The aWearable Toolkit: Supporting End-User Customization of Embodied Location-Aware Applications

Abstract

We live in a mobile society where we are constantly surrounded by technology. Users are becoming technologists and many have been introduced to programming at some level. Previous work in HCI has been based on involving end-users in the design process. Now there is also focus on end-user development, which allows end-users to develop and customize systems.Embodied Social Interaction is another field that is getting attention these days. The main idea is to move computing out of the desktop and into physical objects. It integrates technology into everyday environments, and incorporates human?s un- derstandings of the physical and social world. Embodied social interaction is closely related to location-aware computing. Technology has become mobile and there is a need to keep track of where it has gone. By embodying location-awareness, we can free the hands of users and present information in the periphery of a person?s attention, limiting distraction.This master thesis combines end-user development and embodied location-awareness. We wish to provide users with tools to tailor applications to fit their needs. The main research question concerns how to support end-user customization of embod- ied location-awareness applications. As a result we have developed a prototype, the aWearable toolkit for end-users.We started out with an exploratory study of embodied social interaction, which was continued with a research study of embodied location-aware applications and end- user toolkits. Results of the research studies were used to define a set of scenarios that helped us identify requirements. After implementing the toolkit we conducted user evaluations where we looked at how well users were able to customize and use an application. These user-evaluations, along with the research studies, helped us answer the research questions.