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Showing papers by "Richard Harper published in 2012"


Proceedings ArticleDOI
05 May 2012
TL;DR: Three devices are designed to investigate how digital materials might be passed down, lived with and inherited in the future and revealed families desired to treat their archives in ways not fully supported by technology as well as potential tensions that could emerge.
Abstract: Material artifacts are passed down as a way of sustaining relationships and family history. However, new issues are emerging as families are increasingly left with the digital remains of their loved ones. We designed three devices to investigate how digital materials might be passed down, lived with and inherited in the future. We conducted in-home interviews with 8 families using the devices to provoke discussion about how technology might support (or complicate) their existing practices. Sessions revealed families desired to treat their archives in ways not fully supported by technology as well as potential tensions that could emerge. Findings are interpreted to detail design considerations for future work in this emerging space.

133 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
05 May 2012
TL;DR: Interviews are conducted with 13 people comparing and contrasting how they think about their possessions, moving from physical ones, to locally kept digital materials, to the online world.
Abstract: People are amassing larger and more diverse collections of digital things. The emergence of Cloud computing has enabled people to move their personal files to online places, and create new digital things through online services. However, little is known about how this shift might shape people's orientations toward their digital things. To investigate, we conducted in depth interviews with 13 people comparing and contrasting how they think about their possessions, moving from physical ones, to locally kept digital materials, to the online world. Findings are interpreted to detail design and research opportunities in this emerging space.

132 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
16 Apr 2012
TL;DR: Findings from a field study of 24 individuals who kept diaries of their web use, across device and location, for a period of four days are presented, which lead to five modes of web use which can be used to frame and enrich interpretations of 'activity'.
Abstract: This paper presents findings from a field study of 24 individuals who kept diaries of their web use, across device and location, for a period of four days. Our focus was on how the web was used for non-work purposes, with a view to understanding how this is intertwined with everyday life. While our initial aim was to update existing frameworks of 'web activities', such as those described by Sellen et al. [25] and Kellar et al. [14], our data lead us to suggest that the notion of 'web activity' is only partially useful for an analytic understanding of what it is that people do when they go online. Instead, our analysis leads us to present five modes of web use, which can be used to frame and enrich interpretations of 'activity'. These are respite, orienting, opportunistic use, purposeful use and lean-back internet. We then consider two properties of the web that enable it to be tailored to these different modes, persistence and temporality, and close by suggesting ways of drawing upon these qualities in order to inform design.

43 citations


Patent
Philip Gosset1, Richard Harper1
30 Apr 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, a proximity-based mobile message delivery is described, where a first user stores a message intended for a second user on a first mobile terminal, whilst the first mobile device is located remote from a second mobile terminal of the second user.
Abstract: Proximity-based mobile message delivery is described. In an embodiment, a first user stores a message intended for a second user on a first mobile terminal, whilst the first mobile terminal is located remote from a second mobile terminal of the second user. Subsequent to this, the first mobile terminal detects that it is now in proximity with the second mobile terminal, and this triggers the first mobile terminal to transmit the message to the second mobile terminal. In embodiments, authentication of the second mobile terminal can be performed before transmitting the message. In another embodiment, a mobile terminal comprises a short-range wireless transceiver that can detect that a further mobile terminal is in proximity, and trigger the transmission of a pre-stored message to the further mobile terminal.

33 citations


03 Oct 2012
TL;DR: Evidence is reported that suggests that the temporal experiencing of Facebook with regard to this aspect of time and identity needs to be placed alongside another feature of the way the service is used, suggesting that the performance of identity through time is constrained.
Abstract: The purpose of social network services (SNS) is to enable new ways of making contact and staying in touch. The finessed use of SNS can enable people to manage their social connections with fluidity; enabling change of social grouping and evolving identity. Key to this performance is that it is enacted through time. Certain aspects of SNS may of course create a fixing in identity and its performance, trapping people, for example, in a display of identity in the past that they have come to regret. In this paper, we shall report evidence that suggests that the temporal experiencing of Facebook with regard to this aspect of time and identity needs to be placed alongside another feature of the way the service is used. This feature leads people to feel as if they are always acting in the now and that their history - as well as that of others they connect to seems to disappear from view. We shall suggest that the performance of identity through time is thus constrained. Users seek but cannot find adequate ways of adjusting their identity by crafting past and future performances outside the envelope of identity in the present, in the now, the one facilitated and emphasized by Facebook design and use patterns.

31 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
14 Feb 2012
TL;DR: A file system called ZZFS is built around a particular set of policies motivated by user studies that cater to users who interact with the file system in an ad hoc way -- spontaneously and without pre-planning.
Abstract: Good execution of data placement, caching and consistency policies across a user's personal devices has always been hard. Unpredictable networks, capricious user behavior with leaving devices on or off and non-uniform energy-saving policies constantly interfere with the good intentions of a storage system's policies. This paper's contribution is to better manage these inherent uncertainties. We do so primarily by building a low-power communication channel that is available even when a device is off. This channel is mainly made possible by a novel network interface card that is carefully placed under the control of storage system protocols.The design space can benefit existing placement policies (e.g., Cimbiosys [21], Perspective [23], Anzere [22]). It also allows for interesting new ones. We build a file system called ZZFS around a particular set of policies motivated by user studies. Its policies cater to users who interact with the file system in an ad hoc way -- spontaneously and without pre-planning.

17 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
12 Nov 2012
TL;DR: Results demonstrate the feasibility of utilising a Wi-Fi based solution to monitor early-warning signs such as impedance-based respiration rate changes, heart rate/ECG events, temperature, and motion analysis in a clinical setting and act as an early warning system.
Abstract: This paper highlights the main findings of an integrated and ubiquitous remote wireless based vital signs monitoring solution as trialed in a clinical setting. Results demonstrate the feasibility of utilising a Wi-Fi based solution to monitor early-warning signs such as impedance-based respiration rate changes, heart rate/ECG events, temperature, and motion analysis in a clinical setting and act as an early warning system.

13 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
11 Feb 2012
TL;DR: Findings from the deployment of a mobile application, Take and Give, which allows users to place image files in a virtual folder or Pocket, suggest that the taking of unique content can be an engaging form of sharing and can facilitate awareness and connectedness between people.
Abstract: We present findings from the deployment of a mobile application, Take and Give, which allows users to place image files in a virtual folder or 'Pocket' on a mobile phone. This content can be viewed by a set of 'Buddies', who can, if they wish, attempt to take ownership of a file for themselves, following which they can keep it, delete it, or place it in the Pocket of someone else. There is only one version of each file, creating a twist on traditional sharing technologies. We report findings from a three week trial of the application in an office space, and describe how Take and Give provided a means of self-presentation and supported a sense of awareness, mutual attentiveness and connectedness. Our findings suggest that the taking of unique content can be an engaging form of sharing and can facilitate awareness and connectedness between people.

9 citations



Proceedings Article
13 Jun 2012
TL;DR: This paper proposes research around a multistructured storage architecture composed of many lightweight data structures such as BTrees, key-value stores, graph stores and chunk stores, and proposes to leverage the existing N-way redundancy in the data center and have each of N replicas embody a different data structure.
Abstract: One-size-fits-all solutions have not worked well in storage systems. This is true in the enterprise where noSQL, Map-Reduce and column-stores have added value to traditional database workloads. This is also true outside the enterprise. A recent paper [7] illustrated that even the single-desktop store is a rich mixture of file systems, databases and key-value stores. Yet, in research one-size-fits-all solutions are always tempting and point-optimizations emerge, with the current theme du jour being key-value stores [8]. Workloads naturally change their requirements over time (e.g., from update-intensive to query-intensive). This paper proposes research around a multistructured storage architecture. Such architecture is composed of many lightweight data structures such as BTrees, key-value stores, graph stores and chunk stores. The call for modular storage and systems is not dissimilar to the Ex-okernel [4] or Anvil [10] approaches. The key difference that this paper argues about is that we want these data structures to co-exist in the same system. The system should then automatically use the right one at the right workload phase. To enable this technically, we propose to leverage the existing N-way redundancy in the data center and have each of N replicas embody a different data structure.

5 citations


01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how photo mementos come to be used in the everyday social setting of sharing meal and explore the social work performed by invoking these personal memory resources in the context of real-world settings of shared eating.
Abstract: Photographic mementos are important signifiers of our personal memories. Rather than simply passive representations of memories to ‘‘preserve’’ the past, these photos are actively displayed and consumed in the context of everyday behavior and social practices. Within the context of these settings, these mementos are invoked in particular ways to mobilize particular social relations in the present. Taking this perspective, we explore how photo mementos come to be used in the everyday social setting of sharing meal. Rather than a simple concern with nutritional consumption, the shared meal is a social event and important cultural site in the organization of family and social life with culturally specific rhythms, norms, rights, and responsibilities. We present a system — 4 Photos — that situates photo mementos within the social concerns of these settings. The system collates photo mementos from those attending the meal and displays them at the dining table to be interacted with by all. Through a real-world deployment of the system, we explore the social work performed by invoking these personal memory resources in the context of real-world settings of shared eating. We highlight particular features of the system that enable this social work to be achieved.

01 Oct 2012
TL;DR: The authors proposes that such acts are best conceived of as moral, as related to the performative consequences of the acts in question, and then asks what applicability phrases like "overload" might have, and whether quantitative techniques have a role other than as a heuristic in understanding and designing tools for the control of communication overload between people.
Abstract: This paper enquires into the nature of the act of communication between two or more persons. It proposes that such acts are best conceived of as moral, as related to the performative consequences of the acts in question. Given this, the paper then asks what applicability phrases like ‘overload’ might have, and whether quantitative techniques have a role other than as a heuristic in understanding and designing tools for the control of communication overload between people.