Our paper ‘Haptic Reassurance in the Pitch Black for an Immersive Theatre Experience‘ has just been awarded best paper at the international technology conference UbiComp 2011 in Beijing, China.

The paper  authored  by the Open University, Rusty Squid and Extant is based on our outcomes and evaluation of The Question and has been selected from 304 international papers submitted for the conference on ubiquitous computing. http://www.ubicomp.org/ubicomp2011/

The paper based on our outcomes and evaluation of The Question is one of 50 selected from 302 international papers submitted for the conference on ubiquitous computing to be held in Beijing, China in September 2011

http://www.ubicomp.org/

Adam Spiers was invited in July to present a demonstration of the Haptic Lotus at Guerrilla Science summer festival event The Secret Garden Party

Thursday:Ascent

17:00-22:00 Blind Robot’s Bluff: Adam Spiers Navigate through darkness with the Haptic Lotus, a cybernetic instrument that manoeuvres through space with engineered grace. Use the unfolding petals to guide you to your destination, and ponder the meaning of light in the dark.

http://guerillascience.co.uk/archives/1782

Based on a mock up we had tested at the DHRA conference last September, Adam   and his assistants set up a similar situation in a tent at the festival.  They attached some cylindrical containers (each containing a sweet) to the corners of a gazebo with magnets. This was the corner where the target ‘beacon’, sound source and some interesting textures were hung up (fake fur, garden twine and corrugated card). Before people went in to the installation blind folded   and wearing headphones, they were told that they needed to find these objects and that the Lotus would guide them there.

They were also given the option of racing their friends, which worked quite well. Surprisingly nearly everyone managed to find the container and return to the entrance with it!

Peter Bennett AKA ‘Pencil Beam’, made a short and sharp atmospheric looping sound track that fitted in with the feel of the technology.  This activated in the blindfolded persons headphones when they moved near the target tactile area where the container hung.

‘Pencil Beam’ music production can be found at www.pencilbeam.com

Listen to the track here:

More images can be seen on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/guerillascience/sets/72157627228403961/

In other news – our paper has been accepted for publication at UbiCom! Read more here

In August Dr Yvonne Rogers of the Open University presented a keynote at this conference held in Aarhus, Denmark.

The talk was called ‘Designing in the Wild’

www.dis2010.org/index.php?Programme

DHRA 2010 (Digital Humanities Research Association)

Maria Oshodi and Adam Spiers gave a demonstration and presentation on The Question on Tuesday 7 September at the DHRA conference held at Brunel University.

http://drha2010.org.uk/index.php/programme/

The Mobile HCI Conference (Human Computer Interaction)

Janet VanDerLinden of the Open University presented a paper on The Question at the mobile HCI conference, in September 2010 in Lisbon Portugal.  The workshop was called “Using Audio and Haptics for Delivering Spatial Information via Mobile Devices.”
http://mobilehci2010.di.fc.ul.pt/

http://www.haptimap.org/events/organized-events/mobilehci.html

We are aiming to develop the project further in terms of both its performance and technology potential, so please contact us if you have any suggestions or contacts that you might have which would enable us to achieve this.

Maria Oshodi – Artistic Director, Extant
Writer and Director

Peter Bosher
Sound Design

Lynn Cox
Visual Artist and Set consultant

Jo Paul
Scenographer

Technical

Adam Spiers – Humanoid Robotics Researcher
Haptic Lotus Technical Engineer

Paul O’Dowd – Swarm Robotics Researcher
Haptic Lotus Technical Assistant

David McGoran – Puppeteer and Design Technician
Haptic Lotus Design Assistant

Terry Braun - Director, Braunarts
Film Production and Project Advisor

Gemma Riggs - Video Artist
Technical Invigilator

Actors

John Wilson Goddard
Kalabi

Amelia Cavallo
Max

Sandy Easton
John Locke

Tim Gebbels
Isaac Newton

Gerard McDermott
Martin Milligan

Liam O’Carroll
Bryan Magee

Ian Jentle
Scientist

Evaluation

Prof.Yvonne Rogers -
Human-Computer Interaction, The Open University
User Experience Consultant and Evaluation Design

Dr. Janet van der Linden –
Computing Department, The Open University
User Experience Consultant and Evaluation Design

Rafael Cronin
User Experience Coordinator

Production

Alex Eisenberg
Web and Marketing/Production Manager

Mary Paterson
General Manager, Extant
Project Manager

Steve Watkins
Extant Production Assistant

Ruth Dudman
BAC Producer

Sally Rose
BAC Producing Assistant

Special Thanks go to:

Set build assistants: Sara White and
Rachel Owens.

Project assistants: Sofia Apospori,
Eleanor Greenhalgh, Harriet
Piercy.

http://mobilehci2010.di.fc.ul.pt/

http://www.haptimap.org/events/organized-events/mobilehci.html