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Message Bag: Can Assistive Technology Combat Forgetfulness?
Abstract and Figures
Forgetfulness can be a cause for concern when it begins affecting our daily lives. Forgetfulness is associated with feelings of embarrassment and shame [1] and yet there is little attention given to forgetfulness in a healthy population. Forgetfulness is a lived experience and something that happens in our day to day. Therefore we propose the "message bag", which will be carried throughout regular daily activities, with an aim to alleviate the cognitive load, in an effort to eliminate forgetfulness. We describe a prototype for a device that will be tested in the wild.
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... Work presented here appears in(Farion & Purver, 2013) ...
... Some of the work presented here appears in(Farion & Purver, 2013). ...
Abstract
When we forget things, we feel anxious which can impact our day negatively. Some individuals believe they are forgetful, so emphatically, it disrupts their day. There has been little discussion about perceived forgetfulness in design and HCI, combined with few studied smart objects to aid with memory. However, embedded systems, radio frequency identification (RFID) and HCI research provides inspiration towards creating a solution. Challenges of creating a day-to-day smart object that can enhance a user’s lifestyle are explored and recommended design guidelines for creating a smart object in a specific domain are the focus of this thesis. Using an experience-centred approach, ‘Message Bag’ and ‘Tag Along’ are two purpose built object-based memory aids that have emerged as a result of investigating the design processes for smart objects. The work examines smart objects in the context of forgetting what items to pack in a bag. A solution presented is a device consisting of an RFID system involving (a) pre-tagging essential items; (b) scanning those tagged items and; (c) viewing a corresponding light illuminate, to communicate to the user. Although the conceptual model is simple, success depends on a combination of technical design, usability and aesthetics. These scanning interactions result in a person feeling more confident as suggested through autoethnography reporting, real-world, third person engagements - single user walkouts, conference demos, professional critiques, and residential weekends with potential users (focus group) studies conducted. My work involved extensive autobiographical research and design-led enquiries. Testing was undertaken with investigative prototypes, followed by field testing high-fidelity prototypes. This involved an in-the-wild comparative study involving six users over several months. Results show that people feel more confident and respondents claim no longer needing to continually check items are packed, thus ‘gaining time’, and feeling less forgetful. Although the application of RFID is not new to ubiquitous computing, this implementation, styling and system immediacy is novel. This thesis presents the development of ten prototypes as well as design guidelines. The research provides a solid base for further exploration, and includes discovery of the importance of a user’s style universe and extreme ease-of-use. I conclude with the presentation of early positive results including; (i) the unique form factor becomes a reminder itself and; (ii) usability coupled with the intuitive nature of the system is shown to be essential. We found that when you are creating a smart object, usability and an intuitive nature is even more important than in a standard system. When dealing within the domain of forgetfulness, this is paramount.
... On the output side, the wearable computing device gives feedback to the user mainly using visual or auditory cues. Visual output can be either designed for the users themselves [75] or as an output medium for others as a public [217]. The visual output ranges from color changing fabric [141], small LEDs embedded into bracelets [79] or clothing [73] to rich displays that can be placed somewhere on the body [74,180]. ...
Wearable computing is on the brink of moving from research to mainstream. The first simple products, such as fitness wristbands and smart watches, hit the mass market and achieved considerable market penetration. However, the number and versatility of research prototypes in the field of wearable computing is far beyond the available devices on the market. Particularly, smart garments as a specific type of wearable computer, have high potential to change the way we interact with computing systems. Due to the proximity to the user`s body, smart garments allow to unobtrusively sense implicit and explicit user input. Smart garments are capable of sensing physiological information, detecting touch input, and recognizing the movement of the user. In this thesis, we explore how smart garments can enrich mobile interaction. Employing a user-centered design process, we demonstrate how different input and output modalities can enrich interaction capabilities of mobile devices such as mobile phones or smart watches. To understand the context of use, we chart the design space for mobile interaction through wearable devices. We focus on the device placement on the body as well as interaction modality. We use a probe-based research approach to systematically investigate the possible inputs and outputs for garment based wearable computing devices. We develop six different research probes showing how mobile interaction benefits from wearable computing devices and what requirements these devices pose for mobile operating systems. On the input side, we look at explicit input using touch and mid-air gestures as well as implicit input using physiological signals. Although touch input is well known from mobile devices, the limited screen real estate as well as the occlusion of the display by the input finger are challenges that can be overcome with touch-enabled garments. Additionally, mid-air gestures provide a more sophisticated and abstract form of input. We present a gesture elicitation study to address the special requirements of mobile interaction and present the resulting gesture set. As garments are worn, they allow different physiological signals to be sensed. We explore how we can leverage these physiological signals for implicit input. We conduct a study assessing physiological information by focusing on the workload of drivers in an automotive setting. We show that we can infer the driver´s workload using these physiological signals. Beside the input capabilities of garments, we explore how garments can be used as output. We present research probes covering the most important output modalities, namely visual, auditory, and haptic. We explore how low resolution displays can serve as a context display and how and where content should be placed on such a display. For auditory output, we investigate a novel authentication mechanism utilizing the closeness of wearable devices to the body. We show that by probing audio cues through the head of the user and re-recording them, user authentication is feasible. Last, we investigate EMS as a haptic feedback method. We show that by actuating the user`s body, an embodied form of haptic feedback can be achieved. From the aforementioned research probes, we distilled a set of design recommendations. These recommendations are grouped into interaction-based and technology-based recommendations and serve as a basis for designing novel ways of mobile interaction. We implement a system based on these recommendations. The system supports developers in integrating wearable sensors and actuators by providing an easy to use API for accessing these devices. In conclusion, this thesis broadens the understanding of how garment-based wearable computing devices can enrich mobile interaction. It outlines challenges and opportunities on an interaction and technological level. The unique characteristics of smart garments make them a promising technology for making the next step in mobile interaction.
... On the output side, the wearable computing device gives feedback to the user mainly using visual or auditory cues. Visual output can be either designed for the users themselves (Farion & Purver, 2013) or as an output medium for others as a public (Sasaki, Terada, & Tsukamoto, 2013). The visual output ranges from color changing fabric (Kuusk, Kooroshnia, & Mikkonen, 2015), small LEDs embedded into bracelets (Fortmann, Cobus, Heuten, & Boll, 2014) or clothing (Senol, Akkan, Bulgun, & Kayacan, 2011) to rich displays that can be placed somewhere on the body (Falk & Björk, 1999;Olberding, Yeo, Nanayakkara, & Steimle, 2013). ...
Wearable computing has a huge potential to shape the way we interact with mobile devices in the future. Interaction with mobile devices is still mainly limited to visual output and tactile finger-based input. Despite the visions of next-generation mobile interaction, the hand-held form factor hinders new interaction techniques becoming commonplace. In contrast, wearable devices and sensors are intended for more continuous and close-to-body use. This makes it possible to design novel wearable-augmented mobile interaction methods - both explicit and implicit. For example, the EEG signal from a wearable breast strap could be used to identify user status and change the device state accordingly (implicit) and the optical tracking with a head-mounted camera could be used to recognize gestural input (explicit). In this paper, the authors outline the design space for how the existing and envisioned wearable devices and sensors could augment mobile interaction techniques. Based on designs and discussions in a recently organized workshop on the topic as well as other related work, the authors present an overview of this design space and highlight some use cases that underline the potential therein.
... On the output side, the wearable computing device gives feedback to the user mainly using visual or auditory cues. Visual output can be either designed for the users themselves (Farion & Purver, 2013) or as an output medium for others as a public (Sasaki, Terada, & Tsukamoto, 2013). The visual output ranges from color changing fabric (Kuusk, Kooroshnia, & Mikkonen, 2015), small LEDs embedded into bracelets (Fortmann, Cobus, Heuten, & Boll, 2014) or clothing (Senol, Akkan, Bulgun, & Kayacan, 2011) to rich displays that can be placed somewhere on the body (Falk & Björk, 1999;Olberding, Yeo, Nanayakkara, & Steimle, 2013). ...
Wearable computing has a huge potential to shape the way we interact with mobile devices in the future. Interaction with mobile devices is still mainly limited to visual output and tactile finger-based input. Despite the visions of next-generation mobile interaction, the hand-held form factor hinders new interaction techniques becoming commonplace. In contrast, wearable devices and sensors are intended for more continuous and close-to-body use. This makes it possible to design novel wearable-augmented mobile interaction methods - both explicit and implicit. For example, the EEG signal from a wearable breast strap could be used to identify user status and change the device state accordingly (implicit) and the optical tracking with a head-mounted camera could be used to recognize gestural input (explicit). In this paper, the authors outline the design space for how the existing and envisioned wearable devices and sensors could augment mobile interaction techniques. Based on designs and discussions in a recently organized workshop on the topic as well as other related work, the authors present an overview of this design space and highlight some use cases that underline the potential therein.
We present our results in the conceptual design and the implementation of ubiquitous computing applications using smart identification technologies. First, we describe such technologies and their potential application areas, followed by an overview of some applications we have developed. Based on the experiences we gained from the development of these systems, we point out design concepts that we find useful for structuring and implementing such applications. Building upon these concepts, we have created two frameworks based on Jini (i.e., distributed Java objects) and Web services to support the development of ubiquitous computing applications that make use of smart identification technology. We describe our prototype frameworks, discuss the underlying concepts and present some lessons learned.
We present our results of the conceptual design and the implementation of ubiquitous computing applications using smart identification technologies. First, we describe such technologies and their potential application areas, then give an overview of some of the applications we have developed. Based on the experience we have gained from developing these systems, we point out design concepts that we have found useful for structuring and implementing such applications. Building upon these concepts, we have created two frameworks based on Jini (i.e., distributed Java objects) and Web Services to support the development of ubiquitous computing applications that make use of smart identification technology. We describe our prototype frameworks, discuss the underlying concepts and present some lessons learned.
Studies show that complaints about being forgetful are weakly correlated with standardized measures of memory impairment. Little attention has been paid to those complaints in a healthy elderly population. Therefore, this qualitative, grounded-theory study investigated the experiences and consequences of becoming forgetful. In-depth interviews with 32 participants were conducted and analyzed. The findings show that forgetfulness became part of daily life through 3 strategies, conceptualized as doing forgetfulness: (1) reducing complexity; (2) creating and maintaining routines; and (3) dealing with feelings of embarrassment and shame. The well-being of people experiencing forgetfulness depended on how successfully they performed the strategies of doing forgetfulness. Gaining insight into this process allows health care professionals to assess the phenomenon early and to individualize counseling and further diagnostic procedures.
We present our results of the conceptual design and the implementation of ubiquitous computing applications using smart identification technologies.
Any system designed for people to use should be (a) easy to learn; (b) useful, i.e., contain functions people really need in their work; (c) easy to use; and (d) pleasant to use. In this note we present theoretical considerations and empirical data relevant to attaining these goals. First, we mention four principles for system design which we believe are necessary to attain these goals; Then we present survey results that demonstrate that our principles are not really all that obvious, but just seem obvious once presented. The responses of designers suggest they may sometimes think they are doing what we recommend when in fact they are not. This is consistent with the experience that systems designers do not often recommend or use them themselves. We contrast some of these responses with what we have in mind in order to provide a more useful description of our principles. Lastly, we consider why this might be so. These sections are summaries of those in a longer paper to appear elsewhere (Gould & Lewis, 1983). In that paper we elaborate on our four principles, showing how they form the basis for a general methodology of design, and we describe a successful example of using them in actual system design (IBM's Audio Distribution System).
Public education about memory was evaluated with a controlled intervention trial. Participants in group 1 (n = 273) attended a symposium covering memory-related topics and received a magazine with identical information. Group 2 (n = 141) only received the magazine. Participants were nonprofessionals and professionals aged between 29 and 88. Outcome measures were knowledge about memory and subjective experience. For nonprofessionals, knowledge increment was higher in group 1 than in group 2, indicating that an objective increment in knowledge is present in nonprofessionals after attending the symposium. No knowledge change occurred in professionals. Furthermore, participants were very satisfied after both interventions, even when knowledge transfer was limited.
This article is both theoretical and empirical. Theoretically, it describes three principles of system design which we believe must be followed to produce a useful and easy to use computer system. These principles are: early and continual focus on users; empirical measurement of usage; and iterative design whereby the system (simulated, prototype, and real) is modified, tested, modified again, tested again, and the cycle is repeated again and again. This approach is contrasted to other principled design approaches, for example, get it right the first time, reliance on design guidelines. Empirically, the article presents data which show that our design principles are not always intuitive to designers; identifies the arguments which designers often offer for not using these principles—and answers them; and provides an example in which our principles have been used successfully.
Electronic Pill Bottle Cap Increases Medication Use, Study Says
- H Horowitz
Horowitz, H., (2010). Electronic Pill Bottle Cap Increases
Medication Use, Study Says.
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Health-Care-IT/Electronic-Pill-Bottle-Cap-Increases-Medication-Use-Study-298626/