Other Projects
Customisation of Consumer Electronics Devices
We are interested in the customisation of simple consumer electronics devices - the sort of devices that don't run an operating system. The basic idea is that the operation of these devices is simplified through a configuration phase prior to use, in which features that are not wanted by a particular user are 'removed' so that they don't clutter up the user interface. This configuration phase is pretty infrequent (it may only occur once ever), so it can be carried out using a much richer machine like a desktop computer, and then subsequently downloaded to the consumer device itself.
Sensor Networking
We are working with the Computer Architecture Group in the Cambridge University Computer Lab on a new take on sensor networking. In this project, we consider the technology needed to implement a wired sensor network, and the applications this might be useful for. Example applications are smart fabrics for body-sensing and smart structures for monitoring the built environment.
Previous Work
TouchTalk
In the TouchTalk project we worked with Vodafone to explore ways in which technology can support new forms of communication between people, in particular how people can keep in touch with each other more easily in a social context. We developed a small electronic device with a variety of unconventional input and output modalities which could communicate with a similar, paired device via a mobile phone.
- Harper, R & Hodges, S. Beyond talk, beyond sound: Emotional expression and the future of mobile connectivity. In Höflich, J. & Hartmann, M. (Eds), Mobile Communication in Everyday Life: An Ethnographic View, (in press).
HomeNote
We put together the hardware for the first version of HomeNote, based on a Tablet PC with GSM connectivity. This device initiated several research projects to explore new forms of electronic communication between people and specific places, rather than person-to-person. HomeNote consists of a touch sensitive flat-panel display that can receive and display communications such as email, text and picture messages. Deployed in places such as a domestic kitchen, this actually creates new and interesting styles of communication between the inhabitants of that house. Subsequent projects have included the Digital Postcard, the Whereabouts Clock and Epigraph.
- Sellen, A., Harper, R., Eardley, R., Izadi, S., Regan, T., Taylor, A. S. and Wood, K. R. HomeNote: Supporting Situated messaging in the home. Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Work, CSCW '06. Banff, Canada, (2006), 383-392
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