Food futures: Three provocations to challenge HCI interventions

Our contemporary concerns about food range from food security to agricultural sustainability to getting dinner on the table for family and friends. This book investigates food issues as they intersect with participatory Internet culture--blogs, wikis, online photo- and video-sharing platforms, and social networks in efforts to bring about a healthy, socially inclusive, and sustainable food future. Focusing on our urban environments provisioned with digital and network capacities, and drawing on such "bottom-up" sociotechnical trends as DIY and open source, the chapters describe engagements with food and technology that engender (re-)creative interactions.

Proceedings of the Digital Cities 9 Workshop - Hackable Cities – From Subversive City Making to Systemic Change (Workshop) [Edited Proceedings]

The DC9 workshop takes place on June 27, 2015 in Limerick, Ireland and is titled “Hackable Cities: From Subversive City Making to Systemic Change”. The notion of “hacking” originates from the world of media technologies but is increasingly often being used for creative ideals and practices of city making. “City hacking” evokes more participatory, inclusive, decentralized, playful and subversive alternatives to often top-down ICT implementations in smart city making. However, these discourses about “hacking the city” are used ambiguously and are loaded with various ideological presumptions, which makes the term also problematic. For some “urban hacking” is about empowering citizens to organize around communal issues and perform aesthetic urban interventions. For others it raises questions about governance: what kind of “city hacks” should be encouraged or not, and who decides? Can city hacking be curated? For yet others, trendy participatory buzzwords like these are masquerades for deeply libertarian neoliberal values. Furthermore, a question is how “city hacking” may mature from the tactical level of smart and often playful interventions to the strategic level of enduring impact. The Digital Cities 9 workshop welcomes papers that explore the idea of “hackable city making” in constructive and critical ways.

Semi-automated annotation of environmental acoustic recordings

Environmental sensors collect massive amounts of audio data. This thesis investigates computational methods to support human analysts in identifying faunal vocalisations from that audio. A series of experiments was conducted to trial the effectiveness of novel user interfaces. This research examines the rapid scanning of spectrograms, decision support tools for users, and cleaning methods for folksonomies. Together, these investigations demonstrate that providing computational support to human analysts increases their efficiency and accuracy; this allows bioacoustics projects to efficiently utilise their valuable human analysts.

Mood enhancement using smartphone apps

The significant physical, emotional, educational and social developmental challenges faced by adolescents and young adults are associated with high levels of emotional vulnerability. Thus, the development and use of effective emotion-regulation strategies during this period is critical. Music listening is commonly used by young people to identify, express, enhance and regulate their emotions. Modern mobile technology provides an engaging, easily accessible means of assisting young people with identifying and managing emotions through music. A systematic contextual review of iPhone applications addressing emotions through music was conducted. Their quality was evaluated by two independent raters using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Three participatory design workshops (PDW; N=13, 6 males, 7 females; age 15-25) were conducted, exploring young people’s use of music to enhance wellbeing. Young people were also asked to trial existing mood and music apps and to conceptualise their ultimate mood-targeting music application. Of the identified 117 music apps, 20 met inclusion criteria (to play songs, not sounds; priced below $5.00). Characteristics and overall quality of the music apps are described and key features of the five highest- rating apps are presented. Thematic analysis of the PDW content identified the following music affect- regulation strategies: relationship building, modifying cognitions, modifying emotions, and immersing in emotions (i.e. habituation or mood enhancement). The application of key learnings from the mobile app review and PDW to the design and development of the new music eScape app will be presented. Implications for future research and for applying the new app in clinical practice are discussed.

Approaches to curriculum development in Vietnamese higher education: A case study

This research used a case study approach to examine curriculum understandings and the processes of curriculum development at a Vietnamese university. The study proposes a participatory model for curriculum development contextualized for Vietnamese higher education. The study found that the curriculum is understood in diverse and sometimes conflicting ways by students, academics and administrative staff, and is developed in a hierarchical manner. Hence, the participatory model incorporates recommendations for effective practices of curriculum development at different levels within Vietnamese universities.

Students’ well-being and social connections

Description of Workshop/Poster Presentation This presentation will showcase CORE Connections – ‘Creating Opportunities for Resilience and Engagement’ – which is a whole-school approach to mental health promotion. While initially designed to prevent adolescent depression and substance abuse, current thinking suggests that competency enhancement (e.g., autonomy, competence, supportive networks) more widely improves students’ well-being, educational engagement, and learning outcomes. In the presentation, we will provide an overview of the CORE project, describe the CORE intervention, which is conceptualized as a dynamic and penetrating process of social practices, present some preliminary findings from the pilot phase of CORE, and conclude our presentation with an interactive section with the participants. This project will highlight a wellness focus that addresses social engagement within whole school cultures. Purpose of the Presentation Student mental and physical well-being has gained increasing attention. Our presentation will introduce the CORE project, which has a potential to decrease student depression, anxiety, and substance use, and to increase student self-esteem and learning outcomes. In this vein, our presentation will raise the public awareness of the salient role of social connection in student well-being. Specifically, a group of presenters will discuss the impact of social connection on students’ anxiety, mathematics achievement, and perceived racial discrimination. • We will present participants with an alternative way to conceptualize and approach mental health promotion within a school context. In contrast to prescribed programs that are commonly used in today’s schools, CORE is a whole-school approach that is flexibly integrated into all aspects of the classroom and school environment. Our aim is to illustrate the intervention principles of CORE while highlighting examples of mental health outcomes/transformation. • Underutilized in mental health promotion research, social network analysis provides critical information in understanding relationships between social cohesion (e.g., a student’s connectedness to others) and mental health outcomes. This session will showcase how focusing on and strengthening social connections in and out of school can contribute to student well-being, achievement, and mental health. Educational Objectives By the end of the presentation, participants will • obtain a general overview of the CORE program, • understand how psychological health and school performance relate to student well-being, • and understand how social connections in and out of school can contribute to student well-being. Interactive / Participatory Component We will invite audience members to discuss inhibitors and contributors to student well-being and the best ways for schools to help students feel safe, connected, and valued. Presentation Key Points • Overview of the CORE project • Theorization of social connection • Some empirical studies emerging from CORE • Presenter-audience interaction Evidence of Relevance and Utility to Participants Potential participants are adults with significant relationships with students, either as family members, community neighbors, educators, scholars, service providers, or policy makers. Our presentation will inspire these significant adults to construct a welcoming society to help improve student well-being.

Art museums and the global tourist: Experience centres in experience-scapes

In the experience economy, the role of art museums has evolved so as to cater to global cultural tourists. These institutions were traditionally dedicated to didactic functions, and served cognoscenti with elite cultural tastes that were aligned with the avant-garde’s autonomous stance towards mass culture. In a post-avant-garde era however museums have focused on appealing to a broad clientele that often has little or no knowledge of historical or contemporary art. Many of these tourists want art to provide entertaining and novel experiences, rather than receiving pedagogical ‘training’. In response, art museums are turning into ‘experience venues’ and are being informed by ideas associated with new museology, as well as business approaches like Customer Experience Management. This has led to the provision of populist entertainment modes, such as blockbuster exhibitions, participatory art events, jazz nights, and wine tasting, and reveals that such museums recognize that today’s cultural tourist is part of an increasingly diverse and populous demographic, which shares many languages and value systems. As art museums have shifted attention to global tourists, they have come to play a greater role in gentrification projects and cultural precincts. The art museum now seems ideally suited to tourist-centric environments that offer a variety of immersive sensory experiences and combine museums (often designed by star-architects), international hotels, restaurants, high-end shopping zones, and other leisure forums. These include sites such as Port Maravilha urban waterfront development in Rio de Janiero, the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, and the Chateau La Coste winery and hotel complex in Provence. It can be argued that in a global experience economy, art museums have become experience centres in experience-scapes. This paper will examine the nature of the tourist experience in relation to the new art museum, and the latter’s increasingly important role in attracting tourists to urban and regional cultural precincts.

Community uses of co-creative media. Digital storytelling and Co-creative Media : The role of community arts and media in propagating and coordinating population-wide creative practice

This report describes a dynamic ‘Co-creative Media System’ that is emerging in the social space bounded by the following institutional pillars: • major cultural institutions (including screen culture agencies, libraries, museums, galleries and public service broadcasters) • the Community Arts and Cultural Development sector (historically supported through various programs of the Australia Council for the Arts) • the community broadcasting sector • the Indigenous media sector, and • the higher education sector. It illustrates how this system activates the immense creative potential of the Australian population through the ongoing development and application of participatory storytelling methods and media.

Keep It Tame: Promoting respect online Safe And Well Online Pilot Study: Evaluating the design, engagement and impact of a social marketing approach aimed at 12 to 18 year olds

This report describes the Year One Pilot Study processes, and articulates findings from the major project components designed to address these challenges noted above (See Figure 1). Specifically, the pilot study tested the campaign research and development process involving participatory design with young people and sector partners, and the efficacy and practicality of conducting a longitudinal, randomised control trial online with minors, including ways oflinking survey data to campaign data. Each sub-study comprehensively considered the ethical requirements of conducting online research with minors in school settings. The theoretical and methodological framework for measuring campaign engagement and efficacy (Sub-studies 3, 4 and 5) drew on the Model of Goal-Directed Behaviour (MGB) (Perugini & Bagozzi 2001) and Nudge Theory (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008).

‘Appreciate A Mate’ Helping others to feel good about themselves. Safe and Well Online: A report on the development and evaluation of a positive messaging social marketing campaign for young people.

This report describes the Year Two/Campaign Two processes, and articulates findings from the major project components designed to address the challenges noted above (see Figure 1). Three major components comprise the Safe and Well Online project: 1) A participatory design (PD) process involving young people and sector partners (UWS) for; 2) campaign development (Zuni & Digital Arts Network); and 3) a cohort study (University of South Australia) to evaluate campaign effectiveness and attitude and behaviour change. Each sub-study comprehensively considered the ethical requirements of conducting online research with minors. The theoretical and methodological framework for measuring campaign engagement and efficacy (Sub-studies 3, 4 and 5) drew on the Model of Goal Directed Behaviour (MGB) (Perugini & Bagozzi 2001) and Nudge Theory (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). This report extends the findings and conclusions of the Year One Pilot Study ‘‘Keep it Tame’’ (Spears et.al, 2015), and details the development and evaluation of the second of four Safe and Well Online Campaigns—‘‘Appreciate A Mate’: Helping others feel good about themselves’.

Indigenous ways with literacies: Transgenerational, multimodal, placed, and collective

This research describes some of the salient features of Indigenous ways of working with multimodal literacies in digital contexts of use that emerged within an Indigenous school community with the oversight of Aboriginal Elders. This is significant because the use of multimodal literacy practices among a growing number of Indigenous school community groups has not been an emphasis of multimodal literacy research to date. Furthermore, authentic examples of Indigenous multimodal texts are often difficult to locate within Euro-centric educational systems of postcolonial countries. The research was conducted over a full year with students from middle and upper primary (aged 8.5–12.5 years) in an Indigenous Independent school in South-East Queensland, Australia. The project applied participatory research methods in which the research agenda was negotiated with the cultural community. Indigenous ways of multimodal literacy practices emerged as transgenerational, multimodal, placed, and collective. The findings have implications for teachers and researchers to re-envisage Indigenous ways of multimodal literacy practices in the digital age.

Somali perspectives on physical activity: PhotoVoice to address barriers and resources in San Diego

Although many immigrants enter the United States with a healthy body weight, this health advantage disappears the longer they reside in the United States. To better understand the complexities of obesity change within a cultural framework, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, PhotoVoice, was used, focusing on physical activity among Muslim Somali women. The CBPR partnership was formed to identify barriers and resources to engaging in physical activity with goals of advocacy and program development. Muslim Somali women (n = 8) were recruited to participate, trained and provided cameras, and engaged in group discussions about the scenes they photographed. Participants identified several barriers, including safety concerns, minimal culturally appropriate resources, and financial constraints. Strengths included public resources and a community support system. The CBPR process identified opportunities and challenges to collaboration and dissemination processes. The findings laid the framework for subsequent program development and community engagement.

Assessment of antenna characteristic effects on pedestrian and cyclists travel-time estimation based on Bluetooth and WiFi MAC addresses

Monitoring pedestrian and cyclists movement is an important area of research in transport, crowd safety, urban design and human behaviour assessment areas. Media Access Control (MAC) address data has been recently used as potential information for extracting features from people’s movement. MAC addresses are unique identifiers of WiFi and Bluetooth wireless technologies in smart electronics devices such as mobile phones, laptops and tablets. The unique number of each WiFi and Bluetooth MAC address can be captured and stored by MAC address scanners. MAC addresses data in fact allows for unannounced, non-participatory, and tracking of people. The use of MAC data for tracking people has been focused recently for applying in mass events, shopping centres, airports, train stations etc. In terms of travel time estimation, setting up a scanner with a big value of antenna’s gain is usually recommended for highways and main roads to track vehicle’s movements, whereas big gains can have some drawbacks in case of pedestrian and cyclists. Pedestrian and cyclists mainly move in built distinctions and city pathways where there is significant noises from other fixed WiFi and Bluetooth. Big antenna’s gains will cover wide areas that results in scanning more samples from pedestrians and cyclists’ MAC device. However, anomalies (such fixed devices) may be captured that increase the complexity and processing time of data analysis. On the other hand, small gain antennas will have lesser anomalies in the data but at the cost of lower overall sample size of pedestrian and cyclist’s data. This paper studies the effect of antenna characteristics on MAC address data in terms of travel-time estimation for pedestrians and cyclists. The results of the empirical case study compare the effects of small and big antenna gains in order to suggest optimal set up for increasing the accuracy of pedestrians and cyclists’ travel-time estimation.

Health and prevention among East African women in the U.S.

African-born individuals in the U.S. face significant health challenges, including low utilization of preventive screening services. Using a community-based participatory research framework, we describe preliminary efforts at establishing a collaborative relationship with the East African communities of San Diego, identifying salient community health needs, and developing a framework for disseminating information and addressing identified health gaps. To this end, 40 East African-born women participated in focus groups with the purpose of eliciting community perspectives on U.S. health care services, beliefs about preventive screening, and to garner recommendations for future outreach. Qualitative analyses identified participants’ desire to engage in primary prevention techniques that incorporated best practices from their home countries and the U.S., and the need for health education programs to provide information on increasingly prevalent chronic diseases. The findings are discussed in connection with continued community-engaged efforts and the implications for health and resettlement policies to reduce inequities disfavoring resettled refugees.

Friends or foes: Group influence effects on moderate drinking behaviors

Drunkenness and the addictive consumption of alcohol remains a key social and public health concern. Advancing beyond traditional individualized prevention approaches, this research explores the role of social influences in determining individual and group influence in moderate-drinking decision-making and participatory actions. A social influence model of intentional moderate drinking actions is conceptualized and validated. Results show group norm as the single social influence predictor of intentions and desire to drink moderately, as opposed to well-known social influence factors (e.g., subjective norm, social identity and drinking contextual effects). Significantly, the peer-group is identified as a key influencer supporting moderate drinking practices, and i-intentions to drink moderately predict group-related we-intentions, which suggests that moderate drinking is a shared goal. These findings advance alcohol prevention research drawing attention to the power of group dynamics to support positive changes in youth drinking behaviors.