Comments
Reference Information
Title: Public Issues on Projected User Interface
Author: Ju-Chun Ko
Publisher: CHI 2010: Imagine all the People, April 10-15, 2010
Summary
The authors of this paper discuss the issues of using a portable projector in public areas. Portable projectors (like pico projectors) are becoming smaller and cheaper. What happens when they become so ubiquitous that almost everyone with say, an iPhone has one of these built in? Because of the impersonal nature of these projectors, the authors look at the issued faced when using them in public settings.
They feel that these devices could be very intrusive. Because everyone can see your content, issues of privacy arise. There are times that you don't want others to see your content and there are times others don't want to see your content. Projections can directly intrude on one's personal space, how do you deal with those scenarios? What are times that we can and can't project? Should we be allowed to project on another human? When is it an invasion of privacy? Not only that, another person can be visually impaired by the light pollution caused by a direct projection.
All of these are issues to be aware of in the growing market for small projectors.
Discussion
To be perfectly honest, I did not find this interesting at all. I feel like if people didn't want others to see what they were doing on their mobile, they wouldn't project it. When it comes down to it, people typically don't like to disturb other people. I don't think a governmental body is required to police people; societal norms will take care of that. Right now, people know when it is and isn't okay to talk on a mobile phone in public settings. Not only that, if one does not want to make their conversation public, they will seek a more private area. Every single phone now has speaker phone capability but unless you're in a group of people that all are talking to the person on the other line, no one uses it in public.
The authors talk as if when everyone gains the capability, we are all going to fight for space on walls and sidewalks to project. I don't see this happening or even being an issue for quite some time, if ever. Portable stereos are readily available but you don't see people carrying them around on their backpacks blaring them. I just feel like they are trying too hard to understand a problem that's not very practical. I feel like their time as HCI researchers would be better devoted to understanding what situations these sort of projectors would be useful for and implementing those scenarios.
Image: courtesy of the paper.
I thought this paper was very strange and also not practical. I liked your reference to portable stereos, I feel that people like to keep to themselves or their group when out in public and this won't be an issue.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with your sentiments that the technology most likely won't ever get popular to a point that it becomes an issue. I felt that the author's solutions relied a bit too heavily on government standards or the devices having the ability to talk wirelessly to almost every device, person, and wall you would come across.
ReplyDelete