Aboard an Arctic expedition sailing along the coast of Svalbard, there is a disconnect between the group and the rest of the world, especially when facing a lack of internet connectivity. We conducted a co-design workshop with 13 participants in a unique context - a ship in remote areas of the Arctic with limited connectivity. We see this scenario as an opportunity to research how people's needs, behaviours, and social dynamics are influenced by digital disconnection to design better tools for connection in everyday life. Through this research, we develop themes related to social and technological connection and disconnection. We discuss a number of implications and questions for design, including suggestions to (1) Use Naturally Emerging Aspects of the Environment to Connect People without Pulling Them out of the Moment, (2) Design to Shift Expectations for Response Speed and Richness, and (3) Understand Disconnection Needs, Responsibilities, and Safeguards.

As researchers and academics, we investigate our bad habitus—our everyday practices around technologies for research that reinforce dynamics of extraction, consumption, and waste—in relation to the lifecycle of technology in academic research. Through qualitative interviews, observation, and visual documentation, this case study explores the consideration of sustainability in purchasing decisions, use, maintenance, and disposal processes of digital devices used in a North American university as well the institution's related policies and procedures and faculty members’ practices. Through this research we find tensions that complicate sustainability in the university research context. We develop a rich description of the complexities of creating sustainable practices, policies, and procedures in a university setting as a step towards becoming more sustainable in our work and in our institutions, and we offer a set of recommendations for our academic institution and systems that both advance and thwart efforts to create sustainable practices.

This pictorial presents an ongoing collaboration between a Haida/Kwakwaka'wakw/Irish artist and a multi-disciplinary team of settler researchers around Sky Blanket, a hybrid Yeil Koowu (Raven's Tail) and Naaxiin (Chilkat) style woven robe. We elaborate on our collaborative commitments that include a focus on materiality and particular team dynamics. We report on three frictions we experienced while working on a TC2 jacquard loom: the translation of weaving patterns from one production technique to another, working within the material limitations of the loom, and the design of a woven box that allowed us to articulate differing perspectives on failures. In our discussion, we argue that these material encounters are a way for design and creation research to work through tensions at play between digital technologies, artistic practices, and cultural continuities.

Lucid dreaming is the awareness of being in a dream, allowing dream control and living out fantasies. It also has benefits for growth and well-being. Yet, lucid dreaming is not accessible to most people. So, we created Lucid Loop—a neurofeedback-augmented immersive experience that utilizes AI-enhanced visuals and spatial audio in a virtual reality device for simulating lucid dreaming. We interviewed nine lucid dreamers who tried Lucid Loop and helped us propose design considerations: dreaming allusions, reality checks, focus points with neurofeedback, people in the scene, and immersion. Lucid Loop was like lucid dreaming because of its capacity for emotionality and fluidity between self and environment. Participants also noted several differences where technology might be limited. Lucid Loop appears to accurately simulate lucid dreaming, with implications for enhancing well-being and future applications for lucid dream training. Our research generalizes to technologically-mediated simulations of other emotive or internal experiences.

Research at the intersection of technology and sustainability is increasing across disciplines. Virtual reality is one technology used to address social issues, though less work has explored how immersive environments might impact a viewer's impression of complex environmental issues like sustainability.

This position paper approaches issues in the ethics of virtual reality particularly around notions of art as academic research, collaborative ethnographic media production, consent, and representation. These issues are explored through examples of research with the Yong community in Thailand, investigating the use of 360° video for cultural documentation and preservation. Possible ways of addressing some of the ethical issues in virtual reality are suggested, drawing upon collaborative ethnography, collaborative media production, and Value-Sensitive Design.

SCP in 360: Sustainable Production and Consumption in 360 Degrees [1] is a series of six 360° videos aiming to make sustainable production and consumption engaging, memorable, and relatable to a wider audience. Produced by the United Nations Environment Programme and researchers at Simon Fraser University, SCP in 360 takes viewers around the world to see the work of the One Planet Network on the ground, including projects on sustainable building in Nepal, community tourism in South Africa, consumer information in Chile, sustainable and healthy gastronomy in Costa Rica, circular procurement in the Netherlands, and low-carbon sustainable lifestyle initiatives in rural Armenia. For example, viewers visit organic vineyards and mushroom farms in Chile to learn about a project to inform Chilean citizens about the environmental and social impacts of everyday consumer products. Researchers at Simon Fraser University are using these videos to examine the use of new media technology and to investigate if viewers better understand concepts and values around sustainability or if they care more about sustainability after viewing such videos in a 360° environment. This research will explore if and how new immersive visual technologies might better communicate and transmit values and the importance of sustainability efforts.

In this paper, we highlight possibilities for designing intangible cultural values into interactions with technologies in heritage spaces. We do this specifically through the design of elwkw -- Belongings, an interactive tangible table installed in a cultural heritage museum. The tabletop was collaboratively designed to communicate complex and narrative information and values about Musqueam culture. Rather than focusing only on content and interface design, we wanted visitors to also experience Musqueam values through their interactions with the system. We describe our value-sensitive design process, present five interdependent design goals, discuss the design strategies that enabled us to meet these goals, and evaluate our approach through a user study. From our design process and evaluation we offer recommendations for designing values into interactions more generally and for tangible interactions specifically in ways that support visitors' experience and understanding of specific cultural values through technology.

Our pictorial visually describes ?elәwkw -- Belongings, an interactive tangible tabletop installed in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. The tabletop was designed to communicate the continuity of Musqueam culture, convey the complexity of belongings that were excavated from Musqueam's ancient village site, and reconnect those belongings to traditional practices and oral histories through tangible interactions with the table-all while highlighting that cultural knowledge should be treated with respect. In this pictorial, we will show how the design process was shared among researchers, curators, and the exhibit Advisory Committee and highlight some of the key design decisions that came out of this collaboration.