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Reminder: Call for papers
MUM 2003 workshop 
December 10, Norrköping, Sweden 
Deadline for workshop submissions: November 1

Designing for ubicomp in the wild: Methods for exploring the design of
mobile and ubiquitous services

Mobile and ubiquitous services are designed to be used by people "in the
wild", engaged in activities ranging from work to leisure, and not
necessarily tied to a particular place. These characteristics make it
challenging to design such systems. The controlled lab environment is not a
realistic setting for carrying out studies of these systems. There is a need
for new, innovative methods of exploring design of mobile and ubiquitous
services in the wild. This workshop will discuss and make practical use of
methods for early design of mobile and ubiquitous services. 

While mobile services in many respects are similar to interactive services
in general, they have some properties that sometimes make it difficult to
borrow the methods developed for general human-computer interaction. One
obvious difference is the "baby interface" problem. Small buttons, small
screens and small interaction devices (tiny joysticks, tiny pens) require
special solutions. The interaction models for mobile phones and PDA:s vary
from imitations of direct manipulation metaphors to handcrafted,
telecom-based, interaction models. 

Perhaps more challenging differences between desktop computing applications
and mobile applications lie in the context of use, where mobile services
will rely on fast interactions in sometimes noisy environments, rather than
the more quiet and stable office-usage. Many mobile services also explore
properties of context as part of their functionality. They might make use of
the position the user is at, the presence of other users nearby connected in
ad-hoc networks, or information provided by objects (using e.g. RFID-tags)
or interactive devices (e.g. Bluetooth stations) nearby. 

For mobile services, small bursts of usage are often extended throughout the
entire day, and in many different places. Some services will be useful only
during a specific time span, such as when people move close to each other,
or when a user passes an object. The "windows of opportunity" that open up
when users move between different locations and networks can be exploited to
design time-based mobile services that offer very different functionality
from stationary technology. In stationary settings, the digital and physical
worlds are more or less separated (users 'look into' and manipulate the
digital world on the computer screen). In contrast, in mobile and ubiquitous
systems these realms may be combined. Sensors, smart rooms and ambient
environments capture real world information of users and devices and
represent it in a format that is usable in the digital realm. In addition,
by attaching digital information to users we can merge digital and embodied
presence. These technologies have the potential to transform how users
navigate and experience places and will have a profound impact on concepts
of spaces, places and presence. 

Submissions

Position papers of a maximum length of 4 pages, double column, ACM format
(www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html), in Word, should be sent to
Kristina Höök, [log in to unmask] These will be reviewed by the program
committee. 

Deadline for submissions: 1st of November. 
Notification of acceptance: 20th of November. 

Organisers

Kristina Höök, Professor at DSV, SU/KTH
Alexandra Weilenmann, PhD, Viktoria/Interactive Institute

The workshop is organised as part of the SSF-funded project "Mobile
Services" and the VINNOVA-funded project "Mobile Life"
(www.sics.se/humle/projects/moblife/index.php).

Program committee

Barry Brown, Glasgow University, UK  
Matthew Chalmers, Glasgow University, UK  
Geri Gay, Cornell University, UK  
Lars Erik Holmquist, Viktoria Institute, Sweden  
Richard Harper, Appliance Studio and the Digital World Research Centre, UK  
Kristina Höök, Stockholm University/KTH, Sweden  
Giulio Iacucci, University of Oulu, Finland  
Minna Isomursu, University of Oulu, Finland  
Oskar Juhlin, Interactive Institute, Sweden  
Martin Svensson, SICS, Sweden  
Loren Terveen, Minnesota University, USA  
Alexandra Weilenmann, Interactive Institute, Sweden  
Erik Wistrand, Newmad, Sweden  

Format

The workshop will be organised as a one-day workshop the day before the MUM
conference in Norrköping, (http://mum2003.itn.liu.se/). The day will start
with quick presentations of the participants, followed by 8 - 10 position
paper presentations. Finally, the group will be divided into two, testing
two different methods for input to and early design of mobile and ubiquitous
services.


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