Self-tracking technology can help users develop new knowledge about themselves, supporting their health and general wellbeing. Most of these devices inform users about their lives by autonomously generating data about highly constrained topics. Recent research has started to explore more flexible, manual self-tracking systems, which allow users to express themselves through their data and learn by engaging with their experiences in-the-moment. This article describes a field trial using the Chromatize app, designed to explore the value of minimalism and flexibility — including in data histories — in personal tracking systems. Our data indicate that low-burden experience logging systems which focus on the creation of symbolically-rich, self-defined data can support self-awareness, reflection and regulation at opportune moments. The analysis also contributes a formulation of reflection in the context of self-tracking technologies that is more meaningful than the loose use of ‘reflection’ used in much of the literature.

We describe our experience of working with blind and visually impaired people to create interactive art objects that are personal to them, through a participatory making process using electronic textiles (e-textiles) and hands-on crafting techniques. The research addresses both the practical considerations about how to structure hands-on making workshops in a way which is accessible to participants of varying experience and abilities, and how effective the approach was in enabling participants to tell their own stories and feel in control of the design and making process. The results of our analysis is the offering of insights in how to run e-textile making sessions in such a way for them to be more accessible and inclusive to a wider community of participants.

Flatland was an immersive “in-the-wild” experimental theater and technology project, undertaken with the goal of developing systems that could assist “real-world” pedestrian navigation for both vision-impaired (VI) and sighted individuals, while also exploring inclusive and equivalent cultural experiences for VI and sighted audiences. A novel shape-changing handheld haptic navigation device, the “Animotus,” was developed. The device has the ability to modify its form in the user's grasp to communicate heading and proximity to navigational targets. Flatland provided a unique opportunity to comparatively study the use of novel navigation devices with a large group of individuals (79 sighted, 15 VI) who were primarily attending a theater production rather than an experimental study. In this paper, we present our findings on comparing the navigation performance (measured in terms of efficiency, average pace, and time facing targets) and opinions of VI and sighted users of the Animotus as they negotiated the 112 m2production environment. Differences in navigation performance were nonsignificant across VI and sighted individuals and a similar range of opinions on device function and engagement spanned both groups. We believe more structured device familiarization, particularly for VI users, could improve performance and incorrect technology expectations (such as obstacle avoidance capability), which influenced overall opinion. This paper is intended to aid the development of future inclusive technologies and cultural experiences.

Many Smart City projects are beginning to consider the role of citizens. However, current methods for engaging urban populations in participatory design (PD) activities are somewhat limited. In this article, we describe an approach taken to empower socially disadvantaged citizens, using a variety of both social and technological tools, in a Smart City project. Through analysing the nature of citizens’ concerns and proposed solutions, we explore the benefits of our approach, arguing that engaging citizens can uncover hyper-local concerns that provide a foundation for finding solutions to address citizen concerns. By reflecting on our approach, we identify four key challenges to utilising PD at an urban scale; balancing scale with the personal, who has control of the process, who is participating and integrating citizen-led work with local authorities. By addressing these challenges, we will be able to truly engage citizens as collaborators in co-designing their city.

Immersive theatre is a growing trend within theatre entertainment: audience members can now wander around performances and choose how the story unfolds in front of them. Technology can be used to create novel, multi-modal experiences for audiences in these performances; but when the rules of such an experience are ill-defined, how do users react to this technology? We present an evaluation of 25 performances of an immersive, in the dark performance. Issues of control can arise in situations where technology becomes an important part of such a performance. Participants take and relinquish control in three key areas: navigation, exploration and attention during the performance, and this affects their perception of both technology and the piece itself. We discuss how technology can play a positive role in immersive theatre and other cultural settings, yet its use must be carefully choreographed to ensure the audience experience matches the intended goal.

This paper describes the rationale behind the ongoing development of Sprite Catcher -- a handheld, tangible interactive tool for treating depression and anxiety. The current design, which is intended to encourage the user to practice self-reflection and mindfulness, is the product of participatory design conducted with counsellors from a local mental health charity and with a university psychology researcher. Through a review of previous work in this area, a description of a use scenario and an overview of the design's functions and concepts, we illustrate where the project is heading and which research questions we aim to respond to.

This paper presents a minimalistic handheld haptic interface designed to provide pedestrian navigation assistance via the intuitive and unobtrusive stimulus of shape-changing. The new device, named the Haptic Taco, explores a novel region of robotic interfaces which we believe to have benefits over other communication methods. In previous work, we demonstrated the use of a 2DOF shape changing interface for navigation without the use of sight. In this paper we seek to explore the potential of minimal 1DOF interfaces, whose simplicity may increase intuitiveness and performance despite conveying less information. The Haptic Taco utilizes the same `variable volume' concept as a previous device, the Haptic Lotus (2010), but with reduced body compliance and higher force exertion capability. Both devices modulate their perceived volume in relation to proximity to a navigational target (a destination or waypoint). As users walk within an environment, they also attempt to minimize the device volume, finding targets via an embodied `steepest descent' method. Experimental comparison of the Lotus and Taco in a target-finding study revealed that the Taco interface increased motion path efficiency by 24% over the Lotus, to 47% average efficiency. This result is highly comparable to the mean motion efficiency of 43.6-48% observed in prior experiments with the 2DOF shape-changing interface, the Animotus. The findings indicate the potential for minimalistic interfaces in this emerging field.

The traditional approach for developing assistive technologies for blind and visually impaired users is to focus on problems and to try and resolve them by compensating for the loss of vision. In this research we took the approach of involving blind and visually impaired people, from a range of ages, in a hands-on making activity using an eTextile physical computing toolkit. Our aim was to create an environment where people could both make and learn form each other, but also where they would share their thoughts and imagine future scenarios for the technologies they were developing. We observed highly creative ways of working at all levels, from unique weaving techniques to choices in fabrics and materials, as well as expressions of personal preferences. We discuss the "in-home enjoyment" scenarios sketched by the participants and point to the role of creative workshops and eTextile toolkits as a tool for imagining future technologies.

Electric vehicles are an increasingly attractive option for households to reduce carbon emissions, especially when they are powered by renewable energy. In this paper we report the results of an 18-month field trial investigating the desirability and feasibility of powering electric vehicles (EVs) with domestic solar electricity. Based on extensive collection of data from 7 households including over 75,000 miles of daily EV use, home electricity consumption and generation, and in-depth interviews with householders we develop a detailed understanding of what drives EV decisions in households, quantify to what extent our participating households currently power their EVs with solar electricity, and investigate how feasible the vision of "self-sustaining electric mobility" is. We use this understanding to draw implications for future research into supporting emerging practices of EV drivers.

In this research we developed an alarm system that enables assistance dogs to call for help on behalf of their vulnerable owners in an emergency, involving the end users (both assistance dogs and their owners) directly in the entire design process. Here we present a high-fidelity prototype of a user-friendly canine alarm system. In developing the system, we sought to understand the level of support required for a canine user to successfully interact with an interface, finding that the type of emergency a dog is faced with may vary widely and that consequently dogs may have to act on behalf of their assisted owners with varying degrees of autonomy. We also explored the process of conducting usability testing with both canine and human participants, seeking to identify where requirements of one species may overlap with, or diverge from, the other.

Many people with Diabetes live with the continuous threat of hypoglycemic attacks and the danger of going into coma. Diabetes Alert Dogs are trained to detect the onset of an attack before the condition of the human handler they are paired with deteriorates, giving them time to take action. We investigated requirements for designing an alarm system allowing dogs to remotely call for help when their human falls unconscious before being able to react to an alert. Through a multispecies ethnographic approach we focus on the requirements for a physical canine user interface, involving dogs, their handlers and specialist dog trainers in the design process. We discuss tensions between the requirements for canine and the human users, argue the need for increased sensitivity towards the needs of individual dogs that goes beyond breed specific physical characteristics, and reflect on how we can move from designing for dogs to designing with dogs.

Domestic microgeneration is the onsite generation of low- and zero-carbon heat and electricity by private households to meet their own needs. In this paper we explore how an everyday household routine -- that of doing laundry -- can be augmented by digital technologies to help households with photovoltaic solar energy generation to make better use of self-generated energy. This paper presents an 8-month in-the-wild study that involved 18 UK households in longitudinal energy data collection, prototype deployment and participatory data analysis. Through a series of technology interventions mixing energy feedback, proactive suggestions and direct control the study uncovered opportunities, potential rewards and barriers for families to shift energy consuming household activities and highlights how digital technology can act as mediator between household laundry routines and energy demand-shifting behaviors. Finally, the study provides insights into how a "smart" energy-aware washing machine shapes organization of domestic life and how people "communicate" with their washing machine.

Whilst the ubicomp community has successfully embraced a number of societal challenges for human benefit, including healthcare and sustainability, the well-being of other animals is hitherto underrepresented. We argue that ubicomp technologies, including sensing and monitoring devices as well as tangible and embodied interfaces, could make a valuable contribution to animal welfare. This paper particularly focuses on dogs in kenneled accommodation, as we investigate the opportunities and challenges for a smart kennel aiming to foster canine welfare. We conducted an in-depth ethnographic study of a dog rehoming center over four months; based on our findings, we propose a welfare-centered framework for designing smart environments, integrating monitoring and interaction with information management. We discuss the methodological issues we encountered during the research and propose a smart ethnographic approach for similar projects.

Calibration is a necessary step in many sensor-based ubicomp applications to prepare a system for operation. Particularly when dealing with sensors for movement-based interaction calibration is required to individualize the system to the person's body. However, calibration is often viewed as a tedious necessity of a purely technical nature. In this paper we argue that calibration can be used as a valuable and informative step for users molding a technology for their own use. We explain this through two case studies that use body sensing technologies to teach physical skills. Our studies show that calibration can be used by teachers and pupils to set goals. We argue that demystifying calibration and designing to expose the intentions of the technology and its functioning can be beneficial for users, allowing them to shape technology to be in tune with their bodies rather than changing their body to fit the technology.

We describe the insights and challenges offered by researcher participation in in-the-wild studies through the comparison of two prototype evaluations with varying levels of researcher participation. By reflecting on these studies we expose different facets of the researcher's role when interacting with participants in in-the-wild studies. We also demonstrate the value of researcher participation in contributing to the way a researcher understands participant responses: aiding rapport, promoting empathy and stimulating the researcher to reflect on their own assumptions.

The domestic use of tracking technology with pets is on the rise, yet is under-researched. We investigate how tracking practices reconfigure human-dog relationships changing both humans and dogs. We question the sensemaking mechanisms by which both humans and dogs engage in context-based meaningful exchanges via the technology's mediation. We show how an indexical semiotic perspective could inform the development of interspecies technology. Finally, we discuss the methodological issues raised by doing research with animals and propose an interspecies semiotics which integrates animal companions and animal researchers' accounts into ethnographic observation.

Pair Programming (PP) requires close collaboration and mutual engagement. Most existing empirical studies of PP do not focus on developers' behaviour during PP sessions, and focus instead on the effects of PP such as productivity. However, disengagement, where a developer is not focusing on solving the task or understanding the problem and allows their partner to work by themselves, can hinder collaboration between developers and have a negative effect on their performance. This paper reports on an empirical study that investigates disengagement. Twenty-one industrial pair programming sessions were video and audio recorded and qualitatively analysed to investigate circumstances that lead to disengagement. We identified five reasons for disengagement: interruptions during the collaboration, the way the work is divided, the simplicity of the task involved, social pressure on inexperienced pair programmers, and time pressure. Our findings suggest that disengagement is sometimes acceptable and agreed upon between the developers in order to speed up problem solving. However, we also found episodes of disengagement where developers “drop out” of their PP sessions and are not able to follow their partner's work nor contribute to the task at hand, thus losing the expected benefits of pairing. Analysis of sessions conducted under similar circumstances but where mutual engagement was sustained identified three behaviours that help to maintain engagement: encouraging the novice to drive, verbalisation and feedback, and asking for clarification.

Vibrotactile feedback offers much potential for facilitating and accelerating how people learn sensory-motor skills that typically take hundreds of hours to learn, such as learning to play a musical instrument, skiing or swimming. However, there is little evidence of this benefit materializing outside of research lab settings. We describe the findings of an in-the-wild study that explored how to integrate vibrotactile feedback into a real-world teaching setting. The focus of the study was on exploring how children of different ages, learning to play the violin, can use real-time vibrotactile feedback. Many of the findings were unexpected, showing how students and their teachers appropriated the technology in creative ways. We present some 'lessons learned' that are also applicable to other training settings, emphasizing the need to understand how vibrotactile feedback can switch between being foregrounded and backgrounded depending on the demands of the task, the teacher's role in making it work and when feedback is most relevant and useful. Finally, we discuss how vibrotactile feedback can provide a new language for talking about the skill being learned that may also play an instrumental role in enhancing learning.

An immersive theatre experience was designed to raise awareness and question perceptions of 'blindness', through enabling both sighted and blind members to experience a similar reality. A multimodal experience was created, comprising ambient sounds and narratives -- heard through headphones -- and an assortment of themed tactile objects, intended to be felt. In addition, audience members were each provided with a novel haptic device that was designed to enhance their discovery of a pitch-black space. An in the wild study of the cultural experience showed how blind and sighted audience members had different 'felt' experiences, but that neither was a lesser one. Furthermore, the haptic device was found to encourage enactive exploration and provide reassurance of the environment for both sighted and blind people, rather than acting simply as a navigation guide. We discuss the potential of using haptic feedback to create cultural experiences for both blind and sighted people; rethinking current utilitarian framing of it as assistive technology.