Advanced Interaction:
New Media Systems

Investigators: Russell Beale, Will Byrne, Sam Davies, Fatma Elsayed moawad, Peter Lonsdale, Andy Pryke

Associated grants: Mobile Devices - EPSRC Capital Equipment


Blogging

The role of the internet as a personal publishing medium has been made much more significant in the past few years with the development of weblog technologies, and an associated rapid rise in the number of users creating blogs. Weblogs (or blogs) are chronological personal notes published on the Internet, and cover anything and everything. The ease of blogging and the community effect encourage short, frequent contributions from many bloggers. Their often diary-like nature also encourages frequent postings, whilst commentaries on news stories are also more effective if they are up-to-the-minute. But when in the habit of recording their daily lives and experiences, not being near a computer limits the user’s ability to do this, and so all their activities when out and about are not able to be blogged about in the same way as if they were at home or in the office. However, the rise of the mobile internet means that not only is internet access made easy from phones and other mobile devices, but also integration and coordination with internet applications is made possible through web services and other remote APIs. Mobile devices have expanded beyond their communication origins to the stage where they are accomplished multimedia creation tools. A client mobile blogging tool could be the best shortcut between a blogger and their weblog.

This project is developing versions of a mobile blogging client, called SmartBlog, and evaluating its usage and effects.

Blogs have recently become of interest to educationalists, who see their potential as tools for supporting student sharing of information, for engaging them with the subject by using cool new technology and relating their work to the outside world, and, by the very nature of the blogging activity, supporting reflective practice. We are using them for learning and teaching, and evaluating their educational benefits.


New Media Pen and Paper

Detecting impairment is particularly difficult in people, and is especially important if they are in charge of a vehicle. We describe how we have augmented the familiar and unchallenging medium of pen and paper by using a digital pen coupled with established paper tests in order to develop a screening device for driver impairment which may be used at the roadside. This form of impairment testing does not isolate or intimidate any member of the general public as a computerised test may do, and proves to be highly acceptable and accurate.