Tip for Reading

As a suggestion for the reading in the coming few weeks I have found a book I was tipped on by my supervisor, Charles van der Mast, back home in The Netherlands. It is called The Feeling of What Happens - Body and Emotion in the Making of Consiousness and is written by Antonio Damasio, a renowned neurologist. It is a about the separation of body and mind (if any) from a neurological perspective. The following is a review by for Nature on October 28 1999 by Raymond J. Dolan:

Antonio Damasio's stunning book provides us not only with an account of the embodiment of feeling states, but also with a related proposal for understanding two important questions in neuroscience, the nature of the self and the nature of consciousness. To think, imagine, and feel are the very stuff of mind and in Damasio's account they are deeply rooted in a sense of body. The exposition of this relatedness in The Feeling of What Happens constitutes a remarkable work of intellectual daring. The challenge posed is a radical redefinition of what constitutes the central concerns for a comprehensive account of consciousness. Indeed, by placing human emotion and feeling at center stage, Damasio ensures their rehabilitation into mainstream neuroscience... Any of the above achievements would make this book recommended reading; combined it becomes compulsive and compulsory.

This book could be a useful extension of the chapters we have read by Paul Dourish. While Dourish relates the mind and human action to technological objectives, Damasio takes a closer look at how this mind is actually connected to the body. The book is available at St. Lucia libraries.

Ubunto on Sony Ericsson Mobile

A Ubunto Linux on a mobile? Here it is, not too sure on its authenticity though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyVJgw-H5l8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eengadget%2Ecom%2F2007%2F04%2F16%2Fubuntu%2Drunning%2Don%2Dp990i%2F

Reading Chapter 6

Connecting the theories discussed so far with the design of interactive systems is not as easy as one would think. Because the research that has been done in the field by a certain kind of scientist has to be communicated to the designer who is responsible for the working of the system, it is hard to satisfy the interests and priorities of both parties. It must be recognized that linking the theory with design in a proper manner is very important and a descent way to do this is certainly valuable.

Although the basis of both tangible and social computing is theory, they both produce a different perspective when it comes to design. Tangible computing is concerned with the way the user’s action relates to where he/she is in space, while social computing argues that users constantly adjust their actions to the current circumstances and change them as new opportunities arise. The importance of setting in social computing has a lot in common with the link between action and environment in tangible computing.

The design issues are discussed according to six design principles; six things to pay attention to (p. 162):

Principle 1: Computation is a medium
In interactive technologies meaning has to be conveyed into digital encodings. Computation is the medium that makes this possible by giving the digital encodings semantics and effective power (p.163). For instance, computers are a medium for communication. Being able to modulate this communication i.e. code, transfer and decode the information in a way that represents something concrete to the user of the system is of great value. The actions of a user on the one end to the user on the other can be of importance in these cases. This visibility, or awareness, can be of great influence to the success of the communication. Providing users with information about (the effects of) their own action, can give them insight in how the system works and what the other end of the line is doing in the case that the system behaves in a certain way. This feedback loop is of importance for the sender of information to control the medium he is working with.

Principle 2: Meaning arises on multiple levels
Objects used in interactive systems can have meaning on different levels. For instance, they can be abstractions of actual entities or represent some social meaning. These levels have to be taken into account when designing the system. Regarding the way artifacts represent meaning, we can separate them into two dimensions: iconic/symbolic and object/action (p.167). An iconic artifact depicts the entity it wants to represent, while a symbolic one is an abstract of an entity. The object/action dimension is the difference of being solely an object representing an entity and being an event or operation on the other hand. The difficulty of designing a system that can work on different levels, according to the situation, is finding a suitable tradeoff between these dimensions.

Principle 3: Users, not designers, create and communicate meaning &
Principle 4: Users, not designers, manage coupling.
Although a designer’s primary responsibility is the implementation of a system; its form and function, the way it is put in to use is that of the user. The meaning and coupling to the system’s artifacts are done while the system is in use and so are on the account of the user. So the designer has to have a look into how he can make it apparent to the user what the intentions of the system are i.e. how to use and apply the tools in the system instead of determining the precise way in which the system will work. It is up to the designer to implement certain resources that provide the user insight in the way the system should work and make it easy to get familiar with. The first of these resources is the “concreteness” of the user interface i.e. the ability to operate on entities at different levels – both acting with them and acting through them. (p.173). The second resource is the visibility, the awareness of the actions of other users in collaborative systems. This can be by seeing the actual actions of another user or just by seeing the effects of his/her actions.

Principle 5: Embodied technologies participate in the world they represent.
It must be noted that embodiment doesn’t refer to a system that exactly imitate entities in the physical world, but rather the way that the system participates in the same world it represents. The entities and what these represent both exist in the same world, instead of the system merely being a representation of some world. The relation between the representation and participation is something to be considered during the design of work practice. Disregarding the fact that a system is participating as well as representing can cause a system to work inefficient.

Principle 6: Embodied interaction turns action into meaning.
Because meaning is constructed by the way we act in this world, embodied interaction turns action into meaning; it does not merely represent a meaning. Different aspects of meaning have different consequences for design and technology. Intentionality, the meaning that we link to a certain entity, should not be determined only by the representation of the entity but also by the context and actions that surround the entity. Ontology, the way in which people see/understand the world and relate the objects in this world to each other, should be considered during the design as well. Because the way we interact with the world lets us discover its structure, the same should go for a system; through acting the meaning becomes clear. Intersubjectivity, the way users communicate amongst communities and share their information, is important in the way that not only the actions but the assumptions and practices in a certain community have to be considered during the design. A tool for a certain job should, except from being straightforward about its use, implicate these already existing assumptions. Also the different levels on which a tool is used within a community and the changeability of the working of the tool should be taken into account by the designer.

Chapter 6: Binding theory with design

Theory & Design - HCI & CSCW
Difficulty in articulating the relationship between theory & design as the goals and criteria for both differ greatly.

Social & Technical
CSCW research - marry sociological investigations of work settings with technological design and interventions. However, combining the two always seem problematic.

Communication between fieldworkers and designers may not transfer the subtlety and nuance of the setting. The information communicated may seem obvious but insignificant to designers.

Hughes et al.(1995) presents a framework that translates analytic materials of social science to specific design proposals.

Theoretical framework are sometimes too heavy for practical design, however, theory provides a basis for design activities to further understand how and why design elements work.

CHAPTER 5: FOUNDATIONS

CHAPTER 5: FOUNDATIONS
Dourish, P. (2001) Where the Action Is. The Foundations of Embodied Interaction. MIT Press, Cambridge MA.

THREE ASPECTS OF MEANING

ONTOLOG

• Branch of metaphysics
  
• Focus on
  
  • “How the world is separated into a collection of entities whose meanings can be established, separated and identified” (Dourish 2001)
    
  • How relate to each other
    
  • How we describe the objects in the world
    
• It is an aspect of meaning
  
  • “Provides structure from which meaning can be constructed” (Dourish 2001)
    
• In Technology
  
  • “Internal representational structure of a software system – what elements are present, how they are distinguished etc.” (Dourish 2001)
    



INTERSUBJECTIVITY

Main point in Schutz’s work
“How the meaning can be shared”(Dourish 2001)

PROBLEMS

• How two people have a shared understanding?
  
• With no access to each other’s mental states
  
• Common ground is considered to be the answer
  

In Technology

• Communication between the designer and the user through the interface
  
• Communication between users – through the system
  
• Eg. E-mail
  
  
  INTENTIONALITY
  
  

Aspect of phenomenology

"is the term philosphers use to refer to "directedness" of meaning" (Dourish 2001)

In Embodied Interaction

• representation - in software everything is a representation
• elements contain intentional connotations

COUPLING
• "Is how an intentional reference is made effective." (Dourish 2001)
• Things are 'invisible' if they are not an object of attention
• For example:
• Heidegger's example of the hammer
• When using the hammer it is an extention of your arm
• You don't see the hammer as a hammr (it becomes invisibe)
• When you are looking for the hammer it is visible

EMBODIMENT

• emboided interaction can be used in two ways
1. Basis for an appoach to design
2. Uncover issues in the design and use of exisiting technology

Chapter 5

Aspects of Meaning: Ontology, Inter-subjectivity, Intentionality

Ontology is a perspective of the elements surrounding our environment and how we structure them in ways that seems logical to ourselves.

Inter-subjectivity is vastly discussed in previous chapters, but this part extends the emphasis of technology being a tool to establish common grounds for people to communicate and collaborate.

Intentionality in relation to consequences for design of embodied systems are discussed more thoroughly in this chapter. The design of computations and computer software are to perform a task by referring to elements or models that are familiar with. Hence, the nature of computation is, by itself, intentional.

Action - Meaning - Coupling
Coupling: Intentional reference made effective.
Ready-to-hand, ready-at-hand - the relationship of an object changing according to its state.

The realisation of elements, of its intention, and of the overall goal in performing a task to achieve it.

Variable Coupling: Engagement Separation and Reengagement
The continuous process of embodied interaction and acting through it in order to achieve a task.

Chapter 4: “Being-in-the-world”: Embodied Interaction

Chapter 4: “Being-in-the-world”: Embodied Interaction
Dourish, P. (2001) Where the Action Is. The Foundations of Embodied Interaction. MIT Press, Cambridge MA.

Embodiment

Dourish suggests that there are two definitions of embodiment. The first definition focuses on the physical aspect of the world while the second definition is more board and encompasses more then just the physical aspects of the world.

Definition 1: “Embodiment means possessing and acting through a physical manifestation in the world”
Definition2: “Embodied phenomena are those that by their very nature occur in real time and real space.”

Embodiment tends to be closely linked to that of an interface metaphor eg. Desktops, but embodiment is not just a metaphor to be based on embodiment is actually using the ‘real world’ as a medium for interaction between the user and the computer. It is for this reason that tangible computing focuses on embodiment.

The Phenomenological Backdrop

Focuses on the human experiences

Central questions

• Ontology
  
  • “The study of nature of being and categorises of existence”
    
• Epistemology
  
  • “The study of knowledge”
  
  
• Husserl, Heidegger, Schultz and Merleanu-Poney are phenomenological theorists whose work has become of interesting when considering embodiment and interaction
  
  
  
  

  Husserl’s Transcendental Phenomenology

  
  

  1859-1938
  
  • Believed that “Phenomenology was a method for exploring the nature of human experience and perception.”
    
  • Believed the problem was that science and mathematics had separated itself from everyday world
    
  • He wanted to make it more based in experience
    
  • “Philosophy of experience as a rigorous science”
    
  • Used phenomenally as a method for examining the nature of intentionality
    
  • He aimed to uncover the relationships between people’s mental experience of objects (Noema) and people’s consciousness (Noesis)
    
  • Focused on analysing how people perceived their experiences with objects
  
  
  
  

  
  
  HEIDEGGER’S HERMENUTIC PHENOMENOLOGY

  
  

  1889-1976
  Student of Husserl’s
  
  • Focused on Husserl’s phenomenology as two separate entities
    
    • Cognitive, mental
      
    • Physical phenomena of the mundane existence
      
  • Used Descartes “cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I am)
  
  • Believed we occupied two different realities
    
    • The physical
      
    • The mental
      
  • Heidegger believed that they mind and body could not be separated and were intertwined
    “He argued that thinking and being are fundamentally intertwined". Dourish 2001
    
    • Mind observed the world and then gives it meaning
      
    • The meaning is based upon the person’s understanding of their reality
      
    • Based on this meaning the person will then form a plan to complete an action
      
  • In terms of technology we are connected to the computer through the mouse.
    
    • Heidegger believed that the mouse when in use becomes an extension-of-the-hand
      
    • When the mouse reaches the end of the mouse pad it the users view of the mouse changes and it becomes present-at-hand
      
    • When the mouse is not in use withdraws from the person’s view
      
    
    
    

    
    SCHUTZ’S PHENOMENOLOGY OF SOCIAL WORLD

    
    

    1899-1959
    Worked with Husserl
    
    • Believed:
      
      • “That the actions of others seem to us to be the actions of reasonable social actors because we assume them, in the first instance to be so.”Dourish (2001)
        
    • People share a common reality
      
    • “It is the assumption of the reality that is part of the natural attitude” Dourish (2001)
      
    • Schutz’s work made phenomenological think in terms of sociology.
      
    
    
    

    
    MERLEAU-PONTY AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERCEPTION

    
    

    1908-1961
    

    • Focus was to merge Husserl’s “Philosophy of essences” with his pupil’s, Heidegger’s “Philosophy of being”.
      
    • Focused on the body
      
    • Believed the body was neither subject of object but the third party
      
    • Used embodiment to pay attention to the role of the body
      
      
      
      
      

Week 7: Reading Chapter 5

Phenomenologists describe meaning as implicit in the way in which we interact with each other and the world around us. This chapter goes into more depth on the concept of 'meaning' and tries to connect it to the design of software- and interactive systems. Until this point we have encountered a number of different aspects of the concept 'meaning'.

Ontology is a specialism that concentrates on the different objects and entities in our world and in what way they relate to each other. Ontology offers a way of defining the structure in our lives and extracts the meaning by the way we interact with it. Software engineers use the term ontology as a way to describe the structure of their program in a way that relates to and tries to understand the world of the user. It should be noted that it is not a good idea to presume a single ontology in the design though. This will cause the system to be specialized towards a single kind of user, whereas the ontology of one user to the next will differ.

Intersubjectivity is engaged in finding out in which way users share meaning, even though they can't take a quick look into each other’s minds. It takes a role in the design of software systems as that the designer will have to convey to the user what the goal of the system is and how it should be used.

Intentionality is the connection we make between a thought or memory, and the actual object it concerns (and vice versa). Every element in a software system is an abstraction of reality. It's not surprising then that, because of the real-life entities these elements represent, we have to consider the way in which we interact with these objects in the world when designing the system.

This is where the term coupling comes in. Coupling is the concept that every intentional action has a direct consequence, or chain reaction of consequences. We use coupling to describe, build up and break down these action-reaction relationships. We can see a software system as a model with different layers of abstraction; from the input-output layer to the user interface. In terms of user interactivity we could look at coupling as the assigning of the interests of the user at a certain moment to one of these layers, but this wouldn't be correct. Through coupling a user can choose a certain object, from a variety of different objects, which is important for him at a certain moment. This is exactly where coupling can be related to the metaphors of our everyday lives that are used to build up user interfaces. Coupling is the way in which these metaphors are connected to the real world and the manner in which this is expressed in a software system.

Link for UbiComp2006 proceedings

I mentioned the other week in class about accessing the UbiComp2006 (and other Springer LNCS) proceedings away from UQ via the library's ezproxy setup. Here's a link for UbiComp2006. It will ask you to authenticate with your UQ username/password before taking you to the SpringerLink page for the conference proceedings. Note that the number at the end of the URL is the ISBN number for the collection, so if you later are browsing directly around SpringerLink and find a collection you are interested in, then you can substitute the ISBN and--provided UQ library has subscribed to the collection/series--you will be taken there. Alternatively, if you find yourself on a SpringerLink page for a collection which has a URL of the form http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-540-39634-5/, then you can simply insert .ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au to the end of the domain and the link should then work via the UQ library.

Smart Mirror

This idea seems pretty interesting.. worth a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hxlBO4Hn8Q