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@home with IT@home with IT
Andy Sloane
Professor of Telematics
The home computerThe home computer
Is this a home computer?Is this a home computer?
Or this?Or this?
IT @ home - OutlineIT @ home - Outline
What is meant by “home”The effect of information technology The changes in IT from “personal” to
“pervasive”The research problems of studying IT/ICT
in the home environmentIT= Information technologyICT= Information and communication technology
Using IT in the homeUsing IT in the home
The last 10 years has seen a huge growth in home “computing”
Internet access from home 2004 (UK Gov)
What is IT in the home?What is IT in the home?
Various concepts of the “home computer”Different contexts of use
– Individual use (e.g. homework)– Collective and co-operative (e.g shopping)
But mainly – leisure and entertainment related
What is a home?What is a home?
Home?Home?
Difficulty in definition of the home.Where we live?Where we ARE? (Wise 2000)
– Aspects of home in all locations of choice
Establishing a “milieu”– Sounds, scents and smells, arranging
objects/bodies, symbols…
Home?Home?
House Home– Especially with the embedding of ICT
Languages/Cultures differ in their definition of home– North/South Europe differences
Not inanimate objects– Presence, habits, effects of others
May not need a place but other people
Research problemResearch problem
We need to understand the dynamics of the home to be able to study the effects of the technology within it.
Not a technical computing problem but– Social – Psychological– Economic– Cultural
Research for future systemsResearch for future systems
Need to analyse use and behaviour– Assist design of future systems– Improve interfaces– Aid interaction and– Increase usability
Within the context and culture of the home
Technology in the homeTechnology in the home
“Our domesticity is shaped by social and technological changes associated with industrialisation” (Silverstone R 1993)– ICTs fundamentally affect what we mean by
home (changing the definition)– ICTs have liberated our domesticity from
dependence on physical location (extending the location)
Effects on home lifeEffects on home life
Home life now includes computing on a daily basis (changing the definition)– As a mediator with
Email between individuals Virtual communities File sharing Web cameras
Allow home to be experienced from a distance (extending the location)
Email and other ICT is location-independent
FamiliesFamilies
Family – a range of sociologically disparate relations
Families live in households – a “moral economy” – Where the private meets the public
90% of British families with a computer experience arguments over who gets to use the household computer (Livingstone and Bober, 2004)
ConflictConflict
ICTs can be used as markers of territory and power– e.g. Young person’s use of mobile phones– 43 per cent of parents of 9-17 year-olds impose
rules on Internet use (Livingstone and Bober, 2004)
ICTs are both products and producers of shifts in our domesticity
Problems of studying the Problems of studying the home? home?
The home is not an office – even with teleworking! (Hindus 1999)
– But work and home are intertwined
Consumers are not knowledge workers– Different power structures exist– Decisions are made differently
Families are not organizations– They are complex, dynamic structures and are all
different
Consumer inputConsumer input
Need informed consent– Easier in the workplace– Non-standard “users”
Homes can involve children and the aged
Difficult to define the boundaries of a studyInterviewers as guests or intruders?
Data gathering Data gathering
How do we gather information about the home Any intrusion in the home will affect the results of
the experiment (Hawthorne/Heisenberg effect)– Questionnaires– Interviews– Logs– Diaries
Methods usedMethods used
Ethnography (even in limited forms)– Long term, labour intensive
Use of trial/experimental homes– Special situation – not “home”
Using the researcher’s own home– Special sort of user– Not easy to extrapolate
Future homesFuture homes Smart homes
– Many scenarios and examples– Mainly automation– Remote control lights, heating and ventilation– Audio/Video networks
Conspicuous and visible technology
Example systemsExample systems
JDS technologies
Example – Home safety assistantExample – Home safety assistant
VHI Healthcare
Ubiquitous computingUbiquitous computing
Implicit, hidden and pervasive technologyMeeting many needs
– Physical– Social– Psychological– Emotional
New types of equipment New types of equipment
Interactive surfacesEveryday objects with intelligence
– Tables, chairs, walls, pictures
Emotional communication devices– Well-being monitors
Interactive Surface - DynamoInteractive Surface - Dynamo
Dynamo - a public multi-user interactive surface that supports the cooperative sharing and exchange of a wide range of media in a social setting
Intelligent table Intelligent table
Scenario - when a family member arrives at home and places their Orange mobile phone on the Intelligent Table, the table could recognise who owns that phone, and offer any of their favourite services – latest news, horoscopes, gig guide, sport alerts, weather etc… through the Message Cube, pre-programmed within existing Orange services through their web site – promoting Brand values and connectivity between Orange and the Home.
Designed by Dominic Smith for Orange. http://www.intelligenttable.net/
Personal monitorsPersonal monitors
Picture frames – with emotional/well-being information
Mynatt and Rowan, (2000)
New interactionsNew interactions
Affective computingGesture and haptic interfacesEye-tracking
Usability and acceptability issues
ProblemsProblems Security
– Information Viruses, denial of service attacks,
Privacy– Need to control outside access to personal information
Control– Complex technology needs technical expertise
Access– Based on need or ability to pay?
Ethical problem– Need to question the development of technology when it may
“harm” the user
HCI IssuesHCI Issues
Development of new style guides and standards for new forms of human-computer interface
Principles for accessing the same data and functions for multiple heterogeneous devices
New techniques for understanding what people do and why
Defining the equivalent of task in a leisure context Testing techniques for the home
ConclusionsConclusions
It is difficult to define EXACTLY what a home is
The home is a complex area to study ICT has a profound effect on the form and
function of what we call homeAccurate data gathering is still an active
research topic
ConclusionsConclusions
New paradigm – new problemsTechnical development alone is not enoughMulti-disciplinary research is essentialNew devices will be invented
– But, only some of them will be useful.
Home computer?Home computer?
Submarine consoleSubmarine console
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