Large language models (LLMs) are being introduced into the public sector – for example, to assist caseworkers in making decisions on citizens’ cases. However, there is limited knowledge of how LLM tools can be used effectively in this complex task, including legal and cultural variables. This qualitative study foregrounds the perspectives of caseworkers from a Finnish public institution to dismantle their decision-making process and to build nuanced understanding on which sub-tasks of the process could benefit from the use of LLMs and how. To suggest meaningful uses for LLMs in the public sector, decision-making needs to be understood as a process that consists of several parts and that varies considerably in different contexts. We contribute to the fields of human–computer interaction and public administration by detailing the decision-making process of caseworkers and their perspectives on technological assistance, to suggest practical integration possibilities for LLM tools.

Cities serve as vital hubs of economic activity and knowledge generation and dissemination. As such, cities bear a significant responsibility to uphold environmental protection measures while promoting the welfare and living comfort of their residents. There are diverse views on the development of smart cities, from integrating Information and Communication Technologies into urban environments for better operational decisions to supporting sustainability, wealth, and comfort of people. However, for all these cases, data are the key ingredient and enabler for the vision and realization of smart cities. This article explores the challenges associated with smart city data. We start with gaining an understanding of the concept of a smart city, how to measure that the city is a smart one, and what architectures and platforms exist to develop one. Afterwards, we research the challenges associated with the data of the cities, including availability, heterogeneity, management, analysis, privacy, and security. Finally, we discuss ethical issues. This article aims to serve as a “one-stop shop” covering data-related issues of smart cities with references for diving deeper into particular topics of interest.

We introduce a project titled as Our Shared Virtual World which aims at increasing public libraries’ capability to provide knowledge on digital technology to general public. The practical goal of the project has been to produce a functional prototype of a virtual reality application that could be utilized freely in all the public libraries in Finland. In many countries worldwide, libraries’ role is expanding from providers of traditional books to providers of information technologies and related new forms of literacy, and this development provides the broader backdrop for the project. The contribution of the article is two-fold: First, we describe how an immersive virtual reality (VR) application can be collaboratively developed within this specific research context, namely within a network of public libraries, and introduce the tangible outcome of the project, the VR application called Forest Elf. Secondly, we scrutinize how results of such a design work can be sustained over time: through participatory design (PD), we aimed at creating conditions which would enable public libraries to continue developing and using the artefact also after the project. We provide insights on how to tackle the challenge of research prototypes ending up being abandoned, and what factors in the context of library partnership support or hamper sustainable digital innovation – digital innovation that is inclusive and equitable but also has a long-lasting impact.

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are more and more integrated into everyday lives, both scholarly and popular discourses on AI's often revolve around charting the various risks that may be associated with them. The manner and magnitude of risk that various researchers identify and foresee varies; however, what is common between them is, undoubtedly, the concept of risk itself. This concept, we argue, has been largely taken for granted by the fields involved in the research on AI's; in other words, "risk" has been employed with an everyday sensibility without due critical examination. In this paper, we address risk as a concept directly, by examining interdisciplinary theories and literatures on risk to discuss examples of AI technologies. Through this work, we aim to begin a critical discussion of the importance of theorising risk within design research and practice, and within the development of emerging technologies.

In this video paper we report on our experiences of deploying a VR point at a public library for the purpose of educating library patrons on VR technology. The primary application offered at the VR point is called Virtual Library, a VR application developed specifically for the Oulu City Library. The Virtual Library application provides an immersive virtual interface into selected library services, as well as allows library patrons to browse literature recommendations inside genre-specific fantasy realms. Based on the observations of the first week weeks of deployment, the VR point and the Virtual Library are successful approaches for technology education in a public library.

In this demo paper we describe the development process and technical implementation of an interactive Virtual Reality (VR) application dubbed Virtual Library. The application utilizes consumer VR hardware and Unreal Engine to provide an immersive virtual interface to a physical library and its selected services, as well as browsing of literature content in aesthetic fantasy realms. The prototype is publicly available at the Oulu City Library.

We present an immersive VR interface for a public library where a mirror-world like virtual copy of the physical library is blended with imaginary virtual fantasy layers into a hybrid space for library content. The design of the system was guided by multi-stakeholder Participatory Design process involving library staff, library customers and researchers. The findings of the qualitative user evaluation of the prototype suggest that this kind of a VR interface is an exciting extension to a physical library, indicating the unlimited possibilities offered by the VR's ability to send the user into imaginary places.

We present a mixed-methods study aimed at assessing artists' experiences of a digital art exhibition service, called StreetGallery, on a network of interactive displays situated in public urban locations. We ground our analysis using survey responses and in-depth interviews of artists who have exhibited their art in StreetGallery over the years. Findings from these studies indicate that the artists highly value StreetGallery's open and egalitarian access to art, and its contribution towards fusing novel digital technologies and art in public urban spaces. We conclude that platforms such as StreetGallery have the potential to challenge traditional paradigms of art gallery practices and public urban spaces as a stage for consumption and commerce.

We introduce evaluation probes for conducting emic, experiential evaluation of urban technologies "in the wild" without direct researcher presence. We commence with a thorough discussion and analysis of the original cultural probes, used by Gaver, Dunne and Pacenti to gain design inspiration, and their subsequent variations. We develop the concept of evaluation probes through careful re-conceptualization and application of the cultural probes in three successive studies conducted in the wild. We recount and reflect on our use of evaluation probes and discuss their merits and limitations in experiential emic evaluation.

We propose a novel way to approach the research and design of urban ICT, namely, climate sensitive urban computing. This approach considers the climatic patterns, weather conditions and people's adaptations to them on the level of everyday practices. Our theoretical and methodological foundations lay in the fields of cultural anthropology, architecture, and HCI. First, we present a multidisciplinary discussion of prior works relating to technology, weather and climate conditions. Secondly, through two empirical, mostly qualitative data sets, we demonstrate the vast impact weather and climate have on young adults' ICT use at our research site located in Northern Finland. Thirdly, based on the theoretical discussion and findings from the real-world studies, we argue that climate sensitive thinking should be part of the design of urban ICT, and outline some central design challenges.