Upload
susan-wyche
View
244
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Extraordinary Computing: Religion as a Lens for Reconsidering the Home
Susan P. Wyche Rebecca E. GrinterGeorgia Institute of TechnologySchool of Interactive Computing
Christians
2.1 billion33%
Muslims1.5
billion20%
Hindus
900 Million
13%
Buddhists376
Million6%
OtherIncludes Jews,
Pagans, Scientologist,
etc.13%
Non-religious and
atheists14%
-Numbers from www.adherents.com/
Major Religions of the World and Adherents
What should HCI do with respect to this trend?
We use religion as a lens to examine the assumptions and values that shape future domestic environments.
Overview
Related Work
Our Study
Findings•Material Artifacts•Routines•ICT Use
Discussion•Moving towards Extraordinary Computing
Conclusion and Acknowledgments
} Christians distinguish these from their secular counterparts.
Related Work
ICTs and Religion•Rather than focusing on the individual’s online experiences, I examined how offline faith takes people online.
HCI and the Home•Prior research paints a rich picture of secular life.
•Focused on established themes: Material Artifacts, Routines, and ICT use
Methods •We used semi-structured interviews and in-home tours during this project.•Guided by “technology biographies” (Blythe, et al. 2002)
Participants•20 Individuals (15 women and 5 men)•21-68 years old•Majority described themselves as “born again.”•All reported going to church at least once a month with 15 attending weekly.
Our Study
Findings
•Material Artifacts•ICT Use•Routines Christians distinguish religion
and faith-related artifacts, routines, and ICT use from their
secular counterparts.
Material Artifacts
Temporality of Material Artifacts
Yeah, well – I’ll change the verse every other two or three months. I have a new one now, and it is about forgiveness, but I like to keep them up there for a while.
Routines
Weekly Routines
Well, I worship every Sunday morning, this has been a lifelong habit, I could count on one hand the number of times I haven't been to church on a Sunday morning during my life.
Weekly Routines
When I wake up on Sunday morning, like, I wake up in the morning, um, you know, it’s like faith got me, and I wake up and get ready for church.
Participants described using email differently :
•Used ICTs to project a Christian identity and in some cases evangelize or spread their faith.
ICT Use
I believe that my prayers send those invisible guardian angels, and God honors it. But can I prove that? The only way… Who would know? No one will ever know, until we get to Heaven… I have no evidence.
Discussion: Extraordinary Computing
Systems that recognize, support,
and honor meaningful aspects in users’ domestic lives.
Extraordinary Computing’ s Characteristics
•Temporality•Reflection•Enduring
Temporality
Imagining new ways systems present time:
•Calendaring applications should support customization so that people can separate and promote the days of their choice, or set apart those that have more significance than others do.
HoliDates
http://www.theripplefactory.com/
Reflection
Connect users with meaningful experiences/interests :
•Calendars support identity projection and highlight the special, yet this has been overlooked in many digital calendaring systems.
Enduring
Imagining ways to promote long lasting systems :
•Embedding enduring qualities into ICTs. Note that the ritual does not have to be directly tied to religion. Other processes, such as inheritance, or being a part of a collection, as also contributing to an object’s significance.
Conclusions
I make two contributions to the CHI community with this work.
•Empirical evidence demonstrating that Christians distinguish faith-related artifacts, domestic routines, and ICT use from their secular counterparts.
•Present “extraordinary computing” as an alternative way to imagine future computing devices and applications in the home.
Acknowledgements/ Questions?
I am grateful to participants for sharing their stories. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Intel Research Council. Thank you
Beki Grinter, anonymous reviewers, and Genevieve Bell.