An interactive and adaptive building layer : strategies for allowing people to become advanced building-users

This paper reports outcomes of a pilot study to develop a conceptual framework to allow people to retrofit a building-layer to gain better control of their own built- environments. The study was initiated by the realisation that discussions surrounding the improvement of building performances tend to be about top-down technological solutions rather than to help and encourage bottom-up involvement of building-users. While users are the ultimate beneficiaries and their feedback is always appreciated, their direct involvements in managing buildings would often be regarded as obstruction or distraction. This is largely because casual interventions by uninformed building-users tend to disrupt the system. Some earlier researches showed however that direct and active participation of users could improve the building performance if appropriate training and/or systems were introduced. We also speculate this in long run would also make the built environment more sustainable. With this in mind, we looked for opportunities to retrofit our own office with an interactive layer to study how we could introduce ad-hoc systems for building-users. The aim of this paper is to describe our vision and initial attempts followed by discussion.

Comparative eye tracking of experts and novices in web single sign-on

Security indicators in web browsers alert users to the presence of a secure connection between their computer and a web server; many studies have shown that such indicators are largely ignored by users in general. In other areas of computer security, research has shown that technical expertise can decrease user susceptibility to attacks. In this work, we examine whether computer or security expertise affects use of web browser security indicators. Our study takes place in the context of web-based single sign-on, in which a user can use credentials from a single identity provider to login to many relying websites; single sign-on is a more complex, and hence more difficult, security task for users. In our study, we used eye trackers and surveyed participants to examine the cues individuals use and those they report using, respectively. Our results show that users with security expertise are more likely to self-report looking at security indicators, and eye-tracking data shows they have longer gaze duration at security indicators than those without security expertise. However, computer expertise alone is not correlated with recorded use of security indicators. In survey questions, neither experts nor novices demonstrate a good understanding of the security consequences of web-based single sign-on.

Designing locative and social media technologies for community collaboration and social benefit : PetSearch

The convergence of locative and social media with collaborative interfaces and data visualisation has expanded the potential of online information provision. Offering new ways for communities to share contextually specific information, it presents the opportunity to expand social media’s current focus on micro self-publishing with applications that support communities to actively address areas of local need. This paper details the design and development of a prototype application that illustrates this potential. Entitled PetSearch, it was designed in collaboration with the Animal Welfare League of Queensland to support communities to map and locate lost, found and injured pets, and to build community engagement in animal welfare issues. We argue that, while established approaches to social and locative media provide a useful foundation for designing applications to harness social capital, they must be re-envisaged if they are to effectively facilitate community collaboration. We conclude by arguing that the principles of user engagement and co-operation employed in this project can be extrapolated to other online approaches that aim to facilitate co-operative problem solving for social benefit.

A survey of tagging techniques for music, speech and environmental sound

Sound tagging has been studied for years. Among all sound types, music, speech, and environmental sound are three hottest research areas. This survey aims to provide an overview about the state-of-the-art development in these areas.We discuss about the meaning of tagging in different sound areas at the beginning of the journey. Some examples of sound tagging applications are introduced in order to illustrate the significance of this research. Typical tagging techniques include manual, automatic, and semi-automatic approaches.After reviewing work in music, speech and environmental sound tagging, we compare them and state the research progress to date. Research gaps are identified for each research area and the common features and discriminations between three areas are discovered as well. Published datasets, tools used by researchers, and evaluation measures frequently applied in the analysis are listed. In the end, we summarise the worldwide distribution of countries dedicated to sound tagging research for years.

When digital native meets analogue reality : a case study of ICT skills in first year university students

Recently claims have been made that all universities will in coming decades merge to become just a few mega-institutions offering online degrees to the world. This assumes a degree of literacy with ICT (information and communication technology) amongst potential students, who are often regarded as 'digital natives'. Far from being digital natives, many students have considerable trouble using ICT beyond the ubiquitous Facebook. While some students are computer literate, a substantial proportion lack the skills to prosper under their own devices in an online tertiary education environment. For these students a blended learning experience is needed to develop skills to effectively interact in the virtual environment. This paper presents a case study that specifically examined the ICT capabilities of first-year university students enrolled in the School of Civil Engineering and the Built Environment at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Empirical data are presented and curriculum strategies articulated to develop ICT skills in university undergraduates.

A customisable dashboard display for environmental performance visualisations

We conducted an exploratory study of a mobile energy monitoring tool: The Dashboard. Our point of departure from prior work was the emphasis of end-user customisation and social sharing. Applying extensive feedback, we deployed the Dashboard in real-world conditions to socially linked research participants for a period of five weeks. Participants were encouraged to devise, construct, place, and view various data feeds. The aim of our study was to test the assumption that participants, having control over their Dashboard configuration, would engage, and remain engaged, with their energy feedback throughout the trial. Our research points to a set of design issues surrounding the adoption and continued use of such tools. A novel finding of our study is the impact of social links between participants and their continued engagement with the Dashboard. Our results also illustrate the emergence of energy-voyeurism, a form of social energy monitoring by peers.

Curbing resource consumption using team-based feedback : paper printing in a longitudinal case study

This paper details a team-based feedback approach for reducing resource consumption. The approach uses paper printing within office environments as a case study. It communicates the print usage of each participant’s team rather than the participant’s individual print usage. Feedback is provided weekly via emails and contains normative information, along with eco-metrics and team-based comparative statistics. The approach was empirically evaluated to study the effectiveness of the feedback method. The experiment comprised of 16 people belonging to 4 teams with data on their print usage gathered over 58 weeks, using the first 30-35 weeks as a baseline. The study showed a significant reduction in individual printing with an average of 28%. The experiment confirms the underlying hypothesis that participants are persuaded to reduce their print usage in order to improve the overall printing behaviour of their teams. The research provides clear pathways for future research to qualitatively investigate our findings.

Mobile Q&A for enhancing online discussion

In this study, we explore the design and evaluation of a mobile online discussion system for motivating students to share their learning experiences. The system supports interaction with peers and academic staff anytime and anywhere using mobile devices. The application introduces a set of features that enables customisation for different purposes. This paper describes the application and explains the motivation for developing the application. We describe the methods and results of a case study that explores usage of the application among a small group of localised participants. Finally, we discuss the implications of this work and outline future areas of research and development.

Enhancing public transport passenger experience via mobile-mediated applications and services

Despite the rapidly urbanising population, public transport usage in metropolitan areas is not growing at a level that corresponds to the trend. Many people are reluctant to travel using public transport, as it is commonly associated with unpleasant experiences such as limited services, long wait time, and crowded spaces. This study aims to explore the use of mobile spatial interactions and services, and investigate their potential to increase the enjoyment of our everyday commuting experience. The main goal is to develop and evaluate mobile-mediated design interventions to foster interactions for and among passengers, as well as between passengers and public transport infrastructures, with the aim to positively influence the experience of commuting. Ultimately, this study hopes to generate findings and knowledge towards creating a more enjoyable public transport experience, as well as to explore innovative uses of mobile technologies and context-aware services for the urban lifestyle.

Uninav : a context-aware mobile application for university campus maps

The smart phones we carry with us are becoming ubiquitous with everyday life and the sensing capabilities of these devices allow us to provide context-aware services. In this paper, we discuss the development of UniNav, a context-aware mobile application that delivers personalised campus maps for universities. The application utilises university students’ details to provide information and services that are relevant and important to them. It helps students to navigate within the campus and become familiar with their university environment quickly. A study was undertaken to evaluate the acceptability and usefulness of the campus map, as well as the impact on a users’ navigation efficiency by utilising the personal and environmental contexts. The result indicates the integration of personal and environmental contexts on digital maps can improve its usefulness and navigation efficiency.

Staying in touch and crafting mementoes

Designers of systems that attempt to support people in maintaining social connectedness should pay attention to the physical interaction characteristics of the systems they create. Systems today mostly accept the dominant computer interface configuration of screens, keyboards and mice, which are not always a good fit for settings outside the office, such as the home. We argue by reference to two design exemplars for a design philosophy that engages a broader range of people's abilities for skilled physical action when designing for social connectedness.