Event contact Rachel Finch

Speaker: Dr Keith Cheverst, School of Computing and Communications (Lancaster University) - hosted by Dr Luigina Ciolfi

Dr Keith Cheverst is a Reader in HCI at Lancaster University where he obtained his PhD in 1999. Keith has also held the position of visiting scientist at Newcastle University’s Culture Lab, at Microsoft Research, Cambridge (working with the Socio-Digital systems group), and at the University of Melbourne (Department of Computing and Information Systems).

Keith’s primary research focus is in exploring the obdurate problems associated with the user-centred design of interactive systems in complex or semi-wild settings and the deployment and longitudinal study of these systems in order to gain insights into issues of user adoption and appropriation. He is particularly interested in the design interactive systems that feature locative media and associated technologies.

Title: Exploring the role of Locative Media relating to local history in a rural village community

In this talk I will present experiences and insights from our studies involving locative media, local history and community. Our work in the village of Wray has involved the Longitudinal and ‘in the wild’ deployment (since 2006) of ‘digital noticeboard’ displays (conceived as technology probes) that support the sharing of photos/images. A significant portion of the submitted photo content relates to Wray’s local history and features of Wray’s landscape. For example, a key event in Wray’s local history was a serious flood in 1967 that caused extensive damage following the blockage of Wray Bridge by a fallen tree which led to the bridge acting as a dam.

Residents of the village have helped shape the system through involvement in co-design workshops. A key motivation has been to provide the community with a sense of ownership over the deployment and associated content and this has impacted upon, for example, the approach to content moderation that is carried out by members of the village rather than the university.

Our current studies (as part of the SHARC project) are focusing on the design of mobile and web-based apps that support the co-authoring and consumption of locative media experiences (including, for example, residents’ stories relating to the flood). A field trial (involving both residents and visitors) and a design workshop revealed both opportunities and challenges for the co-curation approach. I will also talk about our plans for taking forward the research, including planned studies in the Lake District and towns in Lancashire where locative media can be used to support engagement with the natural landscape and industrial heritage respectively.