Know Techn Pol (2009) 22:5159 DOI 10.

1007/s12130-009-9067-y

ORIGINAL PAPER

The Net in the Park

Antonio Rizzo & Elisa Rubegni & Erik Grnval & Maurizio Caporali & Andrea Alessandrini

Received: 10 November 2008 / Accepted: 3 February 2009 / Published online: 24 March 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009

Abstract Ubiquitous Computing, Pervasive Computing, Physical Computing, Everyware, Tangible User Interface, and the Internet of Things all share the same viewpointa viewpoint that sees computers, phones, and game consoles as no longer being the only devices in our environment deemed worthy to embody computation and be connected. Each of these approaches focuses on slightly different aspects of the features and potentialities of the enabling technologies (i.e., Physical Computing focuses on the growing power of microcontrollers; IOT on the increasing influence of tagging systems; Everyware on the pervasiveness of the web through wired and wireless connections, etc.) We understand and place more emphasis on the similarities then the differences among these approaches, and at the same time, we try to address specific human activity issues by exploiting these new enabling technologies and visions. In the paper, we present a project, Wi-roni, that addresses two issues: in-person communication and the added value of being in a given location when accessing a given content. To this end, we considered in
A. Rizzo (*) : E. Rubegni : E. Grnval : M. Caporali : A. Alessandrini Communication Science Department, University of Siena, Via Roma 56, Siena 53100, Italy e-mail: rizzo@unisi.it E. Rubegni TEC-Lab, Universit della Svizzera Italiana, Via Buffi 13, Lugano, Ticino 6900, Switzerland

some detail the possibilities of three of these enabling technologies: ultrasound sensors, MEMS, and mash-up of Internet application. These technologies were chosen based on the nature of the human activity, and not vice versa. In Wi-roni, an Urban Architecture project located in the La Gora public park in Monteroni d'Arbia, a small village in the province of Siena (Italy), we developed two interconnect solutions: Wi-wave, a column for accessing web audio content in public spaces, and Wiswing, a childrens swing that tells stories while swinging. These devices represent both the concrete grounds from which to begin to address the abovementioned human activity issues and the playground in which to explore the new, emerging interaction modalities that the enabling technologies could allow. Keywords Ubiquitous Computing . Tangible interface . Situated editing . Urban furniture

From Ubiquitous Computing to the Internet of Things Mark Weisers vision (Weiser 1993) of digital technology predicted the ubiquitous presence of computing in the environment, with computers integrated into everyday objects and becoming just another part of the background. Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp) is striving to make this vision real, producing invisible/transparent technology integrated into the environment that allows a model of interac-

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tion based on physical manipulation of objects. This approach modifies how people get in contact and interact with their environments as well as the activities that they can perform. Everyday objects, once they are enhanced by embedded digital technology, are not the same anymore, and neither are the actions they enable. Tangible User Interface (TUI) (Ullmer and Ishii 2000) and Physical Computing (OSullivan and Igoe 2004) paradigms focus on the combination of physical and digital computation where networked devices will be increasingly integrated into the environment and will constitute the substrate of what has been named Everyware (Greenfield 2006). The Internet of Things (IOT) combines the power of Internet (contents and services) with everyday objects empowered by sensing technologies such as radiofrequency identification (RFID). RFID tags can be embedded in any type of object, such as a shell (Mugellini et al. 2007), a stone (Rubegni et al. 2007), or a wooden stick (Caporali et al. 2005), allowing these objects and their associated contents to be connected. Sensors have the ability to detect the physical status of things and to communicate any changes. Thus, sensors collect data regarding the environment, enabling objects to respond to changes and raising awareness about their current context. For example, the integration of local and global information is a characteristic of Aware-Umbrella (Vazquez and Lpez de Ipia 2008), an umbrella that merges current weather information with Internet weather forecasts and, when rain is imminent, advises the user to bring it with him. An interesting perspective is the connection of these pervasive computational artifacts with Web 2.0 technologies and the opportunities they offer. Web 2.0 sees Internet as a platform (O'Reilly 2007) in the sense that the second generation of Internet-based services enable people to collaborate and share information online and to be authors of contents (such as blogs, social networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies). Web 2.0 opens up opportunities for increasing the power of computational objects and devices not only in retrieving Internet contents but also in enabling the production of content as well as the creation of social/human networks. Indeed, this area is as promising as it is as-yet unexplored. Below, we present our perspective in designing patterns of interaction in these emerging technology domains. Our perspective will be exemplified through

the solutions developed in response to a specific design need.

Our Perspective in Designing for Networked and Computational Everyday Objects We share the view that computers, phones, and game consoles are no longer the only devices in our environment deemed worthy of being intelligent and connected. But within this broad view of the process of creating new objects and things, we want to address two specific issues. First, most current technology solutions take the user out of from the physical and social context in which he is actually involvedcommunication devices and data links are seldom used to empower in-presence social activities. Second, the development of most networked devices proposes the irrelevance of physical location as one of the key advantages of being constantly connected. In considering these two issues, we do not dispute the utility of distance communication and any-place-anytime accessibility to information; however, aligning with the strategy of the Palcom project (Kyng et al. 2006; Brnsted et al. 2007), we seek to complement these two crucial factors of ubiquitous computing with their converse. We propose to respond to these challenges by conceiving interaction modalities suitable for social activities occurring in the here-and-now, in real-time and real-place. Our goal is to develop design solutions that mitigate or even eliminate the almost compulsory estrangement from the physical context when using communication technology. We challenge information and communication technologies that allow anytime-anywhere access to provide content that could be enhanced by the fact of the user being in a given location. Internet resources are barely affected by the context in which the user accesses themthe content and interaction modality remain the same irrespective of physical location or cultural environment. For most web technologies, the specific location from which the user accesses information adds nothing to the users experience: whether the user is in New York, Hong Kong, or the countryside near Siena does not seem to matter. In facing the first of these challenges, we turn mainly to TUI. This kind of device potentially enables not only a reduction of the interaction gulf on both sides (execution and evaluation) but also allows us to design for patterns of behavior that could have

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aesthetic and imaginative value. This is an important pre-requisite for allowing modes of interaction with communication technologies that could be meaningful on-site, and not only at a distance. In response to the second challenge, we share Marco Susanis assumption that information has no meaning if it has no connection with material, public space, and if there is no mechanism for the social sharing of information (Susani 2005). But while he proposes to superimpose digital information onto the social territory, creating an enriched and original space for social interactions based on the smart-tag paradigm, we prefer to further develop the Situated Editing (SE) principle, to which he also contributed in the first phases of the POGO project. SE is, in our view, a way to allow a seamless integration of the physical and virtual worlds through intuitive interaction modalities (Rizzo et al. 2003). In SE, digital assets are stored on physical media carriers or transferred through wireless connections to specific tools that receive privileged modalities of processing and manipulation according to the tool at hand. We introduced and dealt with these challenges in Wi-roni, an interactive urban architecture project.

The Wi-roni Project The Wi-roni project began as a response to the design brief issued by the municipality of Monteroni dArbia, a small village near Siena. The main issue was to facilitate the process of socialization in public spaces among local citizens with special attention to children, the elderly, and immigrants. We considered the brief a very interesting opportunity to introduce and experiment with solutions to our Ubicomp challenges: (a) using distant communications to promote on-site, in-presence communication and (b) making the physical location have an impact on the fruition of web content. The Methodology The design methodology was based on a coevolutionary process in which concept design, technology design, and activity design were carried out simultaneously so that each strand of the process could inform the others (see Rizzo et al. 2003; Marti et al. 2005).

The first phase of the project was dedicated to user studies and eliciting user requirements. The main objective of the investigation was to identify needs and opportunities that could foster the concept design phase. From this perspective, it was important to involve both citizens and municipality staff, applying different techniques, including interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic observation. Considering the outcome of the user study and the suggestion from stakeholders on the municipality staff, we decided to focus on La Gora park due to the presence of outdoor activities that could change during the course of the day and according to the range of people present. Concurrently with the user study, a technology survey was conducted. This benchmarking aimed to investigate available enabling technologies and to gain inspiration from other urban projects. The exploration focused mainly on interactive urban furniture (benches, wall, public lighting, etc.), hardware (e.g., sensors, RFID devices, Wi-Fi antennas, MEMS, mash-up technology, etc.), and software applications for accessing services and contents on the web. The third thread, concept generation, ran parallel to the user and technology research, using input from the user study to define brainstorming session issues and input from the benchmarking segment to feeding the sessions with inspirational material. Based on this research, a set of design concepts was produced and subsequently organized into scenarios in order to define the goals of the project in a more concrete, narrative format ready to be utilized and developed in various design phases (Rizzo and Bacigalupo 2004). The strategy for selecting among the proposed design concepts was based on two principles: (1) progressive introduction of devices and contents and (2) progressive introduction of modes of interaction. The rationale behind these principles concerned the need to become literate in the use of digital technologies, especially with respect to senior citizens, and the new behaviors we expected would be evoked by novel and social modes of interaction. Thus, the initial period of introduction of the Wi-roni devices should be studied for its heuristic value as part of the overall design process, and the lessons learned applied to the same devices as well to the other design concepts ready to be tested.

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The following examples depict the first two of the final concepts produced for Wi-roni: Wi-wave and Wi-swing. We will illustrate them starting with the narratives used for mock-up scenarios and moving through to the working prototypes. In describing the two design processes, for the sake of simplicity and due to space limitations, we will focus on the aspects we consider most relevant for producing the operational prototypes and modes of interaction, that is, the dramatization of the scenarios performed by designers, stakeholders, and users in varying and sometimes random combinations. Thus, we will have to leave out other aspects of the design process, including why and how certain design decisions were made. Wi-wave Wi-wave is a device that aims to facilitate access to and interaction with web content in public spaces. Many interface options were discussed and analyzed, and designers and technicians worked to come up with an artifact that could meet the needs determined by our activity analysis and adapt to the physical factors of the location 24 h a day, 7 days a week. Thus, for the design of the first device, we focused on audio content and gesture-based interaction. The choice of sound as the first vehicle for content was due to: (1) the immersive and pervasive nature of sound; (2) its high compatibility with other concurrent activities; and, last but not least, (3) low risk of accidental or voluntary damage to the device. The choice of gesture-based interaction was considered a viable solution since: (1) it does not require direct contact with the devices (responding to hygiene and damage prevention needs); (2) it does not interfere with the type of energy used to present the content (audio), as voice interaction would; (3) it is public since it can be observed by others in its various components (position and movement); (4) it allows for easy turn-taking. Wi-wave uses ultrasonic sensor technology to capture physical gestures as a navigation interface for three channels of audio playback/streaming. The content offered by Wi-wave is a collection of two audio types: streaming radio and synchronized podcast. The use of podcast is quite popular on the web since the audio files are described through an XML file (RSS feed) that standardizes the sharing of periodically updated audio content over the Internet.

Wi-wave allows everyone to listen to podcasts in a public area, and, from a research perspective, allows us to explore issues regarding the design of interaction through patterns of behavior that may have aesthetic and imaginative value. Wi-wave Scenarios The following is an example of one of the narratives used for mock-up scenarios: Anna is a 30-year-old housewife living in Monteroni d'Arbia. Her daughter Luisa is 4 years old. Anna takes Luisa to the park at 10:00 a.m., where they can meet other mothers with their children. There is a playground for children and benches for the adults. Anna finds one of her friends in the park with her 5year-old daughter and sits next to her on the bench while the girls run back and forth, playing together. After chatting for a while, the mothers call their daughters back over. The girls are getting tired and dirty from playing, so Anna asks them if they would like to hear a fairytale. The girls like this idea quite a bit, and Anna gets up and goes over to Wi-wave. Anna raises her hand to activate the system. Luisa runs over, smiling, and waves her hand in front of Wiwave to select the fairytale. Wi-wave says, Il principe ranocchio (The Frog Prince). Luisa makes an arc in the air, and Wi-wave says, Il leone nella foresta (The Lion in the Forest). After a short jingle, the fairytale begins automatically: c'era una volta (Once upon a time). Luisa runs back over to her friend on the bench and sits to listen to the story. Following the story, the children begin to mime some crucial narration points, and their mothers now and then join in the game. When the story is finished, the mothers decide that it's time to prepare lunch, but Luisa wants to listen again (thus the mother waves at Wi-wave in order to produce the Goodbye jingle). They say goodbye to their friends; Luisa waves goodbye to Wi-wave, and she and Anna head back home. This and other scenarios drove the design of mockups of the first Wi-roni devices. The mock-up activity was a creative session in which we defined the content to be presented and explored possible shapes for the artifact. First, rough mock-ups were built to be tested and refined quickly. In an early phase, mockups were made using cardboard and paper, as they were easy to cut and shape into forms in which the

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sensors could be embedded. Those mock-ups were almost interactive: sensors were connected to a computer and activated the first versions of the software application being developed concurrently. The second and third generations of mock-ups and prototypes were built using more suitable materials and technology, as we needed to refine the shape and the set of gestures suitable for the sensors. Each mock-up was evaluated in the laboratory with end users, and based on the findings of user testing (dramatization sessions based on the scenarios), the artifact was refined and improved. Evaluation was based on qualitative and exploratory tests that were videotaped in order to document the study and thoroughly analyze users behavior and gestures. Evaluators asked the testers to play a given role and perform a certain task using the artifact without clarifying how to use the interface; users were encouraged to explore and discover how to use the device, or even to propose an interaction pattern. The evaluation of the first generation of mock-ups (see Fig. 1) aimed to refine the set of intentional gestures, determine the position and sensitivity distance of the sensors to avoid unintentional interaction, and observe the group dynamics created around the device as a social focal point. The lexicon and syntax of the gesture-based interaction emerged through the elaboration of spontaneous gestures and adaptation of the physical artifact to these natural gestures. The data gathered

in tests done with the first mock-up provided sufficient information for refining the design and moving forward with development of more interactive prototypes. The second generation of prototypes changed significantly in terms of shape and modes of interaction. A vertical pillar-like structure was used, in which the sensors were embedded into the edge of a circular shape at the top of the central structure. The first evaluation session immediately revealed the stronger appeal of this version compared to the previous one. In fact, in front of the wall mock-up, many users had tried to push the sensors, clearly perceived as buttons, while the vertical structure attracted users who, in the majority of cases (about 65%), found the correct way to turn on the system and interact with it. The second prototype suggested a clearer conceptual model providing the affordance necessary for public installation. With the second mock-up, we also tested cooperative use of the system, inviting groups of users to interact with Wi-wave and attempt to access its audio content (see Fig. 2). The third generation of prototypes and the evaluation outcomes provided the basis for defining the final prototype. This prototype was built in collaboration with two architects who designed the final structure (Fig. 3). The final prototype was evaluated by end users, including children ages 812. The evaluation of the final prototype revealed many interesting aspects mainly regarding the mode of interaction, which changed significantly depending on the shape of the structure.

Fig. 1 One of the first mock-ups with the shape of a wall and three channels

Fig. 2 Second mock-up evaluation with a group

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Fig. 3 The Architect building the final prototype

These laboratory tests were considered sufficient to support the initial installation of Wi-wave; the types of behavior we could induce in the lab had been exhausted, and at that point only field testing would allow us to identify issues for fine-tuning or determine the need for radical changes. The Wi-wave component (see Fig. 4) is currently composed of three sensors, a microcontroller, and a computer, which runs the custom software developed as part of the project.
Fig. 4 System diagram

Wi-swing Wi-swing is a tool for listening to storytelling and, more in general, for broadcasting the output of Wiwave (Fig. 5). Wi-swing is principally dedicated to children, who make up its privileged user class. They can browse contents and control the speed of the narrative through the movements of the swing. The first mock-ups we built were based on the following scenario. Wi-swing Envisioning Scenario Livia is spending her free afternoon with her two daughters Alessia and Martina at La Gora Park. After running about a bit, Alessia and Martina ask Livia to go to Wi-wave so that they can listen to the stories they have selected on the Wi-roni website, but at the Wi-wave column there are already some people listening to podcasts on the issue of the daythe relationship between Carla Bruni and French President Sarkozywho seem quite intent on continuing to listen. Livia suggests the children go to Wi-swing to listen to the stories. Alessia and Martina immediately run to the Wi-swing and turn the seat to activate the storytelling feature. Alessia sits on the swing and as soon as it begins to oscillate regularly the narrative starts. Martina pushes Alessia on the swing while listening, and at a certain point the swing goes so high that the narrators voice becomes strangled.

Fig. 5 Image of the Wi-swing model and mock-up

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Martina and Alessia laugh while Livia tells them to be more careful and quieter. The story ends and Martina and Alessia switch positions to listen to another story. The next one is full of songs that the girls want to sing together, so they stop the swing and ask their mother to push as they share the swing seat, enjoying and participating in the narration. The Wi-swing concept was refined in the mock-up session, during which we assessed enabling technology (MEMS sensors) and patterns of interaction. We separately tested MEMS sensors connected to a personal computer that communicated via USB cable with a development kit (ST microelectronics MEMS development kit). At the same time, we developed mock-ups using cardboard and wood. Rough mock-ups were built to explore the Wiswing concept, and the first generations were not interactive. Production of the first mock-ups began with the development of a scale model (1:10) to allow us to understand the basic physics behind the Wiswing concept. Utilizing the model, we explored the motion properties and swing dynamics: the swing works like a pendulum, and three fundamental properties played important roles in the development

of the Wi-swing concept (oscillation, oscillation limit, potential swing seat torsion). Constructing the model (see Fig. 6) gave us many insights regarding patterns of interaction and the potential of the swings physical properties. To further elaborate on the concept and the interaction possibilities, we dramatized the mock-up scenario (see Rizzo and Bacigalupo 2004) so as to allow the material properties of the mock-up involved in the interaction (Bertelsen et al. 2008) to further enhance the Wi-swing concept and its modes of interaction. We organized a workshop with end users that informed the design process with new information on how the system should react to specific input and, more importantly, what input would generate a specific system behavior. This dramatization led to the following conclusions: (1) when one track or podcast ends, the swing should be in a rest position before launching the next tune. After 120 s of no-swing within the play range, Wiswing goes into stand-by. (2) If the swing stops in the middle of a podcast, it should continue from where it stopped if the swing is reactivated within 90 s. (3) To fast-forward within a specific track, the swing should be pushed forward and halted in that position. While

Fig. 6 Image of Wi-roni system: Wi-wave and Wi-swing

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position. (4) If the swing is pushed backwards and remains in that position, the podcast will be re-winded at double speed until the swing returns to the original rest position. Again, if the backward position is held, Wi-swing moves from one podcast to another. These system and interaction characteristics evolved from our dramatization of mock-up scenarios. The results we obtained might seem obvious and simple once presented, but we would not have been able to produce these interaction patterns without the drama-workshop. Situated acting or play is a powerful instrument that allowed us to try out and validate modes of interaction without having the full system available. The Wi-roni Back-end Updating of the data provided through Wi-roni sets (Figs. 6 and 7) can be done by introducing and managing content on the web site (http://www.saul. unisi.it/wironi) (see Fig. 8). The web site is a Content Management System (CMS) powered by Drupal technology. It is organized to allow a distributed workflow for managing and publishing content through the Wi-roni sets. It is also set up to accept content produced by Wi-roni tools once they are implemented and made available to people in the Park. In addition to the CMS, there is also a Wi-roni Web application manager, which dynamically connects Wi-roni tools in the park with Web content through Web Services.

Fig. 7 A picture of the final prototype

the swing remains in that position, the podcast advances at double speed. Once it reaches the end, if the position continues to be held, Wi-swing moves from one podcast to the next, producing the audio with the story title until the seat is returned to the vertical
Fig. 8 A screenshot of the website back-end: an example of the Web interface used to manage the Story Podcast

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Conclusions The two proposed challengescomplementing distant communication with in-presence communication and bringing everyware into harmony with the specific value of a given locationopen up perspectives that will take some time to explore and fully understand in terms of their implications. They provide an opportunity to create innovative services and products with current enabling technologies, and offer the possibility to address socio-technical issues from a new perspective. Today, most current web services and the related tools available to access them are private, both in the sense that they are conceived to be used mainly by individuals and in the sense that they are operated in a privately owned space. In the Wi-roni project, we exploited two main technical mechanisms characteristic of Web 2.0: Rich Internet Applications and mash-ups combined with sensors, coupled with new or existing physical devices so as to increase the options and possibilities users have in using web information in a public space. We also worked towards making modes of interaction public both in the sense that they are carried out without any personal devices and in the sense that they are open to dialogical modes of operation with others. Moving in this direction means making the users location equally as important as the web services, and the two should harmonize in order to produce the ideal combination through the added value offered by the second side of this binominal (web service/location). To better explain the intent, we can use the metaphor of water distribution as a stand-in for the Internet: water should be in any location where we want life, but it is a matter of human cultural design whether to have a simple tap or to build a fountain. From the point of view of interaction design, designing a fountain requires an effort beyond that which is necessary for designing a washing machine or any other industrialized object. Any fountain is unique, and its modes of interaction should be unique as well, as they will become part of the aesthetic and imaginative values of the service and location product. Thus, the choreography generated by the emerging behavior of people involved in new and traditional convivial activities will become a value in itself. This is one of the peculiarities of looking at the

interaction modalities through the lens of Situated Editing.

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