Studies, Concepts and Prototypes
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Studies, Concepts and Prototypes TRITA-CSC-A 2013:12 ISRN-KTH/CSC/A--13/12-SE ISSN-1653-5723 ISBN-978-91-7501-962-8 Tinkering with Interactive Materials Studies, Concepts and Prototypes Mattias Jacobsson Doctoral Thesis in Human-Computer Interaction, Stockholm, Sweden 2013 Mattias Jacobsson, Royal Institute of Technology 2013 KTH School of Computer Science and Communication TRITA-CSC-A 2013:12 ISRN KTH/CSC/A--13/12-SE ISSN 1653-5723 ISBN 978-91-7501-962-8 Swedish Institute of Computer Science ISRN SICS-D--65—SE ISSN 1101-1335 SICS Dissertation Series 65 Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US AB, Stockholm 2013 Distributor: KTH School of Computer Science and Communication Cover Photo: John Paul Bichard Abstract The concept of tinkering is a central practice within research in the field of Human Computer Interaction, dealing with new interactive forms and technologies. In this thesis, tinkering is discussed not only as a practice for interaction design in general, but as an attitude that calls for a deeper reflection over research practices, knowledge generation and the recent movements in the direction of materials and materiality within the field. The presented research exemplifies practices and studies in relation to interactive technology through a number of projects, all revolving around the design and interaction with physical interactive artifacts. In particular, nearly all projects are focused around robotic artifacts for consumer settings. Three main contributions are presented in terms of studies, prototypes and concepts, together with a conceptual discussion around tinkering framed as an attitude within interaction design. The results from this research revolve around how grounding is achieved, partly through studies of existing interaction and partly through how tinkering-oriented activities generates knowledge in relation to design concepts, built prototypes and real world interaction. Acknowledgements The research presented in this thesis is truly the product of many people working, crafting, programming and writing together, shoulder to shoulder. Honor towards colleagues, collaborators, friends and family is in many ways reflected in this thesis, big and small. If you dear colleague of friend happen to read something in this thesis that speaks to your heart, there is a very good chance that your influence had something to do with it. When we moved our Future Applications Lab to Kista and Mobile Life in 2008 I ended up in a small room that was impossible to furnish according to modern office standards. This intriguing interior design problem and our futile attempts to address it, is how I got introduced to my main supervisor Ylva Fernaeus. Since then we have not only shared office space when possible, but also everything else that comes with a long lasting friendship that without doubt was put to the test by the process of writing and handling this very thesis. Thank you Ylva for always being there for me – you are simply the best! Already in 2004, after receiving a rather suspicious looking offer in my e-mail, I put on my sun glasses and travelled across town to learn a bit about what researchers between academia and industry do for a living. That’s how I got introduced to my first main supervisor Lars Erik Holmquist. Through the years since, we have done an amazing journey together driven by part passion, part joy for gadgets and doing state of the art research. Thank you Lars Erik for being the best visionary, tour-guide and making this amazing journey within research possible! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Kia Höök who on more than a few occasions has been there for me. Your person, energy, love and passion for what you do always have a great positive influence on me, and I often find myself awed about how you pull it all off. Thank You Kia for always inspiring me! As with any large family and arguably for the sake of symmetry, I towards the end reached out my hand to Barry Brown to come aboard as my co-supervisor. Being witty, clever and deadly serious at the same time, Barry has the ability to deliver hard facts in a clear and precise way that makes it easy to focus and keep up motivation. Thank you Barry! In fact, there are many more people that ought to be mentioned next than would possibly fit in these two pages of text. A majority of these are colleagues and friends with whom I have shared office space over the years. One group of people in particular have been with me from the very beginning of my Ph.D studies doing this journey together. A warm thank you to Sara Ljungblad, Maria Håkansson, Lalya Gaye and Mattias Rost for all the amazing travels together, your support and friendship over the years. I would like to thank all my former colleagues at Viktoria, and in particular Ann Andreasson, Jonas Landgren, Dick Stenmark, Magnus Andersson and Johan Bodin for all the good and memorable times that we have shared. Thank you also John Sosoka and Gerry Ens for letting me briefly be a part of your amazing team back at Ugobe. Furthermore I would like to thank all my colleagues, both former and present, at Mobile Life and SICS. A few in particular that either directly or indirectly have influenced my work with this thesis – Stina Nylander, Pedro Ferreira, Anna Stål, Elsa Vaara, Annika Waern, Oskar Juhlin, Maria Holm, Henriette Cramer, Jakob Tholander, Maria Normark, Alex Taylor, Karin Fohlstedt, Thomas Ringström, Lotta Jörsäter, Markus Bylund, Jarmo Laaksolahti, Arvid Engström, Celia Yanqing Zhang, Pedro Sanches, Jon Back, Elin Önnevall, Alexandra Weilenmann, Nicolas Belloni, Elena Márquez Segura, Kim Nevelsteen, Syed Naseh, Staffan Rosenberg, Vicki Knopf, John Paul Bichard, Jin Moen, Johanna Mercurio, Jordi Solsona, Mudassir Ahmad Mughal, Tina Bin Zhu, Vygandas Simbelis, Anders Lundström, Vasiliki Tsaknaki, Jinyi Wang, Moira McGregor, Jirina Kotrbova, Tom Homewood, Lucian Leahu, Goranka Zoric, Vincent Lewandowski, Donny McMillan, Martin Murer and Petra Sundström – Thank you all! A special thanks to all my students and interns who have contributed in big and small ways within projects! I would like to mention and show my gratitude towards SSF and Wireless@KTH for partly funding two of my projects, as well as the departments of Informatics at GU, DSV at SU and MID/CSC at KTH for all the academic support throughout the years. In particular, thank you Jonas Löwgren, Ann Lantz and Cristian Bogdan for all the support towards the end. To my parents Mamma Inga-Lill, Pappa Kjell, my brothers Jonny and Dennis, farmor Ann-Marie, close friends Johan and Jan, and parents-in-law Lasse and Ann-Chatrin, with families – Thank you all for your unconditional love, support and patience throughout the years! Unfortunately I may just have realized that an educational endeavour might never really come to an end ;) And last but not least, to my dear wife and daughter for pulling me back into reality with a hug when drifting too far away into the deep unknown. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Pernilla and Elin for addressing my stubbornness with kind words, hugs and kisses! Stockholm, October 2013 Mattias Jacobsson Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. v Contents ............................................................................................................. vii Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Questions ................................................................................ 4 1.2 Structure of Thesis ................................................................................. 5 1.2.1 Contributions Overview ............................................................... 5 1.3 Context of Research ............................................................................... 6 1.3.1 General Work Process .................................................................. 9 1.4 Summary of Publications ....................................................................... 9 Background and Related Work...................................................................... 15 2.1 Robotic Artifacts and Materials ........................................................... 16 2.1.1 Materials, Materiality and Media ............................................... 18 2.1.2 Robotic Materials ....................................................................... 21 2.1.3 Interaction Design and Embodied Interaction ............................ 22 2.2 Tinkering .............................................................................................. 25 2.2.1 Attitude versus Practice .............................................................. 25 2.2.2 DIY, MAKE Culture and Crafting ............................................. 27 2.2.3 A Corporeal Turn........................................................................ 30 2.3 Research and Articulation .................................................................... 31 2.3.1 Strong Concepts .......................................................................... 33 2.3.2 Grounding it in the Wild ............................................................. 34 2.3.3 Prototypes as Grounding through Tinkering............................... 36 Studying Existing Interactions ......................................................................