Page 448 -

14.4 Sensors and ubiquitous computing 439

importance, in the hopes of developing technologies that might promote social inter-
action. Results of these interviews indicated that many valued devices were routinely
used in social interaction, even though they were not specifically communication
devices (Vaisutis et al., 2014).
Other efforts have explored the possibility of widespread data collection through
mobile devices. The “Smart Citizen Kit” provides Arduino-based hardware, includ-
ing sensors, battery, and WiFi, suitable for collecting environmental data that can
be shared, aggregated, and used for community planning (Diez and Posada, 2013).
Noting that data from these sensors often provide data that is hard to interpret, the
Physikit project augmented the smart citizen kit with physical ambient displays (in-
spired, in part by Tangible Bits (Ishii and Ullmer, 1997)) using light, movement,
buzzing, or air motion to display data trends (Houben et al., 2016).
From a research (but not commercial) perspective, it is hard to talk about ubiqui-
tous computing without mentioning wearables such as Google Glass. Growing out of
a long line of research on wearable computing, Glass was the first broadly available
head-mounted display for everyday use. Although not commercially successful, Glass
had an impact on the research world. Researchers have applied Glass to challenges
such as object recognition (Chen et al., 2015) and gaze recognition (Kangas et al.,
2014), with applications including assistive help for people with Parkinson's disease
(McNaney et al., 2014), supporting hands-free computer use in laboratory settings
(Hu et al., 2015), physics education (Weppner et al., 2014a), logging of activity (Weppner
et al., 2014b), and encouraging exercise (Nguyen et al., 2014; Sörös et al., 2013). One
prototype system combined Google Glass with an EEG headset (Chapter 13) to support
home control, allowing users to combine gaze at an object along with a thought about a
desired outcome to complete tasks such as adjusting a thermostat (Simoens et al., 2014).
Google Glass may not have been a commercial success, but these and related efforts sug-
gest that some future product might find its niche.

14.4.2 UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING RESEARCH METHODS
Ubiquitous computing research might be technologically innovative, but the re-
search methods involved are often somewhat familiar, using methods described
throughout this book. Given the importance of the embedded nature of these tools,
qualitative case studies and other examinations of the use of the tools in context
may be more prominent than empirical studies, and methods chosen will also vary
with the project. Input device research might include some empirical or usabil-
ity studies, but the novelty of the tools and related tasks often require design ex-
plorations with little or no evaluation to simply explore possibilities (Ishii and
Ullmer, 1997). In another example, a project involving the development of digital
family portraits used preliminary interviews to assess needs for a proposed tool.
This formative work was followed by field studies combining use of the tool in
participants' homes with ongoing diary and interview studies. These later studies
provided detailed insight into how one family made use of the tools (Mynatt et al.,
2001; Rowan and Mynatt, 2005).