The continuing development of miniature low-power sensors marks a
historic period in the relationships between people and machines. On
the one hand, these devices raise the terrible spectre of invasive
surveillance. At the same time, they create the potential for new
modes of interaction and communication. New interface ecosystems can
sense, recognize, respond to, and represent nuances in
in our environments and in our bodies.
They spawn new forms of communication.
The Interface Ecology Lab is emphasizing processes of
human expression and social interaction as we develop sensory
interfaces that involve embodied awareness of the human body and the physical world.
We integrate sensor networks with methods from ubiquitous, pervasive, and wearable computing, real time embedded systems, psychophysiology, pattern recognition, performance studies, installation art, conceptual art, and context-aware, location-aware and embodied HCI. The new interactivity is based on our physical and corporeal beings. The forms we are creating include mixed-reality games, installations, body-based affordances, and aesthetic design environments.
locative gaming for team cognition (LoGTCog)
Location-Aware Team Games for Emergency Response develops new means for teaching distributed groups to work collaboratively in dangerous, high stress environments. Games serve as fun, intrinsically motivating learning tools. By integrating global positioning sensors and wearable computing systems, location-aware games embody interaction in an augmented reality that is both immersive and connected to the physical world. Through ethnographic investigation at the fire school, we learn about the structure of communication in firefighting.
Digital games are an important new medium of culture; they create compelling experiences. People enjoy game play, providing intrinsic motivation to participate. Serious games create experiences for the purpose of education and can be combined with simulation to teach skills. Games can serve as learning tools for teams. Integrating inexpensive, portable global positioning sensors, wearable computing systems, and direct human-to-human communication, location-aware mixed reality games afford players a high level of immersion through situated embodied interaction that connects physical and virtual worlds. We need to discover new location-aware team game designs that mirror the information flow and communication structure of teams through non-mimetic simulation games. The result will be new, intrinsically motivating modalities of education.
publications and exhibitions
Toups, Z. O., Kerne, A., Implicit Coordination in Firefighting Practice: Design Implications for Teaching Fire Emergency Responders, Proc ACM Computer Human Interaction 2007, San Jose, April 2007.
Webb, A., Kerne, A., Koh, E., Joshi, P., Park, Y., Graeber, R., Choreographic Buttons: Promoting Social Interaction through Human Movement and Clear Affordances, ACM Multimedia 2006, Santa Barbara, CA.
Toups, Z. O., Graeber, R., Kerne, A., Tassinary, L., Berry, S., Overby, K., Johnson, M., A Design for Using Physiological Signals to Affect Team Game Play, Proc Augmented Cognition International, San Francisco, Oct 2006.
Toups, Z., Kerne, A., Caruso, D., Devoy, E., Graeber, R., Overby, K., Rogue Signals: A location aware game for studying the social effects of information bottlenecks, Proc Ubicomp 2005 Extended.
Toups, Z., Overby, K., Kerne, A., Graeber, R., Cooper, T., Alley, E., Censor Chair, ACM SIGCHI Intl Conf on Advances in Computer Entertainment, June 2006, Hollywood.
Alley, E. Cooper, T., Graeber, R., Kerne, A., Overby, K., Toups, Z.,
Censor Chair: Exploring Censorship and Social Presence
through Psychophysiological Sensing, Proc ACM Multimedia 2005, 922-929.
Stenner, J., Kerne, A., Williams, Y., Playas: Homeland Mirage, ISEA/Zero One, Aug 2006: San Jose.
Stenner, J., Kerne, A., Williams, Y., Playas: Homeland Mirage, Proc ACM Multimedia 2005, 1057-1058.
Schiphorst, T., Kozel, S., Andersen, K., Jaffe, N., Mah, S., Kerne, A., Lovell, R., Tolmie, J., whisper. Dutch Electronic Arts Festival (DEAF) 2003, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Toups, Z. O., Kerne, A.,
Location-Aware Augmented Reality Gaming for Emergency Response Education: Concepts and Development,
Proc ACM Computer Human Interaction 2007 Workshop on Mobile Spatial Interaction,
San Jose, April 2007.