SSI · Social & Spatial Interactions

Mobile phones were originally conceived and have traditionally been utilized for individual use. In Western culture, we are not supposed to go into another person’s mobile phone and go through their list of contacts, photos, or visited websites. On occasion, people may pass their phones around and let others look at photos.

The Social and Spatial Interactions (SSI) project looks into situations in which collocated users engage in collaborative activities using their mobile devices by asking the following question: are people willing to share their mobile devices and engage in collaborative interactions?

In mobile collocated interactions, groups of users spontaneously combine their mobile devices to engage in rich shared activities and experiences. Various physical and social contexts of use have been taken into account, such as teamwork at the office (MindMap), sharing media content at home (Pass-Them-Around), public expression in a pub (MobiComics), or collaborative sensemaking in a design studio (Co-Curator). In addition, before collocated users can engage in such interactions, they must first connect their devices into a group (EasyGroups).

Prototype: MindMap

MindMap is a phone-based interactive application that supports ad hoc brainstorming sessions. The prototype allows a workgroup to create, edit and view virtual mind-map notes on any table surface.

Prototype: Pass-Them-Around

Pass-Them-Around is a phone-based application that allows a small group of collocated people to share photos using the metaphor of passing paper photos around. The prototype supports ad-hoc photo sharing in different contexts by taking into account the spatial arrangement of users around a table, measured with sensors embedded in their mobile phones.

Prototype: MobiComics

MobiComics allows a group of collocated persons to flexibly create and edit comic strip panels using their mobile phones. The prototype supports ad-hoc sharing of comic strip panels between people and onto two public displays by taking the spatial arrangement of people into account, measured with a radio tracking technology integrated in their mobile phones.

Prototype: Co-Curator

Co-Curator allows a group of collocated people to bring together digital sources of inspiration that they have collected individually on their mobile phones. The prototype allows people to individually and collaboratively curate their collected materials, using mobile phones as resources in the context of natural social interactions.

Prototype: EasyGroups

In our work, we have been looking at the binding process in medium-size groups of four to six users from a user’s perspective. We have aimed to understand how people would naturally connect wireless devices, regardless of the technical limitations posed by current hardware.

Other Publications

Workshops

Demos