Looking forward to meeting the good people from @madeonjupiter in the #fablab on Friday . They are behind the fabulous Puffer which you can see here http://www.madeonjupiter.com/the-puffer-from-digi-to-real/

loving the work of Vlad Tenu

http://www.vladtenu.com/ 

From his minimal complexities series.

 

9th Design & Health World Congress & Exhibition 2013

working on proposal for 9th Design & Health World Congress & Exhibition 2013, reflecting on Belugas and projects for next year. http://www.designandhealth.com/

reading,thinking and proposals...and,and,and

Reading :"An Essay on the New Aesthetic"  by Bruce Sterling from Wired also delving into networked creativity on furtherfield and started  Robert Pepperell's The postdigital membrane : imagination, technology and desire and.... working on proposal for Vivid in 2013

Also enjoying the work of David Bowen

also the Spring Break show at Pratt 

Beluga at #ISEA2012

Connecting Light

Connecting Light is a digital art installation along Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site. Loving the openness of the blog -opening up the design process for all to see.  http://connectinglight.info/ 

Beluga at FORM gallery in Perth

as part of IDEA2012 http://www.interiorbecomings.com/

Images of Beluga at Fab8NZ

wheww... whirlwind last few weeks (literally in the last few days) so finally some images.
#Fab8NZ

Beluga and EL wire

An evening spent having a look at using EL wire rather than LEDS - not as bright maybe but super light not as responsive either to the input from the Arduino as the LEDS ..hmmmm

Beluga + Arduino

Attachments for Beluga bits..

Beluga in the bathroom-

more progress

Makers Wellington meet the Belugas

@makerorgnz  really useful to sort out some electronic issues- resolved some techy stuff and powering (ahemm) ahead #Beluga. 

Planing to solder up some Arduino circuits this pm once I've got some lecture prep done. Then taking a days leave yay!

Beluga and LED lighting suspension test

and Hugo...in the laundry - its easy to darken)

Beluga-ing

lighting suspension sorted (almost)... and going to maker-meetup on Wed to get some electro help:)

Belugas taking shape

Finally getting some traction on actually making stuff! with the capable assistance of Liam. Early   iteration of new lighting suspension system pictured, and then stuffing everything into  small               darkened bathroom  to inspect.                                                                                                                 

ethics application procrastination

looking at Tilt of Light in Federation square  from Eness 
a tilt of light from ENESS on Vimeo.
and the Electric Dome http://www.eness.com

Architecture for children from 1945-1970ish

from here also Gabriela Burkhalter's Website Architektur für Kinder (architecture for children) is a wonderful resource for playground projects by artists and architects between 1945 and 1975.

Methodology...

 Methodologies task is to provide a strategy for the researcher to answer the question"how shall we determine which method is appropriate?" Biggs (2004)  

MichaelA R Biggs "Learning from Experience: approaches to the experiential componenetof practice-based research" in:

 Forskning, Reflektion, Utveckling.

Stockholm,Vetenskapsrådet, 2004, 6-21.

more on practice led vs practice based

Practice led and its affiliated terms are used to make two arguments which are often overlapping and interlinked.
That creative work is a form of research and generates detectable research outputs
creative practice (the training and specialised knowledge that creative practitioners have and the process that they engage in when making art-) Can lead to specalised research insights which can then be generalised and written up as research.
the first argument emphasises creative practice in itself while the second highlights the insights, conceptualisation and theorisation  which can arise when artists reflect on and document their own practice. Candy (2006) helpfully uses the term practice based and practice led to distinguish between these different emphases. For hear, in practice based research the creative work acts as a form of research, whereas practice led research is about practice leading to research insights.

Smith, H., & Dean, R. (2009). Practice - led Research,research led practice in the creative arts. (H. Smith, & R. Dean, Eds.) Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

practice centered vs practice based vs practice led

 There are two types of practice related research: practice-based and practice-led:
1. If a creative artifact is the basis of the contribution to knowledge, the research is
practice-based.
2. If the research leads primarily to new understandings about practice, it is practice-led.
Practice-based Research is an original investigation undertaken in order to gain new
knowledge partly by means of practice and the outcomes of that practice. In a doctoral thesis,
claims of originality and contribution to knowledge may be demonstrated through creative
outcomes in the form of designs, music, digital media, performances and exhibitions. Whilst
the significance and context of the claims are described in words, a full understanding can
only be obtained with direct reference to the outcomes.
Practice-led Research is concerned with the nature of practice and leads to new knowledge
that has operational significance for that practice. In a doctoral thesis, the results of practice led
research may be fully described in text form without the inclusion of a creative work. The
primary focus of the research is to advance knowledge about practice, or to advance
knowledge within practice. Such research includes practice as an integral part of its method
and often falls within the general area of action research.


 Linda Candy (2006) Creativity & Cognition Studios
http://www.creativityandcognition.com University of Technology, Sydney


In the review of the literature, which uses the aforementioned terms, the terms arts based
research’, ‘practice-based research’, ‘practice-led research’, ‘practice-centered
research’, ‘studio-based research’ are more or less used synonymously. For example
Douglas et al (2000, p.2) points out that:
In the UK and the US respectively, the terms practice-based research and arts based
research have been used to describe the kind of degree that includes both
a creative work as well as a written thesis.
The term ‘practice-centred research’ has also been used within a framework describing
the research process, often with an accompanying argument to describe its inherent
integration within creative practice. Saikaly (2004, p.7) describes practice-centred
research through design ‘as a form of research’ whilst Wallace and Press (2003, p.3)
locate it within the context of methodology.

visual artist-researchers are able to draw upon visual methods to undertake research inquiry as part of their practice (Sullivan 2005, p.17-19):

Kristina Niedderer and Seymour Roworth-Stokes (2007) THE ROLE AND USE OF CREATIVE PRACTICE IN RESEARCH AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE
proceeding of IASDR 2007

Reading list for Researching Children

Researching Children via Johnny Saldana on Method Space (Sage)

Christensen, Pia, and Allison James. Research with Children: Perspectives and Practices, second
edition. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Collection of essays about theoretical and social dimensions of researching children; includes chapters on working with children in war-affected areas, street children, and the disabled.

Fine, Gary Alan, and Kent L. Sandstrom. Knowing Children: Participant Observation with
Minors. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, 1988.
Monograph on the techniques and ethical issues of research with preschoolers through adolescents.

Freeman, Melissa, and Sandra Mathison. Researching Children’s Experiences. New York: Guilford
Press, 2009.
Superior, straightforward survey of researching children from a constructivist perspective.

Graue, M. Elizabeth, and Daniel J. Walsh. Studying Children in Context: Theories, Methods, and
Ethics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998.
Overview of methods of social science research with children; includes sample studies and excellent advice through all stages of the research process.

Greene, Sheila, and Diana Hogan. Researching Children’s Experience: Approaches and Methods.
London: Sage, 2005.
Excellent chapters on qualitative research with children, from interviews to participant observation to arts-based methods.

Greig, Anne, and Jayne Taylor. Doing Research with Children. London: Sage, 1999.
Overview of classic/traditional and contemporary methods of data gathering from children; focuses primarily on preschool and younger children; excellent theoretical overview.

Hatch, Amos, ed. Early Childhood Qualitative Research. New York: Routledge, 2007.
Collection of essays including digital video, action research, focus groups, etc. in research with young children.

Heiligman, Deborah. The New York Public Library Kid’s Guide to Research. New York:
Scholastic, 1998.
Designed for upper elementary grades, an overview of basic research strategies and tools including the Internet, conducting interviews and surveys, and fieldwork.

Holmes, Robyn M. Fieldwork with Children. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998.
Practical advice on interviewing and observing children and gaining entry to their world. Focuses on how gender interplays with rapport.

Lancy, David F., John Bock, and Suzanne Gaskins, eds. The Anthropology of Learning in
Childhood. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2010.
Outstanding chapters on how children from various cultures "learn," in its broadest sense; rich concepts yet written in accessible language; not a "how to" book, but an exceptional model for documenting participant observation.

Mukherji, Penny, and Deborah Albon. Research Methods in Early Childhood: An Introductory
Guide. Lonson: Sage Publications, 2010.
Readable overview of quantitative and qualitative research design approaches to research with young children; emphasizes British perspectives, but applicable to U.S. youth.

Tisdall, E. Kay M., John M. Davis, and Michael Gallagher. Researching with Children & Young
People. London: Sage Publications, 2009.
Superior collection of methods and case study profiles for designing and conducting research with children; geared toward UK programs, but still has relevance for US readers.

touch points or experience clues

Touch points = key moments or events that stand out for those involved is crucial to their experience . Intensely personal points on the journey one is touched emotionally or cognitively  in some indelible way. (Bate & Robert, 2007) Some (Berry , Wall and Carbone (2006) also call these  experience clues                                                                                                                                                                     Add this article to the reading list;  Making emotional connections through Participatory Design by Gage and Kolari (2002)

ceiling illumination in the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

from Make  the peggy 2 available here at evil mad science

more on the reading list, there seems to be a theme developing..

• Boscoe: Evaluation of interactive video (1986) 
• Pine, J. and Gilmore, J. (1999) The Experience Economy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
• Edmonds, E.A., Bilda, Z. & Muller, E. 2009, 'Artist, evaluator and curator: three viewpoints on interactive art, evaluation and audience experience', Digital Creativity, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 141-151.

Festo SmartInversion and Air Ray,Air Penguin

Festo SmartInversion -- flying geometrical band with inversion drive

SmartInversion is a helium-filled flying object that moves through the air by turning inside-out. This constant, rhythmically pulsating movement is known as inversion and gives the flight model its name. Made possible by its lightweight design and the lift provided by helium, the Air_ray "swims" in a sea of air like a manta ray in water.
http://www.festo.com/cms/en_corp/9789.htm  - Autonomous flying in a sea of air Autonomous flying through a defined air space monitored by ultrasound transmission stations. Agile and easily manoeuvrable with a 3D structure which utilises the Fin Ray Effect® at the front and back.

Lightbeat from Tangible Interaction at Illuminate Yaletown

                                                                                                                                                                   Lightbeat from Tangible interaction. Look at their faces!   
  Notes from the  Tangible Interaction  website:
Two ‘Telophase’ inflatables with Tangible Pixels – LED light cubes – inside, pulsed in real time, generating random colours as they tracked participant’s heart rate.

The result is a simple and beautiful installation that anybody, young or old, could interact with and enjoy.

Light Beat was conceived, and created by Tangible Intervention in collaboration with Danjel VanTijn at Intellijel.

The installation ran entirely from an Arduino, wirelessly connected to the Tangible Pixels inside the Telophase.

Liking this...Floating Instrument

• 

Floating Instrument is a melodic collaboration between Tokyo-based visual designers teamLab and sound artist Hideaki Takahashi. A collection of interactive balls connected through a wireless network change colors in-sync, exuding soft bulbous hues, and responding to your touch. Touch one ball and then another, the rest will instantly change to the color of the ball you touched and playing dreamy reverberations.

Reading- Bringing User Experience to health care Improvement

Bringing User Experience to health care Improvement: The Concepts, Methods and Practices of Experience Based Design
by Paul Bate and Glenn Robert.                                                                                                                                                    How does it feel to interact with pediatric health care services? as a child and as parent or H/C worker?

Establishing Criteria of Rigor and Relevance in Interaction Design Research

Establishing Criteria of Rigor and Relevance in Interaction Design Research by Daniel Fallman and Erik Stolterman is a paper about the epistemological underpinnings of interaction design

It looks at ‘disciplinary anxiety’ and what constitutes ‘good research’ in terms of rigor and relevance.  
This diagram shows  the position of a design research activity when placed between three points: design practice, design studies, and design exploration:

 

originally seen in http://nearfuturelaboratory.com/pasta-and-vinegar/

Thinkpublic and deborah szebeko

I've been having a read of Co-designing for society’ by Deborah Szebeko and Lauren Tan

Australasian Medical Journal (AMJ),( September 2010) This is a journal paper (AMJ- which I've written for also on design and health care)  that discusses the approach that think public take to co-design and the processes that they go through- It uses a case study of the Alzheimer100 project. The quote that resonated with me was "making patients the starting point of everything we do,not just as beneficiaries of care but as participants in its design"from Health Secretary Andrew Lansley when talking about NHS priorities over the net five years ( paper was in 2010- so in early 2012 I'd be interested to see how much traction co design in the NHS has got)

from the thinkpublic web site; This paper discusses the approach, tools, processes and practices of co-design. It illustrates how co-design works through several thinkpublic projects. The paper also outlines the benefits co-design brings and what co-design means for the future of society in the UK and around the world. 

http://thinkpublic.com/

Felt-life

"felt-life, that is life as lived, sensed and experienced, at the centre of HCI (could I insert design here?)  both focuses attention on the sensual and emotional and throws new light on the cognitive and intellectual aspects of people’s interactions with technology(design?)".  Italics mine

 McCarthy, J.,Wright, P. (2005) Putting ‘felt-life’ at the centre of human–computer interaction (HCI), Springer, London. Doi: 10.1007/s10111-005-0011-y

looking at the work of the RHYME project group

looking at the work of the RHYME project group.I met Anders-Petter Andersson and Birgitta Cappelen in Oslo at the NORDES conference in 2009. I've often cast my mind back to this work- the use of tangibles in combination with light and music seems to have resonance to my own project - in its nascent form in Sept 2009 but perhaps today's paper prototyping play has some echoes of those objects from the ORFI from musical fields forever  project that I saw in Oslo
This investigation of the pico projector and the camera is hilarious- but shows an interesting concept- useful in guided play perhaps?

paper prototyping with #littlebits

Prototyping some responsive creatures (lobsters!) with littlebits this morning- ohs and ahhs from kids.
perhaps this could develop my ecosystem concept some more?

Scarlett's hospital room

Katie Salen on Transformative Play

notes from Riekhoff and Markopoulos:Sampling young children’s experiences with cultural probes

Iversen and Nielsen [1] worked with children 11-13, using mobile phones as a data capture device and
found that they provide access to children’s every day life that are not accessible through other means.

This makes the method particularly interesting for use in the design of artifacts supporting daily life activities and out of a classroom context.


Wyeth [2] found her informants not so motivated to carry out some of the activities traditionally associated with the method, like diary keeping and collages.This represents a serious
drawback as obtaining self-report of experiences and attitudes over a particular period of time with diaries is one of the strongest elements of the method.

difficulties of obtaining self-report by children over time can be overcome by involving parents and by using appropriately defined playful assignments in the form of cultural probes. This can be achieved by adapting Experience Sampling method [3].

probes package included diary/booklet for Tom 
one for his father,
stickers
a disposable camera
pencils, colored paper,drawing paper, crayons
an empty CD-ROM (to burn pictures if they would prefer making digital picturesover taking them with the disposable camera, which they did)
candy (a chocolate egg) 
and a small toy that makes sounds (a cow) for fun as a present.


 Tom was asked  to place stickers representing feelings in the booklet every time the stuffed toy would beep. The stickers should describe where he was, with whom, what he was doing and how
he was feeling.  Tom’s father, wrote in his diary what he and Tom had done every day and also if there had been any important changes in the situation of the newborn that day. He was also asked to report if Tom had made anything remarkable, funny or moving statements that day.


Tom was asked to make some pictures with the disposable camera and do two tinkering assignments.
The first assignment was to make something for his newborn brother and take it to the hospital for the next visit. In the second he had to make a drawing of his brother in the hospital after a visit there.


Finally there was a card with things to photograph:
“Something…”: boring, scary, funny, interesting, beautiful, you are proud of, and “You and…”: your hero, favorite toy, favorite place at home, favorite place in the hospital. On the card the parent could write down the where and when the picture was taken.


The hope was that Tom would be motivated by the playfulness of the activities that are not unlike
other activities he does for school or leisure. We were worried whether Tom would be at all willing to complete the booklet and whether complying to the prompts from the phone would be annoying to him.
As it turned out, Tom was very punctual filling in the diary three times a day for a full week.

Querying about feelings with the stickers worked very well, though, the emoticons themselves could have been clearer according to Tom’s father. Tom was not keen on the tinkering exercises, which we had originally thought would be the most attractive activity for him.
He took most of the pictures required, which turned out to be very revealing and inspiring for the eventual.


The study presented complemented interviews with parents and with hospital staff, providing also the
perspective of the child.
Though this study is small ( featuring only one child -Tom) it does however present some interesting lessons for future research:
• A combination of cultural probes and experience sampling seems a promising way to study
experiences and feelings of young children over prolonged periods of time.
• The cooperation of the parents was something that we counted on, and which in this case was
indispensable.




from
Riekhoff, J. and P. Markopoulos, Sampling young children's experiences with culture probes, in 7th International Conference for Interaction Design and Children, IDC 08 2008, ACM: Chicago, USA.

my thoughts..

the general finding seem to tally with the article by Wyeth and Diercke's (2006)  Designing Cultural Probes for Children. 

• Mainly that there should be an opportunity to create.

• task should be achievable without help, though an adult 'supervisor' might be there to offer support- this supervisor may also have a diary to fill out. This could give two ( or more) views on what is happening and what and why it is felt.

• role playing or fantasy may encourage engagement 

• the camera especially seemed to engage the children, providing the opportunity to easily visualise moments ( through the use of analogy?) 

• activity goals should be clear- instructions un-complicated and easy to follow- think IKEA instructions..

• stickers are well liked and able to be used in a variety of ways- to indicate pleasure /displeasure for example.

• diary is ok however it may not always be filled out - be careful of making it too like 'homework' or school work.

[1] Iversen, O. S. and Nielsen, C. (2003). Using digital cultural probes in design with children. In
Proceedings IDC 2003, 154-154.


[2] Wyeth, P. Diercke, C. (2006). Designing cultural probes for children. OZCHI '06, 385-388.


[3] Kubey, R., Larson, R., Csikszentmihalyi, M., (1996) Experience sampling method. Applications to
communication research questions. Journal of Communication; Spring 1996; 46, 2; 99-120.

read Wyeth and Diercke's Designing Cultural Probes for Children

Some key points that come out of reading  Wyeth and Diercke's (2006) 

Designing Cultural Probes for Children

" Engagement and Cultural Probe Activities
The responses to activities demonstrated that children were best able to provide insights when the activities
provided opportunities to be creative and appealed their sense of fun. Evidence from probe returns suggested that children were prepared to spend a significant amount of time engaged in the completion of such activities. Children found futuristic explorations and activities where they could work outside traditional perceived educational boundaries appealing.

Children appeared unwilling to engage in activities that have been proven to work in participatory design groups, such as journals, brainstorming exercises and collages. The success of such activities with children seems dependent on support from others, and evidence from this study indicates that they do not translate well to individual, autonomous activities. Activities also needed to be self-contained. As demonstrated by the failure of children to engage in the technology collage activity, children were not prepared to complete activities that required material from outside the cultural probe pack to be used. The first task in a cultural probe pack should be easy for children to complete. An example of such a task is the subject ratings activity. While not particularly useful in providing inspiration, it made the children feel that they could easily accomplish a task. Providing such as task will motivate participants to move on to other activities.

DESIGN INSPIRATION
Invention, design and role play were themes that emerged as we explored the probe returns. Children were interested in robotics, artificial intelligence and the way machines work.

CONCLUSION

This project has demonstrated that cultural probes are a useful, minimally-intrusive means by which we can gain contextual insight into the lives of children. Early results have shown that well-designed cultural probes can be effectively used as a basis for inspiration to inform the design of educational technology. Our recommendation for the target age-group is a cultural probe pack which includes five or six self contained activities. These activities should focus on topics of direct interest to children and should include an educational context at the periphery. Each activity should be clear, differentiable from other activities and able to be completed in a relatively short time frame. Activities should allow for open-ended and creative responses; they should be playful, but include a supporting framework."

from
 Wyeth, P., & Diercke, C.(2006). Designing Cultural Probes for Children, Proceedings of OZCHI 2006.  Retrieved 7 February 2012 from elec.uq.edu.au/~peta/wyethcpfinal.pdf

Four reasons for using the probes approach

TUULI MATTELMAAKI (2005)  Applying probes – from inspirational notes to collaborative insights-

This figure (above) "summarizes the four reasons for using the probes approach in human centered design and their typical characteristics when applied in concept design".

"The probes data, and process, has been seen to fuel design inspiration. They enable a user-centered dialogue between the users and the designers and within the design team. Probes help to familiarize the design team with the users and the research theme and to focus the research questions".

"Probes allow interpretation, inspiration, creativity in data gathering and ideation".