Final Report Dfn

8/7/2019 Final Report Dfn

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/final-report-dfn 1/5

FINAL REPORTDigital Fieldnotes: An investigation into the relationship betweencollaboration and when/where information is generated. (FRDF

3626154/9506)

Once communication between heterogeneous series is established,

all sorts of consequences follow within the system. Something“passes” between the borders, events explode, phenomena flash,like thunder and lightening (Deleuze, 2004 p.144)

The project brought together researchers from diverse disciplines to examine therelationship between mobile media and collaboration, and served as a catalyst fora network of personnel and activities that could advance both these and

emergent themes from the work. The project was grounded in the theory of Wenger (1999) and Coyne (2010), however little stimulus was required for

potential participants to offer opinion and examples of how mobile devicesmanipulate, change and adjust situations. With mobile phones proving a catalystfor impassioned discussion and debate around information, collaboration andgroup working the research stimulated a wide range of both curiosity and concernregarding issues such as identity, synchronicity, inter-disciplinary, informationover load and interaction.

Figure 1: Group cluster of notes within the Digital Fieldnotes application.

The main thrust of the research was to develop a mobile software application(Figure 1) to run on iPhones and iPads that could be used to test differencesuppositions on group working. Different disciplines brought approaches and

methodology for developing the application – private computing consultants andComputer Science proved particularly adept at this. Architecture and construction

served as the focus for group working exemplars, meetings and designdiscussions being the main point of interest. Business and cultural studies raisedquestions and proposed workshops to test theories regarding digital media andidentity. The Geo-sciences and archaeology provided a divergent field of study

focusing on synchronicity and asynchronicity. Emergent themes have resulted



from the inter-disciplinary nature of the project and additional research continuesto be consolidated at the expiration of this project.

ActivitiesAs proposed a mobile application was designed and deployed on iPhones andiPads, also ‘test-cases’ were held with the mobile phone application beingdeployed in various contexts.

The application: digital fieldnotesThe digital fieldnotes iPhone application aims to create a framework based on thecontextual and temporal importance of informal information during the creative

process. The application allows for the organization of informal ‘fieldnotes,’ whichcan be text and imagery tagged by temporal and locative metadata. It enablesthe creation of groups, and participants within a group can access all thefieldnotes of that group.

Figure 2 Screenshots of the group selection screen and a typical 'fieldnote' containing bothtext and image

The digital fieldnotes application does not presume to replace face-to-facecommunication; rather it attempts to augment it by providing access to the furorsurrounding inter-disciplinary group working

Test case 1: group dynamicsThe application was deployed and used at group meetings. The PI, AI andconsultants met regularly throughout the project. The application was loadedonto the participants iPhone/iPad and used to log notes and asides related to theproject during and after the meetings.

Test case 2: problem solving

The project was deployed within a group of designers and business researchersexploring how mobile media can be used in the context of business.



Specific objectives of the researchAs outline in the research application, there were six research objectives:

1. Develop a software application: The dfn iPhone application that is

illustrated in Figure 1 & 2 has been completed. We are at the momentnegotiating its acceptance into Apples iTunes app store.

2. Use known Human Computer Interaction approaches to develop new waysto generate and interface with temporal and locative media: Havingdeveloped the application it has attracted a jointly supervised Mastersstudent, who has been appointed to explore this aspect of the research.

3. Use ReMo and eDelphi semantic mapping software to analyse the data:We have revealed that the politics of note taking on mobile devices—such

as text messaging for example—does not adhere to semantic conventions.This means that results that can be gained from semantically mappingtext generated on a mobile device are considerably less reliable thansemantically mapping well-written letters or documents. This has

implications for current developments in semantic mapping that may haveto consider the changing grammar conventions that operate on mobiledevices.

4. Identify when and where the application was beneficial and problematic:Note taking during the project meetings was problematic. It became

apparent quickly that there are certain group working contexts in whichparticipants needed to be cognitively ‘present.’ In such contexts notetaking was problematic. It proved beneficial in more asynchronoussituations. After a meeting, after time to reflect and digest the discussion– more pointed and reflective notes were added, often from very disparatelocations depending on when and where participants found themselves inan environment that catalysed such reflection.

5.

Publications, Output Targets & External Funding: Conference – The paper‘i-phone therefore I am’ has been accepted to the CAADFutures (PBRF Aranked) conference. Another paper ‘designing in techno-social landscapes’ is currently under review by the ‘Leonardo’ Journal. The other publicationproposals are scheduled in June 2011 on the project timeline.

External funding – the project has led to and is part of an application to

the Marsden Fund. The MIMEx Digital Trace project will investigate mobilecomputing that enables a ‘digital trace’ of activities and experiences in

place, creating an augmented reality (AR). Widespread use of AR is arecent occurrence and there exists a gap in the research to provideanalysis of the effect this technology exerts on place and vice versa. Theapplicants will develop, test and refine guidelines and a computingplatform with targeted case study groups. The broad outcomes areexpected to be insights into how place is transformed through thistechnology and how it can be effective in urban and rural landscapes.

Although the FoRST target for application is June 2011, changes in theFoRST funding body may require a reframing of the proposed project.

Research ThemesThe research was proposed to ‘seed’ future work. As the project is now wrappingup, several themes have been consolidated, and will be explored in future

research.



Electronic MemoryA digital topography now exists between, across and folded into objects and

places. Increasingly occupants are sensitised to this digital landscape and ‘check-

in’ using 4square or facebook. Incentives are given and new invisible territoriescreated, existing in parallel and exerting an effect on our built environment.Architecture has a long tradition of embedding memory in built objects. However,can we design for this electronic memory? How does this rich digital mediainfluence the perception of place and space?

Identity & LinkageScenes of revelry in Christchurch following events in Egypt and Libya serve as apoignant reminder that geographical identity now seems to be stronger thanever. People can be constantly linked to their country, local newspapers, andfriends no matter where they are. What effect does this have on cultural identity?

How has cultural identity changed with this linkage? What does this mean formulti-cultural cities? Are notions of cultural ‘indoctrination’ into a new cultureredundant? What resistances and opportunities does this produce for the

city/country as a social and cultural organ?

Inter-group dynamicsIn environments that are still subject to the ravages of nature data gatheringremains an analogue process. However a new generation of smart phone andtablet mobile computing is changing that. Although we take synchronouscommunication as a given in our current situation, Within processes such as of governance, and environmental or archaeological investigation, groups andindividuals work autonomously recording and logging data in pro-forma layouts.

Quickly identifying both inconsistencies and agreements in such environments isimportant, however being able to align a single groups data can be timeconsuming, let alone analysing inter-group dynamics, consistency andresonances. The digital fieldnotes applications presents the possibility of the livelogging of data and tagging it with group as well as locative information. Can thissupposed benefit actually help inter-group working? How can we display, mineand interact with such complex information?

Good enough = Great!A raft of new technologies that are not ‘great’ are sweeping the digital landscape.There strength is that they are cheaper than ‘great’ or sophisticated technology,they are easy to use and often they can be easily appropriated for personalmodification. Design and construction continue to use sophisticated andexpensive hardware and software – is there opportunity in deploying easy to usead-hoc applications on mobile devices for appropriation and manipulation withinthe design and construction context?

Related and Planned ProjectsThe project and the research cluster that has formed around the project hascontributed to the following:

1. Augmented Architecture: Current architecture/computer sciencecollaborative project underway. Developed under the aegis of ‘goodenough = great!’ Using handheld Augmented Reality Technology to deliver

information to its geographical location. Unlike current BIM methodology itdoes not propose to detect clashes and inconsistency, which can be

registered by the small number of participants who can use these complexsoftwares. Rather it proposes to free up such information and put it in the



hands of more participants on site, providing deeper access to localisedand pertinent information.

2. Kinect to Architecture: Current architecture/computer science collaborative

project underway. The use of gaming technology to enhance navigation of models and virtual construtions.

3. Marsden Application: Digital Trace - Memory, Interpersonal Meaning andExperience of Places. The Digital Trace project will explore the notion of a‘digital trace’ of activities and experiences in place, creating an augmentedreality (AR). Widespread use of AR is a recent occurrence and there exists

a gap in the research to provide analysis of the effect this technologyexerts on place and vice versa. The applicants will develop, test and refine

guidelines and a computing platform with targeted case study groups. Thebroad outcomes are expected to be insights into how place is transformedthrough this technology and how it can be effective in urban and rurallandscapes.

4. ConVR Conference: From the above masters projects, two submission hasbeen made to the PBRF ‘B’ ranked conference. They are currently underpeer review.

Project plan reviewThe purchase and installation of the virtual server took over 6 months of this 12-month research project. It should take no more than 1 month. This was due to acombination of unclear ordering procedures and inadequate communication of thevirtual server’s set up requirements through Faculty IT to ITS. The test caseswere rescheduled to accommodate later data gathering, and the volume of datawas down sized. The ethics application covered the entire duration of the projectso this did not impede the project outcomes. However, the scope of future work

could have been increase with timely delivery of the equipment.

ExpenditureExpenditure went according to the intended budget outline in the projectapplication. There were some fluctuation in hardware cost but these weremitigated against other costs within the project budget. Balance as of March wasNZ$4397, final invoice of NZ$4025 (excluding GST) was submitted 4 th April.

Documents

Final Report Dfn