Mobile persuasive interfaces for public ambient displays

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Through the use of persuasive technology, it is possible to influence the attitudes and behaviors of people in order to lead them to perform actions that, probably, they would not do otherwise. Thus, this technology can be used in several domains such as health, education, business, safety and environment in order to obtain positive changes. This dissertation aims to bring awareness of the consequences of users’ actions on the natural resources of our planet, which are not infinite. Therefore, it was designed and implemented Gaea, a prototype that introduces new forms of interaction between mobile devices and public ambient displays, allied to the use of persuasive technology. Gaea allows users to recycle virtual objects spread on a geographical area, using a mobile device to locate and collect the virtual objects that should be dropped on the correct virtual recycle bins, that are available when near the public ambient display. It is also studied the impact of this type of interaction in the users’ environmental behavior, and if the use of persuasion through social networks has an impact on the popularity of the prototype. The results obtained were very positive, and may give a considerable contribution to the future development of pervasive applications, that increase people awareness and influence a large number of people to change their attitudes and behaviors, regardless the area of study.