Showing papers by "Nigel Shadbolt published in 2020"
21 Apr 2020
TL;DR: Both goal reminders and removed newsfeed helped participants stay on task and avoid distraction, however, goal reminders were often annoying, and removing the newsfeed made some fear missing out on information.
Abstract: Beyond being the world's largest social network, Facebook is for many also one of its greatest sources of digital distraction. For students, problematic use has been associated with negative effects on academic achievement and general wellbeing. To understand what strategies could help users regain control, we investigated how simple interventions to the Facebook UI affect behaviour and perceived control. We assigned 58 university students to one of three interventions: goal reminders, removed newsfeed, or white background (control). We logged use for 6 weeks, applied interventions in the middle weeks, and administered fortnightly surveys. Both goal reminders and removed newsfeed helped participants stay on task and avoid distraction. However, goal reminders were often annoying, and removing the newsfeed made some fear missing out on information. Our findings point to future interventions such as controls for adjusting types and amount of available information, and flexible blocking which matches individual definitions of 'distraction'.
42 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated how simple interventions to the Facebook UI affect behavior and perceived control, and found that removing the newsfeed made some fear missing out on information, while goal reminders and removed newsfeed helped participants stay on task and avoid distraction.
Abstract: Beyond being the world's largest social network, Facebook is for many also one of its greatest sources of digital distraction. For students, problematic use has been associated with negative effects on academic achievement and general wellbeing. To understand what strategies could help users regain control, we investigated how simple interventions to the Facebook UI affect behaviour and perceived control. We assigned 58 university students to one of three interventions: goal reminders, removed newsfeed, or white background (control). We logged use for 6 weeks, applied interventions in the middle weeks, and administered fortnightly surveys. Both goal reminders and removed newsfeed helped participants stay on task and avoid distraction. However, goal reminders were often annoying, and removing the newsfeed made some fear missing out on information. Our findings point to future interventions such as controls for adjusting types and amount of available information, and flexible blocking which matches individual definitions of 'distraction'.
19 citations
03 Jul 2020
TL;DR: It is argued that this middle ground, between concerns arising from particular devices and more abstract ethical concepts, can better anticipate potential ethical concerns regarding smart devices.
Abstract: The increasingly widespread use of 'smart' devices has raised multifarious ethical concerns regarding their use in domestic spaces. Previous work examining such ethical dimensions has typically either involved empirical studies of concerns raised by specific devices and use contexts, or alternatively expounded on abstract concepts like autonomy, privacy or trust in relation to 'smart homes' in general. This paper attempts to bridge these approaches by asking what features of smart devices users consider as rendering them 'smart' and how these relate to ethical concerns. Through a multimethod investigation including surveys with smart device users (n=120) and semi-structured interviews (n=15), we identify and describe eight types of smartness and explore how they engender a variety of ethical concerns including privacy, autonomy, and disruption of the social order. We argue that this middle ground, between concerns arising from particular devices and more abstract ethical concepts, can better anticipate potential ethical concerns regarding smart devices.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify and describe eight types of smartness and explore how they engender a variety of ethical concerns including privacy, autonomy, and disruption of the social order.
Abstract: The increasingly widespread use of 'smart' devices has raised multifarious ethical concerns regarding their use in domestic spaces. Previous work examining such ethical dimensions has typically either involved empirical studies of concerns raised by specific devices and use contexts, or alternatively expounded on abstract concepts like autonomy, privacy or trust in relation to 'smart homes' in general. This paper attempts to bridge these approaches by asking what features of smart devices users consider as rendering them 'smart' and how these relate to ethical concerns. Through a multimethod investigation including surveys with smart device users (n=120) and semi-structured interviews (n=15), we identify and describe eight types of smartness and explore how they engender a variety of ethical concerns including privacy, autonomy, and disruption of the social order. We argue that this middle ground, between concerns arising from particular devices and more abstract ethical concepts, can better anticipate potential ethical concerns regarding smart devices.
2 citations
Book Chapter•
[...]
TL;DR: The use of the Voight-kampff test to distinguish humans from replicants in the Blade Runner movies has been explored in this article, where the authors examine three issues, two of which have as their locus the character Niander Wallace.
Abstract: O F A L L T H E V I S UA L E L E M E N T S presented by Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic spectacle, none is perhaps more signifi cant than the eye motif. Eyes play an important role in each of the Blade Runner movies. Both fi lms’ opening scenes feature a dramatic closeup of an eye. The original Blade Runner appealed to the status of eyes as “windows to the soul.” In particular, ocular responses (e.g. involuntary dilation of the iris) formed a crucial part of the VoightKampff test, the means to tell humans from replicants. In Blade Runner 2049 ( BR2049 ), different methods are employed to distinguish humans from replicants. Yet, despite the seeming obsolescence of the VoightKampff test, the thematic, narrative, and symbolic signifi cance of eyes is undiminished in BR2049 . Older (NEXUS 8) replicants continue to be identifi ed by their eyes, albeit by indelible serial numbers printed below their corneas. But BR2049 extends the optic symbolism of the original Blade Runner fi lm in new and interesting ways. By introducing augmented vision technology, for example, the fi lm raises important questions about how we see ourselves and how we are, ourselves, seen in a world that is hurtling at breakneck speed towards an era of surveillance capitalism (see Zuboff, 2015 ). This chapter will examine three issues, two of which have as their locus the character of Niander Wallace. One of the things that makes