the admins peaked at 60% in 2003 but since has begun a steady decline to 15% or less. This would lead one to surmise that the “power of the crowd” has taken over. However, when the contribution of the top 500 was assessed it was found that its role has had the same peak in 2002/2004 with a significant decline in 2006.

Recent analysis has shown that the top 1% to top 3% of the edit contributors provide up to 70% of the edits. This is also a part of a long tail of participation. To further assess the role of these top contributors PARC analyzed the turnover of editors. On a month to month basis the retention was between 60% to 70%.

From this work they surmised that the both the concept of Centralized admin and the Gang for 500 just does not scale as the size of the content base grows. There is a power law of long tail distribution of editing. That is, a large group of contributions who remain present month after month make most of the edits but a long tail of low edit uses which also contribute to the content.

During the Q&A a number of questions were asked on how the methodology could be expanded but more importantly this type of analysis could be extended to YouTube and other participatory sites.

This type of analysis brings new insights into the role of participatory dynamics in social web sites.

Google View of Web 2.0

The current state of Web 2.0 was labeled as chaos. This is consistent with the history of rapid and mass movements into new markets and technologies. There is usually a major bust on the other side of the peak of interest. However this bleak view was tempered by the realization that important changes are taking place on this new wave of the Web.

At the center of Web 2.0 is the ability of users to control their own data. One of the key elements is to build trust. This requires the blending of editorial control with participation. It was cited that this provides a foundation architecture based on experience.

Some of these dynamics are reflected in the sites:

Farecast
Flyspy
Travelocity
Dig
The Hype Machine
Flickr
Del.icio.us

Supporting Child Development with Technology

Julie Kientz, part of a team of researchers at Georgia Tech College of Computing, examined how record keeping of child development could help children with development difficulties. The premise is that record keeping of child development can significantly aid in the diagnosis and treatment of early child development problems such as Autism.

1 in 6 children between the ages of 3 to 17 will be diagnosed with developmental, behavioral or emotional disorders.

Some of the early signs are not easily observed by parents such as:

First social interaction
Sought joint attention
Vocabulary of 50 words

The study sought, via interviews and focus groups, to determine the interest in development tracking, the issues to accomplish this, the role of caregivers and privacy concerns. The study found that the parents are very diverse in dealing with these emotionally heavy issues of child development.

The study proposed two concepts:

Interactive Digital Baby book
Smart baby monitor with automatic triggers

Technology could support parents to keep better records of child development.

Extending the Cell Phone to Provide Motion Information

Motorola Labs, Frank Bentley, began with a simple premise – what would happen if the cell phone shared personal motion information in manner similar to the AIM active/idle status. Moving/At-a-Place on a phone would be like Active/Idle. This became the motion presence application on a cell phone. It sends SMS from the moving phone to a family member with a similar phone. There were 10 participants which included 3 couples and a group of 4 friends.

The application went over very well. It provided the motion status of the individual to the other person. Knowing what the moving individual does during a day allowed for effective communication – such as, left work at this time – now moving and a call can be made. Others were able to sync up at a location more effectively. By periodic monitoring and knowledge of when motion began it was possible to estimate time of arrival. Privacy was not a major concern.

Making Home Networking Easy to Install

Knowing that home networking is hard to install, especially when security for wireless is involved, Cisco Linksys sought to make it easier on consumers and to decrease the number of technical support calls.

To understand customers ethnographic observations were done at retail and discussions were held with consumers both in store and home.

Clear personas emerged with supported targeting those which could use assistance. There were three rounds of usability testing. It was stated that the in-home assessment should have begun at the start of the effort given the insights that resulted from these.

The software created is EasyLink, it helped on a step by step basis the installation and it could detect other Linksys products on the home network.

EasyLink was a major stride forward. It reduced technical support calls by 42%.

One conclusion of the study is that improvements are needed in more intelligent hardware and that secure wireless connectivity is still too difficult

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Page updated 8/13/07
Copyright 4th Wave Inc, 2007