Showing papers by "Nigel Davies published in 2011"
17 Sep 2011
TL;DR: This paper reflects on the long-term experiences of developing, deploying and supporting an experimental digital signage system and describes an alternative, simpler paradigm for encouraging widespread use of signage systems based on shared 'content channels' between content providers and display owners.
Abstract: In this paper we reflect on our long-term experiences of developing, deploying and supporting an experimental digital signage system. Existing public display systems almost always feature a single point of control that is responsible for scheduling content for presentation on the network and provide sophisticated mechanisms for controlling play-out timing and relative ordering. Our experiences suggest that such complex feature-sets are unnecessary in many cases and may be counter productive in signage systems. We describe an alternative, simpler paradigm for encouraging widespread use of signage systems based on shared 'content channels' between content providers and display owners. Our system has been in continuous use for approximately 3 years. We reflect and draw lessons from how our user community has adopted and used the resulting public display network. We believe that these reflections will be of benefit to future developers of ubiquitous display networks.
53 citations
07 Dec 2011
TL;DR: This paper contributes to the understanding of how people perceive, respond to and interact with gesture based public displays outside the controlled environment of a research lab by presenting a detailed examination that addresses a wide range of responses to such a display.
Abstract: Today, one does not have to travel far to find examples of digital signage, yet the adoption of interactive gesture based public displays remains quite rare. Subsequently, not much is known about them despite a large array of potential advantages. This paper contributes to our understanding of how people perceive, respond to and interact with such displays outside the controlled environment of a research lab. Unlike other works which have focused on isolated aspects of in-lab interaction, we present a detailed examination that addresses a wide range of responses to such a display - including those who ignore them completely. To facilitate our study we created an experimental coarse gesture based software suite and then deployed the system along with associated applications as part of an existing large scale public display network. Using this as a base, we executed four studies designed to passively observe the reactions of passers-by and followed these up with a fifth controlled experiment that compared the effectiveness of two different kinds of gesture in the context of menu item selection. To conclude, we present our key-findings and highlight possible avenues of further study for the future of gesture based digital signage.
44 citations
TL;DR: The FP7 FET proactive project PANORAMA (FET proactive/Goal 8.3: Pervasive Adaptation) picked up on the challenge of identifying the new trails of Pervvasive Computing research, involving some 240 of the most distinguished researchers in the field in a solicitation process that lasted for about three years, which is presented in this article and the respective fett11 session.
16 citations
Book•
21 Oct 2011
TL;DR: This book compiles the proceedings of Middleware '98, the IFIP International Conference on Distributed Systems Platforms and Open Distributed Processing, which was held in the Lake District, UK, in September 1998 and was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing.
Abstract: This volume focuses on the design, implementation, deployment and evaluation of distributed systems platforms and architectures for future networked environments. Issues addresses in the text include: ORB architectures and engineering; event based systems; workflow environments; scalability in distributed systems platforms; availability and integrity; mobile objects; component architectures; type safety and security; web services; and application services. This book compiles the proceedings of Middleware '98, the IFIP International Conference on Distributed Systems Platforms and Open Distributed Processing. The conference was held in the Lake District, UK, in September 1998 and was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). This book represents an invaluable resource for researchers working on the state of the art in the field of distributed systems platforms and middleware.
10 citations
TL;DR: IEEE Pervasive Computing editor in chief Nigel Davies introduces the latest issue on smart energy systems, and discusses the benefits and challenges of deploying ubiquitous systems.
Abstract: IEEE Pervasive Computing editor in chief Nigel Davies introduces the latest issue on smart energy systems. He discusses the benefits and challenges of deploying ubiquitous systems, and introduces two new associate editors in chief.
7 citations
TL;DR: Any serious attempt at a pervasive computing deployment typically involves bringing together researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including technologists, application specialists, and social scientists.
Abstract: Pervasive computing has always involved blurring the boundaries between disciplines. Any serious attempt at a pervasive computing deployment typically involves bringing together researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including technologists, application specialists, and social scientists.