NatureCHI - Unobtrusive User Experiences with Technology in Nature

Abstract

Being in nature is typically regarded to be calming, relaxing and purifying. When in nature, people often seek physical activity like hiking, or meditative, mindful or inspiring experiences remote from the urban everyday life. However, the modern lifestyle easily extends technology use to all sectors of our everyday life, and e.g. the rise of sports tracking technologies, mobile phone integrated cameras and omnipresent social media access have contributed to technologies also arriving into the use context of nature. Also maps and tourist guides are increasingly smart phone or tablet based services. This workshop addresses the challenges that are related to interacting with technology in nature. The viewpoints cover, but are not limited to interaction design and prototyping, social and cultural issues, user experiences that aim for unobtrusive interactions with the technology with nature as the use context.

Full text

NatureCHI - Unobtrusive User
Experiences with Technology in Nature
Abstract
Being in nature is typically regarded to be calming,
relaxing and purifying. When in nature, people often
seek physical activity like hiking, or meditative, mindful
or inspiring experiences remote from the urban
everyday life. However, the modern lifestyle easily
extends technology use to all sectors of our everyday
life, and e.g. the rise of sports tracking technologies,
mobile phone integrated cameras and omnipresent
social media access have contributed to technologies
also arriving into the use context of nature. Also maps
and tourist guides are increasingly smart phone or
tablet based services. This workshop addresses the
challenges that are related to interacting with
technology in nature. The viewpoints cover, but are not
limited to interaction design and prototyping, social and
cultural issues, user experiences that aim for
unobtrusive interactions with the technology with
nature as the use context.
Author Keywords
Nature; unobtrusive interaction design; value based
design; mindfulness.
ACM Classification Keywords
H.5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g.,
HCI): Miscellaneous.
Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for
personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are
not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that
copies bear this notice and the full cit
ation on the first page. Copyrights
for third
-party components of this work must be honored. For all other
uses, contact the Owner/Author.
Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).
CHI'16 Extended Abstracts, May 07
-12, 2016, San Jose, CA, USA
ACM 978
-1-4503-4082-3/16/05.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2856495
Jonna Häkkilä
University of Lapland
Yliopistokatu 8
96400 Rovaniemi, Finland
jonna.hakkila@ulapland.fi
Keith Cheverst
Lancaster
University
LA1 4WA UK
Lancaster, UK
k.cheverst@lancaster.ac.uk
Johannes Schöning
Hasselt University
– tUL - iMinds
Wetenschapspark 2
3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
johannes.schoening@uhasselt.be
Nic
ola J. Bidwell * **
*
University of Namibia
Windhoek, Khomas, Namibia
**University of
Pretoria
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
nic.bidwell@gmail.com
Simon Robinson
Fu
ture Interaction Technology Lab
Swansea University, SA2 8PP, UK
cssimonr@swansea.ac.uk
Ashley Colley
University of Lapland
Yliopistokatu 8
96400 Rovaniemi
, Finland
ashley.colley@ulapland.fi

Background
Technology Meeting Nature
What we call “nature” is inherently and integrally an
important aspect of life. It can be referred to as the
home and origin of humankind, a refreshing place to
seek experiences and adventures, and to perform
physical exercise. In the hectic pace of urban lifestyle,
people often seek serendipity and calmness, and pure
and refreshing experiences from nature. Furthermore,
as presented in [3] "Real and virtual engagement with
nature elicits positive and restricts negative affects
(e.g. anger, aggression); re-balances physiological
arousal and renews attentional resources…”. We seek
engagement and connection with nature through
various activities – e.g. hiking, gardening, or visiting
places as a tourist. Values linked to themes such as
sustainability, recycling and ecologic lifestyle are based
on a respect for nature.
On the other hand, technology has become an integral
part of our everyday life in the so-called ‘developed
world’. Certainly, a significant ‘first world problem’ is
the fact that we can be connected to our social
networks 24/7 through smartphones and tablets, even
up to the point of problematic and addictive behavior
[11], and document and blog daily events. Technology
use has also arisen when we are in nature – using
navigation apps and digital maps, or taking selfies with
smart phones at beautiful nature views, for example.
Technological aids are also used e.g. when hunting with
dogs [10] or tracking sports [1], and more concepts
have been suggested e.g. for mountaineering [8] and
backcountry skiing [7]. Technology can be used to
bring people to defined places to enjoy the same
experiences [6] or to facilitate solitude by providing
guidance on how to avoid other people [9]. It can offer
a way to bridge different ways of knowing, such as
those of indigenous or rural inhabitants in e.g. [4, 5].
In addition, the way we design things or utilize the
possibilities of interactive installations can raise our
awareness of the fragility of nature as well as
something ‘red in tooth and claw’ - highlighting the
vulnerability of human kind if an ecological catastrophe
takes place, as pointed out in [5]. Elements of nature
can also intensify the emotional aspects of interaction,
as explored with plants in [12].
Bringing technology into nature may potentially distract
the nature experience, but can also provide possibilities
to share the moment, store mementos, and access
services “in-the-wild”. This workshop addresses the
overlapping area of technology usage and experiences
with nature, looking at the challenges, potential
conflicts, and novel possibilities between these.
Examples of research areas interesting to the workshop
are illustrated in Figure 1.
Workshop Topics of Interests
The topics of interest for the workshop include, but are
not limited to the following:
• Design and use of unobtrusive technologies
and services for interacting in nature
• Novel UI mechanisms and metaphors for
interacting with nature
• Nature integrated UIs and technologies
• Cultural aspects of interactions in nature
• Social acceptance of technology use in nature
• Non-use of technology vs. the use of enabling
technologies in nature
• Technologies that enable going into nature but
do not interrupt the user’s experience of nature
Figure
1. Using a mobile tour
guide at a hiking track (top),
projecting to a plant [
2], and
using an
interactive icewall in a
night
club (bottom) [13].

• Reliance on technology in nature, and its
potential consequences
• Value based design and respect of nature
• Temporal design aspects and ephemeral user
interfaces with nature as the use context
• Designing for individual users vs. travelling
together, and converging and diverging user
group behavior in nature
• Recommendations for being in nature in the
relevant context, e.g. weather, floods, ground
saturation
This workshop will bring together researchers and
practitioners from academia, industry (e.g. experience
industry, tourism, natural resources) and art-based
design to discuss and share their research and insight.
We welcome participants working with user research,
ethnography, design, prototyping, evaluation, natural
materials, and want to facilitate a multidisciplinary
approach through the workshop.
Goals of the Workshop
The most important goal of the workshop is: 1) to
gather together the researchers who are conducting
research in the cross section of technology and nature,
and build the network among these people. The other
goals of the workshop are: 2) to identify the key trends
of current research and future research guidelines in
the area, and, 3) promote the research of technology
usage in nature and make larger audiences aware of
current research as well as the promise and risks
related to the topic. Yet another goal is: 4) to foster the
research community and create a plan for sequential
workshops or other events.
Organizers
Jonna Häkkilä is a professor at Faculty of Art and
Design, University of Lapland. She has led User
Experience (UX) and concepting teams in Nokia
Research Center (2007-2011) and Center for Internet
Excellence, University of Oulu, Finland (2011-2014).
Her research interests include mobile and ubiquitous
interaction and user experience design. Currently she is
working e.g. on using natural materials for tangible
interactions.
Nicola J. Bidwell is Prof. and Prof. Extraordinaire at
the Universities of Namibia and Pretoria in southern
Africa and affiliated researcher at Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology, Australia. Since 2003 Nicola
has focused on designing interactions with ICTs for
rural settings and Indigenous and African cultures.
Nicola takes a critical design perspective and applies
situated, ethnographic and participatory methods. She
has 100 publications including a book: At the
Intersection of Traditional & Indigenous Knowledges
and Technology Design
Keith Cheverst is a Reader with the School of
Computing and Communications, Lancaster University.
A significant focus of his research over the last 20 years
has centered on the design and deployment of mobile
systems that provide support for locative media
experiences and wayfinding in both rural and urban
settings.
Johannes Schöning is Professor of computer science
at Hasselt University working at the Expertise centre for
Digital Media (EDM). His main research interests lie at
the intersection between human-computer interaction

(HCI), geographic information science and ubiquitous
interface technologies.
Simon Robinson is a Research Officer at Swansea
University. His work focuses on the human side of
mobile interaction, arguing for heads-up and real
world-based approaches.
Ashley Colley is User Experience researcher and PhD
student in the UX team at the University of Oulu,
Center for Internet Excellence. He has more than 25
years industry experience, mostly in creative
technologist roles, and is the inventor of more than 25
patents
Website
The workshop web pages can be found at
www.naturechi.net . The web pages contain the details
of the workshop call, link to the submission system,
and upon acceptance, workshop papers.
Pre-Workshop Plan
Key dates
The important dates associated with the workshop’s
organization are as follows:
• Call out: 15 November
• First submission deadline: 16 December 2015
• Notification of acceptance: 21 December 2015
• Second submission deadline: 13 January 2016
• Second notification of acceptance: 12 February
2016
• Workshop day: Saturday 7 May or Sunday 8
May 2016
Before the Workshop
The call for the workshop will be distributed in HCI
related emailing lists. A flyer will be designed and
distributed at HCI venues, and we will advertise the
workshop at upcoming HCI conferences and among key
research groups. The distribution of the call also
happens through the members of Program Committee.
We will also recruit people through social media and our
personal networks. Web pages for the workshop have
been set up by the organizers.
Workshop Structure
Workshop Format
The workshop is organized as a one full day workshop.
It will consist of workshop paper presentations, demos,
out of the classroom group exercise and discussions,
and will be held in a lecture room for ca. 25 people. The
estimated number of workshop participants is 15-20.
Each participant will contribute to the workshop with a
position or research paper (4 pages in CHI EA format),
which introduces aspects of the participant’s prior
research, future plans, insights or interests in the area.
The submissions will be reviewed by the workshop
program committee and organizers. The selection of
participants is based on the EA reviews for the quality,
novelty and inspirational aspects, aiming for a good
balance of different perspectives on the workshop topic.
Activities and Timing
The preliminary workshop schedule is as follows:
• Opening of the workshop
• Morning session(s): paper presentations (ca. 5
minutes per paper), followed with a discussion
• Start of hands-on group work outside the
classroom
• Lunch

• Presenting the group work
• Exercise with design probes
• Coffee
• Demo session
• Results of the design probes session
• General discussion of future directions
• Closing of the workshop
• Evening: workshop dinner
Group work will consist of an interactive exercise done
in groups of 4-5 people. In this out-of-the-classroom
exercise, the groups have 45 minutes to explore the
environment (preferably outdoors) and find a place
where they design a concept around a nature
experience. The place is documented with photos
and/or videos, and where appropriate found artefacts,
the concept should integrate a non-disruptive
technology element to the experience with a nature. A
presentation about the concept is created as a ppt
presentation or video (preparation time appr. 30
minutes). After lunch, the concepts are presented and
discussed. The organizers will provide physical low-fi
prototyping equipment, such as frames, transparencies,
post-it notes and creative stimuli that can be utilized in
the concept creation.
The material probes exercise will consist of design
probes: large posters of natural views, and natural
materials. Participants go through these probes in
groups, and create a map of key elements in the
experience, and how the context or material presented
by the probe could be integrated with the technology to
create an unobtrusive, enhanced experience.
Post-Workshop Plan
After the CHI workshop, we will conduct a hands-on
design workshop on Nature and HCI at Arctic Design
Week in February 2017, hosted by University of
Lapland, Finland. We will apply to have a summary
article for Interactions Magazine. We also plan to
organize a journal special issue where the participants
will be encouraged to publish their work. The workshop
papers will be available via the workshop webpage prior
and after the workshop, providing opportunity for
participants to familiarize themselves with all papers
prior to their presentation.

Call for Participation
The ‘NatureCHI - Unobtrusive User Experiences with
Technology in Nature’ workshop addresses the overlap
of technology usage and experiences with the nature.
The ever-growing omnipresence of technology in our
everyday life and the idea of nature with pure,
meditative or adventurous experiences may create
conflicts in values, cultures and user behaviour. On the
other hand, technology may be used to share or
intensify experiences, or for bringing a piece of nature
closer (as well as more accessible).
This workshop focuses on the challenge of designing
unobtrusive technology usage and user experiences in
nature. We welcome researchers and practitioners
working on ethnographic studies, user research, design
cases, prototype development and artistic installations
related to technology and nature. The one day
workshop will include short presentations, exercises
outside of the classroom and with design probes, and a
demo session.
To apply to the workshop, submit a max. 4 page
position or research paper in CHI EA format (references
will not count towards page limit), through the Easy
Chair submission system (see workshop webpage). The
submission deadlines are December 16th 2015 and
January 13th 2016. The papers will be reviewed by the
workshop organizers and program committee. Accepted
papers will be made available at the workshop
webpage. Upon acceptance, at least one author of each
accepted paper must attend the workshop. All
participants must register for both the workshop and
for at least one day of the conference.
More details can be found from the workshop webpage:
http://www.naturechi.net
References
1. Aino Ahtinen, Minna Isomursu, Ykä Huhtala, Jussi
Kaasinen, Jukka Salminen, and Jonna Häkkilä.
2008. Tracking Outdoor Sports --- User Experience
Perspective. In Proceedings of the European
Conference on Ambient Intelligence (AmI '08),
Emile Aarts, James L. Crowley, Boris Ruyter, Heinz
Gerhäuser, Alexander Pflaum, Janina Schmidt, and
Reiner Wichert (Eds.). Springer-Verlag, Berlin,
Heidelberg, 192-209.
DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89617-
3_13
2. Liam Betsworth, Huw Bowen, Simon Robinson, and
Matt Jones. 2014. Performative technologies for
heritage site regeneration. Personal and Ubiquitous
Computing 18, 7 (October 2014), 1631-1650.
DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00779-014-0766-
3
3. Nicola J. Bidwell and David Browning. 2010.
Pursuing genius loci: interaction design and natural
places. Personal Ubiquitous Comput. 14, 1 (January
2010), 15-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00779-
009-0217-8
4. Nicola J. Bidwell, Masbulele Siya, Gary Marsden,
William D. Tucker, M. Tshemese, N. Gaven, S.
Ntlangano, Simon Robinson, and Kristen ALI
Eglinton. 2008. Walking and the social life of solar
charging in rural africa. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum.
Interact. 20, 4, Article 22 (September 2008), 33
pages. http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2493524
5. Nicola J. Bidwell, Heike Winschiers-Theophilus,
Gereon Koch-Kapuire, and Shilumbe Chivuno-
Kuria. 2011. Situated interactions between
audiovisual media and African herbal lore. Personal
Ubiquitous Comput. 15, 6 (August 2011), 609-627.
DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00779-010-0337-
1
6. Keith Cheverst, Trien V. Do, Dan Fitton. Supporting
the Mobile In-situ Authoring of Locative Media in
Rural Places: Design and Expert Evaluation of the
SMAT app. IJHCR 6(1): 1-19 (2015)
7. Anton Fedosov and Marc Langheinrich. 2015. From
Start to Finish: Understanding Group Sharing
Behavior in a Backcountry Skiing Community. In

Proceedings of the 17th International Conference
on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile
Devices and Services Adjunct (MobileHCI '15).
ACM, New York, NY, USA, 758-765.
DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2786567.2793698
8. Felix Kosmalla, Florian Daiber, and Antonio Krüger.
2015. ClimbSense: Automatic Climbing Route
Recognition using Wrist-worn Inertia Measurement
Units. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM
Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems (CHI '15). ACM, New York, NY, USA,
2033-2042.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2702123.2702311
9. Maaret Posti, Johannes Schöning, and Jonna
Häkkilä. 2014. Unexpected journeys with the
HOBBIT: the design and evaluation of an asocial
hiking app. In Proceedings of the 2014 conference
on Designing interactive systems (DIS '14). ACM,
New York, NY, USA, 637-646.
DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2598510.2598592
10. Mikko Paldanius, Tuula Kärkkäinen, Kaisa
Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila, Oskar Juhlin, and Jonna
Häkkilä. 2011. Communication technology for
human-dog interaction: exploration of dog owners'
experiences and expectations. In Proceedings of
the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in
Computing Systems (CHI '11). ACM, New York, NY,
USA, 2641-2650.
DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1978942.1979329
11. Choonsung Shin and Anind K. Dey. 2013.
Automatically detecting problematic use of
smartphones. In Proceedings of the 2013 ACM
international joint conference on Pervasive and
ubiquitous computing (UbiComp '13). ACM, New
York, NY, USA, 335-344.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2493432.2493443
12. Cameron Steer, Simon Robinson, and Matt Jones.
2015. Growth, Change and Decay: Plants and
Interaction Possibilities. In Proceedings of the 33rd
Annual ACM Conference Extended Abstracts on
Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA
'15). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2037-2042.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2702613.2732765.
13. Leena Ventä-Olkkonen, Panu Åkerman, Arto
Puikkonen, Ashley Colley, and Jonna Häkkilä. 2014.
Touching the ice: in-the-wild study of an interactive
icewall. In Proceedings of the 26th Australian
Computer-Human Interaction Conference on
Designing Futures: the Future of Design (OzCHI
'14). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 129-132.
DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2686612.268663