The Creative Exchange (CX) is a Knowledge Exchange Hub for the Creative Economy funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). We aim to develop strategic partnerships with creative businesses and cultural organisations, to strengthen and diversify their collaborative research activities and increase the number of Arts and Humanities researchers actively engaged in research-based knowledge exchange. CX has a network of 41 partners throughout the UK who we will be collaborating with, including: the BBC, MediaCity UK, Microsoft Research, TATE Liverpool, SAGE Gateshead, Opera North, NESTA, Lancaster City Council, the Storey Creative Industries Centre, FutureEverything and over 30 small and medium sized companies working in the sector.

Our research in Newcastle will focus on cross-disciplinary, user-centred and participatory research with users and industrial partners. Our collaborative research will explore the broad theme of the ‘digital public space’ through six key themes; personalisation, experience, participation, connectivity, narrative and identity. This will inform to the development of prototype digital systems and services that innovate in the areas of broadcast interactive media, user-generated content, narrative experience and live performance, leading to local and national deployments and field trials. Newcastle’s node of the CX is supporting this research by offering 7 fully-funded PhD studentships to undertake project-focused, practice-based research, including funding to support placements with out creative sector partners (please see here for further information).

This page will be updated during the course of the Hub with collaborative projects and knowledge exchange outcomes. In the meantime, please see the main CX website for more information: thecreativeexchange.org

Viewpoint was developed to address this issue in two ways: by making voting on local issues very easy and by providing a feedback mechanism to make the outcome of consultations more visible. The device allowed councillors and local organisations to post weekly questions on three devices located in public areas, on which local residents could vote easily using two large buttons on the device. During a two-month deployment, over 1,800 votes were placed and the deployment was successful in exposing a number of issues surrounding local democracy and participation.

This project aims to bring the output of the Bespoke project to residents in the North East, as well as exploring the commercialisation of the design and technology through collaboration with YouGov, a national polling organisation. This will be achieved by redeploying Viewpoint in a variety of local context with different partners.

Date: July 2011 – June 2012

Funding: EPSRC Additional Impact Sponsorship £28,854

Researchers:  Nick Taylor, Martyn Dade-Robertson

For more information goto: http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/p.m.dunphy/

Electronic voting is an area of research that has recently seen many advances in its mathematical and cryptographic foundation, but research is needed to identify the critical aspects of users’ experiences of the voting process and the qualities that designed-in features of an electronic voting system that will ensure usability, trustworthiness and an ultimately its acceptance by voters.

In addition, I am working on “informal” electronic voting in terms of using electronic voting systems for increasing engagement and participation of members in social environments like families and households for decision making in everyday tasks. 

The goal of the TRUMP project is to explore the potential of mobile technologies in the development of a platform to support chronic disease management by simultaneously considering the needs of rural areas of India and the UK. Trust in such systems is vital if they are be accepted by patients and health workers alike, and this issue will form a central part of the development of the platform. Two common chronic conditions, diabetes and depression, have been chosen as exemplars for the development of the platform and its evaluation.

TRUMP is a multidisciplinary project involving academic researchers from the UK and India, together with partner organisations drawn from the business and community sectors. Working together, this team will: perform a detailed analysis of the healthcare context, design sustainable technology solutions compatible with local and national healthcare policies; incorporate existing proven chronic management programmes and training. This implies support for novel patient record systems, mechanisms for tracking the patient (symptoms and behaviour), as well as patient awareness of self-management.

Date: Sep 2011 – Aug 2014

Funding: EPSRC: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. £576,369

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI), Peter Phillimore  – Geography, Politics & Scoiology, Mike Catt – Institute for Ageing & Health, Mike Trenell -Institute of Cellular Medicine (CIs).

Collaborators: Peter Edwards (University of Aberdeen), City University, Lancaster University

BinCam is a collaborative research project between the Digital Interaction group in Culture Lab at Newcastle University, LiSC at the University of Lincoln and the University of Duisburg Essen.

For more information visit the project’s website.

Date: September 2010 – ongoing

Researcher: Anja Thieme, Rob Comber, Jack Weeden, Nick Taylor, Ashur Rafiev and Julia Miebach

Project Supervisor: Patrick Olivier

Collaborators: Prof. Nicole Krämer (University of Duisburg-Essen), Prof. Shaun Lawson (Lincoln University)

Projects Using Gadgeteer

• Physical Video Games and Board Game Interfaces

  I am working on interface designs for video games and board games across many different genres and game play styles. Video games are inherently interactive yet modern input controllers are physically static and generalised to allow for a wide range of ...

  Tom Smith, October 26, 2011
• 

  Telematic Dinner Party

  A Telematic Dinner Party is a meal where two remote groups are brought together through the internet and video projections to share a meal at a table. For these dinners, each group of guests will be in two separate rooms and integrated on a single tabl...

  Cassim Ladha, Robert Comber, Dan Jackson, August 26, 2011

Board games have recently become much more sophisticated and interesting but they are still confined to the kitchen table. With the help of my research into video game interfaces, I will be looking into different ways physical and digital interfaces can augment board games into more compelling and lasting experiences.

Player Generated Content has existed since the first board games and tabletop roleplaying games were released and is fast becoming a dominant area of video games to the point that some successful video games are completely based on player creation. Therefore, along with physical gaming interfaces, I will be looking at player generated content’s impact on video games and board games and how it could be used to encourage game participation, mass player collaboration and as a tool to aid in the innovation of physical video game and board game interfaces.

FerroSynth: interaction with a ferrofluid bladder.

Large ball bearing interface

Start Date: Sept 2008

Funding: Microsoft Research, Cambridge

Researchers: Jonathan Hook

Collaborators: Nicolas Villar, Alex Butler, Shahram Izadi, and Stuart Taylor from Microsoft Research Cambridge.

Press:

Microsoft’s Bag-Based Computer Interface, For Poking
Gizmodo (18/11/2009)

Bendable Magnetic Interface
MIT Technology Review (18/11/2009)

Collaborators: Nicolas Villar, Alex Butler, Shahram Izadi, and Stuart Taylor from Microsoft Research Cambridge.

Publications

2010

FerroSynth: A Ferromagnetic Music Interface (2010) Jonathan Hook, Stuart Taylor, Proceedings of the 2010 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2010), Australia, pdf

2009

A reconfigurable ferromagnetic input device (2009) Jonathan Hook, Stuart Taylor, Alex Butler, Nicolas Villar, Shahram Izadi, ACM Press, p. 51, New York, New York, USA: ACM Press, url

Publications:

2010

e-science on the surface (2010) Tom Bartindale, Jared Jackson, Patrick Olivier, ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces - ITS '10, p. 298, New York, New York, USA: ACM Press, url

Date: Sept 2009 – Oct 2012

Project supervisor: Scott Windeatt

Researchers: Philip Heslop, Jaber Maslamani (Digital Institute)

 The Intergeneration Project  gave us the opportunity to develop digital jewellery that focused on a particular relationship between a mother and daughter recruited through Age Concern Newcastle.  Journeys refers to a pair of digital neck pieces that are interactive and sensitive to touch. The touch of one causes the second to tremble gently. This interaction is a tactile echo that reflects their closeness and feelings for each other.

Researchers: Jayne Wallace, Peter Wright.

Collaborators: Andrew Monk (York University), Mark Blythe (Northumbria University).

We are further interested in understanding what research means in an academic sense. We will be interviewing a wide range of scientific researchers, in order to understand their emotional experiences and motivation for doing research. A researcher’s way of thinking is often perceived to be linear and logical and it will be intresting to find out weather researchers ever make decisions about their research using instinct.

We hope that at the end of our study we will discover opportunities for technology and HCI.

Start Date: Oct 2010

Researchers:  Madeline Balaam, Martyn Dade-Robertson, (School of Architecture Planning and Landscape)

Collaborators:  Universities of Bristol, Brighton, Swansea, Southampton, and Greenwich.

Partnerships: Microsoft Research, Nokia Research, Victoria and Albert Museum and The British Library

see PATINA Project website

 The aims of this pilot study are to develop a truly novel, sensitive worn monitoring device that integrates direct measures both physical activity and social interaction, to use these measures to examine daily activity and social interaction in older age individuals. The instrument will be piloted in older healthy individuals and then depressed patients and the relationship between the device output and illness features, clinical characteristics and neuropsychological performance explored. These results will be compared to those achieved using current measures of social function and activity.

See Sociometer Project website

Publications:

2010

TouchBridge: Augmenting Active Tangibles for Camera-based Multi-touch Surfaces (2010) Cassim Ladha, Karim Ladha, Jonathan Hook, Daniel Jackson, Patrick Olivier, Proceedings of ITS 7-10 November 2010, url

Exhibitions:

Crafts Council touring exhibition 2010 – 2011
DMY International Design Festival Berlin June 2010
Assemble, Crafts Council Conference, London June 2010

See http://www.digitaljewellery.com/ for more information.

Publications:

2009

FiberBoard: compact multi-touch display using channeled light (2009) Daniel Jackson, Tom Bartindale, Patrick Olivier, Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces, p. 25-28, New York, New York, USA: ACM, url, url

For more information read the press release published 14th December 2010.

Exhibition:  Nightingallery was displayed in the Maker Faire UK exhibition, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 12th & 13^th March 2011

See Nightingallery website.

• Improving existing services
• Designing service innovations
• Designing strategic change

Start Date: 2009

Funding: NIHR: National Institute for Health Research

Researchers: Peter Wright (PI)

See the UCHD Project Website

Demographic ageing has raised many issues for policy and practice, particularly in terms of how society should best support and care for the ageing population. Governments around the western world have recommended that older people should be supported to ‘age in place’ in the belief that this will also promote quality of life and well-being in later life. With a policy focus on enabling older people to remain in their homes for as long as possible there is an increasing need to critically look at the impact that technologies supporting ‘ageing in place’  have on the everyday lives of older people. It is important therefore that the social and ethical implications that these technologies could have on older people are explored from a number of different perspectives, including those of older people, designers, social scientists and computing scientists. Whilst new technologies clearly have the potential to support independent living in the home for older people, what is less clear is whether or not these technologies also promote a wider connection outside of the home. The project funds social gerontology lecturer Dr Katie Brittain to condust a year-long discipline hop in the Digital Interaction Group in Culture Lab, and use this to forge new collaborations and build national and international links with experts in the design and development of emerging technologies for older people.

Date: Sept 2011 – Aug 2012

Funding: EPSRC: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. £81,484

Researchers: Katie Brittain – Institute of Health & Society (PI), Patrick Olivier.

User Experience (UX) is a complex, but promising concept in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). This Marie Curie project aims to identify the key UXCodes, in particular to decode the UX qualities for a better ICT-enabled life for older people, following a humanistic, dialogical approach. The key premise is that people act on the basis of social relationships, which influence the quality of an experience with a technology. Gained insights are translated into for practical guidance for designers and generalized by applying experience-centered theories and research methodologies. In addition, the pattern approach is applied as valuable way to preserve knowledge for practitioners in future projects, and optimising technological innovation and opportunity for older people to enrich their lived experience with and through technology.

The European Union also recognized the relevance of this topic by focusing research on Quality of Experience (QoE) within the FP7 ICT Work Programme 2009-10 and calls for research into more natural, intuitive and easy-to-use interfaces and new ways to interact with technology, machines, devices and other artefacts. The proposed research will underpin the essential priority of ICTs in supporting daily life in today’s digital society.

Project status: Ongoing

Funding: European Commission Funded under the 7th Framework Programme. £170,668

Researcher: Marianna Obrist (Marie Curie Fellow), Peter Wright (PI), Patrick Olivier (CI).

 Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders, with at least one in six adults meeting the criteria for a major depressive episode at some time in their life. In later-life depression has a huge negative impact on quality of life and is directly associated with functional impairment. Although the illness is defined by the occurrence of low mood, over recent years there has been an increasing understanding of the profile and magnitude of neuropsychological impairments in mood disorders. These have been shown to be of greater magnitude in older age individuals. One of the most important consequences of neuropsychological and emotional processing deficits is their impact on social and everyday functioning and disability. To date, most studies in older age individuals have utilised questionnaire-based measures of everyday function which have major problems with accuracy and validity as they either rely on informant accounts or are self-report. Technological advances such as the actigraph have enabled more precise assessment of locomotor activity and circadian rhythms in normal, everyday living, while within the pervasive computing community, social informatics technologies based on auditory signal processing have been developed that can measure aspects of social interaction using situated measures of spoken communication. Our aim is to develop a monitoring device to objectively assess functional/ psychosocial impairment in older-age adults with major depression. We will call it Sociometer. 

Sociometer

Date: May 2010 – April 2011

Funding: MRC: Medical Research Council £247,327

Researchers: John O’Brien – Institute for Ageing & Health (PI),  Peter Gallagher, and Nicole Ferrier – Institute of Neuroscience, Jeff Neasham, and Satnam Dlay – Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering (CIs).  Patrick Olivier (Coll). Roisin McNaney, Bin Gao,  Cas Ladha, Karim Ladha

In the Digital Originals project we are considering ways to add value to digital art and test the associated business models in live field studies:

(1) Authorized Art AppDigital Watermarks: embed information in ways that are difficult to remove. Many variations of this technology already exist but it is usually deployed to support legal action against copyright infringements, for example, tracing the source of an illegally distributed reviewer’s copy of a new film. Using similar techniques it would be possible to create a unique watermark that would relate artworks to particular owners. The digital watermark itself would need to respect the aesthetic of the artist and this would create an interesting space for creativity. The key might include information such as when and where it was created or perhaps even bioinformatic information from the artist. The certification process could take the form of an app which allows users to take a photograph of their artwork and verify a digital signature.

In the past, most of the research in the area digital support for ageing has focused on older people living in their own homes whereas this project explores communal forms of living for older people. To this we have been working closely with older people living in two sites, A Nunnery, and a Residential Care Home.  Through an extended series of engagements between residents, researchers and designers using innovative experience-centred design methods, we have developed new forms of digital technology which respond to the specific cultures and sites of each group of older people.

Date: Apr 2010 – Dec 2010

Funding: ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council, £73,419

Researchers: Pater Wright (PI), Cas Ladha, Stephen Lindsay, Dan Jackson

Collaborators: Goldsmiths Interaction Research Studio, Mark Blythe (Northumbria University)

This project will look at how technologies can be used to help individuals and their families manage the consequences of long term conditions and maintain quality of life, supported by professionals. In the UK self-management is central to the Government’s long term conditions agenda. The research we propose extends existing work by researching some fundamental issues surrounding self-management. These include:

• How can information on changes in chronic conditions be collated and fed back to users in a meaningful and usable way to help them understand their conditions?
• How can information, remote from a therapist, be presented to promote health behaviour change?
• How can a personalised self management system allow people to adjust life goals to accommodate and aid acceptance of their condition?

The project will focus upon three conditions: stroke, chronic pain and heart failure.  The ultimate aim is to produce a ‘toolkit’ of software and sensors to help people assess how best to manage their condition in conjunction with input from therapists. In the final year of the project (2011) we will be deploying the SMART2 system in people’s homes in and around Sheffield, in an extended field trial.

Date: Jan 2008 – Dec 11

Funding: EPSRC: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council £2,300,000

Researchers: Peter Wright (PI)

Collaborators:  Sue Mawson and Tricia Ware (Sheffield Hallam University)

See SMART2 Project website

SALT’s main objectives are to identify and develop new business models for scalable assistive technologies and services to promote sustainable market development for independent healthy living in the mixed digital economy; and to understand the factors that promote or inhibit the uptake, use and integration of assistive technologies for older people living in the community from a user-centred perspective.

SALT will collaborate closely with SiDE, businesses, users, health and social care services to help identify a clear route to market.  It will make a significant contribution to capacity building in the North East, by developing innovative solutions within existing health and social care structures through co-construction; exploring new business models for sustainable new market development through case studies and experiments; and informing and validating new solutions from a user-centred perspective.

Date: Mar 2011 – Feb 2014

Funding: TSB: Technology Strategy Board. £ 1,083,831

Researchers: Feng Li – Business School (PI), Patrick Olivier, and Peter Wright (CIs). Katie Brittain – IHS, Louise Robinson – IHS/IAH, Tracy Finch – IHS, Lynne Corner – IAH, Peter Gore – IAH, Rob Wilson – Business School.

Collaborators:  RTC North, Critical Data Ltd, DocoboLtd, ADL SmartcareLtd, Years Ahead, CybermoorServices Ltd, Age Concern Newcastle, Manus Neurodynamica Ltd, Limbs Alive Ltd, IntraHealthLtd.

Each case study site includes common, manor, and area designation (e.g. SSSI) boundaries; commentaries on historic rights, ownership, and management; and information on contemporary environmental governance. Each case study area also has key themes, such as the ‘Farms and Flocks’ and ‘Eskdale Twenty-Four Book’ pages for Eskdale, or the ‘Landscape Legacy’ pages for Ingleborough and Scales Moor.

LandNote uses Google Earth as its base map: the site is designed to perform using the Google Earth 3-D Plug-In, and it performs best if viewed through the Mozilla Firefox browser. See Landnote Site

Screenshot of the LandNote online resource

Screen shot of the software

]]> http://di.ncl.ac.uk/blog/n-backer/feed/ 0 http://di.ncl.ac.uk/blog/activity-recognition-to-improve-motor-performance-in-parkinsons/ http://di.ncl.ac.uk/blog/activity-recognition-to-improve-motor-performance-in-parkinsons/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:01:10 +0000 Administrator http://di.ncl.ac.uk/?p=2125 In this project we aim to develop a method that can be used to assess one of the properties of motor skill: the efficiency of motion.  This will have application in degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia which have a significant impact on motor abilities.

Through sensors worn on the body or embedded into objects of daily use we can infer the activities performed by a subject. However, so far relatively little work has been invested into a further, detailed analysis of these segmented activities, although extracting their characteristics, i.e. how these activities were performed, would be beneficial to a variety of applications. Applications of exploring this include rehabilitation, pain therapy, sports and professional training in tool usage, e.g. for mechanics among others. Information about the development of these motor performances, i.e. if there is an increase or decline over time, can be very beneficial, particularly in medicine and specifically in degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease where an assessment of a decline in motor ability is a common diagnostic tool.

Our method for measuring motor efficiency will be based on the energy distribution in Principal Component Analsysis (PCA) and we will use it to infer a single, normalised metric that is intimately linked to signal complexity and allows comparison of (subject-specific) time-series. We will evaluate the approach on artificially distorted signals and apply it to a simple kitchen task to show its applicability to real-life data streams.

Date: Oct 2010 – Aug 2011

Funding: EPSRC: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (KTA) £51,704

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI). Richard Walker – Institue of Health & Society, Nick Miller - School of Education, Communication, and Language Sciences, Lynn Rochester – Institute of Aeging & Health (CIs). Roisin McNaney, Karim Ladha,  Thomas Ploetz, Nils Hammerla, Dan Jackson.

Real-time Visualisation of a Shared Geo-spatial Model

The primary objective of this project is to carry out the basic research that will allow a single shared interactive digital model of the built environment in any geographic region to be created and maintained by the stakeholders in the region. The project aligns directly with the Modern Built Environment area of the Design, Simulation and Modelling priority of the DTI, with specific emphasis on encouraging interactive collaborative working within a shared networking environment. The aim to make the concept and practical experience of a single interactive model thoroughly persuasive to stakeholders. To support this objective a demonstration model in a specific region (the North-East of England) will be constructed, but the approach could be readily extended to provide a seamless model of the UK. The technical scope of the project includes the problem of providing semantic web services for geographic data (undertaken by Phil James in Geomatics) and mobile visualisation of geographic space which is our primary concern.

Date: Oct 2005 – Sept 2007

Funding:  DTI £253,578

Researchers: Phil James (PI) – Civil Engineering and Geosciences , Patrick Olivier (PI), Pushpendre Singh (School of Computing Science).

Collaborators: IMASS Ltd, Ordnance Survey, 1Spatial.

Press:

“NERVE: Innovative Technology to Address Tomorrow’s Needs”, V1 Magazine, 7 November 2007

“NERVE Part 2: Innovative Technology to Address Tomorrow’s Needs” , V1 Magazine, 5 December 2007

The research will marry archival evidence with qualitative data generated by semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the four case study areas.Virtual Reality imaging software will be used to illustrate the impacts on the biodiversity and landscape of each case study of different land management options for delivering sustainable management. The stakeholder meetings will, therefore, not only provide a forum for the dissemination of the research to key stakeholders and policy makers: they will also inform decision making by stakeholders seeking to improve the management of the commons in the case study areas, within the new self regulatory framework of the Commons Bill 2006.

Claerwen Valley

Claerwen Dam

See the Imaging Software we created.

Landnote

Date: Feb 2007 – May 2010

Funding: AHRC: The Arts and Humanities Research Council. £80,998

Researchers: Chris Rodgers (PI) – Newcastle Law School, Patrick Olivier (CI), Dan Jackson, Margherita Pieraccini (Newcastle Law School)

Collaborators:  Angus Winchester and Eleanor Straughton (University of Lancaster).

See the Contested Common Land Project website

Motion capture traces of a Juggler recorded by operator Dave Green.

Date: Completed April 2007

Funding: £40,506

Researchers: Sally Jane Norman (PI) – Culture Lab.  Patrick Olivier, Paul Watson (School of Computing Science),  and Sian Lawson – School of Mechanical and Systems Engineering (CIs). Jonathan Hook, Paul Dunphy

 Publications:

2009

AMUC: Associated Motion capture User Categories. (2009) Sally Jane Norman, Sian E M Lawson, Patrick Olivier, Paul Watson, Anita M-A Chan, Martyn Dade-Robertson, Paul Dunphy, Dave Green, Hugo Hiden, Jonathan Hook, Daniel G Jackson, Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences 367(1898), p. 2771-80, pubmed, url

Date: Aug 2005 – July 2008

Funding: Unilever Corporate Research £101,198

Researchers: Patrick Olivier, John Shearer

Collaborators: Marco de Boni (Unilever Corporate Research)

(a) A cost effective mechanism to annotate the collection such that potential users can search audio/video content to identify items that will satisfy their information need; and

(b) A working business model that supports the costs of digitization by demonstrating new revenue streams as a result of making the collection available.

The Vidipedia project seeks to address these needs by examining the potential for community based annotation and identifying a business model that supports it. The project will create a tool that will address the challenges of archiving, search and discovery for producers and consumers of multimedia content. Vidipedia will also enable interoperability at the semantic level between services and systems that support inter-enterprise applications.

Date: Oct 2006 – Jan 2009

Funding: DTI  £81,515

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI), Paul Watson (CI) – School of Computing Science, Dan Jackson.

Collaborators:  ITV Tyne Tees, University of Sunderland, Enigma Interactive

In November 2010 there was a launch event at the Great North Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne in which we placed a multi user interactive installation.

LiveWell Interactive Installation

Date: Mar 2010 – Feb 2015

Funding: MRC: Medical Research Council  £2,196,724

Principle Investigator (PI): John Mathers (IAH: Institute for Ageing & Health).

Co-Investogators (CIs): Paula Moynihan (IAH), Martin White (IHS: Institute of Health & Society), Lynn Rochester (IAH), Falko Sniehotta (IHS), Ashley Adamson (IHS), and Thomas Meyer (Institute of Neuroscience).                                                                                  

Internal Collaborators (Colls): Patrick Oliver, Lynne Corner (IAH), Mike Catt (IAH), Thomas von Zglinicki (IAH), Mike Trenell (ICM: Institute of Cellular Medicine), Suzanna Moffat (IHS), Araujo-Soares (IHS), John Matthews (Maths and Statistics) .

Researchers: Jack Weeden

The project will involve a variety of methods which will bring together digital and textual data and modes of analysis. The approach of the research will be influenced by a research panel of disabled young people who will help develop the methodology and analysis.

Date: Mar 2011 – Feb 2013

Funding: ESRC: The Economic and Social Research Council. £227,511

Researchers: Janice McLaughlin (PI) – Geography, Politics and Sociology, Allan Colver (Institute of Health & Society),  and Patrick Olivier (CIs).                                          
Gavin Wood, Dan Jackson, Cass Ladha, Jayne Wallace, Edmund Coleman-Fountain, Abigail Durrant – Geography, Politics and Sociology.

SHel: Safe Home Living, the use and acceptability of remote monitoring systems for older people living alone.

The study aimed to create acceptable and effective prototype technologies to facilitate independence for people with dementia and to enable ‘safe walking’ through a user-centered design process involving them and their carers.

We developed two prototype devices, both of which incorporated GSM/GPS technology which could track the location of the user. The devices had a single button for emergency signs and used LEDs to signal whether the device is switched on or sending an alarm. The device constantly reported the location of the users to a central web-server which, when queried, sent the last known location of the device to a mobile phone or PC, with a link to a map of the location.

One of the devices took the form of an electronic notebook for use by a person with dementia when driving her car. The second was an arm-band for use when out running. People with dementia were asked for their responses to these prototypes, and the project team is now looking for commercial partners interested in developing consumer devices along these lines. An important finding of this project was that people with dementia are capable of providing valuable feedback on the design of assistive technologies.

A number of problems are addressed by this project: the universal problem of classroom language teaching, namely that students are rehearsing the language, rather than actually using the language to carry out actions, and the difficulty of bringing the foreign culture to life in the classroom. With the kitchen, learners will be able to learn aspects of the language whilst performing a meaningful real-world task and will simultaneously experience the cultural aspect of learning to cook a French dish. The project offers the opportunity of taking the excellent research-based pedagogical principles and procedures developed by Task-Based Language Teaching over the years out of the classroom and into use in real-world applications.

In terms of the broader social context, the pedagogical design of the situated language learning system is intended to create a transferable, interdisciplinary model of task-based, situated learning which can be applied to many different technological settings and many different skill and knowledge sets. A significant challenge for the UK is how to employ the available digital technology to upgrade the skills of its workforce in a rapidly changing world. A specific challenge is how to improve the declining foreign language proficiency of the British workforce. The number of pupils gaining a GCSE in a foreign language has decreased significantly, whilst a recent British Academy report discussed concerns that the future of the UK’s world-class research base might be threatened by the decline in modern language learning.

See our French speaking Kitchen.

iLAB: Learn Kitchen

Date: Jun 2010 – Nov 2011

Funding: EPSRC: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Digital Economy Programme £162,525

Researchers: Paul Seedhouse (PI) – School of Education Communication and Language Sciences, Patrick Olivier (CI).                                                                                     Dan Jackson, Thomas Ploetz, Jack Weeden, Saandia Ali – School of Education Communication and Language Sciences.

Collaborators: Newcastle College, and CILT: The National Centre for Languages.

We have developed an application for computer-assisted visual assessment of the nutritional value of partially consumed meals. When applied to all meals, snacks and drinks consumed, the application can measure dietary daily intake, identify possible nutrient deficiencies and indicate whether a patient is meeting their calculated requirements. To assess the portions consumed raters replicate a visual assessment of the remaining portion size on a touch-enabled device by rubbing away the parts of the meal they had consumed.The application allows the user to re-add food if they make an error. The food consumption is calculated on a pixel level using a series of graphical masks: one created by the rater and the other by the system designer. The remaining meal components are weighed and the nutritional values calculated using food composition tables.

We are working on integrating Interactive Storytelling Technologies with cinematography. We have created a camera control system for virtual environments, such as in CGI films and computer games, which used cinematic conventions in order to affect the affinity or dominance of a character. The way a scene is shot can have an affect on the whole mood of the scene, and can further provide meaning; it can specify character relations such as suggesting friendship by placing both characters in the same shot or specify status, such as shooting a dominant character from below. The camera system can further be used to prevent ophiscation and can control lighting and sound techniques.

The aim of this project is to address the problem on malnutrition in older patients by exploiting new and existing technologies.

The project will first map out current practice in hospitals for provision of food to older patients and identify opportunities for change. Then, with input from end users and stakeholders, a new food system will be devised considering 4 key areas:

1. The food provided, including new foods for patients with swallowing difficulties.
2. The ‘Food Journey’ – how the food is transferred from the production site to the patient, and the maintenance of quality throughout this journey.
3. The patient’s eating environment.
4. Consumption: monitoring food intake.

Monitoring nutritional intake provides certain challenges, especially when prepared meals are not fully consumed. We developed an application which enables portion-size estimation in order to help asses nutritional intake.

Portion-Size Estimation

Date: Oct 2008 – Sept 2011

Funding: ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council – (New Dynamics of Ageing Programme) £446,943

Researchers: Paula Moynihan (PI) – Institute for Ageing & Health. Patrick Olivier, and Carl May (CIs).
Jack Weeden, Robert Comber.   Claire Bamford and Ben Heaven – Institute of Health and Society.

Collaborators: 
Alan Bell, Carol Fairfield, Yiannis Mavromattis, Clare Payne, Lisa Methven, and Margot Gosney (University of Reading).
Martin Maguire (University of Loughborough).
Alastair Macdonald,and Gemma Teal (Glasgow School of Art).

See MappMal Project website.

1) To extend Interactive Storytelling Technologies in terms of performance and scalability, so that they can support the production of actual Interactive Narratives.
2) To make the next generation of Interactive Storytelling technologies more accessible to authors and content creators of different media backgrounds (scriptwriters, storyboarders, game designers)
3) To develop a more Integrated Approach to Interactive Storytelling Technologies, achieving a proper integration with cinematography.
4) To develop Methodologies to evaluate Interactive Storytelling systems as well as the media experience of Interactive Narrative

We have created a Camera Control System for Virtual Environments.

Date: Jan 2009 – Dec 2011 (36 months long)

Funding: European Commission Funded within the 7^th framework Programme (FP7) £160,000

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI). Tina Gharavi (CI) – School of English Literature, Language, & Linguistics.
Guy Schofield, Stephan Lindsay, Thomas Smith, Jordan Wise.

Collaborators: 9 other EU Universities

See the IRIS Project website

Publications:

2008

The IRIS network of excellence: Integrating research in interactive storytelling (2008) M. Cavazza, S. Donikian, M. Christie, U. Spierling, N. Szilas, P. Vorderer, T. Hartmann, C. Klimmt, E. André, R. Champagnat, others, Interactive Storytelling, p. 14–19, Springer, pdf

Date: April 2009 – March 2013 (48 month Project)

Funding: Marie Curie Action under the European 7th Framework Program (FP7). £190,201

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI). Paula Moynihan – Institute of Ageing & Health, and Martyn Dade-Robertson – Architecture, Planning & Landscape (CIs). Juergen Wagner, Robert Comber, Jack Weeden.

Collaborators: Aart van Halternen, Jettie Hoonhout, Peggy Nachtigal, and Gijs Geleijnse (Philips Research, Eindhoven).

Press: “Balancing Act“  – ResearchMediaLtd

See Balance@Home Project website

Publications:

2009

Ambient kitchen: designing situated services using a high fidelity prototyping environment (2009) Patrick Olivier, Guangyou Xu, Andrew Monk, Jesse Hoey, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on PErvsive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments - PETRA '09, p. 1-7, New York, New York, USA: ACM Press, url

This information is used to parameterise building models used in building management to more accurately predict energy usage and to optimise (decentralised) energy consumption, generation and storage and to assist in the development of a decision support tool that visualises the collected data as well as the expected impact of energy saving strategies such as organisational changes and policies or the rescheduling of activities. This will enable decision makers to identify where energy is being wasted and to formulate and evaluate strategies to reduce energy consumption.  The data will enable a better understanding of the way the building is used and how heat wasted. Through a combination of physical and virtual sensors a more accurate measurement of thermal comfort of the building’s occupants will be established and thus assist in resolving ever occurring complaints and potential conflicts associated with the diverse needs for occupant comfort in buildings which also results in unnecessary overheating.

Date: Sept 2010 – Sept 2013

Funding: EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) £606,679

Researchers: Tony Roskilly (PI) - Sir Joseph Swan Centre for Research on Energy. Patrick Olivier, and Thomas Ploetz (CIs).
Santi Phithakkitnukkoon, Dan Jackson, Cas Ladha, Karim Ladha,  Chris Kray, Mohammad Royapoor, Zhiwei Gao – Sir Joseph Swan Institute for Energy Research.

Collaborators: John Counsell, and James Johnston (Strathclyde University). David Dunn.

For this study, a novice group of participants will be used who are expected to have no prior training in suturing in order to allow us to record motor skill acquisition with practice of a novel task. An ‘experienced’ group of participants will also be used which will be composed of medical students who have been shown the technique before.

Suturing will be carried out with proper surgical instruments and suture material, on artificial suture pads that are frequently used for training purposes.

Date: Nov 2010 – July 2011

Funding: EPSRC: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (KTA) £27,074

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI), Andrew McCaskie (CI) – Institute of Cellular Medicine, Nils Hammerla, Thomas Ploetz, Roisin McNaney, Sandeep Deshmukh -Institute of Cellular Medicine.

In the evaluation of the final version a total of twelve trials using six groups of students (three students per group) were run. It produced evidence that use of the application increases the probability that effective learning mechanisms will occur and encourages higher-level thinking through reflection.

Date: Jan 2007 – Sept 2010

Project Supervisor: Patrick Olivier, David Leat.

Funding: Diwan Software

We worked with an adult mental health and learning disability development unit where many of the patients have chronic dementia. We developed digital artwork that enlivens the ‘quiet room’ and provides interactive reminiscence for clients living in the unit. Two bespoke pieces of furniture have been created; a wall cabinet and a television cabinet. The wall cabinet holds a series of seven small hand-held resin objects that encase colourful images and sculptures each relating to one of seven themes. Once placed on top of the TV cabinet inside the ‘quiet room’, each globe triggers a 13-15min film to play relating to the particular theme. Through the different variety of content of the films the piece is providing clients and staff with opportunities for individual and group reminiscence, a space for calm as well as activity.

The ‘All About Me’ function of the piece enables staff to make a personal film for each individual client comprised of a slideshow of personal images and films. This aspect of the piece was developed to extend and enrich the existing staff practice of making ‘All About Me’ books for each client, housing scanned photographs from a client’s life (supplied by family members) and intricate detail of a client’s biography. An individual’s book is often used by staff to de-escalate a situation through discussion of comforting and recognisable aspects of a client’s life. Each client is allocated a USB stick onto which staff can drop bespoke content (photographs and films from a client’s life).

See entry for the Reminiscence Room on the SiDE website.

The Lovers’ box is a digital artefact designed to engage roman­tically-engaged couples in reflections on their relationship. By adopting perspectives from social psychology and interaction design, the research examines the role of reflection through the use of a non-traditional digital artefact and how it acts as a site for enduring attachments to the artefact. A field study was conducted involving five couples who were asked to exchange personal audio and video mes­sages using the Lovers’ box over five weeks. The five boxes were designed by Jayne Wallace,

It was discovered that the Lovers’ Box became meaningful to participants, and that they perceived it as a keepsake or digital storybook of their meaningful experiences, experienced it as an enjoyable shared hobby with their partner, and saw it as providing them a snapshot into the beloved partner’s mind and thoughts. Results show how a regular positive exchange of intimate and personally meaningful content through the interaction with the artefact can support people’s emotional well-being.

Date: April 2009 – July 2010

Researcher: Anja Thieme

Collaborators: Prof. Nicole Krämer (University of Duisburg-Essen).

See entry for Lovers’ Box on the SiDE website

Publications:

2011

Lovers' box: Designing for reflection within romantic relationships (2011) Anja Thieme, Jayne Wallace, James Thomas, Ko Le Chen, Nicole Krämer, Patrick Olivier, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 69(5), p. 283-297, url

Design and Appropriation: Studying a Digital Artifact in Different Contexts (2011) Anja Thieme, Jayne Wallace, Patrick Olivier, CHI 2011, May 7–12, 2011, BC, Canada., pdf

The Digital Economy Research Hub aims to tackle social exclusion by making it easier for people to access the life-changing benefits offered by digital technologies. The £12 million Hub is based at Newcastle University and is a key element of the EPSRC Digital Economy research programme. The Hub, in which the University of Dundee will also play a key role, will address four fields where digital technologies and the building of a truly inclusive digital economy could deliver major social benefits: Connected Home & Community; Accessibility; Inclusive Transport Services; and Creative Industries.

Social exclusion is a complex and increasing problem. SiDE researchers are therefore working directly with these marginalised groups to understand their needs, and explore the potential for digital technologies and approaches to transform lives. The team will work with a group of 3000 volunteers from the Dundee and Newcastle areas, including people from a range of age groups and with a variety of disabilities. In the North East, a large panel of older people recruited and supported by Years Ahead, the Regional Forum on Ageing which is a key partner in the Hub, will be involved.

Personhood in Dementia                          Reminiscence Room

Play Therapy                                               Lover’s Box

My Great North Run

Date: Oct 2009 – Sept 2014

Funding: EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) £10,422,667

Researchers: Paul Watson (PI).

Patrick Olivier, Atau Tanaka, Phil Blythe, Aad van Moorsel, Feng Li, Ranald Richardson, and Lynne Corner (CIs).

Thomas Ploetz,  Nils Hammerla,  Olga Pykhtina,  Anja Thieme,  Cas Ladha,  Gavin Wood,  Karim Ladha,  Dan Jackson, Abigail Durrant.

Collaborators: Vicki Hanson (University of Dundee).

See some photos from the Digital Economy Research Hub Launch at the British Library

Visit the SiDE Project website

Publications:

2010

Engagement at Culture Lab Newcastle: The SiDE Project and Beyond (2010) Lalya Gaye, Andreia Cavaco, Areti Galani, Rachel Clarke, Jamie Allen, Atau Tanaka, Digital Futures 10, UK (2010), pdf

We have developed a cueing device which will vibrate at regular intervals to act as reminder for the wearer to swallow their saliva, in order to behaviourally manage their drooling problem.

A participatory design process was carried out to ensure that the device created would be one that the user would actually want to wear, and to ensure the device would not become a source of stigmatisation for the wearer. We further wanted to enable them to engage with the object, in ways beyond the clinical and functional aspects of what it provides.

The VERITAS project’s main goal is to develop an open framework for developing technologies which are being systematically designed for all people including those with disabilities and functional limitations as well as older people. Generic instructions are to be embedded in an empowering virtual reality platform, for exploring new concepts, designing new interfaces and testing interactive prototypes that will inherit universal accessibility features, including compatibility with established assistive technologies. Newcastle University has developed a system that automatically administers n-back tasks (Continuous Performance Tasks) in order to simulate the impairment of various different groups of people such as the hearing and motor impaired. The system can hence be used by designers to facilitate the testing process of ICT projects with regards to the products accessibility.

n-backer System

Date: Jan 2010 – Dec 2013

Funding: European Commission Funded within the 7^th framework Programme (FP7).  £206,400

Researchers: Patrick Olivier, Philip Blythe, Stephen Lindsay, Anja Thieme, Dan Jackson, Roisin McNaney

Collaborators: 32 Organization from 11 countries.

VERITAS Project Website

Publications:

2011

Physical, Cognitive and Contextual - the Gulf between Older People and Designers Experiences (2011) Stephen Lindsay, Anja Thieme, Patrick Olivier, Lindsay Stephen, CHI 2011, May 7–12, 2011, BC, Canada., pdf, pdf

2011

N-backer: An auditory n-back task with automatic scoring of spoken responses. (2011) Andrew F Monk, Dan Jackson, Dea Nielsen, Elizabeth Jefferies, Patrick Olivier, Behavior Research Methods, pubmed

The Biometric daemon is a secure but usable identification and authentication device, which makes use of multiple biometric identifiers, based on the concept of the ‘Biometric Daemon’ (Briggs & Olivier, 2008).

Its main goal is to securely store sensitive information such as PINs or passwords. The need for such a system is supported by research that suggests that, older people in particular require assistance in remembering and using PINs and passwords. The device will therefore address the problem of users recording their PINS using physical media, for example, writing PINs in diaries or even on the back of bank cards. The biometric daemon provides a safe alternative as it only divulges its information depending on to what extent it recognises its owner. Different levels of security allow is to divulge a range of information. The Biometric Daemon also addresses some of the issues surrounding unimodal biometric-based personal authentication systems by integrating multiple biometrics. Biometric data taken into account includes fingerprints, gait, which makes use of accelerometer, and a physical password, which makes use of a gyroscope.

We are working on developing a personal cheque clearing system by using a number of technologies including digital pen-paper and scanner-shredder devices. Our main objectives are to undertake a security analysis of the current cheque clearing system and to propose and develop digital replacements to the current cheque processing system taking into account the usability and functional aspects but also where appropriate preserving the experiential qualities of cheques.

In this project we have conducted a detailed study of the eighty somethings to understand their experiences of managing money in the past and the present.  We continuously work with groups of older people and their representatives in this age group via a number of methods that range from conventional field study techniques such as interviews, focus groups and role play, also new participatory design techniques based around low cost but high fidelity concept designs.

The project does not take a ‘corrective’ standpoint but rather seeks to understand why technology is not suitable in particular situations and ultimately pursue the development of user-centred solutions.  Developing technologies that reconnect the digital and physical worlds is one means of addressing the gap in functionality, but we are also interested in developing provocative prototype of real-world services that can reconnect older people with the benefits of modern banking yet support their processes of trust and money management

Particular avenues of current research include the area of cheque replacement, and also mechanisms to provide biometric protected reminders of knowledge-based authentication credentials.  In addition we are working to lobby policy holders and banks regarding our findings to stimulate legislative change to strengthen protection against phenomena such as financial abuse.

Date: May 2010 – April 2012

Funding: EPSRC (Digital Economy Programme) £7,947 + £168,264

Researchers:  Patrick Olivier, Feng Li (Business School), Paul Dunphy, Isaac Teece, Dan Jackson,  John Vines, Cas Ladha, Stephen Lindsay, Karim Ladha, Rachel Phillips, Vasilis Vlachokyriakos

Collaborators: Andrew Monk (PI) (University of York) and John Clark , Mark Blythe (Northumbria University), Jayne Wallace (Northumbria University)

Partners: Alex Aldler (Barclays Bank), Lucy Malenczuk (Age UK), Bruce Davis (Zopa)

Visit the New Approaches to Banking for the Older Old Project website.

Publications:

2011

Eighty Something: Banking for the older old (2011) John Vines, Mark Blythe, Paul Dunphy, Andrew Monk, British HCI , pdf

Eighty Something: Banking for the older old (2011) John Vines, Mark Blythe, Paul Dunphy, Andrew Monk, British HCI , pdf

2008

Biometric daemons: authentication via electronic pets (2008) P. Briggs, P. Olivier, CHI'08 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, p. 2423–2432, ACM, url

Pilgrims circumambulating the Kaaba

A model of the Kaaba surrounded by display screens which aid the pilgrims to count how many times they have circled the Kaaba

Start Date: Nov 2007

Project Supervisor: Christian Kray, Patrick Olivier

Funding: Libyan Embassy

As a part of tracking user’s food preparation steps within a recipe, the development goal of the fibre chopping board (FCB) is to detect the food ingredient while it is being processed on the FCB. The FCB is compactly designed “as a normal chopping board as possible” (i.e. technologies are disappeared from the users). It is instrumented with fibre optics for light sensing, a camera, and a microphone which are totally embedded inside the choppingboard.

The FCB can recognize the food ingredient on it in two stages:  the food is before being chopped and the food is being chopped. At the first stage, the image of food ingredient placed on the chopping board is sensed by the fibre optics sensing mechanism.  The image is then segmented and the noise is removed by the open-close morphological operators. After that, colour and features are computed from the segmented region for a classification algorithm. The latter utilizes the audio from the embedded microphone and acceleration data from the knife (embedded with a wireless accelerometer) while the food is being chopped for food classification.

Graphical User Interface

Assembly

Wooden FiberBoard – Milling Machine Parts

The wooden FiberBoard is larger than our milling machine. External vendors said they couldn’t be sure of the mill without breakage/splitting, and so prices were rediculous. So milling in two parts on our machine, and pinning together.

The parts are 50mm high (in order to encapsulate the various electronics and fibers), and so are built from two layers of B&Q blockboard worktop glued together.

The parts for A and B side are in the zip – FiberChoppingBoard v8 side a and b (zip)

Start Date: 2007

Project Supervisor: Patrick Olivier, Thomas Ploetz

Collaborators: Philips Research, Eindhoven.

SenseCam worn around neck

This project aims to collect data about people’s daily life experiences through different digital devices. One such digital device is SenseCam which automatically captures images every 30 seconds. It combines sensors with conventional camera technology, such as a lens and an accelerometer which detects the movement of the individual wearing it so as to avoid capturing blurry images as well as to recognise a change in the person’s environment which prompts the capture of a new photo. The wearer is able to stop the automatic capturing of photos by pressing a privacy button on the SenseCam. Mobile phones can further be used to automatically collect GPS data in order to track ones location, as well as SMS and call history data which can be collected for reminder purposes. I have designed a user interface which allows the user to view and search the data, upload new content and see their data organised in a meaningful way. A user can for example create visual cues that remind them of past events.

Start Date: July 2007

Project supervisor: Patrick Olivier

Funding: Libyan embassy

Start Date: 2006

Project supervisor: Patrick Olivier, Katie Brittain, Louise Robinson

Funding: EPSRC

Traq is an interactive information visualization and analysis tool designed for commercial experts who seek to discover and investigate interesting topics and trends in particular domains (e.g. fair trade, health) of web log (blog) entries.

Traq provides multiple functions for the visualization and exploration of the blogosphere. We currently evaluate the potential of these functions in reducing cognitive load and facilitating reasoning processes. In this regard, the tool builds on the research field of visual analytics, the ‘science of analytic reasoning facilitated by interactive interfaces’ (cf. Thomas & Cook, 2006).

Exploiting humans’ exceptional visual pattern recognition abilities may have the potential to increases experts’ capacities for the perception, and understanding of valuable blog content.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmbNvZa7t8Y

Project Date: Sept 2006 – Sept 2011

Funding: Unilever Corporate Research

Researchers: Dan Jackson, Anja Thieme, John Shearer

This study reports on the design, implementation, and evaluation of a digital collaborative Strategic reading (DCSR) application with regard to its effectiveness for ESL (English as a Second Language) reading. DCSR applications allow users to read collaboratively on multi-touch and multi-user digital tabletop displays which support both face-to-face and computer-based interaction. The application created involves several stages of reading and comprehension. In the first stage the students are given a preview of the text. In the second and third they are encouraged to brainstorm about the subject generally and then predict what the document will contain. In the next stage they can identify unknown words from within the text, one paragraph at a time. The unknown words are then collaboratively examined by the group using various “fix up” strategies such as breaking words down into syllables, showing words in context and eventually obtaining a dictionary definition. The participants then write down “the gist” of the paragraph. Once all the paragraphs are viewed, the final stage requires the participants to look at how their final understanding of the document matches their initial brainstorming and prediction stages.

Start Date: 2009

Project supervisor: Scott Windeatt

Funding: Digital Institute, iLAB: learn

Open box showing instructions, function cards and RFID reader surface.

The ‘Talking Memory Box’ was developed to allow people to digitally record, store and playback stories. It was designed for families and schools, allowing people to record and share stories and experiences that are associated with both people and an object or an image of importance to them (e.g. a photo of a school trip).

What makes this device distinct from existing digital recording devices is that the audio content can be associated with images of people and/or artefacts. This content can then be retrieved by others through using people, objects, or the combination of both, as ‘filters’ to find content.

"This week Bespoke asks: Would you miss the Bespoke Newspaper if it was gone?"

Viewpoint is a simple, lightweight voting mechanism de­signed to allow organizations and elected representatives to solicit feedback from a community and provide residents with a ‘voice’ in local matters. Councillors and community groups can post weekly questions on three Viewpoint devices deployed in public locations around the Callon and Fishwick areas of Preston, where residents can vote using buttons on the front of the device. When each poll closes, question post­ers can then submit responses to be displayed on the devices.

Press: Gift of the gadgets to get residents talking, Lancashire Evening Post, 11 August 2011

Publications:

2012

Viewpoint: Empowering Communities with Situated Voting Devices (2012) Nick Taylor, Justin Marshall, Alicia Blum-Ross, John Mills, Jon Rogers, Paul Egglestone, David M. Frohlich, Peter Wright, Patrick Olivier, Proc. CHI 2012, p. 1361-1370, New York: ACM, url

The main aim of this PhD project is to develop and investigate suitable methods that allow to quantify differences in motor performance as they are observed with body- worn and pervasive sensors. Close links to the medical department and a huge body of accessible patients with Parkinson’s Disease will allow the thorough application and evaluation of novel methods in order to develop suitable outcome measures for motor deficiencies such as Bradykinesia and Dyskinesia.

Date: Oct 2004 – Oct 2008

Project supervisor: Peter Andras, Patrick Olivier, Lynn Rochester (Inst. Of Ageing and Health), Richard Walker (Inst. of Health and Society).

Funding: School of Computer Science

We provide an analysis of the important qualities of interaction for one group of users for whom expressivity is pivotal, video-jockeys (VJs). Our findings provide a novel perspective on expressive interaction, which has the potential to inspire and guide future discussion of the topic in HCI.

I have created a multi-touch interface for VJing (the live  performance of visualmedia) called Waves.

Start Date: Sept 2007

Project Supervisor: Patrick Olivier, Peter Wright, John McCarthy (University College Cork)

Funding: EPSRC

Start Date: Sept 2009

Project Supervisor: Peter Wright, Patrick Olivier, Atau Tanaka.

Funding: European Commission Funded

The research involves a number of projects ranging from formal community based settings to work with individuals who have completed programmes of CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) as well as hospital inpatients receiving DBT (dialictical behavioral therapy), alongside other health-supporting interventions.

As a first step, the PhD will develop a research framework and working definition of the multi-dimensional and complex concept of mental wellbeing. Considering the potentials and challenges associated with the design of computational artefacts to support individuals’ wellbeing in the different scenarios, we will design tailored prototypes and digital devices and deploy these in small scale evaluations with end users.

For more details on a first user study conducted in an informal community setting visit the Thinking Objects website

Start Date: October 2010

Project supervisor: Thomas Meyer (Institute of Neuroscience), Patrick Olivier and Peter Wright

Co-supervisors: Jayne Wallace (Northumbria University) and Siân Lindley (Microsoft Research Cambridge)

Funding: Microsoft Research, SiDE

Graphical passwords have emerged as an alternative form of something you know user authentication.  Their introduction is based on cogntive psychology research that reports a picture superiority effect, people reliably recognise images better than recall of words and numbers.  So the question becomes, how can we harness this effect for improved retention of user authentication credentials?

Press:

How touch screens could shrug off shoulder surfers New Scientist, 14th January 2010

‘Picture-passwords’ for people who struggle to remember their PIN numbers, Daily Mail, 25th October 2007

Picture passwords to beat hackers BBC, 24th October 2007

Enter your PIN using only eye movements New Scientist, 20th August 2007

Start Date: 2007

Project supervisor: Patrick Olivier, Jeff Yan and Peter Wright.

Funding: Microsoft Research

A number of play therapists in the North East of England, London and Canada were involved into the design and evaluation process. It was tested for interface usability in video recorded sessions by eight primary school children. We have also trialed it in the role-plays with therapists before the preliminary evaluation in play therapy sessions. At the moment the Magic Land is being prepared for the main 3 months trial in the North East of England and Canada.

Find out more information at http://di.ncl.ac.uk/playtherapy

I approach the research from both Computing Science and Play Therapy perspective. However, my vision of the design of the software is being brought to life by SiDE Mobile developer Gavin Wood (Many thanks to him for a great job!)

Start Date: Sept 2008

Project supervisor: Sue Pattison (ECLS), Patrick Olivier.

Funding: SiDE, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences.

Recently, in collaboration with Dan Jackson and John Shearer, I’ve developed a chopping board using fibre optic which detects food ingredients. A webcam camera and a microphone are integrated into the chopping board. A computer vision algorithm based on colour and shape is developed for food ingredient classification. Through a pilot study with 12 different food ingredients with more than 78% accuracy, it has shown our approach is very promising for food recognition. Moreover, a new version of the food recognition algorithm is being developed based on fusion sensing data: colour and feature to detect food before it is chopped; and audio and acceleration data intensities to detect food being chopped on the fibre chopping board.

Next step, automatic recipe tracking and video summarization applications are going to be developed based on the HAR framework. Such applications can monitor which steps of a recipe the user is doing or has done in order to advise the next step to the user to complete the recipe. It can be seen that these applications can also be part of calorie intake monitoring or cooking planning applications.

Start Date: February 2008

Project Supervisor: Patrick Olivier, Thomas Ploetz

Funding: Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam

Augmented kitchens will be used as the platform for persuasive technologies to be developed and evaluated. The kitchens offer a robust sensor infrastructure including wireless accelerometers and RFID readers as well as large- and small-format displays for visual and audio output. An activity recognition infrastructure exists to determine the actions of each of the utensils and appliances in the kitchen. These features, amongst others, will provide the basis for designing interactions around nutritional behaviour change.

Start Date: Sept 2010

Project Supervisor: Patrick Olivier

Funding: Marie Curie & Philips Research

Start Date: 2010

Project Supervisor: Peter Wright, Areti Galani (School of Arts and Culture), Jayne Wallace, and Patrick Olivier.

Funding: EPSRC

Collaborators: Angelou Centre, John McCarthy (University College Cork ,UCC)

My Blog:

Rachel Clarke’s Blog: Participatory artist’s digital project blog

• Some interesting articles

Two unrelated – or maybe they are related – both talk about the paucity of communication through technology that supposedly connects us together http://chronicle.com/article/College-20-Social-Media/131300/ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/opinion/many-still-live-with-homesickness.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&smid=fb-share

• In Denmark

The week before I left the UK, I had a day with Michael Leitner from the Design School at Northumbria playing with lo-fi electronic 40 second sound recorders and stitching them into fabrics.… Read More →

• Stuart Hall

Stuart Hall in the Guardian Interview http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2012/feb/11/saturday-interview-stuart-hall “Look, Gramsci, the Italian Marxist, believed in pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the spirit. You must look at what’s happening now. If it’s unpropitious, say… Read More →

• Making Sense of Pix & Vids

I’m spending the next couple of weeks going through the process of video editing and bringing together the photographs my group took before Christmas. We sat together last week and chose which ones… Read More →

• Intercultural Cinema

After discussions with Pete about the difference between the artists’ film and video movement (it’s probably too grand to call it a movement) and something like digital storytelling, I’ve gone back to a… Read More →

• DIY � mics

  Found these DIY contact mics – thought it was interesting – making contact mics surrounded by bottle tops for protection – thinking this might be interesting to try out with fabrics. http://www.getlofi.com/?page_id=1472… Read More →

• In Aarhus

This week I’m at Aarhus University in Denmark meeting up with some of the researchers in computing science and design. It is nice to come back here after DIS last year. Believe it… Read More →

• Participation at QM

Was at Queen Mary University London last week giving a presentation and workshop about participation. This was primarily about the work we have been doing at Culture Lab and how I’ve structured participation… Read More →

• The last month…

… seems like a bit of a blur of words. I’ve been writing for CHI12, which seemed to consume all brain power. I started off with two papers and just about finished one,… Read More →

• Trying things out

In the midst of preparing papers for CHI, Madeline and I ran a textiles and computing workshop at the beginning of August. We invited a group of people with interesting backgrounds to try… Read More →

Start Date: 2010

Project Supervisor: Patrick Olivier, David Leat

Project Supervisor: Patrick Olivier, Peter Wright

Live events offer a unique domain for interaction design and research. Many of these environments involve large complex tasks, performed by teams containing a range of skills and experience. In practice, events are time critical, cognitively intensive and have a far reaching effect on many different people in their audiences.

By their very nature there are aspects of this domain that cannot be replicated in a controlled environment such as a laboratory, and it is these subtle aspects that drive us to find out whether new types and technologies for interaction can benefit these scenarios.

By designing and implementing specific interventions for teams in some of these areas, I aim to build a case for collaborative interaction design practice for live event technology. By getting involved with real teams, we can bring together interaction techniques and designs that reduce cognitive load, facilitate creativity and allow for bigger and better performances.

 We are using creativity as a framework for designing and measuring success in various case studies which involve deploying prototype technology in real world event scenarios.

Funding: EPSRC Computer Science Department Scholarship

Digital material availability:

http://tom.bartindale.com has a selection of sub-projects which can be linked to.

http://nuilight.com is a site specifically for the interactive lighting project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bquQr28nI9k

This video demonstrates the use of the technology at Newcastle College.

For documentation, see this page.

Please visit http://nuilight.com for more information.

Publications:

2011

Design for Extreme Settings: Becoming the User (2011) Tom Bartindale, CHI 2011, May 7–12, 2011, BC, Canada., pdf

Interactive Performance Technology

A multi-media performance event in order to showcase some of the more performance based research projects in CultureLab.

As event manager and lead tecnician for the event I was responsible for all staging, lighting and audio production. This included using NUILight as the venue controller using both a tablet PC and Microsoft Surface to provide an interactive lighting experience for the audience.

OpenMovement is a collection of opensource hardware sensors and software tools for research use. The sensors all feature a MEMS triaxial accelerometer as a base sensor but also contain other sensors for context. Openmovement has been divided into two categories, wireless and logging.

Logging sensors are useful for out of lab measurements and data collection in difficult environments. The sensors use inbuilt memory to store data and then the software tools facilitate the download of data for post analysis. To read more about logging sensors click here.

Wireless sensors currently use the very low-power IEEE 802.15.4 standard and continuously transmit their data back in a start topology network. At network hub is connected to a computer with can reason what the data means and issue control or automation type commands. To read more about wireless sensors please click here.

Open movement sensors are actively being used in a number of projects both within our lab and others all over the world.

External users include:

• Microsoft Research Cambridge
• NHS
• Philips Research
• Institute for Media Technology, TU Munich
• Health Systems Institute, University Georgia Tech Instiute.
• University of Limerick
• CARU: Clinical Ageing Research Unit
• The Centre for Usable Home Technology (CUHTec), University of York
• Institute for Ageing & Health, Newcastle University
• Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University
• Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University
• School of Education Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University
• School of Agricuture, Food & Rural Development Newcastle University

DI Projects that use OpenMovement sensors:

• Balance@Home
• SIDE (Social Inclusion through the digital economy).
• Can Cueing Improve Swallowing and Prevent Drooling in Parkinson’s Disease?
• Designing Scalable Assistive Technologies and Services.
• ACCEL-O-SURG (accelerometers for surgical training)
• TEDDI: Building Management and Energy Demand.
• Activity Recognition to Improve Motor Performance in Parkinson’s

DI researchers involved with OpenMovement are:

Cas Ladha, Karim Ladha, Dan Jackson, and Gavin Wood.

For more information visit:  

A significant symptom mentioned by many people with Parkinson’s Disease concerns drooling. It is believed that drooling is associated with ‘swallowing dysfunction due to muscle rigidity and bradykinesia, or slowness of movement, of the oral-pharyngeal structures’. Patients fail to swallow saliva in sufficient volume or regularity, despite a normal amount of saliva production. Drooling can impact an individual’s quality of life both socially, by causing social embarrassment and isolation, and health-wise; as, saliva that remains pooled in the mouth may become an aspiration source, and could ultimately result in choking or pneumonia. Also, excessive loss of saliva could present difficulties related with eating and oral hygiene.  Current treatments for drooling include invasive Botox injections and medications which dry up the saliva.

Researchers have developed a cueing device that enables patients to behaviorally manage their drooling problem.

Cueing for Swallowing

Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) £37,018

Researchers: Nick Miller (PI) -Institute of Health and Society, Patrick Olivier (CI), Roisin McNaney, Stephen Lindsay,  Karim Ladha,  Thomas Ploetz, Nils Hammerla, Dan Jackson

Collaborators: Richard Walker – Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Publications:

2011

Cueing Swallowing in Parkinson’s Disease (2011) Roisin McNaney, Stephen Lindsay, Karim Ladha, Cassim Ladha, Guy Schofield, Thomas Ploetz, Nils Hammerla, Daniel Jackson, Richard Walker, Nick Miller, Patrick Olivier, Proc. ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

This body of work focuses on the maintenance of self-identity in dementia.

Jewellery has an inherent connection to the body and is valued as a special site for objects and as such an emotionally intimate place. Jewellery can function as a symbol of self, as something that becomes a witness to our experiences, as a signifier of aspects of identity and inter-personal relationships, as a conduit to transport us to other times, places and people, and as a receptacle for our feelings of that associated ‘other’. The role of the body becomes acute in dementia as something that can represent identity when other means, such as speech, have dissolved. Therefore there is great potential for jewellery objects to bring significant benefits to someone with dementia. Objects of this kind could make a genuine and profound difference to a dementia sufferer’s internal and external representation of self and bring significant benefits in the maintenance of personhood

A silver locket housing a small digital screen. Each time the locket is opened a different image from the wearer’s life is displayed.

A Jewellery box which houses dress broaches made from pieces of fabric from clothes meaningful to the owner. Each piece has a RFID ampoule attached to it and to the jewellery box which allows the recording and playback of memories, stories, or even music that is associated to each piece of fabric.

A personalised piece consisting of a rubber cloud shaped frame pendant that wobbles when held aloft and through which everything looks like a cloud in light of the wearer’s enjoyment of cloud gazing.

]]> http://di.ncl.ac.uk/blog/stories-table/feed/ 0 http://di.ncl.ac.uk/blog/fritter/ http://di.ncl.ac.uk/blog/fritter/#comments Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:38:17 +0000 Administrator http://di.ncl.ac.uk/

Fritter is a service that allows you to tweet your eating habits, so that you and the rest of the world can view your diet. The mobile application allows you to take a photo of your food and send it directly to your twitter account. It was developed as part of SiDE.

Fritter is available for the iPhone, Android and on the web.

www.fritter.me

The AEGIS project seeks to determine whether 3rd generation access techniques will provide a more accessible, more exploitable and deeply embeddable approach in mainstream ICT (desktop, rich Internet and mobile applications). This approach is developed and explored with the Open Accessibility Framework (OAF) through which aspects of the design, development and deployment of accessible mainstream ICT are addressed. The OAF provides embedded and built-in accessibility solutions, as well as toolkits for developers, for “engraving” accessibility in existing and emerging mass-market ICT-based products, thus making accessibility open, plug & play, personalised & configurable, realistic & applicable in various contexts; AEGIS is placing users and their needs at the centre of all ICT developments. Based on a holistic User Centered Design, AEGIS identifies user needs and interaction models for several user groups, (users with visual, hearing, motion, speech and cognitive impairments as well as application developers) and develops open source-based generalised accessibility support into mainstream ICT devices/applications.

Newcastle is specifically exploring the potential for remote monitoring technology to support healthy older people live more independently. The work involves a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods from social gerontology and design and aims to establish the value of a new class of consumer product for independent living. We will explore the ways in which in-home sensors can be used to monitor older peoples activities and evaluate their living standards and furthermore look for ways to present the information gathered to concerned relatives through Participatory Design activities.

See the System we created.

SHeL

Date: April 2010 – April 2011

Funding: TSB: Technology Strategy Board. £72,445

Researchers: Katie Brittain (PI) – Institute of Health & Society, Patrick Olivier (CI), Stephen Lindsay,  Mabel Lie – Institute of Health & Society.

See AEGIS Project website.

The KITE project looks into the ways in which older people with dementia can be supported in walking safely outside of the home. The project used Participatory Design techniques to involve potential users and found that the biggest barrier to the carrying of Safety Critical devices was their stigmatising aspect.

Memory problems can cause people with dementia to get lost whilst out walking, which may  further lead to considerable stress for carers. Technology has the potential to minimise the risk of harm from such wandering. However the role of technology to facilitate independent living for people with dementia is not fully realized, with initial attempts (e.g. tracking devices) being considered unacceptable from a practical and ethical perspective.

Four focus groups were set up consisting of people with dementia in the North East and their carers and through regular discussions with the group members we aimed to develop solutions which matched their needs. Workshops were run with the same four groups of peoples. These sessions looked at how and why people with dementia wandered and considered different devices and technologies.

See the two prototype devices we developed.

KITE

Date: Jul 2007 – Feb 2009

Funding: EPSRC: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, CELS:Centre for Excellence in Life Sciences. £101,100

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI). Louise Robinson, and Katie Britain (CIs) – Institute of Health & Society.
Cas Ladha, Dan Jackson, Stephen Lindsay.

Press:

“KITE is helping to raise hopes”, Evening Chronicle, (no online archive)

“Device to improve life for dementia sufferers”, Journal Live, 20 Mar 2008

Publications

2009

Keeping In Touch Everyday (KITE) project: developing assistive technologies with people with dementia and their carers to promote independence (2009) Louise Robinson, Katie Brittain, Stephen Lindsay, Dan Jackson, Patrick Olivier, International Psychogeriatrics 21(03), p. 494-502, pubmed, url

The Ambient Kitchen is one of Culture Lab’s ongoing projects to examine the ways which smart environments can assist older adults or people with cognitive impairments.   The kitchen includes a host of  different sensing technologies which combine their information to produce a model of users activities.

The ambient kitchen demonstrator is a mock-up of an actual kitchen in which we have embedded a number of working demonstrations of the potential for ambient assisted living. The kitchen comprises a rectangular floor, a suspended ceiling, and two perpendicular walls, situated in the corner of Space 2 in Culture Lab Newcastle. The whole assembly has been created as a piece of  portable “staging” (with a view to eventually moving it to the planned regional centre for assistive technology). The kitchen provides a platform for explaining and exploring the application of pervasive technology in a domestic setting. Elements of the physical environment and appliances are highly instrumented, both with sensors (e.g. accelerometers) and different wireless communication technologies (motes and RFID tags) which allows for both wireless collection of the data and location sensing.

Projects Which use the Ambient Kitchen:

Balance@Home

PhD Projects related to the Ambient Kitchen:

Measuring Cooking Competence     Human Activity Recognition for Pervasive Interaction

                                                                                                                  

Persuasive Interaction Design in Pervasive Environments.

Start Date: 2007

Funding: received some initial funding from CELS: Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences. Continues as part of our Research Hub.

Press:

“The kitchen that keeps an eye on Alzheimer’s patients by using digital technology” The Daily Mail, 29th April 2009.

“Elderly shoppers to get ‘sat nav’ gadget to find their way around supermarkets”, The Telegraph, 29th April 2009

Publications:

2010

A Dynamic Time Warping Approach To Real-Time Activity Recognition for Food Preparation (2010) Cuong Pham, Thomas Ploetz, Patrick Olivier, First Int. Joint Conf. on Ambient Intelligence

2010

A Dynamic Time Warping Approach To Real-Time Activity Recognition for Food Preparation (2010) Cuong Pham, Thomas Ploetz, Patrick Olivier, First Int. Joint Conf. on Ambient Intelligence

Real-Time Activity Recognition for Food Preparation (2010) Cuong Pham, Thomas Ploetz, Patrick Olivier, IEEE International Conference on Computing and Communication Technologies, Hanoi: IEEE

2009

Ambient kitchen: designing situated services using a high fidelity prototyping environment (2009) Patrick Olivier, Guangyou Xu, Andrew Monk, Jesse Hoey, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on PErvsive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments - PETRA '09, p. 1-7, New York, New York, USA: ACM Press, url

BinCam is a part of the Ambient Kitchen aimed at examining the ways in which people dispose of food and packaging in a typical kitchen environment.

In collaboration with Lincoln Social Computing (LiSC) Research Centre and Lincolnshire County Council, BinCam focuses on raising awareness of food waste in Lincolnshire. Focusing on minimising the food waste produced in the home, the  project encourages users to fill in a “food diary” manually recording everything they throw away. In order to investigate the differences of engagement and uptake between a paper-based diary system and a digital, online counterpart, the BinCam helps to automate the online procedure by automatically recording the contents of the bin every time an item is discarded. LiSC will then utilise social networking services to add a more competitive element to waste management; a process which has been adopted to work with such activities as minimising energy consumption.

An Android phone is housed in a custom fabricated mount in the lid of the bin. The BinCam software detects movement in the phone and records a photo once the bin lid closes. This photo is then uploaded to a Twitter account (or a closed web service if required). Using an Android device provides the key features required – a camera (with flash) and a network connection – all housed within a small, inexpensive consumer device. A USB cable runs from the phone to the back of the base of the bin in order to charge the phone when necessary.

For documentation, see this page.

humanaquarium is a movable performance space designed to explore the ephemeral yet tangible relationship between artist and audience in the performing arts traditions. Two musicians collaborate with participants, sharing the intimacy of co-creating an aesthetic audio-visual experience localized within the uncanny confines of the humanaquarium’s miniature stage environment.

Participants approach the structure and are encouraged to make contact with the humanaquarium’s touch sensitive transparent screen. Their touches and gestures influence the sonic and visual properties of the musicians’ ongoing performance, allowing the participants to share in the performance development. Fantastical sounds and imagery emanate from within the unprepossessing wooden box which rests simply on the ground.

humanaquarium is designed to be placed in places where pedestrians move. People are intended to discover and explore the installation situated in public space. Drawing upon the traditions of improvisation and busking, we bring the audience members into the performance frame, encouraging them to share in the experience of ludic and creative play.

This project is part of a research collaboration with

• Patrick Olivier (Culture Lab, Newcastle University, UK)
• Jayne Wallace (Culture Lab, Newcastle University, UK)
• Pierre Boulanger (Advanced Man-Machine Interface Laboratory, University of Alberta, Canada)

Our research team is composed of artists, musicians, and computer scientists. Our method of practice based research uses art to explore human-computer interaction. Our roles as art practitioners and performers as well as interaction designers place us uniquely in situ during the execution and evaluation of the ongoing performance, as we collaborate with our participants to shape, develop, and understand a shared and co-created aesthetic experience.

Technologically mediated interactive performance practice facilitates audience participation and involvement by allowing participants to manipulate, affect, and essentially co-create the development of a responsive performance. Through this enabling of collaboration, the format of participatory performance allows an artist to directly engage and interact with his/her audience.

The touch-sensitive humanaquarium interface makes the dialogue between performer and audience visible, tangible, legible, and direct, and provides a focal point for the performance as well as a uniquely immersicw manner of exploring how people choose to interact in creative public spaces.

Publications

Phantasmagoria: Composing Interactive Content for the humanaquarium. Robyn Taylor, Guy Schofield, John Shearer, Pierre Boulanger, Jayne Wallace, Patrick Olivier. In Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Smart Graphics (SG 2010), Banff, Canada, pp. 269-272.

humanaquarium: A Participatory Performance System. Robyn Taylor, Guy Schofield, John Shearer, Pierre Boulanger, Jayne Wallace, Patrick Olivier. In Proceedings of the 2010 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2010), Sydney, Australia, pp. 440-443. [pdf]

Related Publications

Creating dream.Medusa to Encourage Dialogue in Performance. Robyn Taylor, Pierre Boulanger, Patrick Olivier. In Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Smart Graphics (SG 2009), Salamanca, Spain, pp. 275-278.

Exploring Participatory Performance to Inform the Design of Collaborative Public Interfaces. Robyn Taylor, Pierre Boulanger, Patrick Olivier, Jayne Wallace. CHI Extended Abstracts 2009: 3721-3726.

Press

Wired.co.uk describes us as “musicians whose interpretation of `thinking outside the box’ literally involved climbing into one, and using it as a stage [...] successfully drowning out the deafening hum of the giant musical Tesla coils a little further down the hall”

SteamPunk Magazine calls humanaquarium “an interactive musical performance that was beautiful, breathtaking and utterly haunting”

French Language Press

• lepopulaire.fr
• France 3
• maville.com — Limoges et sa region
• Blog du Webdesign

Collaborators: Chris Harrison, Scott E. Hudson (Carnegie Mellon University)

Publications:

2011

SurfaceMouse: supplementing multi-touch interaction with a virtual mouse (2011) Tom Bartindale, Chris Harrison, Patrick Olivier, Scott E. Hudson, p. 293-296, url

All these applications will access the SVN in the same way. Ankh and Subclipse need less manual attention when setting it up initially, but only work within the IDE.

• Program Window manager / Startup manager.
• Install displays.
• Install touchscreen.
• Install server.

Configuration / Use

• Accelerometer OSC program -> OSC to STOMP

The new iLab Learn kitchen installation runs on the following STOMP server:

http://ilab-learn.ncl.ac.uk:61613

Administration Panel:

http://ilab-learn.ncl.ac.uk:8161

Tabletop interaction technology is still in its infancy and the absence of widely accessible multi-touch hardware and software products has meant that the majority of existing systems are at best research prototypes. The goal of the proposed partnership is to transfer Newcastle University’s knowledge of this cutting edge technology through engagement of GNM staff in the design, development and evaluation of a temporary interactive exhibit at the museum. One particular advantage of tabletop interfaces over standard technologies, and other collaborative environments, is their ability to accommodate materials and artefacts utilised by collaborators – this can support discussion and problem solving as visitors are able to utilise objects in their exploration of an exhibit. The presence of artefacts upon a table (in this case physical copies of actual museum artefacts) also leads to some interesting effects on the way in which groups handle information, problem solve and explore the interactive content relating to the exhibit. [Great North Museum]

This exhibit consists of two 1.5m diameter circular multi-touch surfaces running a WPF powered application that allows visitors of the museum to find out more about the Lindow Man through interaction and quizzes. From start to finish the entire build process took 4 weeks.

Publications:

2009

Media Crate: tangible live media production interface (2009) Tom Bartindale, Jonathan Hook, Patrick Olivier, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Tangible and Embedded Interaction, p. 255-262, ACM, url

Publications:

2010

Waves (2010) Jonathan Hook, Patrick Olivier, ACM Press, p. 305, New York, New York, USA: ACM Press, url

My Great North Run interactive

The design of the interactive was developed to capture and share the rich diversity of ways people have taken part in this event over the last 30 years. There were thirteen touch-screen map installation of the run in the museum with pre-loaded stories from runners combined with digital (Anoto) pens and pads so visitors at the exhibition could contribute their own stories and messages. At the same time a complementary website was launched to collect stories about the run from online users. The pre-loaded contributions from runners and the user contributed material from online and on-site visitors were combined and delivered both in the gallery and via the website allowing users to become aware of each others’ content. The design linked the online, web presence of the installation with the on-site museum experience and the physical time and space of the run.

Date: March 2010 – Oct 2010

Funder: OneNorthEast £30,000

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI), Areti Galani (CI) – School of Arts & Cuture , Rachel Clarke, Tom Bartindale, John Shearer

Collaborators: SiDE: Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy, RCUK Digital Economy, Bupa Great North Run Culture Programme, Tyne and wear Archives and Museums, Great North Museum: Hancock.

See My Great North Run entry on the SiDE Website.

Publications:

2011

Bridging the gap: implementing interaction through multi-user design (2011) Tom Bartindale, Rachel Clarke, John Shearer, Madeline Balaam, Peter Wright, Patrick Olivier, Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems - CHI EA '11, p. 2071, New York, New York, USA: ACM Press, url

OASIS introduces an ontology-driven, open reference architecture and platform, which will enable and facilitate interoperability, seamless connectivity and sharing of content between different services and ontologies in all application domains relevant to applications for the elderly. The OASIS platform includes a set of novel tools for content/services connection and management, for user interfaces creation and adaptation and for service personalization and integration. Through this architecture over 12 different types of services are connected with the OASIS platform for the benefit of the elderly, covering user needs and wants in terms of Independent Living Applications (nutritional advisor, activity coach, brain and skills trainers, social communities platform, health monitoring and environmental control), Autonomous Mobility and Smart Workplaces Applications (elderly-friendly transport information services, elderly-friendly route guidance, personal mobility services, mobile devices, biometric authentication interface and multimodal dialogue mitigation).

While the OASIS project looks into the ways in which older people can be supported through technology throughout all their activities, the work done at Newcastle specifically focuses on the possibility of utilising participatory Design in the development process.   The main output from this work was the OASIS Participatory Analysis Framework (OPAF), a new take on how to design with older people.

The Nutritional Adviser, a prototype developed as part of the OPAF process

Date: Jan 2008 – Dec 2011

Funding: European Commision Funded, 7th Framework Programme (Fp7) £196,032

Researchers: Patrick Olivier (PI), Phil Blythe (CI) – CEGS: School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences.                                                                                                                        Stephen Lindsay,  Amy Guo (CEGS), Yvonne Hubner (CEGS), and Simon Edwards (CEGS).

Collaborators: 33 organizations and companies from 11 countries,  2 of which are non-European.

See OASIS Project website.

The Bespoke project aimed to tackle this problem at a neighbourhood level, by helping local people to tell their own social exclusion stories and use these stories to inspire simple bespoke design solutions created with and for the excluded people. This collaboration between emotive, technological and functional design with hyper-local journalism had never been tried before.

Working closely with deprived communities in the Preston area and their local news media, we gave residents training in how to identify and report needs through a monthly community newspaper. Based on discussions around the content generated by journalists, designers created new bespoke digital objects connecting people to each other and people to existing content and services on the web. A philosophy of the project was to make these as radically simple as possible, using familiar objects and behaviours from the real world. The resulting artefacts and solutions were then be placed back into the community for feedback in the ongoing community news system.

Over the course of the project, we developed a series of highly customised technologies based on the community’s individual needs:

• Viewpoint: a community voting device that posed simple questions to the community on a weekly basis, opening a new channel of communication between residents and local organisations.
• Family Hedge/ Talking Memory Box: a device for recording memories and associating them with personal objects.
• Wayfinder: three electronic ‘signposts’ were placed in the community, which moved to point towards nearby events sent by residents.
• Digital Buskers: two local musicians were recreated as digital ‘buskers’ who played music in response to text messages.
• Community Capture Television (CCTV): a camera device for recording and immediately upload footage to the Internet.
• Blogging Pad: allowed residents to leave audio comments on articles in the Bespoke newspaper.

Date: April 2009 – June 2011

Funding: EPSRC Digital Economy Programme £164,527

Researchers:  Nick Taylor, Gavin Wood

Collaborators:  Jayne Wallace, (Northumbria University), David Frohlich (Surrey University), Alicia Blum-Ross (Surrey University), Paul Egglestone, John Mills (UCLan), Jon Rogers, Mike Shorter (University of Dundee), Justin Marhsall (University College Falmouth)

Press: Gift of the gadgets to get residents talking, Lancashire Evening Post, 11 August 2011

For more information see the Bespoke project website.

Publications:

2012

Viewpoint: Empowering Communities with Situated Voting Devices (2012) Nick Taylor, Justin Marshall, Alicia Blum-Ross, John Mills, Jon Rogers, Paul Egglestone, David M. Frohlich, Peter Wright, Patrick Olivier, Proc. CHI 2012, p. 1361-1370, New York: ACM, url

2011

Crossing the Digital Divide in the Other Direction: Community-centered design on the Bespoke project (2011) David M. Frohlich, Katie Smith, Alicia Blum-Ross, Paul Egglestone, John Mills, Mike Shorter, Sean Smith, Jon Rogers, Justin Marshall, Patrick Olivier, James Woods, Jayne Wallace, Gavin Wood, Mark Blythe, Proc. Include 2011, Royal College of Art, pdf

See the SiDE Project entry on Digital Interaction website or

See the SiDE Project website

Photographs from the Digital Economy Research Hub Launch at the British Library:

Paul Watson interviewed for TV

Jayne Wallace's Digital Jewellery

Jayne showing her Digital Jewellery to the press