@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