The design and evaluation of a mobile sensor/actuator network for autonomous animal control

This paper investigates a mobile, wireless sensor/actuator network application for use in the cattle breeding industry. Our goal is to prevent fighting between bulls in on-farm breeding paddocks by autonomously applying appropriate stimuli when one bull approaches another bull. This is an important application because fighting between high-value animals such as bulls during breeding seasons causes significant financial loss to producers. Furthermore, there are significant challenges in this type of application because it requires dynamic animal state estimation, real-time actuation and efficient mobile wireless transmissions. We designed and implemented an animal state estimation algorithm based on a state-machine mechanism for each animal. Autonomous actuation is performed based on the estimated states of an animal relative to other animals. A simple, yet effective, wireless communication model has been proposed and implemented to achieve high delivery rates in mobile environments. We evaluated the performance of our design by both simulations and field experiments, which demonstrated the effectiveness of our autonomous animal control system.

Participatory analysis of mobile diaries to inform the design of ridesharing systems

In many “user centred design” methods, participants are used as informants to provide data but they are not involved in further analysis of that data. This paper investigates a participatory analysis approach in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of involving participants collaboratively in the requirements analysis process. Findings show that participants are able to use information that they themselves have provided to analyse requirements and to draw upon that analysis for design, producing insights and suggestions that might not have been available otherwise to the design team. The contribution of this paper is to demonstrate an example of a participatory analysis process.

Noise detectives : design implications for mobile learning

In this paper, we present an account of children's interactions with a mobile technology prototype within the school context. The noise detectives trial was conducted in a school setting with the aim of better understanding the role of mobile resources as mediators within science and environmental learning activities. Over 80 children, aged between 10 and 12, completed an outdoor data-gathering activity, using a mobile learning prototype that included paper and software components. They measured and recorded noise levels in various locations throughout the school. We analysed the activity to determine how the components of the prototype were integrated into the learning activity, and to identify differences in behaviour that resulted from using these components. We present design implications that resulted from observed differences in prototype use and appropriation.

Human-centred methods for design of mobile social technologies : a case study of agile ridesharing

Social contexts are possible information sources that can foster connections between mobile application users, but they are also minefields of privacy concerns and have great potential for misinterpretation. This research establishes a framework for guiding the design of context-aware mobile social applications from a socio-technical perspective. Agile ridesharing was chosen as the test domain for the research because its success relies upon effectively connecting people through mobile technologies.

Food talks back : Exploring the role of mobile applications in reducing domestic food wastage

Mitigating domestic food waste reduces its environmental and economic impacts. In our study, we have identified the use of mobile technology to support behaviour change as a key tool to assist the process of reducing food waste. This paper reports on three mobile applications designed to reduce domestic food waste: Fridge Pal, LeftoverSwap and EatChaFood. The paper examines how each app can influence consumer knowledge of domestic food supply, location, and literacy. We discuss our findings with respect to three considerations: (i) assisting with the user’s food supply and location knowledge; (ii) improving the user’s food literacy; (iii) facilitating social food sharing of excess food. We present new insights for mobile interventions that encourage changes towards more sustainable behaviours to reduce food waste.

Street reads - Creating mobile walking events

By 2012 mobile devices had become the main interface for people to access information about anything from their current GPS position to the latest book reviews. What was less accessible were tools and techniques for writers to leverage this new technology to construct and distribute located stories. This project began with a series of master classes for local Brisbane writers to demonstrate processes and techniques for imagining, constructing and distributing stories. Most significantly, this project equipped writers with how to identify and adopt various mobile services and applications to research, produce and deliver packaged multi-modal content for readers to access and experience stories in the very locations from which they were inspired. Four stories by four writers were selected to be developed and published as location-based events in four different neighbourhoods across Brisbane. These writers were mentored throughout the writing process and a model was developed for them to simply upload several multi-modal chapters for access on location by readers using QR codes. These activities culminated in a major 25 day event presented by Brisbane City Council and supported by Brisbane Writers Festival and Queensland Writers Centre. The 'Street Reads' event presented the four stories on location in Cannon Hill, Darra, Toowong and West End. The significance of the Street Reads project went beyond extending the capacity for writers to access mobile technologies as a new platform for distributing stories. This event also motivated readers to travel to neighbourhoods to experience them in ways that had not previously imagined possible. These located stories were fictionalisations of actual events and characters that have current and historic importance to these places. These histories are hidden from view and yet can provide locals and visitors with a new found appreciation for the past and set an example for how neighbourhoods can become active stages for the sharing of stories inspiring a deeper connection with each other and an agency for participating in the development of the identity of the local places they inhabit together. Due to the success of the project and by employing more advanced tools now available, Street reads has been further developed by Brisbane City Council and is now available as a the Story City App available for download at itunes.

‘Healthy mobile check-ins’ study: using GIS in smartphones to track use of urban environment by survivors of endometrial cancer

Aims/Objectives Our study aims to test the capacity of a newly developed smartphone innovation to obtain data on social, structural, and spatial determinants of the daily health-related behaviours of women living in urban Brisbane neighbourhoods who have survived endometrial cancer. Methods The women used a mobile web app designed specifically for the project to record GIS/location data on every destination they visited within their local urban neighbourhoods over a two-week period. Additionally, we gathered textual data on the social context/reasons for travel, as well as mode of transport to reach these destinations. The data was transported to SPSS and Google Earth for statistical and spatial analysis. We then met with the women to discuss lifestyle interventions to maximise their use of their local neighbourhoods in ways that could increase their physical activity levels and improve their overall health and well-being. These interventions will be evaluated and translated into a large-scale national study if effective. Results Initial findings about patterns in the group’s use of the local urban environment will be displayed, including daily distances travelled, types of locations visited, walking levels, use of public transport, use of green spaces and use of health-related resources. Any socio-demograpahic differences found between the women will be reported. Qualitative, quantitative, and spatial/mapping data will be displayed Conclusion The benefits and limitations of the mobile website designed to collect a range of data types about human-neighbourhood interactions with implications for intervention design will be discussed.

Achievement unlocked: Investigating the design of effective gamification experiences for mobile applications and devices

This thesis investigates the design of motivating and engaging software experiences. In particular it examines the use of video game elements in non-game contexts, known as gamification, and how to effectively design gamification experiences for smartphone applications. The original contribution of this thesis is a novel framework for designing gamification, derived from an iterative process of evaluating gamified prototypes. The outcomes of this research can help us to better understand the impact of gamification in today's society and how it can be used to design more effective software.

Dressing up Tinderella: Interrogating authenticity claims on the mobile dating app Tinder

Mobile dating applications (‘apps’) have increased in popularity over recent years, with Tinder among the first to break into the mainstream heterosexual market. Since mobile dating intensifies the need to confirm that potential dates are not misrepresenting themselves and are safe to meet in person, Tinder’s success indicates that it has allayed these concerns regarding the authenticity of its users. This article combines Giddens’ conceptualization of authenticity, as the ability to reference a coherent biographical narrative, with Callon’s sociology of translation to investigate Tinder’s framing of authenticity within mobile dating. Applying a walkthrough method that interrogates Tinder’s technological architecture, promotional materials, and related media, this hybrid theoretical framework is used to identify how Tinder configures an actor-network that establishes its app as the solution to users’ concerns, enrols individuals in using its features in authenticity claims, and popularizes Tinder’s framing across public discourse. This network of human and non-human actors frames authenticity as being established through one’s Facebook profile and adherence to normative standards relating to age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. However, user discourses on other social media identify and challenge negative outcomes of this framing, with normativity fostering discrimination and Facebook verification failing to prevent abusive behavior. This case study of Tinder paves the way for future investigation into user responses to its framing. Further, it demonstrates the efficacy and broader applicability of this theoretical approach for identifying both human and technological influences on the construction of authenticity with digital media.

Mobile Dating and Hookup App Culture

This chapter surveys the landscape of mobile dating and hookup apps—understood as media technologies, as businesses, and as sites of social practice. It situates the discussion within the broader contexts of technologically mediated dating and digital sexual cultures. By outlining a number of methodological approaches and data sources that can be used in the study of dating and hookup apps, it equips the reader with tools and approaches for investigating hookup app culture in ways that go beyond “media panics” – the familiar combination of moral panics and media effects which is so prevalent in discussions of sexuality in digital media.

Consumer appraisals of mobile marketing communications

This paper reports on a study that investigates the emotions elicited from appraising SMS-based mobile marketing (m-marketing) communications under three marketing conditions: product consistency, incentives and permission giving. Results from the experimental design show that appraising m-marketing communications elicits both single emotions and mixed emotions; that is, a mixture of positive and negative emotions in the same response. Additionally, the results show that the influence of specific marketing conditions may increase or reduce the intensity of the emotions elicited. This study contributes to marketing practice by examining consumer appraisals of m-marketing communications under different combinations of marketing conditions. The results provide insights into which emotions are likely to be elicited as a result, and how a specific marketing condition might influence their levels of intensity. The study contributes to marketing theory also through combining appraisal theory with Richins (1997) consumption emotion set.

Work at hand : an exploration of gesture in the context of work and everyday life to inform the design of gestural input devices

This research explores gestures used in the context of activities in the workplace and in everyday life in order to understand requirements and devise concepts for the design of gestural information applicances. A collaborative method of video interaction analysis devised to suit design explorations, the Video Card Game, was used to capture and analyse how gesture is used in the context of six different domains: the dentist's office; PDA and mobile phone use; the experimental biologist's laboratory; a city ferry service; a video cassette player repair shop; and a factory flowmeter assembly station. Findings are presented in the form of gestural themes, derived from the tradition of qualitative analysis but bearing some similarity to Alexandrian patterns. Implications for the design of gestural devices are discussed.

Consumers' emotional appraisals and action tendencies arising from mobile viral marketing

This study examines consumers' emotional responses to receiving viral mobile marketing communications in comparison to receiving mobile marketing communications where permission has not been given. The study also examines the relationship between these experienced emotions and what action tendencies consumers might consider as a result of these emotions, as well as how they attribute causality for their emotions. Using scenarios in an experimental design, the findings show that there are differences in consumer emotions as a result of the two marketing approaches. The findings also identify relationships between consumers' causal attributions and action tendencies in relation to themselves, the friend sending the viral m-marketing communication and the company involved.

Lesser-known worlds : bridging the telematic flows with located human experience through game design

This paper represents a new theorization of the role of location-based games (LBGs) as potentially playing specific roles in peoples’ access to the culture of cities [22]. A LBG is a game that employs mobile technologies as tools for game play in real world environments. We argue that as a new genre in the field of mobile entertainment, research in this area tends to be preoccupied with the newness of the technology and its commercial possibilities. However, this overlooks its potential to contribute to cultural production. We argue that the potential to contribute to cultural production lies in the capacity of these experiences to enhance relationships between specific groups and new urban spaces. Given that developers can design LBGs to be played with everyday devices in everyday environments, what new creative opportunities are available to everyday people?

MiLK: Transforming everyday places into dynamic learning spaces with mobile and web technologies

This paper explores how game authoring tools can teach processes that transform everyday places into engaging learning spaces. It discusses the motivation inherent in playing games and creating games for others, and how this stimulates an iterative process of creation and reflection and evokes a natural desire to engage in learning. The use of MiLK at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens is offered as a case in point. MiLK is an authoring tool that allows students and teachers to create and share SMS games for mobile phones. A group of South Australian high school students used MiLK to play a game, create their own games and play each other’s games during a day at the gardens. This paper details the learning processes involved in these activities and how the students, without prompting, reflected on their learning, conducted peer assessment, and engaged in a two-way discussion with their teacher about new technologies and their implications for learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of the needs and requirements of 21st century learners and how MiLK can support constructivist and connectivist teaching methods that engage learners and will produce an appropriately skilled future workforce.