Lecture 1 - Introduction

Question 1

What is the aim of this course?

Answer 1

To introduce the challenges of designing and developing interactive systems for mobile computing devices

Question 2

Are mobile devices just phones?

Answer 2

No, anything portable is a mobile computing device

Question 3

What will we learn about?

Answer 3

challenging aspects of mobile interaction contexts e.g. device movement, social acceptability

Question 4

What does ubiquitous mean?

Answer 4

present, appearing, or found everywhere. (just like mobile phones are)

Question 5

What questions will we be answering in this course?

Answer 5

What are the challenges of mobile interaction?
How appropriate is this design given its intended use?
What is the solution to this design problem?
How do you develop and evaluate your (mobile) solution?
What is the future of mobile human-computer interaction?

Question 6

Some examples of the ‘future’ of mobile HCI?

Answer 6

• context-aware systems
• sensor-based interaction
• location-based interaction
• mixed reality

Question 7

Why is having a touch screen good?

Answer 7

UI is very easily configurable, so new functions and interaction techniques can be implemented easily

Question 8

What is dynamic content?

Answer 8

Accessing and displaying content on a device, where this content is not typically there (e.g. downloaded from the device)

Question 9

Why was the Apple IPhone successful, even when it wasn’t the first touchscreen phone?

Answer 9

Apple made better use of touch, creating a
new interaction language based on swiping,
scrolling and tapping with multiple fingers

Question 10

What are we starting to see with phones recently.

Answer 10

New interaction techniques e.g. via sensors. Also new form factors.

Question 11

What are the challenges with having new interaction possible?

Answer 11

more design challenges , we need to ensure the interaction can be discovered and used efficiently

Question 12

What are the challenges with having new form factors?

Answer 12

Form factors also add new interaction techniques, which means the challenges are the same as for new interaction, but on top of this apps need to be designed for multiple configurations!

Question 13

Where can mobile devices show up?

Answer 13

• in our hands (e.g. phones,tablets)
• worn on our body (watches,rings,glasses,headsets,clothes)
• inside our body (e.g. implants, smart tattoos )
• vehicles (e.g. electric cars)

Question 14

What is causing a massive change in what mobile devices look like?

Answer 14

New sensors and sensing capabilities.

Question 15

What is Project Jaquard from Google?

Answer 15

interactive clothing (via sensors)

Question 16

What is Google Project Soli?

Answer 16

A watch, which is gesture based (via radars).

Question 17

What is augmented reality?

Answer 17

a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view.

i.e. mixing the real world with the digital world

Question 18

Why could mobile technology be bad?

Answer 18

As it is always with us, so:
- it is hard to disconnect, affecting mental health
- it is a continuous distraction
- we rely on it too much
- it has a lot of sensors and this keeps evolving (privacy concern)

Question 19

Why is mobile interaction challenging?

Answer 19

• interaction is often affected by the environment e.g. sunlight glare , poor connectivity, hard to type while walking
• users often divide their attention with surroundings and other tasks, which can even be dangerous (also interaction is fragmented and happens in ‘micro-bursts’)
• hardware constrains (small screen size, limited feedback, lack of device stability, some interaction simply not possible)

Question 20

What is the point of Mobile HCI research?

Answer 20

Solving interaction problems effectively, as new mobile technologies introduce new possible interactions, which are hard to design well

Question 21

What is ubiquitous computing?

Answer 21

Devices distributed, which are all around us. This is a seperate research field to Mobile HCI. (this includes something like a cyber window or a speaker mirror)

Question 22

Lecture Summary?

Answer 22

• With new tech, we need to be able to take advantage of new capabilities and possible interactions.
• We need to be able to effectively solve challenges for the benefit of users.
• How can devices make our life better and be useful in different contexts (e.g. when walking and at home) ? What are the challenges with this?