Personal Project - Mapping Museums - St Fagans National History Museum

Graduation Result

2007-06-25T12:14:00.000Z

Got a 1st Class Honours - Happy with that!

Me and my gorgeous wife Sara

Me with my parents

Here's a link to my Research Paper
http://www.savefile.com/files/839330

and CV (Video and Print)
http://nigelwhitbread.blogspot.com/2007/06/nigel-whitbread-ba-hons-cv.html

End of the Road

2007-05-30T19:31:00.000Z

Introduction

“Whilst on this course I have developed an inquisitive interest in the realm of locative media and the technology that drives it. The premise of my project is a pilot version of a GPS (Global Positioning System) enabled electronic guide for St Fagans National History Museum, providing it with a walking tour that will incorporate audio, photos, text, and video, to provide historical facts and information of the site and it’s buildings to be viewed on a hand held device. After graduating I hope to carry on working in these areas of interest and help develop new concepts.”

The end is in sight and I will soon being graduating and let loose again on the brave new(media) world full of hopes and fears. The aim of this blog is to save you from having to read through my research paper and supporting blogs and allow you to view the information and the prototype in action through the convenience of the play button.

So press away, press away, press away...

Footage from youtubeit on BBC2W

Pen-rhiw chapel user testing

User Testing 1

User Testing 2

Kennixtrain User Testing

Video Footage of Project

2007-05-16T18:37:00.000Z

Youtubeit broadcast on BBC2W

User Testing and Comments

User Comments

Free Alan Johnston on BBC

2007-05-09T07:27:00.001Z

Busy Busy Busy

2007-05-04T17:12:00.000Z

with writing research paper and arranging for it to be printed and rewriting and proof reading and......and.....and.....

Last week of April

2007-04-29T17:22:00.000Z

Mon, April 23, 2007
Went to St Fagans to check on GPS set up and regions again.

Wed, April 25, 2007
Went to St Fagans to check on GPS set up and regions one last time before user testing.

Fri, April 27, 2007
Started user testing at St Fagans, few problems with audio and headsets.

Sat, April 28, 2007
Second day of user testing down st Fagans.

Sun, April 29
Last day of user testing down St Fagans

User Testing Questionnaire & Poster

2007-04-22T13:11:00.000Z

Link to Questionnaire

Poster

Third week of April

2007-04-22T12:48:00.000Z

Mon, April 16, 2007
Went to St Fagans to check out GPS again, remap regions and video all the buildings I need for my project.

Tue, April 17, 2007

Started editing video footage from yesterday

Wed, April 18, 2007
Finished editing video footage

Thu, April 19, 2007
Edited photos to fit screen size of PDA. Worked on design and application of user interface.

Fri, April 20, 2007
Added audio cues, remapped regions and linked up all the user interface files.

Sat, April 21, 2007
Tested out Mediascape on all the PDA's I'm going to use next weekend for using testing (all work fine). Put together questionnaire and poster for user testing.

Second week of April

2007-04-13T11:00:00.000Z

Monday 9th
Went to St Fagans to test GPS positioning and video the chapel portrait mode

Tuesday 10th
Recorded audio soundtracks to put over video of the buildings at St Fagans - happily my beautiful wife Sara agreed to narrate the audio for me, so now I get to listen to her all day instead of cringing at my own voice.

Wednesday 11th
Put together video of the pen-rhiw chapel using footage filmed and audio recorded yesterday. Added the basics of an interface for controlling the video and viewing a map.

Thursday 12th
Sent emails to people involved in locative media projects to try and get some advice on interface design and user testing - "test it, test it and test it again"

First week of April

2007-04-07T12:31:00.000Z

Been looking at different ways of using video in the project.

Small landscape video with control buttons (portrait mode)
Small landscape video with choice to go large(portrait mode)
Large video with choice to go small (landscape mode)
Large portrait video (portrait mode)

Set up a website at http://mappingmuseums.moonfruit.com/ to publicize my project and to be an online resource for my research paper.

Screenshot of site

Visited St Fagans to check GPS mapping, satellite strength and to take some video - talked to the estate manager about incorporating the gardens into my project. He's been looking into the idea for some time and has recently attended a conference on the possibilities in Botanic and other gardens in Feb in Hereford.

Update for this and last week

2007-03-30T17:35:00.000Z

Went to HP Labs in Bristol on the 15th of March for a meeting with Ben Clayton. Picked up a box of goodies (IPAQ's and GPS units) for when I do my user testing and was given a run through of the updated software their developing which they've let me use for my project.
Went to St Fagans on the 26th of March for a meeting with Meinwen Ruddock to talk about getting hold of some of their photographiic, audio and video archives. Tested out the new software while I was there but was unable to get the GPS working even though I'd managed to get it to work fine at home.

Went back to St Fagans on the 28th of March and this time got the GPS working, think I must of messed the co-ordinates up last time. Need to tweek the co-ordinates a bit to get the regions to match up with the real world perfectly, not on the money just yet.

Screenshots of me putting my project together using HP's Mediascape software

Today - Put together some photos of St Fagans to make up an loader opening page for the E-guide.

You Tube It BBC2W

2007-03-20T08:04:00.000Z

Breakdown of project and development

2007-03-13T16:31:00.000Z

Mapping Museums St Fagans Past And Future Providing Historical Locative-Aware Content to the Grounds of St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life

Nigel Whitbread
B.A. (Hons) Design for Interactive Media
School of Art and Design
Business School
University of Wales Institute Cardiff
nigelwhitbread@yahoo.co.uk

Introduction
The premise of this project is to create a pilot version of an electronic guide for St Fagans Museum of Welsh life providing a walking tour incorporating audio, photos, text, and video to provide historical facts and information of the site and it buildings to be viewed on a hand held device.
The concept is similar to the multimedia tours provided inside the Tate Modern but instead of using wireless technology I wanted to use GPS (Global Positioning Systems) technology to deliver the content to site specific locations, so that when you are approaching Pen-Rhiw Chapel for example, you’ll be receiving data about the Chapels history, when it was built, who lived there etc.

Aims & Objectives
• In regards to Locative Media, research what devices can be used, what content is being broadcast, and what applications are being used to produce the content.
• To provide an investigation into what innovative ways locative media is being used to provide context driven content.
• This project will be looking at what devices (PDA’s, mobile phones, Node) would provide the best platform for location aware content. They are to be used at St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life to provide historical location context driven data about the site and its buildings.
• To determine what content is required to enhance the historical sense of St Fagans and give the user a sense of where the buildings came from originally. To find out if users would prefer audio, textual, stills, video driven content or a combination of all four. Using primary questions and the information uncovered I will create a prototype application to run on a specific device.
• To see how the media can trigger real social and cultural interaction when linked to real places.
• Target Audience – Visitors to St Fagans
• To propose a basis for future projects and development.

Methodology
The methodology I propose will include, semi structured interviews (of the general public, museum visitors, staff and school children of a variety of ages) to be undertaken online and face to face to gain an understanding of the interest people show in using devices to look at historical content with contextual relevancy. Analysis of acquired data – filmed, photography, audio, interviews, questionnaires. Creation of a prototype on a relevant device based on users expectations.

Mapping Museums St Fagans Past And Future
After researching the subject of locative media and hand held devices for the past few months, I finally came to the conclusion that the best way to go about producing a pilot GPS electronic guidebook for St Fagans is to use Hewlett Packards’ Mobile Bristol Toolkit.
http://www.mobilebristol.com/flash.html

After visiting St Fagans to scope it out and talking to The National Museum Cardiff I feel it best to limit the prototype to about a third of the site. As you enter the outdoor museum you see a map showing what’s to see around the main entrance, it seemed to make sense to limit the guide to this area and these buildings.

Exhibits in this area

1. Galleries
2. Kennixton Farm
3. Bee Shelter
4. Corn Mill
5. Llwyn Yr Eos Farmstead
6. Hendre'r-Ywydd Uchaf
7. Nant Wallter Farmhouse
8. Llain Fadyn Cottage
9. Cae Adda Byre
10. Hayshed
11. Abernodwydd
12. Pen-rhiw Chapel
13. Y Ty Gwyrdd

And other symbols
• You are here
• Toilets
• Shop
• Restaurant
• Playground
• Information
• Train stop
• Tunnel
• Parking
• Sandwich rooms (education)

Using GPS software whilst walking around the site I discovered that depending where I was I could pick up between 5 and 9 satellites which is enough to give a good fix as you only need 3 to triangulate your position.

Initial Storyboard Ideas

Checking out mediascape at St Fagans

2007-03-12T21:03:00.000Z

Went to St Fagans today to test out what I'd put together for my mediascape. The regions worked fine with the basic sounds I'd put on them but the GPS positioning was slightly out so I need to adjust the co-ordinates slightly to get it working as I want. I was surprised at how well the GPS worked inside the buildings, it didn't lose any signal.

Sketch of GPS trace outside the main entrance at St Fagans

Map of St Fagans design prototype

Opening Welcoming ScreenLanguage Screen

A sign of the times: Ignore your sat nav

2007-02-19T10:44:00.000Z

Story in todays Metro about vehicles getting stuck in a lane whilst blindly following their sat nav

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=37839&in_page_id=34

Visit to St Fagans

2007-02-15T17:20:00.000Z

Went to St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life yesterday (St Valantines Day) to scope out the areas I want to focus on for the elactronic guide and map it out with GPS.

Map from outside the main entrance showing what their is to see in its immediate area

Overview of map showing highlighted area around the main entrance

Seeing as when you enter the outdoor museum you see the above map showing whats to see around the main entrance it seemed to make sense to limit the prototype to this area and these buildings.
Exhibits in this area

Galleries
Kennixton Farm
Bee Shelter
Corn Mill
Llwyn Yr Eos Farmstead
Hendre'r-Ywydd Uchaf Farmhouse
Nant Wallter Farmhouse
Llain Fadyn Cottage
Cae Adda Byre
Hayshed
Abernodwydd
Pen-rhiw Chapel
Y Ty Gwyrdd

And other symbols

You are here
Toilets
Shop
Restaurant
Playground
Information
Train stop
Tunnel
Parking
Sandwich rooms (education)

Using GPS software whilst walking around the sight I discovered that depending where I was I could pick up between 5 and 9 satelites which is enough to give a good fix as you only need 3 to triangulate your position.

BBC Mobile Phone Stories

2007-02-13T08:33:00.000Z

Talk moves on at mobile congress in Barcelona
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6340235.stm

BBC Documentory

2007-02-13T08:07:00.000Z

Monday 12^th Feb, the film company Forgetaboutit.TV came in again today but this time to film us and our personal project work for a documentary for the BBC.

National Museum of Wales Meeting

2007-02-07T16:11:00.000Z

Had a meeting at the National Museum of Wales with John Williams, Jace Tyler, and David Thorpe. We talked about my project, my recent visit to HP and what resources can be made available to me.
The main thing that came from the meeting is that I should put together a more indepth report based around my proposal, detailing what I want to accomplish, how the prototype is going to work, what areas of the site I'm going to incorporate into the tour, and an idea of the timeline of the project.

HP Labs Meeting

2007-02-06T16:05:00.000Z

Went to HP Labs in Bristol today and talked to Ben Clayton, one of the developers for the mobile bristol mediascape application. He showed me what could be done with the latest software they are developing, which now has a much more usable GUI with drag and drop capabilities and and better emulator for testing on PC.
We also talked about my project with St Fagans and what equipment I might need for development and user testing. Looked at a couple of videos of previous work.
All in all a very good meeting with lots of helpful feedback.

Things Happening Next Week

2007-02-02T11:33:00.000Z

On Tuesday I've got a meeting with HP Labs to talk about my project and its aims, and thet are going to give me a demonstration of the toolkit. If it turns out that the mediascape system fits my requirements they might be able to let me have a pre-release version of the software.

The New Media Group have approved support for my proposal for an electronic guidebook for St Fagans. On Wednesday I'm at The Museum for a project initiation meeting to scope the project and agree what resources they will be able to provide to enable me to prepare the guide.

St Fagans Collections

2007-01-30T09:04:00.000Z

Library

Purpose

The Library at St Fagans provides a resource and a service, mainly for the Museum's staff, facilitating all aspects of their work: identifying objects, interpreting them in their sociohistorical context, caring for them, answering enquiries, preparing exhibitions, and so on. Members of the public too are welcome to use the Library, which is used especially by students and the media, as well as by individuals. The Library also answers enquiries received by telephone and post.

Scope

The scope of the Library can be defined simply by such terms as folk life, ethnography, social history, which, however, comprise subjects as wide-ranging as:

Religion; sociology; politics; migration; economic history; crime and punishment; education; commerce; transport; folk customs, lore and tales; children's lore; proverbs; sociolinguistics and dialectology; technology; medicine; farming and rural life; cooking and house-keeping; crafts; manufacturing and manufactured goods; buildings; vernacular architecture; folk music, song and dance; the eisteddfod; pastimes; geography; topography; biography and memoirs; genealogy; personal and place-names; heraldry; Welsh history; musical instruments; handicrafts; clocks; arms; furniture; textiles; costume and accessories.

The scope of the Museum, strictly, is the history of these subjects in Wales in the post-medieval period, but they cannot be interpreted properly without considering the British, European, and up to a point, world-wide contexts, and this is reflected in the Library's collection. It contains approximately 40,000 volumes, 200 maps, and 260 current periodical titles.

History

The Library's origins go back to the 1920s, when the study of Welsh folk culture was researched and interpreted within the Archaeology Department at the National Museum and Gallery, Cardiff, and books on the subject were collected.When the Welsh Folk Museum (as it was called until 1995) was established in 1948 the relevant staff and the books relating to folk life moved from Cardiff to the Welsh Folk Museum in St Fagans. The book collection continued to be administered from the National Museum & Gallery, Cardiff, until 1969, when the Welsh Folk Museum Library was established with new purpose-built premises, and its own professional librarian was appointed to manage it.

Opening hours and conditions of use

The Library is open to members of the public Monday - Friday, 9.30 - 1.00, 1.45 - 4.30. It is closed on weekends and national holidays. Members of the public wishing to use the Library should contact the Librarian to make an appointment, either by telephoning (029) 2057 3446 (the Librarian's direct line), or (029) 2057 3500 (the telephonist), or by writing to: the Librarian, St Fagans: National History Museum, St Fagans, Cardiff CF5 6XB, WALES, UK. It should be noted that the Library is for reference only; books may not be borrowed, though books may be loaned to other libraries through recognized inter-library lending schemes.

Staff information

Niclas L. Walker; MA, DipLib, ALA; Librarian; responsible for the Library at St Fagans.

FAQs

A number of reading lists are available covering frequently received inquiries, e.g. Wales (general), Welsh vernacular architecture, Tracing your family history, Local history research, Agriculture to industry in south east Wales, The Rebecca Riots, The Treason of the Blue Books, The coracle, Folk dancing, Furniture, Dry stone walling, Social conditions in the countryside, The harp in Wales, Drovers and drovers' roads.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/collections/

St Fagans Collections

2007-01-30T09:02:00.000Z

Oral Traditions and Archival collections

The audio-visual archive consists of about 9,000 audio recordings, of which 7,000 contain original fieldwork recordings. The recorded oral information includes material relating to folk narrative, linguistics, folk medicine, traditional music, folklore and customs and oral history relating to the museum collections in general. There is a collection of 210 films, both historic and records of fieldwork undertaken by Museum staff.
The manuscript archive consists of over 6,000 documents relating to Welsh ethnology. In addition there are over 150,000 photographic images in the archive, comprising both historic and contemporary record photographs.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/collections/

St Fagans Collections

2007-01-30T09:00:00.000Z

Agricultural, Craft and Transport collections

The collection comprises a range of agricultural tools, implements, vehicles and machinery dating from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century. Most of the artefacts are either of Welsh manufacture or have strong links with Wales.
The craft collections represent the working life of rural and semi-industrial Wales; they include woodworking, leatherwork and metalworking crafts as well as basketmaking, cornmilling, pottery and other rural occupations. The textile craft collections include quilting, embroidery, lacemaking, tailoring, textile machinery and products of the woollen industry in Wales.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/collections/

St Fagans Collections

2007-01-30T08:56:00.000Z

Cultural Life

These include collections relating to music, folklore and customs, cultural, educational and social institutions, popular culture, sport s and children's toys and games.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/collections/

St Fagans Collections

2007-01-30T08:53:00.000Z

Domestic and Costume collections

These collections include a comprehensive range of interior fixtures and furniture, ranging in date from the 16th century to the present day.
Clothing from all of the above periods is also collected, both fashionable and everyday wear, official uniforms and occupational dress. Also included are accessories of all types and items of personal use. A study collection has also been compiled for use by students and specialised school groups.
There are comprehensive collections of cooking, dairying equipment, household appliances, tableware, ornaments and furnishing fabrics.
The horological and country furniture collections are particularly strong, with a large proportion displayed in the re-erected buildings.
There are large collections of female dress of the 19th and 20th centuries, richly displayed in the costume gallery.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/collections/

St Fagans Collections

2007-01-30T08:50:00.000Z

Corporate Life collections

These collections consist mainly of business and trade materials, including ironmongery, grocery and other shop contents related to the furnishing of commercial and other occupational buildings.
Other collections include medical, law and order and ecclesiastical items.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/collections/

St Fagans Collections

2007-01-29T21:24:00.000Z

Buildings

The collection currently consists of two in situ buildings and over forty historical buildings that have been dismantled and re-erected on the Museum site.

The collection comprises of a variety of building types, including farmhouses and outbuildings, dwelling houses, craft workshops, commercial premises, a school, a workmen's institute and places of worship.

there is also a collection of over 1,000 items of house fabric and fittings.

Buildings and structures are not accepted for removal to the Museum unless threatened with demolition or collapse. Dismantling them and re-erecting them at St Fagans is a means of ensuring their future.

Tŷ Gwyrdd

One of the Museum's most challenging projects to date was the building of Tŷ Gwyrdd (Green House). The structure was inspired by a joint St Fagans/BBC Wales competition to design a house showing how housing in Wales evolve over the next fifty years. It was to be based on traditional building techniques such as can be seen in many of the buildings on site but using them in innovative and forward-looking ways.

The winning design was created by Jestico & Whiles and is aimed at contributing to the on-going debates about issues such as energy efficiency, sustainability, changing family structures and new patterns of work and leisure.

Tŷ Gwyrdd, built by Redrow Homes, combines the vernacular tradition with cutting-edge technology in one integrated package.

As with many houses in the Museum collection, timber is the main building material, combining tradition with sustainability. The roof is shaped as a natural water collector and is insulated with a thick layer of sedum, which also acts as a natural filter. This 'grey water' is then re-cycled, so that the House is frugal in its water consumption. The south face of the House is extensively glazed to maximise solar energy, controlled by a 'skin' of shutters, which are automatically adjusted.

The House makes highly efficient use of energy. Local materials were used wherever possible, thus avoiding energy being used for haulage. A striking example is the re-use of the earth removed from the foundations being used to make bricks for the spinal wall, providing the building with thermal mass. Wool is used as highly effective insulation for the walls. By keeping the use of externally produced electricity to a minimum, it is estimated that the House is virtually self-sufficient and produces no carbon dioxide emissions. Central heating and hot water is provided by means of an electric ground-source heat pump - a kind of fridge in reverse - which pumps cold water down to a depth of 35 meters, taking natural heat from the ground and releasing it as warmth.

The design and furnishing of the interior was co-ordinated by leading Welsh designer, Angela Gidden. The products designed and developed especially for the project address the same concerns as the House itself. The garden, designed by Richards, Moorhead and Laing and created by Gerald Davies Ltd, again has a strong theme of sustainability, and environmental responsibility.

This should not be seen as an ideal home, but rather as a possible practical solution to future housing needs in Wales. In this, the House for the Future embodies one of the primary aims of the Museum, which is to use knowledge of the past to inspire informed discussion about the future.

St Teilo's Church

The Building

the St Fagans specialist Historic Buildings Unit is currently working on its most ambitious project to date, namely the re-erection and refurbishment of a medieval church from Llandeilo Tal-y-bont in west Glamorgan. This is the first time such a church has been moved to an open air-museum in Britain. Although some churches have been re-erected in museums on the continent, the vast majority of these are timber-built, whereas this building is of solid masonry construction.

History

The Church is believed to have been built during the 13th century on the site of an earlier pre-Norman church. Over time the building was altered and extended. The oldest parts of the present structure, the nave and chancel, are believed to have been built during the 13 or 14th centuries. During the late 14th century, two small transepts, or chapels, were added to the north and south of the chancel to create a cruciform church. Two arches were formed to link both transepts to the chancel. The north chapel was known as the Gronow Chapel, presumably in recognition of its benefactor. During the late 15th century the Church's capacity was increased by the addition of an aisle to the south side of the nave. The old south wall was replaced by two arches, with a third arch opening into the chancel. In order to improve the congregation's view of the altar from the south aisle, a 'squint opening' was formed through one of the side walls of the chancel arch. Finally, a porch was added to the entrance door leading into the south aisle of the church.

Architectural features

The roof timbers are of typical early 15th century design (arch-braced collar-beams) though they may in fact be somewhat later in date. The west wall of the nave was altered in the early 18th century (datestone 1736) and most of the stone-mullioned windows were replaced by timber-mullioned windows at this time.

Later, some of these windows were blocked and new (Victorian gothic) windows inserted in the north and south walls. One original two-light stone-mullioned window (14/15th century) survives in the south aisle. The head of another two-light cusped window were found in the north chapel where they had been used to block-up a window opening. Probably the oldest surviving feature is the stone font, which is believed to have been carved in the 13th century but might in fact be even earlier.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/191/

St Fagans Intro

2007-01-29T21:18:00.000Z

A walk around Wales – from Celtic times to the present day

St Fagans opened on 1 July 1948. Today, it is one of Europe's foremost open–air museums and Wales's most popular heritage attraction. It stands in the grounds of the magnificent St Fagans Castle, a late 16th-century manor house donated to the people of Wales by the Earl of Plymouth. During the last fifty years, over forty original buildings from different historical periods have been re-erected in the 100-acre parkland.

The re-erected buildings include houses, a farm, a school, a chapel and a splendid Workmen's Institute. There are also workshops where craftsmen still demonstrate their traditional skills. Their produce is usually on sale.

Native breeds of livestock can be seen in the fields and farmyards, and demonstrations of farming tasks take place daily. Visitors gain an insight into the rich heritage and culture of Wales, and the Welsh language can be heard in daily use amongst craftsmen and interpreters.

There are also galleries with exhibitions of costume, daily life and farming implements. Special exhibitions are also held regularly. Throughout the year, St Fagans comes to life — literally — as traditional festivals, music and dance events are celebrated.

St Fagans explores all aspects of how people in Wales have lived, worked and spent their leisure time. Like generations of visitors, you will be inspired by its celebration of Welsh traditions and lifestyles.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/

St Fagans National History Museum

Cardiff
CF5 6XB
(029) 2057 3500

Open 10am–5pm daily

Tutorial with Simon Pope

2007-01-19T20:13:00.000Z

Talked to Simon about projects at almost perfect which he went to over in Canada. Need to get in touch with HP Bristol and Node to talk to them about the platforms they use for their projects and to people who had projects with almost perfect.

PDA St Fagans Questionnaire

2007-01-19T19:49:00.000Z

Here's a link to a questionnaire I've put together to guage peoples perceptions and reactions to using handheld devices to provide locative aware context driven data.
http://www.formdesk.com/deribbeddesigns/locativemedia

Research Paper Pro Forma-St Fagans

2007-01-17T20:37:00.000Z

BA/BSc Hons DESIGN for INTERACTIVE MEDIA (Top-up)

Module Number ADM306b
Module Value 4
Year 2005-2006
Semester 1 & 2
Tutors WKB/DL/SN/SP
Assignment Personal Project Pro Forma

Student name: Nigel Whitbread

Student number: 06000671

Email address: nigelwhitbread@yahoo.co.uk

RESEARCH PAPER PRO FORMA

I. Your general field of enquiry

Locative Aware Services – Locative Media. Research what devices can be used, what content is being broadcast, and what applications are being used to produce the content. An investigation into what innovative ways locative media is being used to provide context driven content

II. Your chosen subject

This research project will be looking at what devices (PDA’s, mobile phones, Node) would provide the best platform for location aware content. They are to be used at St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life to provide historical location context driven data about the site and its buildings.

III. Your objectives. What are you going to document /uncover / explain / question?

To determine what content is required to enhance the historical sense of St Fagans and give the user a sense of where the buildings came from originally. To find out if users would prefer audio, textual, stills, video driven content or a combination of all four. Using primary questions and the information uncovered I will create a prototype application to run on a specific device.

IV. A description and assessment of research base. Primary sources. Secondary sources.

A large part of my primary research will involve visiting museums and historical sites of interest, and conduct interviews and questionnaires with visitors, staff and the general public. Secondary data will be taken from existing research papers on locative media and handheld devices.

V. An indication of your preferred methodology and why it is appropriate. What academic approach will you choose that is best suited to the analysis, contextualisation and cultural critique of your subject?

The methodology I propose will include, semi structured interviews (of the general public, museum visitors, staff and school children of a variety of ages) to be undertaken online and at St Fagans to gain an understanding of the interest people show in using devices to look at historical content with contextual relevancy. Analysis of acquired data – filmed, photography, audio, interviews, questionnaires. Creation of a prototype on a relevant device based on users expectations.

VI. References to key thinkers/academics

Researchers and academics in the Locative Media sector, including – Anne Galloway, Mathew Ward, RK Harle, A Hopper, Nicolas Nova, and Ben Russell.

VII. Indicative bibliography

Galloway, Anne and Matthew Ward (2005): Locative Media as Socialising and Spatialising Practices: Learning from Archaeology (DRAFT). Forthcoming Leonardo Electronic Almanac, MIT Press. Available online: http://www.purselipsquarejaw.org/papers/galloway_ward_draft.pdf

Harle, R. K. and Hopper, A. (2005): Deploying and Evaluating a Location-Aware Systems. In: Proceedings of the Mobisys 2005. Available online: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/DTG/~rkh23/pubs/mobisys2005.pdf

Russell, Ben (2004): Transcultural Media Online Reader Introduction, TCM Online Reader.

Mobile Location Based Services. Andrew Jagoe., Prentice Hall PTR, 2002

LocationBased Services: Fundamentals and Operation, Küpper, Axel, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2005.

Pasta and Vinegar webblog., Nicolas Nova, http://tecfa.unige.ch/perso/staf/nova/blog/, 2006,

Locative.net, Http://www.locative.net

VIII. Additional information that is relevant.

Will map out a schedule of work so that I can effectively manage my project
Will consider what I would like to be able to publish and where, e.g. who is my intended audience, names of conferences and journals/publications that may be interested in your work.

IX. Any questions you may have for staff.

I would like feedback on how viable my proposal is, if they think it can go the distance and do they think it would be worthwhile approaching museums, schools and other institutions.

Proposal for an Electronic Guide Book

2007-01-10T19:13:00.000Z

St Fagans Natural History Museum - Forwarded Proposal

My name is Nigel Whitbread and I am a final year student at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC) School of Art and Design. I am studying towards a BA/BSc (HONS) Top-up in Design for Interactive Media.

A major part of my degree involves producing a year long research project. My general field of enquiry is Location Aware Services and Locative Media. This research project will be looking at what devices (PDA’s, mobile phones, Nodes) would provide the best platform for location aware context driven content.

I am interested in creating an electronic guidebook for St Fagans to be viewed on a mobile device. The device is to be used out of doors on the site of the Natural History Museum, and provide historical location context driven data about the site and its buildings. I would like to provide a walking tour incorporating audio, photos, text, and video to provide the historical facts and information.

The concept is similar to the multimedia tours provided inside the Tate Modern but instead of using wireless technology I want to use GPS (Global Positioning Systems) technology to deliver the content to site specific locations, so that when you are approaching the St Fagans Castle for example, you’ll be receiving data about the castles’ history, when it was built, who lived there etc.

The methodology I propose to use will include, semi structured interviews (of the general public, staff, visitors, and school children of a variety of ages) to be undertaken at St Fagans to gain an understanding of the interest people show in using handheld devices to look at historical data with contextual relevancy. I will use analysis of acquired data-filmed, photographic, audio, interviews, and questionnaires to create a prototype on a relevant device based on users expectations.

I would like to be able to directly link my project and my ties to UWIC with your institution and maybe gain access to your library and archives for material to be used as content for the electronic guide.

I thank you for your time in considering my proposal and hope we can work together in the future.

Visit to Oxford Castle Unlocked

2007-01-06T20:17:00.000Z

Went to Oxford Castle today with my wife to check out their UNLOCKED multimedia hand held tour using the NODE Explorer Platform. You walk through the ancient buildings of the castle and use the NODE Explorer to experience the stories that connect you the place your walking about in.

Video story with character talking and subtitles.

Menu of route to take with numbers that link up to specific rooms.

Visit to National Museum of Wales

2006-12-19T19:30:00.000Z

Went to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff today, and had a meeting with John Williams the Head of Information Technology. We talked about my idea for creating a location aware historical context driven PDA walking tour around the museum and surrounding areas.

John recommended and I agreed that the concept would be better suited for St Fagens Museum as its outside (ideal for GPS) and all the exhibits are linked to the one site. Would also be able to aim the tour specifically at school children and incorporate the content towards school curriculum.

Need to write up a proposal aimed at St Fagans and see where goes from there.

Letters of Interest

2006-11-23T13:54:00.000Z

Sent out some speculative letters to institutions in Cardiff and the local area to see if they would be interested in having my project linked to them. Hopefully I'll have at least one positive reply.

Wrote to:

National Museum Cardiff
St Fagans: National History Museum
National Roman Legion Museum
National Waterfront Museum
Chapter Arts Centre
Big Pit: National Coal Museum
Cardiff Castle

Mapping Museums Over the City of Cardiff’s Past

2006-11-20T17:23:00.000Z

Questionnaire to guage peoples reactions to using locative-aware devices (GPS enabled PDA's) as a means of delivering content for historical tours of Cardiff

Here's a pilot/test survey to try out on a few people so that it can be fine tuned before being used as part of my project.

Mapping Museums Over the City of Cardiff’s Past

Discrimi-Nav

2006-11-16T12:18:00.001Z

Locative Media Literature Review

2006-11-15T12:26:00.001Z

DfIM Assignment 2: RADAR project -Developing a Literature Review

Overview

Locative media is a truly location specific medium. It can bring users out of the office or classroom and deliver the spatial qualities of information to where they have relevance (space specific). Not only does it refer to all the information in the physical location but to other contextual cues as well.

Many of the various locative media projects researched have concentrated on social interaction with a place and with technology and have a social critical or personal background.

The types of technology that enable locative media are; (GPS) Global Positioning Systems, laptop computers, Palm computers (PDA’s) Personal Digital Assistants, Mobile Phones, Bluetooth and Satellite Navigation Software.

Whilst these technologies are the catalysts for locative media, they are not the goal for the development of projects in this area of research. Rather;

"Locative media is many things: A new site for old discussions about the relationship of consciousness to place and other people. A framework within which to actively engage with, critique, and shape a rapid set of technological developments. A context within which to explore new and old models of communication, community and exchange. A name for the ambiguous shape of a rapidly deploying surveillance and control infrastructure." (Russell, 2004)

Context-aware computing represents a relatively new area of research. Context awareness means gathering information from the environment to provide a measure of what is currently going on around the user and the device. Activities and content that are particularly relevant to that environment can then be made available. Mobile devices are especially well suited to context-aware applications simply because they are available in
different contexts, and so can draw on those contexts to enhance the learning activity. Context-aware mobile devices can support learners by allowing a learner to maintain their attention on the world and by offering appropriate assistance when required.

The museum and gallery sector has been on the forefront of context-aware mobile computing by providing additional information about exhibits and displays based on the visitor’s location within them.
Objectives

The aims and objectives of this review are:
• To find out in what ways can locative media is being used at the moment to represent physical locations and provide contextual experience of space and culture.
• To see how the media can trigger real social and cultural interaction when linked to real places.
• To analyse previous papers and projects.
• To propose a basis for future research and development.

LOCATIVE MEDIA AS SOCIALISING AND SPATIALISING PRACTICES:
LEARNING FROM ARCHAEOLOGY (DRAFT)
Anne Galloway (Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University) and Matthew Ward (Dept. of Design, Goldsmiths College)

This research paper examines the nature of pervasive and locative media as emerging technologies and processes that promise to reconfigure our understandings and experiences of space and culture. They compare archaeology’s constitutive processes of collection, ordering and display against the problems found in mapping people and objects in space and time. Keywords used in the paper include - everyday life, context, locative, technology, design, hybridity, mapping and curation.

They state that when all we have are the fragmented remains of lived experience, how people, places, objects, events and activities relate in spaces and time becomes the primary means by which cultural knowledge and experience are reproduced and placed into context. Taking inspiration from archaeology’s approaches to understanding and representing what may very well be ineffable social/spatial experiences, the paper looks closely at socializing and specializing practices in archaeology and locative media.

In recent decades, the critical and reflexive eye of anthropology and archaeology has
been turned to the collection and representation of cultural ‘property’ in all forms.
Museums, both public and private, are understood to produce and engage a variety
of “histories, discourses and spectacles” and collections are seen to convey as much
about collector values as the cultures they ostensibly represent [1].

For any technological device to be ‘aware’ of its context--physical or otherwise—it has to be able to locate, classify, collect, store and use ‘relevant’ information, as well as to identify and discard or ignore ‘irrelevant’ information. If we imagine these devices and data as cultural artifacts, and servers and databases as cabinets and museums, then locative media begin to share many of the same interests and concerns as archaeology and anthropology.

Questions they suggest, for consideration with future research;
• The question of authorship compels us to look not just at who is currently able to create and use locative media, but at who will be able to re-create and re-use locative media in the future.
• The question of ownership requires us to be aware that most locative media projects require large databases and these data are subject to the same curatorial issues as any cultural collection.
• When it comes to creating and using locative media, we can evaluate the relations of production and consumption: Where does the technology originate? How is the project funded? Who gets to use these technologies to create cultural ‘content’ or artifacts? Who gets to set the rules of engagement? What are the power relations at play? What shape can resistance take?
• At stake in all these questions are relations between artists and corporate researchers, designers and users, subjects and objects, pasts and futures, material and immaterial, commodities and values. If locative media are ultimately understood as collections of cultural artifacts, what roles do they take in shaping personal identities, collective histories and values, political and economic interests around the world?

I found this an interesting read especially as it mentions cultural rights and museums (I’m looking at a way of bring museums out onto the streets) but I’m not entirely convinced when they state that all locative media projects, rely on some sort of collaboration between governments, universities, industries, and artists. Do they think that there is no independent thought in this area or that it all overlaps and no one can work in a vacuum?

DEPLOYING AND EVALUATING A LOCATION-AWARE SYSTEM
Harle, R. K. and Hopper, A. (2005)

Unlike many research papers in the area of Locative Media that are deployed on a small scale and evaluated technically, in this paper, the authors present their experience of deploying an indoor location system (the Bat System) over a larger area and running it for a period exceeding two years. A number of technical considerations are highlighted: a need to consider aesthetics throughout deployment, the disadvantages of specializing sensors for location only, the need for autonomous maintenance of the computational world model, the dangers in coinciding physical and symbolic boundaries, the need to design for space usage rather than space and the need to incorporate feedback mechanisms and power management.

The aim of this paper is to try and highlight the need to evaluate large-scale deployments of such systems both technically and through user studies. Historically, deployments of high precision indoor location systems have not involved large coverage areas due to the cost of instrumenting the environment. The most common approach is to instrument a single room, which then acts as a test bed for the location technology. However, this approach fails to represent a deployment from which usage characteristics can be reliably derived. Usage of such a room is likely to be sporadic and not representative of how users would use the space normally. In one attempt to address this, AT&T Research Cambridge and the University of Cambridge jointly developed the Bat system and deployed it over a greater area.

Some of the conclusions and guidelines that the researchers of this paper came to after studying people wear the Bat devices in the labs they worked in were;
• Design for space usage rather than physical space (some areas are just dead-zones and it can be a waste of time and equipment to monitor them).
• Beware the coincidence of physical and symbolic boundaries (have systems overlap at doorways to provide a transition).
• Incorporate autonomous maintenance
• Design for maximal signal penetration
• Beware false positives and false negatives (just because the Bat device can be seen it doesn’t necessarily mean the owner is with it)
• Include feedback capabilities.

This paper has also presented the results of surveying members of the laboratory that have access to Bats. The major highlights are:
• The majority (77.3%) feel comfortable wearing a 50g tag around their neck.
• Initial assignment of a location tag often results in a novelty period that typically lasts days.
• 42.1% now wear a Bat on a daily basis.
• The majority characterizes their Bat as useful or fun.
• Applications are crucial to a good deployment
• A pervasive application vicious cycle is evident, where users reject some applications because others do not use them.
• False negatives in tracking complicate location aware applications.
• Users differ in how they perceive and use the location-aware system, and distinct classifications are apparent.
• Location privacy is rarely a concern in the deployment environment.

I found this paper gave a good insight into a long-term lab tested project and highlighted a lot of problems that could be encountered. A small proportion of the test subjects stated that the cost of privacy was a factor of them not wearing the device all the time at work, which probably translates over to the public in general and their big brother is watching you mentality.

PARALLEL WORLDS: IMMERSION IN LOCATION-BASED EXPERIENCES
Josephine Reid, Erik Geelhoed, Richard Hull-Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Kirsten Cater, Ben Clayton-University of Bristol

Location aware technologies make possible new interactive experiences of situated drama and narrative. Riot! was developed by Hewlett Packard Labs, Mobile Bristol and two local writers Ralph Hoyte and Liz Crow. It was described as an interactive play for voices and set in Queen’s Square, a large Georgian public space in Bristol, England. It utilized hand-held computing technology and the Global Positioning System (GPS) to trigger audio files representing a riot that had occurred in the square in 1831. It was made available to the general public in a three-week long research trial. Participants were issued with a small backpack containing an iPAQ Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), GPS receiver and headphones.

The fact that the play is located in the square where the actual historical events had
taken place was important. It seemed to have more resonance and to matter
more to people who were from the local area. People began to look at a series of
familiar markers in the landscape with different eyes, the square was in this
sense familiar and yet unfamiliar.

The paper goes on to talk about immersion and how it has a strong affinity to the concept of flow where the sense of time and self are lost, and attention is completely focused on the current activity [2]. They observed that immersion seemed to be a transient state that can be fleeting or can last for several minutes. The circumstances that move people between immersive and non-immersive states are therefore an important consideration for future designs. In Riot the events that immersed people were when a powerful new sound started up, a familiar place was mentioned, a regional accent resonated, a familiar character was recognized or when a physical object in the present day could be related to the current event being described. Equally important is the transition out of immersion, which can be brought about either by the designed pauses in the narrative or through an unplanned interruption such as an event in the physical world or a system fault. If the structure and content of the narrative are not sufficiently engaging attention is lost much more easily.

They came to the conclusion at the end of the project that the stages of immersion identified in video games can be applied to location-based experiences but the prominence of the real work environment means that the immersed states are short with continual dipping between the parallel worlds of the digital and physical.

From reading this paper seems that using only audio failed to totally immerse people in the experience, and that having some visual feedback, in particular pictures of the square as it was in 1831 would help users make sense of the narrative. The lack of structure and the randomness of the sounds encountered in the square caused people to feel confused. Although this was a deliberate design to try and emulate the confusion of being in a riot, many people expressed dissatisfaction at not being able to make enough sense of what was going on. Will take this on board with my own work to make it as structured and understandable as possible.

INNER CITY LOCATIVE MEDIA: DESIGN AND EXPERIENCE OF A LOCATION-AWARE MOBILE NARRATIVE FOR THE DUBLIN LIBERTIES NEIGHBORHOOD
Valentina Nisi, Dr. Ian Oakley, and Dr. Mads Haahr

In this research paper the use of new digitally mediated narratives that makes use of mobile technology is investigated. It claims that an urban neighbourhood is the physical embodiment of a communities memories and history, and that location-aware mobile narrative systems have significant potential when applied to urban spaces, especially spaces of disadvantaged areas.

The narrative is delivered by using an evolving collection of historically inspired video stories adapted from written accounts of life in the deprived but culturally cohesive inner city area of Dublin, known as “the Liberties”. The stories are viewed on location-aware PDA’s and the aim of the project is to provide viewers with a nuanced and evocative sense of place as they walk the streets of the neighbourhood.

Their investigations seemed to indicate that presenting narratives taken from historical, literary, and word-of-mouth accounts of life set in a particular place to users situated and physically immersed in that same place provides a vivid and evocative experience that encapsulates something of the sense of place.

It was interesting to note that they stored the content on a SD card in the iPAQ for the basis of simplicity and reliability but used GPS to trigger the content. The technology seems to be moving along quickly enough now so that you would be able to stream the content over a wireless network so that anyone with a GPS enabled PDA could access the content used in the project. I regards to the user interface I would agree with some of the users that the icons used seem to clutter up the screen and make the map difficult to see. It would be useful to have a way of turning the icons on and off to aid visibility and user interaction.

MULTIMEDIA TOUR PROGRAMME AT TATE MODERN
Gillian Wilson, Tate Modern, United Kingdom

Tate Modern has been developing three different types of handheld media tours delivered wirelessly to PDA’s. A highlights tour designed to appeal to the 16-25 age group, a tour in British sign language designed for deaf people, and a collections tour that provides different levels of digital information about all artworks in the Collections displays. In the paper they go on to talk about their interpretative aims and discuss users opinions on interactive content such as texting and games, artists’ contributions, links between audio and visual, use of film clips, and provision of text-based information.

They have used their experience from people using low tech, object based activities which are used to add to people’s learning experience as to make sure that visitors attention is focused on the art work other than solely on the games they are playing, and applied these principles to the high tech multimedia tours.

In terms of navigational structure the interactive map provides a way of navigating through the gallery space, as does the select work option. The jukebox plays music which relates to works on display and Tate txt is a messaging function between individual PDAs. Gallery info provides information about other membership details, gallery events etc., as well as picture credits.

As this project is an extension of a previous pilot project they have been able to learn from earlier mistakes, and even though its only been a year they encountered fewer technical problems, which just goes to show how fast the technology is developing. It was interesting to note that the content was developed in Macromedia Flash, version 6 so that they had total control of the look and feel of the content and interface. Now that Flash is on version 8 and version 9 is well into development you should be able to incorporate more video files and the sign language videos should run a lot smoother if incorporated with stronger PDA processors and better network connectivity.

Reference/ Bibliography

[1] D. J. Sherman and I. Rogoff (eds.), Museum culture: histories, discourses,
spectacles, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (1994)
[2] Czsentmihalyi M. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience. Harper Perennial, 1990.

Russell, Ben (2004): Transcultural Media Online Reader Introduction, http://locative.net/tcmreader/index.php?intro;russell
[Accessed on 28/10/06]

Anne Galloway, Carleton Matthew Ward. (2005). Locative Media As Socialising And Spatialising Practices: Learning From Archeology [online].
Available from http://www.purselipsquarejaw.org/papers/galloway_ward_draft.pdf
[Accessed 03/10/6]

Harle, R. K. and Hopper, A. (2005). Deploying and Evaluating a Location-Aware Systems. In: Proceedings of the Mobisys 2005. [online].
Available from http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/DTG/~rkh23/pubs/mobisys2005.pdf
[Accessed on 04/11/06]

Josephine Reid, Erik Geelhoed, Richard Hull-Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Kirsten Cater, Ben Clayton-University of Bristol. Parallel Worlds: Immersion in location-based experiences. [online].
Available from http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/Publications/Papers/2000260.pdf
[Accessed on 07/11/06]

Valentina Nisi, Dr. Ian Oakley, and Dr. Mads Haahr . Inner City Locative Media:
Design and Experience of a Location-Aware Mobile Narrative for the Dublin Liberties Neighbourhood. [online].
Available from http://mf.media.mit.edu/pubs/journal/InnerCity.pdf
[Accessed on 10/11/06]

Gillian Wilson, Tate Modern, UK .Multimedia Tour Programme at Tate Modern [online]
Available from. http://www.archimuse.com/mw2004/papers/wilson/wilson.html
[Accessed on 20/11/06]

Initial Personal Project Pro Forma

2006-11-14T21:28:00.000Z

BA/BSc Hons DESIGN for INTERACTIVE MEDIA (Top-up)

Module Number ADM306b
Module Value 4
Year 2005-2006
Semester 1 & 2
Tutors WKB/DL/SN/SP
Assignment Personal Project Pro Forma

Student name: Nigel Whitbread

Student number: 06000671

Email address: nigelwhitbread@yahoo.co.uk

RESEARCH PAPER PRO FORMA

I. Your general field of enquiry

Locative Aware Services – Locative Media. Research what devices can be used, what content is being broadcast, and what applications are being used to produce the content. An investigation into what innovative ways locative media is being used to provide context driven content

II. Your chosen subject

This research project will be looking at what devices (PDA’s, mobile phones, Node) would provide the best platform for location aware content. They are to be used outside in city centres and provide historical location context driven data as if the city is an extension of a museum that is mapped over by the past

III. Your objectives. What are you going to document /uncover / explain / question?

To determine what content is required to enhance the historical sense of a city and how different it might have looked in the past. To find out if users would prefer audio, textual, stills, video driven content or a combination of all four. Using primary questions and the information uncovered I will create a prototype application to run on a specific device.

IV. A description and assessment of research base. Primary sources. Secondary sources.

A large part of my primary research will involve visiting museums and historical sites of Cardiff, and conduct interviews and questionnaires with visitors, staff and the general public. Secondary data will be taken from existing research papers on locative media and handheld devices.

V. An indication of your preferred methodology and why it is appropriate. What academic approach will you choose that is best suited to the analysis, contextualisation and cultural critique of your subject?

The methodology I propose will include, semi structured interviews (of the general public, museum visitors, staff and school children of a variety of ages) to be undertaken in Cardiff to gain an understanding of the interest people show in using devices to look at historical with contextual relevancy. Analysis of acquired data – filmed, photography, audio, interviews, questionnaires. Creation of a prototype on a relevant device based on users expectations.

VI. References to key thinkers/academics

Researchers and academics in the Locative Media sector, including – Anne Galloway, Mathew Ward, RK Harle, A Hopper, Nicolas Nova, and Ben Russell.

VII. Indicative bibliography

Galloway, Anne and Matthew Ward (2005): Locative Media as Socialising and Spatialising Practices: Learning from Archaeology (DRAFT). Forthcoming Leonardo Electronic Almanac, MIT Press. Available online: http://www.purselipsquarejaw.org/papers/galloway_ward_draft.pdf

Harle, R. K. and Hopper, A. (2005): Deploying and Evaluating a Location-Aware Systems. In: Proceedings of the Mobisys 2005. Available online: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/DTG/~rkh23/pubs/mobisys2005.pdf

Russell, Ben (2004): Transcultural Media Online Reader Introduction, TCM Online Reader.

Mobile Location Based Services. Andrew Jagoe., Prentice Hall PTR, 2002

LocationBased Services: Fundamentals and Operation, Küpper, Axel, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2005.

Pasta and Vinegar webblog., Nicolas Nova, http://tecfa.unige.ch/perso/staf/nova/blog/, 2006,

Locative.net, http://www.locative.net

VIII. Additional information that is relevant.

Will map out a schedule of work so that I can effectively manage my project
Will consider what I would like to be able to publish and where, e.g. who is my intended audience, names of conferences and journals/publications that may be interested in your work.

IX. Any questions you may have for staff.

I would like feedback on have viable my proposal is, if they think it can go the distance and do the think it would be worthwhile approaching museums, schools and other institutions.

DfIM Assignment 1: Reading a Research Paper

2006-11-14T14:01:00.000Z

Research Area of Interest - Locative Media

Paper for Evaluation

Examining Mobile Phone Use In The Wild With Quasi-Experimentation.

The motivation for this work is for commercial (funded by Nokia Corporation) research into how users interact with mobile devices and they environment around them on the go as opposed to in a laboratory environment. One problematic issue has been that current methods are not suited for attempting to establish causal relationships between context variables and interaction. In the paper they describe an experimental method, called quasiexperiment, and apparatus for recording mobile phone usage and the environment in a mobile context.

The proposed solution for recording people’s interactions with mobile devices (in this case web browsing on a mobile phone) is to use a series of miniature cameras set up to record;
• The user’s face and eyes
• The phone display and keys
• The environment as seen from the users point of view
• The user and environment as seen by a moderator
Two of the cameras are attached to the phone, another is attached to the shoulder of the user, and the fourth is carried by the modulator disguised as a mobile phone. Images from the four different cameras are combined into one and time coded together to produce a complete record of the users interaction.

In terms of the evaluation of the proposed solution to recording mobile phone use in the wild, they conclude that their portable apparatus allowed them to gather multi-variable data from the different mobile contexts, and that no other study has captured as much data with such a wide range of variables.
They felt that their method would be suitable for other field experiments where device interaction and/or user behaviour and the environment have to be examined.
They claim to have managed to root out relevent and scientifically reliable data about user behaviour in the mobile context. So in terms of purpose they felt the research was a success.

I was persuaded of the merits of the proposed solution in that I agree that putting all 4 camera views together and having the time codes sync up would lend to you gathering all the relevent data you could get from the users interacting with the device. But I do feel that when people on the street question the users about what they are doing, this acts as an unwanted distraction and outside influence that could affect the results.

The future directions for this type of research is primarily to have more easily operated portable, light equipment to be able to record events and environmental circumstances automatically, thus minimizing the need for manual coding and time logging of data collected, which would make it less laborious and time consuming.

Because of cost constraints no portable eye tracking equipment was used in the experiments. Use of this technology in future experiments could provide useful extra data concerning eye movement and attention of the user.

The writers of the paper “hope that future work will hopefully be able to provide better and lighter-weight methodology for system developers and other practitioners to evaluate and examine their applications in the wild”. As I’ve said earlier this method of date collection would lend itself very easily to other field experiments using mobile devices.

While reading and re-reading the paper there were a few things that I didn’t understand:

• I didn’t know that quasi meant “used to show that something is almost, but not completely, the thing described”
• They didn’t explain their reasons for not telling the participants the real purpose of the experiment until the end of their participation.
• I didn’t understand what [Low Experimental Power “experiments in the world are susceptible to low power” page 13] meant.
• I didn’t understand what [The Reliability of Measures “Measures of low reliability may not register true change” page 13] meant.

Bibliography

Virpi Roto, Antti Oulasvirta, Tuulia Haikarainen, Jaana Kuorelahti, Harri Lehmuskallio, Tuomo Nyyssonen. (2004). Examining Mobile Phone Use In The Wild With Quasi-Experimentation. [online].
Available from: http://www.hiit.fi/publications/pub_files/hiit2004-1.pdf
[Accessed 15 Oct 2006]

Gaetano Borriello, Matthew Chalmers, Anthony LaMarca, Paddy Nixon. (2005). Delivering Real-World Ubiquitous Location Systems. [online].
Available from: http://www.lazowska.cs.washington.edu/gb.pdf
[Accessed 17 Oct 2006]

Anne Galloway, Carleton Matthew Ward. (2005). Locative Media As Socialising And Spatialising Practices: Learning From Archeology [online].
Available from http://www.purselipsquarejaw.org/papers/galloway_ward_draft.pdf
[Accessed 17 Oct 2006]

Personal Project - Mapping Museums - St Fagans National History Museum

Graduation Result

End of the Road

Tag Cloud – Keywords

Video Footage of Project

Free Alan Johnston on BBC

Busy Busy Busy

Last week of April

User Testing Questionnaire & Poster

Third week of April

Second week of April

First week of April

Update for this and last week

You Tube It BBC2W

Breakdown of project and development

Checking out mediascape at St Fagans

A sign of the times: Ignore your sat nav

Visit to St Fagans

BBC Mobile Phone Stories

BBC Documentory

National Museum of Wales Meeting

HP Labs Meeting

Things Happening Next Week

St Fagans Collections

Library

Purpose

Scope

History

Staff information

FAQs

St Fagans Collections

Oral Traditions and Archival collections

St Fagans Collections

Agricultural, Craft and Transport collections

St Fagans Collections

Cultural Life

St Fagans Collections

Domestic and Costume collections

St Fagans Collections

Corporate Life collections

St Fagans Collections

Buildings

Tŷ Gwyrdd

St Teilo's Church

The Building

History

Architectural features

St Fagans Intro

A walk around Wales – from Celtic times to the present day

St Fagans National History Museum

Tutorial with Simon Pope

PDA St Fagans Questionnaire

Research Paper Pro Forma-St Fagans

Proposal for an Electronic Guide Book

Visit to Oxford Castle Unlocked

Visit to National Museum of Wales

Letters of Interest

Mapping Museums Over the City of Cardiff’s Past

Discrimi-Nav

Locative Media Literature Review

Initial Personal Project Pro Forma

DfIM Assignment 1: Reading a Research Paper