DOCSLIB.ORG

Emerging Technologies 2007

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Emerging Technologies 2007 Ubiquitous Computing David Ley, Becta 6 The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it. 1 Mark Weiser 18 Mainframe (one computer, many people) Ubiquitous computing is a vision of computing 16 PC (one person, one computer) power ‘invisibly’ embedded in the world around Ubiquitous Computing 14 us and accessed through intelligent interfaces: ‘Its (one person, many computers) highest ideal is to make a computer so embedded, 12 so fitting, so natural, that we use it without even 10 ii thinking about it.’ This is about a shift to human- 8 Sales/Yr centred computing, where technology is no longer a 6 barrier, but works for us, adapting to our needs and 4 preferences and remaining in the background until 2 required. This implies a change in our relationship 0 with ICT to a much more natural way of interacting and using the power of networked computing 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 systems which will be connected not just to the The three waves of computing [Source: http://sandbox. internet or other computers, but to places, people, xerox.com/ubicomp/] everyday objects and things in the world around us. Implications If achieved, such a vision would be transformational The increasing maturity, performance and miniaturisation and have profound implications for how we live, work, of processors, networking technologies, memory, interact and learn. When Mark Weiser wrote about displays and sensors is enabling a move towards ubiquitous computing in 1991, his vision of computing pervasive computing, ubiquitous connectivity and more power deeply embedded in objects, places and devices adaptable interfaces that are sensitive and responsive. seemed some way off. Today, various elements of Many objects and devices already have embedded ubiquitous computing are beginning to appear and processors and sensors. Some cars, for example, use be useful in their own right, as increasing numbers of sensors to monitor wheel slippage and apply the brakes devices and objects become addressable (have a unique to stop us skidding. Radar-controlled cruise control will ID) and connected (usually wirelessly). automatically keep the distance with the car in front. Just as with the rapid development of the internet and However, these systems tend to be stand-alone and do web technologies, many applications of ubiquitous not necessarily interact with other connected objects computing cannot be predicted today and rely on these and devices. Washing machines have sophisticated technologies reaching a critical mass. Weiser saw three electronic programmes, but we need to explicitly control waves of computing: the mainframe age when many them. In the ubiquitous computing world, the washing people shared a computer; the personal computer wave machine would automatically interrogate tags embedded when one person has one computer (the focus of many in our clothes and adjust the wash cycle accordingly. initiatives); moving to the ubiquitous computing wave Increasingly then, connections are not just people– when each person shares many computers. The current people or people–computers, but between people– internet age is seen as a transitional phase between the things and most strikingly, things–things.3 PC and ubiquitous waves. 1 Weiser, M. (1991): The Computer for the 21st Century. In: Scientific American 265, Nr. 3, S. 94-101. 2 Weiser, M http://sandbox.xerox.com/ubicomp/ 3 ‘Things’ here means objects and devices that are not computers 6 6 This is what the International Telecommunication Many parts of ubiquitous computing are still in Union (ITU) calls the ‘internet of things’4. These new development and many of the possible uses and connections create the possibility of new interactions implications of the technologies are still unknown. and access to enormous amounts of information. However, there are already clear possibilities for This changes the web from being a purely virtual, improving learning both through individual technologies online space to a system that can provide appropriate and increasingly through using these technologies information, help and services in the real world. If in unison. As will be explored, ubiquitous computing properly harnessed this information will make us better technologies can lower the barriers to using the power informed and enable smarter decisions by both people of ICT, enable much more personalised, context-aware and machines. interactions and help with a move to more experiential These technologies have modes of use that can be learning: learning by doing, interacting and sharing. implicit or explicit. Explicit interactions are those where a conscious action by a user enables an interaction. Implicit interactions are automatic and can happen without any direct user intervention. Our opportunities for explicit Key elements of ubiquitous interactions with the real world are increasing, but it is the computing implicit, unseen interactions that will provide a real shift in The key elements that devices/objects/nodes in how we use and gain benefit from computer systems. a ubiquitous computing environment need are: Ubiquitous computing encompasses most areas of identification, location, sensing and connectivity IT and achieving the vision will rely on several factors coming together: Identification • Miniaturisation (smaller, lower power processors, In order for objects and devices to usefully become sensors and wireless technologies.) part of a wider intelligent, information sharing network, • Ubiquitous connectivity it is vital that each one has a unique identity. This not only enables more things to be interconnected, it also • Interoperability (standards for networks and devices; means that objects that surround us can become identification; network and device discovery; self- resources and act as interfaces to other resources. Two configuring, seamless networks etc.) important technologies used to provide identity are Radio • Improved intelligent interfaces (natural interfaces; Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and visual barcodes. intelligent agents; display technologies etc) • Intelligent systems (including sensor networks; RFID context awareness; location; semantic networks; data Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a type of handling; and search etc.) auto identification system and refers to technologies • Security and reliability (reliable, secure systems; and that use radio waves to identify objects, locations or privacy features) people. RFID is a generic term and does not refer to a particular technology. However, more recently, the term 4 ITU Internet Reports 2005: The Internet of things (ITU 2005 7th edition) 6 6 has become associated with a form of the technology ABI Research5 believes that by 2009 50 per cent of called RFID tags. These are tiny microchips attached to mobile phones will have embedded RFID chips to antennae (transponders). The data on these chips can access services and pay for goods. This technology is be read by a wireless reader (transceiver) and the data already being used in Japan [http://www.nttdocomo. passed back to computer systems. There are two main com/presscenter/pressreleases/press/pressrelease. types of RFID tags: passive (energy harvested from the html?param[no]=474]. reader) and active (with their own power supply). The In education the main use of RFID tags so far has been more sophisticated tags offer read/write capabilities. in library management systems, for asset tagging and 2 RFID chips can be as small as 0.05 mm and can be ID/tracking purposes. However, a number of more embedded in paper. More recently, printable tags have innovative education projects have shown the value of been developed. RFID systems do not require line learners being able to interact with tagged objects in of sight and work over various distances from a few the real world. For example, an object’s ID could trigger centimetres to 100 metres depending on the frequency information or sounds to be sent to a learner’s device. used and type of system. Standards for tags and Such systems are increasingly being used in museums electronic product codes (EPC) are being overseen by [http://www.rfid-weblog.com/50226711/rfid_in_ EPC Global [http://www.epcglobalinc.org]. museums_another_growing_market.php]. The ability to identify, locate and track RFID tags is seen RFID tags can also play a part in creating intelligent as a transformational technology, potentially allowing classrooms (see below). any object to be interrogated by computer systems. RFID readers can now also be included in mobile However, high costs, technical issues and concerns phones, potentially making the readers as ubiquitous about privacy will need to be overcome before RFID tags as the tags are expected to become. However, RFID become widespread. Currently, the main area of use is tags can operate without user intervention, automating in the retail supply chain, but analysts predict that 50 per many applications and providing huge amounts of data, cent of the uses for RFID in 2012 have not even been which creates a need for more sophisticated systems to thought of yet. support them (see data handling). The retail/supply sector is only one area of use for the technology. Some examples of other uses are: security, authentication of goods/banknotes [http://networks. silicon.com/lans/0,39024663,39122553,00.htm], asset tagging, document tagging, library book tagging, road tolls, safety systems,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Nabaztag Lives: the Rebirth of a Bunny
    Nabaztag Lives: The Rebirth of a Bunny An exploration of the Nabaztag as a social robot in a domestic environment Tanja Kampman, s1724185 Supervisor: dr. ir. Edwin Dertien Critical observer: dr. Angelika Mader 6th of July, 2018 Creative Technology, University of Twente Abstract The Nabaztag is a robot rabbit that this research has given a new purpose. The purpose is to help university students with generalized anxiety disorder symptoms or depressive symptoms, which are common in that group and often come together. The focus is on these students who are in therapy, specifically cognitive behavioural therapy. Current solutions for problems this target audience faces are found and the problems are analysed. The outcome of the ideation is a social robot companion that supports them both in their treatment and their studies by e.g. helping with sticking to a planning. This solution is then evaluated by peers from different fields according to a scenario of a student who struggles. Then, a prototype is created where the interaction is tested on whether the student could form a bond with the robot enough and on whether there are major problems in general. The result of these evaluations is that people believe there is potential for the concept if it was worked out further, but that there are many flaws currently in the system that would need to be fixed. 1 Acknowledgements I would like to give special thanks to my supervisor dr. ir. Edwin Dertien and my critical observer dr. Angelika H. Mader for guiding me on this journey. Also, special thanks to Richard Bults for organising the bachelor assignments.
    [Show full text]
  • Designing the Internet of Things
    Designing the Internet of Things Adrian McEwen, Hakim Cassimally This edition first published 2014 © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. Registered office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com. The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the under- standing that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Expressions of Internet of Things
    Understanding Expressions of Internet of Things Kuo Chun, Tseng*, Rung Huei, Liang ** * Department of Industrial and Commercial Design, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, [email protected] ** Department of Industrial and Commercial Design, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, [email protected] Abstract: A recent surge of research on Internet of Things (IoT) has given people new opportunities and challenges. Unfortunately, little research has been done on conceptual framework, which is a crucial aspect to envision IoT design. We found that designers usually felt helpless when designing smart objects in contrast to traditional ones and needed more resources for potential expressions of interactive embodiment with this new technology. Moreover, it appears to be unrealistic to expect the designer to follow the programming thinking and theory of MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) field. Therefore, instead of focusing on exploring the technology, this paper proposes an analytical framing and investigates interactive expressions of embodiment on smart objects that help designers understand and handle the technology as design material to design smart objects during the coming era of IoT. To achieve this goal, first we conceptualize an IoT artifact as an object that has four capabilities and provide a clear framework for understanding a thing and multiple things over time and space in ecology of IoT things powered by a cloud-based mechanism. Second, we show the analytical results of three categories: smart things and design agenda over cloud in respect of time and space. Third, drawing on the taxonomy of embodiment in tangible interfaces by Fishkin K.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Thank You Very Much for Inviting Me, Kimiko. It's Always a Pleasure To
    Thank you very much for inviting me, Kimiko. It’s always a pleasure to speak at Berkeley and to speak to this class. Today I want to talk about how ubiquitous computing technology creates a fuzzy boundary between products and services and to look a handful of case studies that show a range of approaches for merging products and services.! 1! But first, let me tell you a little about who I am. I’m a user experience researcher and designer. I spend much of my time thinking about how technologies and people affect each other from social, economic, historical and technological perspectives, and how the technological side of that relationship can be made better, or at least more interesting, for the human side of it. ! 2! I spent a little more than 10 years doing design and research for the web. I worked with many dotcoms, some famous, some infamous. 3! I sat out the first dotcom crash writing a book based on the work I had been doing. It’s a cookbook of user research methods that some of you may have used in a class here at the iSchool. 4! In 2001 I co-founded a design and consulting company called Adaptive Path. Things went very well, Adaptive Path is doing very well, but I was interested in other ways that technology was changing society. 5! So I founded a company with Tod E. Kurt called ThingM to pursue these ideas commercially three years ago. We're a ubiquitous computing consumer electronics company, which sounds fancy, but we’re pretty small.
    [Show full text]
  • List of Projects Using Raspberry Pi with Advance View: 1
    List of Projects using Raspberry Pi with advance view: 1. Home/Hotel Monitoring System with Automated controls A cloud connected prototype to monitor and control any hotel or can be home, The system is connected to an android application. Story Everyday we see a changing trend in technology and no matter wh has changed the way we live today and…... Listed under: Metering - Instrument Projects, Sensor - Transducer - Detector Projects 2. JQR Quadruped Autonomous Robot With a lot of inspiration from Boston Dynamics projects, I'm trying to make something great w million dollars. Story JQR Quadruped Robot is a DIY project with the main objective to build an autonomous, legged robot that wi people in many activities. The project…... Listed under: Robotics - Automation Projects 3. Raspberry Pi Web-Controlled Robot with Video Simple Raspberry Pi web-controlled robot with video live streaming. Story gatoBo gato is the spanish translation for cat. A web controlled Raspberry Pi Zero W Robot with live video streaming. This is something I b order to bother my cats. About Raspberry Pi Wikipedia: The Raspberry Pi is a…... Listed under: Robotics - Automation Projects 4. Alexa Messenger for Whatsapp Text anyone at anytime without even holding your phone or type a single letter with Alexa Messen Story Alexa Messenger for Whatsapp Did you ever want to text your friend but you are always busy or just not comfortable wit phone small screen…... Listed under: Other Projects 5. Archimedes: The AI Robot Owl A wearable robotic owl familiar. Archimedes judges your emotions, via Google AIY. Story As feature in Make: Magazine! This is a robotic owl that looks around for cool people, and can tell whether you're happy or upset.
    [Show full text]
  • Internet of Things Workshop with Arduino
    A CC licensed workshop by @tamberg, first held 07.07.2012 at SGMK MechArtLab Zürich, Switzerland, in collaboraon with Zürich IoT Meetup, Perey Research & ConsulDng, Thomas Brühlmann and SGMK. Internet of Things Workshop with Arduino @tamberg, 11.09.2014 This work by h=p://tamberg.org/ is licensed under a Creave Commons A=ribuDon-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Internet Computers, connected through Internet protocols Display or manipulate documents h=p://blog.com/2011-09-15/todays-post.html Internet of Things (IoT) Computers, sensors and actuators connected through Internet protocols Measure or manipulate physical proper:es h=p://e-home.com/tamberg/kitchen/light Internet-connected devices John Romkey’s Toaster (1990, Ethernet) BERG’s Li=le Printer (2011, ?) Ambient Orb (2002, via pager network) Supermechanical’s Twine (2012, Wifi) iPod (2001), iTunes Store (2003, via USB/PC) Olly & Polly (2012, via USB/PC) Nike+ iPod (2006), Bracelet (2008 via USB/PC) Koubachi Sensor (2012, Wifi) Rafi Haladjian’s Nabaztag (2006, Wifi) DescripDve Camera (2012, Ethernet) Rob Faludi’s Botanicalls (2006, Ethernet) Schulze&Webb Availabot (2006, via USB/PC) iPhone (2007, GSM) Amazon Kindle (2007, 3G) Wafaa Bilal’s Shoot an Iraqi (2007, ?) Withings BodyScale (2008, Wifi) Vitality GlowCap (2008, Wifi; 2011, 3G) BakerTweet (2009, 3G) Adrian McEwen’s Bubblino (2009, Ethernet) David Bowen’s Telepresent Water (2011, ?) Nest Thermostat (2011, Wifi) IoT reference model IoT hardware Any Internet-connected computer with an interface to the real world (sensors, actuators) Small => can be embedded into things Small computer = microcontroller (or board), e.g. Arduino, Netduino Plus, BeagleBone, … Note: connecDng your board to the Internet via a desktop PC and USB is also fine, just a bit overkill IoT hardware h=p://arduino.cc/ h=p://beagleboard.org/ h=p://netduino.com/ bone netduinoplus Note: Thanks to TCP/IP & HTTP, any client can talk to any service, no maer which hardware you choose IoT infrastructure services Thingspeak and Xively to store and use sensor measurements e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Coupling Interaction Resources in Ambient Spaces: There Is More Than Meets the Eye!
    Coupling Interaction Resources in Ambient Spaces: There is More than Meets the Eye! Nicolas Barralon, Joëlle Coutaz Université Joseph Fourier 385 rue de la Bibliothèque, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex France {nicolas.barralon,joelle.coutaz}@imag.fr Abstract. Coupling is the action of binding two entities so that they can operate together to provide new functions. In this article, we propose a formal definition for coupling and present two complementary conceptual tools to reason about coupling interaction resources. The first tool is a graph theoretic and algebraic notation that can be used to identify the consequents of causal couplings so that the side-effects of the creation of a coupling can be analyzed in a formal and systematic way. The second tool formulates the problem of coupling using an 8 state automaton that models the life cycle of a coupling and provides designers with a structure to verify that usability properties have been satisfied for each state. We conclude with the concept of meta-UI, an overarching interactive system that shows that coupling is only one aspect of a larger problem space. Keywords: Ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence, ambient interactive spaces, devices assembly, devices coupling, meta-UI. 1 Introduction Man is a natural builder. Babies love assembling cubes and objects into complex constructs. TV sets are augmented with high-fidelity loud speakers and wall-size screens to enhance the feeling of “being there”. Computer displays are increasingly augmented with additional external screens and exotic input devices such as iStuffs [1], etc. But as of today, human constructs are elaborated from (and for) two different worlds separated with clear boundaries: the computer world (with millions of PC’s interconnected over the planet) and the physical world (places, artifacts of all sorts, including cars fitted with hundreds of processors, but still insulated from the computer world).
    [Show full text]
  • Sourcebinder: Community-Based Visual and Physical Prototyping
    Bettina Conradi, Balázs Serényi, Miriam Kranz, Heinrich Hussmann (2010): SourceBinder: Community-based Visual and Physical Prototyping. In Steffen Budweg, Sebastian Draxler, Steffen Lohmann, Asarnusch Rashid, Gunnar Stevens (Eds.), International Reports on Socio-Informatics (IRSI), Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Open Design Spaces (ODS 2010) (Vol. 7, Iss. 2, pp. 23-35) SourceBinder: Community-based Visual and Physical Prototyping Bettina Conradi°, Balázs Serényi*, Miriam Kranz°, Heinrich Hussmann° University of Munich°, Visual MINDS* {bettina.conradi, hussmann}@ifi.lmu.de, [email protected], [email protected] Abstract. Physical interfaces broaden the entrance into the virtual world through sensors and actuators in our surrounding. Prototyping these interfaces demands expertise in hardware and software development – skills that are rarely found in end users, hobbyists or designers. If those users want to build a rapid prototype for a quick exploration of an idea, they are often troubled with learning the necessary programming and hardware engineering skills. The entry barriers for these target users can be lowered by providing suitable hardware and software toolkits. SourceBinder is a web-based visual programming tool that enables users to create projects and share them in a community. Users can test and adapt existing projects and even become developers by creating new nodes that can be used by the community. We want to present our extensions of SourceBinder which enables hardware to be connected to the visual programming environment, and show some example projects that can be realized in such a setting. Problem statement & motivation In biological systems, there is a tendency for specialised organisms to win out over generalised ones.
    [Show full text]
  • The Internet of Things
    Paper Prepared for the 1st Berlin Symposium on Internet and Society October 25-27, 2011 The Internet of Things Rob van Kranenburg [email protected] Erin Anzelmo [email protected] Alessandro Bassi [email protected] Dan Caprio [email protected] Sean Dodson [email protected] Matt Ratto [email protected] 1 Abstract This paper traces the challenges and nature of the impact posed by the developments termed the ’Internet of Things (IoT)’. The Internet of Things is comprised of a number of technological protocols that aim to connect things to other things, to databases and to in- dividuals. The speed with which the paradigm of connecting communicating objects has taken over the full range of connectivity protocol (IPv6), hardware (from cheap sensors to smart phones, iPads, tablets that are full blown computers), software (either proprietary in the cloud or collaborative open source), applications (ranging from location based services that link up to social networks to your car linked up to a particular brand network) and ser- vices (from car sharing with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) cards (Buzzcar), to blinds texting you or your service layer that they are out of battery power (Designer) is determined by the collaborative power of the internet. In this paper, we outline the Internet of Things’ recent history, technological challenges and policy ecology. We end by sketching a possible framework for grasping its impact in four domains: (1) the value chain where all objects can be tracked, logged and traced, (2) the service layer that can be built upon this, (3) the smart city layer and (4) its ultimate limit and scope of the Sensing Planet notion that aims to capture natural processes by globally dis- tributed sensor grids to have counterparts in the cloud.
    [Show full text]
  • An Autopsy in the Iot: Nabaztag, the Hare
    @SHA2017 Scoutinglandgoed in Zeewolde The Netherlands August 4th to 8th 2017 An autopsy in the IoT: Nabaztag, the Hare. Marco A. CALAMARI – [email protected] Progetto Winston Smith Hermes Center for Transparency and Digital Human Rights Copyleft 2017, Marco A. Calamari This material is released under licence Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial- ShareAlike 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Some images of this presentation are citation or “fair use” of copyrighted works, property of their respective owners. All trademarks are property of their owners. Your guest https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcocalamari/ ● Marco Calamari, born 1955, nuclear engineer, works as IT consultant, computer forenser and freelance writer. ● Some acronyms: IISFA, AIP, Opsi, HERMES, PWS. ● Passionate about privacy and cryptography, gave small contribution to several FOSS projects: Freenet, Mixmaster, Mixminion, Tor and Globaleaks. ● As Digital Rights activist, is amongst the founders of PWS - Winston Smith Project, and the Hermes Center for Transparency and Digital Human Rights. ● As freelance writer, since 2003 he is columnist of Punto Informatico, with the weekly column Cassandra Crossing,this year crossed the 400th issue (www.cassandracrossing.org) What this talk aim to cover IoT is too young and too fast to possess an history. Only a bunch of separated facts exists; because this, a definitions of IoT and a definition of what make a thing a ToIoT (Thing of Internet of Things) are not agreed, or do not exist at all, As already told in other talks, there is one founding characteristic of ToIoT; to be examples of ªUbiquitous Computingº and being objects that hide their internal complexity.
    [Show full text]
  • Internet of Things: Smart Things
    International Journal of Future Computer and Communication, Vol. 4, No. 4, August 2015 Internet of Things: Smart Things Somayya Madakam B. Things Abstract—Research study on the Internet of Things and Smart Things has been going on for more than a decade and Thing can be defined as an entity, an idea, a quality reaches back to Mark Weiser’s original dream of ubiquitous perceived, or thought to have its own existence in the world. computing. Bruce Sterling recently popularized the idea of Things are also often interchanged with the word “Objects”. Smart Objects and the IoT. Smart Things is another paradigm When we are talking about things, they could be both Living shift in IT world. Smart Things are the things that are having Things and Non-Living Things. Things, in this context, can be embedding smartness or intelligence, identification, automation, monitoring and controlling calibre. Smart Things are assisting people, animals, plants, birds, servers, applications, shampoo human life a lot, nowadays without their applications life is bottles, cars, steering wheels, coffee machines, electronic becoming cumbersome. This paper exhibits systematically on devices, park benches or just about any other random item Internet, Things, and then explores on Internet of Things and that comes to our mind, even which could be vicinity dust also. finally Smart Things from researchers’, and corporate’s Everyday objects include not only electronic devices we perspective. Moreover, this article focuses on the state of Smart Things and its applications. This in turn would help the new encounter but also use daily, and technologically advanced researchers, who want to do research in this IoT domain.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Networking Sites As Platforms to Persuade Behaviour Change in Domestic Energy Consumption
    Social Networking Sites as Platforms to Persuade Behaviour Change in Domestic Energy Consumption Derek Foster An MSc project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MSc in Human-Centred Interactive Technologies Department Of Computer Science University of York September 2009 Word Count: 41907 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express their sincere appreciation to the project participants and their families for their invaluable assistance in the research and development of this project’s Facebook applications. Particular thanks also go to Crispin Proctor for giving permission and assistance in accessing energy data online from the myenergyusage.org web service. Thanks also goes to the staff of the Lincoln Social Computing Research centre for offering their valuable opinions on various aspect of the project’s work. 1 ABSTRACT Social Networking Sites as Platforms to Persuade Behaviour Change in Domestic Energy Consumption This MSc project addresses the following research question – “Can online social networks such as Facebook facilitate the motivation and behaviour change to reduce energy consumption in the home?” An investigation into the role of social interaction in social networks provides evidence to support the research question. The project undertook an extensive literature review and identified a gap in current knowledge regarding energy monitoring systems that are socially enabled. A participatory design workshop was then held to generate initial concept ideas and prototype interfaces. A final system using the Facebook application platform was designed and implemented by the author called Wattsup. An experimental design was then developed to evaluate the system which involved recruiting eight households for an eighteen day trial.
    [Show full text]