John Downs’s research while affiliated with University of Melbourne and other places

In HCI, the honeypot effect describes how people interacting with a system passively stimulate passers-by to observe, approach and engage in an interaction. Previous research has revealed the successive engagement phases and zones of the honeypot effect. However, there is little insight into: 1) how people are stimulated to transition between phases; 2) what aspects drive the honeypot effect apart from watching others; and 3) what constraints affect its self- reinforcing performance. In this paper, we discuss the honeypot effect as a spatiotemporal model of trajectories and influences. We introduce the Honeypot Model based on the analysis of observations and interaction logs from Encounters, a public installation that interactively translated bodily movements into a dynamic visual and sonic output. In providing a model that describes trajectories and influences of audience engagement in public interactive systems, our paper seeks to inform researchers and designers to consider contextual, spatial and social factors that influence audience engagement.

In this paper, we present PathSync, a novel, distal and multi-user mid-air gestural technique based on the principle of rhythmic path mimicry; by replicating the movement of a screen-represented pattern with their hand, users can intuitively interact with digital objects quickly, and with a high level of accuracy. We present three studies that each contribute (1) improvements to how correlation is calculated in path-mimicry techniques necessary for touchless interaction, (2) a validation of its efficiency in comparison to existing techniques, and (3) a demonstration of its intuitiveness and multi-user capacity 'in the wild'. Our studies consequently demonstrate PathSync's potential as an immediately legitimate alternative to existing techniques, with key advantages for public display and multi-user applications.

In this paper, we report on Encounters, an interactive public installation that provides a basis for studying the effect of dance performances on the emergence of creative, social experiences. Based on observations and interviews with dancers and participants, we identified a range of tensions that arise from integrating a staged performance with participatory interaction. These tensions occurred among both participants and performers, and influenced the social and performative experience. Based on our analysis, we propose several strategies to smoothen the integration of performative and participatory interaction. These strategies reconsider the role of the interactive installation, the effect of digital cues that draw on existing conventions, and mechanisms to direct gaze. We believe our findings and strategies are valuable to HCI researchers and performative artists seeking to design for public participation in interactive experiences.

Social videogaming provides opportunities for individuals not only to engage directly in active gameplay but also to interact indirectly from the sidelines. We present a study of the differentiated nature of participation in gaming based on field observations of six families playing physical videogames in their homes. Building on existing theoretical frameworks, we distinguish three kinds of durable roles: players, audience members and bystanders. Going beyond this, we also identify a rich variety of spontaneous and ephemeral roles among the audience: spectators, orchestrators, managers, coaches, directors, puppeteers, commentators, hecklers, supporters, documenters, shadow players, and cheerleaders. We argue that through this richer understanding of the differentiated nature of participation in videogaming, designers might expand the reach of their games and respond to the potential for new experiences in the broad situation of domestic gaming.

In the past half-decade, advances in voice recognition technology and the proliferation of consumer devices like the Microsoft Kinect have seen a significant rise in the use of voice interaction in games. While the use of player-to-player voice is widespread and well-researched, the use of voice as an input is relatively unexplored. In this paper we make the argument that notions of player and avatar identity are inextricable from the successful implementation of voice interaction in games, and consequently identify opportunities for future research and design.

Large video screens situated in public spaces are characteristic of the highly mediated public environment of contemporary cities. While screens are now able to support a range of content, including interactive applications, urban planning policy still treats them largely as commercial display surfaces only. This locks planning into a regulatory model based on minimizing the impact of advertising, and underestimates the possibilities for public screens to incubate innovative modes of urban communication. This chapter discusses a research project focusing on public use of interactive gaming on the Big Screen at Federation Square in Melbourne. The project was part of a larger research initiative exploring the impact of digital media technologies on how people interact with each other in public space. Material was gathered from a combination of observations and interviews. In addition to informing further development of similar interactive events at public sites, the findings raise important questions for urban planning in the context of pervasive digital media. & 2015, IGI Global, All rights reserved.

In this paper we argue that games and play research in the field of Human-Computer Interaction can usefully be understood as existing within 4 distinct research paradigms. We provide our rationale for developing these paradigms and discuss their significance in the context of the inaugural CHI Play conference.

Large video screens situated in public spaces are characteristic of the mediated public environment of contemporary cities. These screens are now able to support a range of new applications, including interactive gaming. However, urban planning policy frequently treats urban screens as if they were display surfaces only. This underestimates the possibilities for public screens to become sites that incubate innovative modes of urban communication. This paper discusses a research project focusing on public use of interactive gaming on the Big Screen at Federation Square in Melbourne. The project is part of a larger research initiative exploring the impact of new media technologies on how people interact with each other in public space. Material was gathered from a combination of observation and interviews. In addition to informing further development of interactive projects at public sites, the findings also raise important questions for urban planning in the context of pervasive networked media.

We explore relationships between habits and technology interaction by reporting on older people's experience of the Kinect for Xbox. We contribute to theoretical and empirical understandings of habits in the use of technology to inform understanding of the habitual qualities of our interactions with computing technologies, particularly systems exploiting natural user interfaces. We situate ideas of habit in relation to user experience and usefulness in interaction design, and draw on critical approaches to the concept of habit from cultural theory to understand the embedded, embodied, and situated contexts in our interactions with technologies. We argue that understanding technology habits as a process of reciprocal habituation in which people and technologies adapt to each other over time through design, adoption, and appropriation offers opportunities for research on user experience and interaction design within human-computer interaction, especially as newer gestural and motion control interfaces promise to reshape the ways in which we interact with computers.