Este trabalho trata da relação entre arquitetura e tecnologia digital, a partir da constatação de que a capacidade de processamento digital de informações está se espalhando não apenas pela adoção e uso de aparatos computacionais pelas pessoas, mas também por meio de sua inserção em objetos e lugares. Neste contexto, fornece bases para o entendimento e o design da arquitetura interativa, um tipo de espaço físico que pressupõe a implementação de interações viabilizadas por processadores de informação digital. Para tal, o trabalho é dividido em três partes: contexto, fundamentos e design. Na primeira, fornece chaves de leitura para o entendimento de instâncias com as quais a arquitetura interativa dialoga, colocando-­a, não como uma consequência do desenvolvimento tecnológico e, sim, parte de um contexto maior, complexo e conectado. Especificamente, aborda a interrelação entre os contextos ideológico, tecnológico e sócioespacial. Na segunda parte, explora a arquitetura interativa enquanto consequência da incorporação da tecnologia no produto arquitetônico, para depois analisar aspectos que conferem coerência a ela enquanto uma forma particular de intervenção e de manifestação. A terceira parte aborda as principais questões motivadoras desta pesquisa, a saber: o design da arquitetura interativa e as contribuições que o design de interação pode fornecer a esse tipo de prática. Por fim, são esboçados parâmetros -­- elementos conceituais passíveis de serem manipulados -­- para guiar o design da arquitetura interativa. Entre outras utilidades, a função desses parâmetros é ampliar o vocabulário e os modos de trabalho da arquitetura como um todo. No geral, a aproximação realizada foi um meio de explorar e entender um pouco mais o mundo tecnológico que vivemos. Assim, a motivação de entender o que é necessário para projetar a arquitetura interativa, ou seja, para incluir a tecnologia em seu produto, pressupõe discussões que alargam o campo da arquitetura. Inclui nele, a possibilidade e necessidade de que arquitetos atuem, além de consumidores dessa tecnologia, como protagonistas ativos em sua conformação. / This work delas with the relation between architecture and technology, from the observation that, the potential of digital information processing is spreading, not only through the adoption and use of computing devices by people, but also, their addition on objects and places. Within this context, this study provides basis for the understanding and design of interactive architecture, a type of physical space that compels the implementation of interactions, enabled by digital information processors. To achieve this, the work is divided into three parts: context, fundamentals and design. At the first part, Reading keys to understand instances with which the interactive architecture dialogues are provided. This type of spaces is understood, not as a consequence of technological development, but as part of a bigger, complex and connected context. Specifically, it adresses the interrelation between the ideological, technological and socio-­-spatial contexts. The second part, explores the topic of interactive architecture, as a result of technology introduction into the architectural product, and then, analyzes some aspects that give coherence to it as a specific form of intervention and expression. The third part, adresses the main issues that motivated this research, namely the design process of interactive architecture and the contributions that interaction design can provide this type of practice. Finally, nine parameters -­- conceptual elements capable of being manipulated -­- are outlined to guide the design of interactive architecture. Among other uses, the function of these parameters is to expand the vocabular and methods of architecture practice as a whole. Overall, the approach adopted is a means to explore and understand more about the technological world we live. The motivation to understand what is required to design the interactive architecture, that is, to include the technology in the final product, presupposes discussions that broaden the architectural field. It includes within it, the possibility and need for architects to act, beyond consumers of this technology, as active protagonists in their conformation.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-04-18T14:16:18Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcos Alves Vieira - 2016.pdf: 4271419 bytes, checksum: 4b956a9d65582e1f1e1685988c493f7c (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-04-18T14:17:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcos Alves Vieira - 2016.pdf: 4271419 bytes, checksum: 4b956a9d65582e1f1e1685988c493f7c (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-18T14:17:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcos Alves Vieira - 2016.pdf: 4271419 bytes, checksum: 4b956a9d65582e1f1e1685988c493f7c (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-26 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / Advances in electronics allow the creation of everyday devices with computing capabilities, called smart objects. Smart objects assist people in carrying out a variety of tasks and compose smart spaces. When smart spaces are confined to a certain area, they can be referred to as fixed smart spaces. In complement of these, personal smart spaces are composed by the smart objects a user carries with himself, hence with boundaries moving along with his owner. However, user mobility and the increasing number of smart spaces, fostered also by the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Web of Things (WoT), can lead to smart spaces overlap, where a certain smart object is configured in different smart spaces, whether fixed or personal. In addition, smart spaces are complex and difficult to model and maintain, as, among other factors, they have to deal with different smart objects. This thesis proposes the use of Model-Driven Engineering to enable modeling of ubiquitous computing scenarios, considering the coexistence between fixed and personal smart spaces. Its contributions include a metamodel for modeling scenarios composed by personal smart spaces and fixed smart spaces, together with a language and an algorithm, aiming at determining the access order to the resources of a ubiquitous computing scenario. The validation of the proposal was carried out based on the results of a Systematic Literature Review, conducted in order to identify metamodel validation methods most commonly used by researchers within the field. Thus, scenarios were modeled with the aid of modeling tools, which were constructed to produce models, conforming to the proposed metamodels. An implementation in Java enabled to validate the access policy language as well as its processing algorithm. / Os avanços em eletrônica estão possibilitando a criação de dispositivos do cotidiano com capacidades computacionais, chamados de objetos inteligentes. Os objetos inteligentes auxiliam as pessoas na realização de suas tarefas e compõem os espaços inteligentes. Quando os espaços inteligentes são restritos a uma determinada área, eles são denominados espaços inteligentes fixos. Em complementação a estes, os espaços inteligentes pessoais são formados pelos objetos inteligentes que um usuário carrega consigo e seus limites se movem juntamente com seu “dono”. No entanto, a mobilidade dos usuários e o crescente número de espaços inteligentes, fomentados também pela Internet das Coisas e Web das Coisas, podem levar à sobreposição de espaços inteligentes, onde um determinado objeto inteligente pode ser utilizado em diferentes espaços inteligentes, sejam estes fixos ou pessoais. Além disso, espaços inteligentes são complexos e difíceis de modelar e manter, pois, entre outros fatores, precisam lidar com diferentes objetos inteligentes. Este trabalho propõe o uso de técnicas de Engenharia Dirigida por Modelos para possibilitar a modelagem de cenários de computação ubíqua, considerando a coexistência entre espaços inteligentes fixos e pessoais. As contribuições deste trabalho incluem: um metamodelo para modelagem de cenários compostos por espaços inteligentes pessoais e espaços inteligentes fixos; e uma linguagem e um algoritmo, com objetivo de permitir determinar a ordem de acesso aos recursos de um cenário de computação ubíqua. A validação da proposta se deu com base nos resultados de uma Revisão Sistemática da Literatura, que foi conduzida com objetivo de identificar as formas de validação e avaliação de metamodelos mais utilizadas pelos pesquisadores da área. Dessa forma, cenários foram modelados com o auxílio de ferramentas de modelagem construídas para produzir modelos em conformidade com os metamodelos propostos. Uma implementação em linguagem Java permitiu validar tanto a linguagem de políticas de acesso quanto seu algoritmo de processamento.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T14:53:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO Dejailson Nascimento Pinheiro.pdf: 1433962 bytes, checksum: 4173dad207f09fa2033a834f86a5d4b7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-06 / Mobile Social Networks (MSNs) are social structures in which members relate in groups and interaction is accomplished through information and communication technologies using portable devices and wireless network technologies. Healthcare is one among the many possible areas of RSMs application. The MobileHealthNet project, developed in partnership by UFMA and PUC-Rio, aims to develop a middleware that allows access to social networks and facilitate the development of collaborative services targeting the health domain, the exchange of experiences and communication between patients and health professionals, as well as a better management of health resources by government agencies. An important aspect in the development of the MobileHealthNet middleware is the infrastructure necessary for the gathering, distribution and processing of context data. In this master thesis we propose a software infrastructure incorporated to the MobileHealthNet middleware that allows the specification, acquisition, validation and distribution of context data, considering quality requirements, making them available to context-aware applications. The distribution of context data is based on a data-centric the publish/subscribe model, using the OMG-DDS specification. / Redes Sociais Móveis (RSMs) são estruturas sociais em que seus membros relacionam-se em grupos e a interação é realizada através de tecnologias de informação e comunicação utilizando dispositivos portáteis com acesso a tecnologias de rede sem fio. Entre os muitos domínios de aplicação das RSMs, temos a área da saúde. O projeto MobileHealthNet, desenvolvido em parceria pela UFMA e PUC-Rio, tem por objetivo desenvolver um middleware que permita o acesso às redes sociais e facilite o desenvolvimento de serviços colaborativos para o setor da saúde, a troca de experiências e a comunicação entre pacientes e profissionais da saúde, além de uma melhor gestão dos recursos da saúde por órgãos governamentais. Um aspecto importante no desenvolvimento do middleware proposto pelo projeto MobileHealthNet é a infraestrutura necessária para a coleta, distribuição e processamento de dados de contexto. Neste trabalho de mestrado é proposta uma infraestrutura de software incorporada ao middleware MobileHealthNet que permite a especificação, obtenção, validação e distribuição de dados de contexto, considerando requisitos de qualidade, tornando-os disponíveis a aplicações sensíveis ao contexto. A distribuição dos dados de contexto é baseado no modelo publish/subscribe centrado em dados, utilizando-se a especificação OMG-DDS.

Annually, road accidents cause more than 1.2 million deaths, 50 million injuries, and US$ 518 billion of economic cost globally. About 90% of the accidents occur due to human errors such as bad awareness, distraction, drowsiness, low training, fatigue etc. These human errors can be minimized by using advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) which actively monitors the driving environment and alerts a driver to the forthcoming danger, for example adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, parking assistance, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, driver drowsiness detection, and traffic sign recognition etc. Unfortunately, these systems are provided only with modern luxury cars because they are very expensive due to numerous sensors employed. Therefore, camera-based ADAS are being seen as an alternative because a camera has much lower cost, higher availability, can be used for multiple applications and ability to integrate with other systems. Aiming at developing a camera-based ADAS, we have performed an ethnographic study of drivers in order to find what information about the surroundings could be helpful for drivers to avoid accidents. Our study shows that information on speed, distance, relative position, direction, and size & type of the nearby vehicles & other objects would be useful for drivers, and sufficient for implementing most of the ADAS functions. After considering available technologies such as radar, sonar, lidar, GPS, and video-based analysis, we conclude that video-based analysis is the fittest technology that provides all the essential support required for implementing ADAS functions at very low cost. Finally, we have proposed a Smart-Dashboard system that puts technologies – such as camera, digital image processor, and thin display – into a smart system to offer all advanced driver assistance functions. A basic prototype, demonstrating three functions only, is implemented in order to show that a full-fledged camera-based ADAS can be implemented using MATLAB. / Phone# 00966-56-00-56-471

Abstract The integration of digital technologies into urban life and environments has accelerated rapidly over the past few decades. It has been well established that this digital augmentation is changing the way we use and experience urban places; however, more studies, especially at the micro-level and from an architectural point of view, must be conducted in order to increase our understanding of the phenomenon. In this thesis, I examine the experience and evaluation of digitally augmented public urban places through four case studies, analysing participants’ experiences of adaptive lighting pilots and urban displays deployed in real world settings. Digital augmentations were found to be able to alter the genius loci significantly; furthermore, findings from these case studies demonstrate and explain how co-design, existing use patterns and user groups in urban places, climate and weather, and sense of place affect digital augmentations. The thesis makes a methodological contribution in the form of evaluation probes. This method was developed by modifying the cultural probes method for the purposes of evaluative research of design artefacts. The proposed method allows for the emic evaluation of design artefacts without direct researcher presence. In other case studies, I have used ethnographically inspired methods to gather research materials. In analysing research materials I make a theoretical contribution by introducing the concept of emplacement into architectural research. This concept highlights the importance of place in our experience as embodied individuals. Based on my empirical results, I argue for the design of meaningful emplaced experiences through digital augmentation. I also chart the design challenges that have emerged from my studies, utilising them to develop a holistic model that aims to describe experiences of digital augmentation in public urban places. Overall, the thesis proposes participatory design evaluation as a new approach in the field of architecture. It refers to the examination and utilisation of research participants’ intersubjective accounts in the evaluation of design artefacts from an experiential point of view. I argue for the benefits of this approach for the further inclusion of research knowledge in design and planning processes. / Tiivistelmä Viimeisten vuosikymmenten aikana digitaaliset teknologiat ovat asettuneet osaksi kaupunkielämää ja kaupunkipaikkoja. Tämä ilmiö, joka on helposti havaittavissa jokapäiväisessä elämässä, on tunnistettu myös tutkimuskirjallisuudessa, missä ilmiötä on kutsuttu nimellä kaupunkipaikkojen digitaalinen augmentointi. Tähän mennessä ilmiön on todettu muuttavan kokemuksiamme kaupunkipaikoista. Lisäksi on tunnistettu, että aihetta tulisi tarkastella myös erityisesti mikrotasolla sekä arkkitehtuurin alan näkökulmasta. Tässä väitöskirjassa tarkastelen julkisten kaupunkipaikkojen digitaalista augmentointia tapaustutkimusten avulla. Analysoin tätä varten osallistujien digitaalisen augmentaation kokemuksia, mitkä ovat tapahtuneet tutkimushankkeiden sisällä tuotettujen, aidoissa kaupunkiympäristöissä tehtyjen pilottien ja konstruktien yhteydessä. Lähestymistavaltaan työni on mikrotason evaluatiivista laadullista suunnittelututkimusta. Väitöstutkimukseni käsittää myös menetelmällistä kehitystyötä. Tämän kehitystyön tuloksena esittelen evaluaatioluotainmenetelmän. Menetelmä on kehitetty alkuperäisen kulttuuriluotainmenetelmän pohjalta. Esitän analyysin alkuperäisestä menetelmästä sekä tuloksia omista empiirisistä tutkimuksistani ehdotettua menetelmää tukevina perusteina. Muut tutkimuksessa käyttämäni menetelmät ovat alkuperältään etnografisia; olen kuitenkin soveltanut menetelmiä arkkitehtuuritutkimuksen käyttöön. Analysoidakseni näitä empiirisiä tuloksia olen myös tehnyt teoreettista kehitystyötä esittelemällä arkkitehtuurintutkimukseen emplacement-käsitteen (suom. paikantuneisuus). Olen käyttänyt tätä käsitettä analysoidakseni empiirisiä tutkimusmateriaaleja abduktiivisesti. Käsitteellä pyrin ymmärtämään ja teorisoimaan paikan roolia digitaalisten augmentointien ruumiillisessa kokemuksessa ja suunnittelussa. Kokonaisuudessaan kehitän väitöskirjassa osallistavaa suunnitteluevaluaatiota (engl. participatory design evaluation lähestymistapana. Tällä tarkoitan useiden intersubjektiivisten ja kokemuksellisten näkökulmien tuomista ja käyttämistä suunnittelutuotteiden evaluatiivisessa eli arvioivassa tutkimuksessa. Väitöksessäni puollan tämän lähestymistavan hyödyllisyyttä arkkitehtuurisuunnittelussa ja -tutkimuksessa.

Abstract This dissertation aims to uncover emerging practices in how people seek information while on the move in augmented urban spaces. The backdrop for a majority of the work presented here is the City of Oulu in Finland, where we have installed a variety of new ubiquitous computing infrastructure and services including, among others, a network of large interactive public displays called UBI-hotspots. The hotspots serve as a versatile platform on top of which new types of services can be developed, deployed and tested in an authentic urban setting with real, non-coached users and a sufficiently long timespan to truly evaluate the impact of such services on the everyday life and practices of the city and its citizens. The case studies presented in this dissertation aim at understanding the effect of such highly visible additions to the urban space from the point of view of human information behaviour. I seek to understand the underlying information seeking strategies people employ while foraging the hotspots for information, and the types of information people see as valuable while attending their daily business in the downtown area of the City. Questions such as how do people utilize the new sources of information in their daily information seeking tasks, and what is the preferred medium for information delivery, are addressed. The theoretical framework for the studies is derived from both ubiquitous and urban computing, and from the field of human information behaviour research. The main findings of the presented studies indicate that people have adapted the new infrastructure and services as parts of their daily information seeking tasks. The detailed usage data logged by all hotspots provide insight into the browsing habits of users, and analysis of inter-session navigation show that various latent strategies of information seeking exist. Further, findings indicate that there is a clear difference between the types of services people perceive as useful prior to using the hotspots, and services that people actually use on the hotspots. Also, findings indicate that people are willing to download information items from the hotspots to their mobile devices for later reference, thus adding information to their personal information repository. / Tiivistelmä Tämä väitöskirja pyrkii löytämään ja selittämään uusia tapoja joilla ihmiset etsivät informaatiota älykkäissä kaupunkitiloissa. Tausta suurelle osalle työstä on Oulun kaupunki, jonne olemme asentaneet erilaisia jokapaikan tietotekniikan laitteistoja sekä palveluja. Erityisesti väitöskirjassa tutkitaan suurten julkisten näyttöjen – ”UBI-näyttöjen” – verkostoa. UBI-näytöt toimivat monipuolisena alustana jonka päällä uusia palveluja voidaan kehittää sekä testata autenttisessa kaupunkitilassa todellisten käyttäjien toimesta riittävän pitkällä aikavälillä, joka puolestaan mahdollistaa palveluiden todellisen merkittävyyden arvioimisen suhteessa ihmisten jokapäiväiseen informaatiokäyttäytymiseen sekä informaatiotarpeisiin. Väitöskirjassa esitetyt tapaustutkimukset pyrkivät ymmärtämään tällaisten erittäin näkyvien tietoteknisten laitteiden vaikutusta ihmisten käyttäytymiseen informaatiotutkimuksen näkökulmasta. Tarkastelun kohteena ovat ihmisten jokapäiväiseen tiedonhakuun liittyvät strategiat heidän käyttäessään UBI-näyttöjä, sekä erilaiset informaatiotyypit joita ihmiset pitävät tärkeinä hoitaessaan jokapäiväisiä asioitaan kaupunkitiloissa. Kysymykset kuten kuinka ihmiset käyttävät uusia informaation lähteitä etsiessään tietoa jokapäiväisiin tarpeisiinsa sekä millä laitteilla ihmiset mieluiten etsivät ko. tietoa ohjaavat suurta osaa tutkimuksesta. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys muodostuu jokapaikan tietotekniikan tutkimuksesta, urbaanin tietotekniikan tutkimuksesta, sekä ihmisten informaatiokäyttäytymisen tutkimuksesta. Tutkimuksen tärkeimmät löydökset osoittavat että ihmiset ovat ottaneet uudet tietotekniset resurssit osaksi päivittäistä informaatiokäyttäytymistään. Yksityiskohtainen lokitieto yhdistettynä haastattelu- ja havainnointidataan tarjoaa syvällisen näkemyksen käyttäjien tiedontarpeisiin. Dataa analysoimalla olemme havainneet joukon strategioita joita ihmiset käyttävät etsiessään tietoa kaupunkitiloissa. Tutkimus osoittaa myös, että ihmisten oletettujen tiedontarpeiden sekä havainnoidun käyttäytymisen välillä on suuria eroavaisuuksia. Käyttäjät ovat myös halukkaita lataamaan tietosisältöä matkapuhelimiinsa myöhempää käyttöä varten, täten lisäten tietoa omaan henkilökohtaiseen tietovarastoonsa.

Abstract This thesis concentrates on understanding people’s daily interactions with urban technologies and the role they play in everyday life by investigating use practices for the on urban, multipurpose, public display network in the city of Oulu in northern Finland. The goal is two-fold, namely, to investigate different aspects of emerging urban computing practices and understand the versatility of the contributing factors behind these practices. The work is grounded in practice theory that understands practices as a result of an historical evolution influenced by several forces. On the one hand, the thesis concentrates on the local accomplishment of practices; on the other hand it, seeks to understand the broader connections between these practices as well as their history and evolution. The material comes from three main sources: Users of the public displays, their developers and additional stakeholders involved in the design process, and citizen comments on the display network project on social media. The research is based on empirical qualitative research material; quantitative use statistics are applied to support the findings. The findings reveal that urban computing practices take on influences from several directions including designers and other stakeholders during the design phase, the users’ lives and existing practices, and ongoing societal and communal discourses. The thesis offers increased understanding of the designing and implementation of successful ubiquitous computing projects in a public setting. / Tiivistelmä Tämä väitöskirja keskittyy ymmärtämään ihmisten päivittäistä vuorovaikutusta kaupunkiteknolgian kanssa tutkimalla käytäntöjä julkisten näyttöjen verkoston ympärillä. Tavoite on toisaalta tutkia kaupunkiteknologiakäytänteitä eri näkökulmista ja toisaalta ymmärtää monipuolisia osatekijöitä käytäntöjen takana. Työ perustuu käytäntöteoriaan, joka ymmärtää käytäntöjä historiallisen kehityksen seurauksena sekä usean osatekijän tuloksena. Toisaalta tutkielma keskittyy paikallisiin käytäntöihin; toisaalta se yrittää ymmärtää laajempia yhteyksiä käytäntöjen välillä sekä niiden historiaa ja evoluutiota. Materiaali tulee kolmesta päälähteestä: 1) Julkisten näyttöjen verkoston kehittäjiltä ja muilta suunnitteluprosessin sidosryhmiltä, 2) näyttöjen käyttäjiltä sekä 3) kaupunkilaisilta, jotka kommentoivat näyttöverkkoprojektia sosiaalisessa mediassa. Tutkimus perustuu laadulliseen tutkimusaineistoon, jonka lisäksi määrällistä käyttötilastoaineistoa sovelletaan tukemaan laadullisia havaintoja. Havainnot paljastavat, että urbaanin teknologian käytänteisiin vaikuttavat monet tekijät mukaan lukien suunnittelijat ja muut suunnitteluvaiheen sidosryhmät, käyttäjien elämä ja heidän olemassa olevat käytänteensä sekä ajankohtainen yhteiskunnallinen ja yhteisöllinen keskustelu. Tutkielma tarjoaa uudenlaista ymmärrystä jokapaikan tietotekniikka -projektien suunnittelusta ja toteutuksesta julkisissa ympäristöissä.

O sistema de TV digital interativa está em fase de implantação no Brasil. O middleware Ginga, responsável por permitir a apresentação de programas interativos, prevê que usuários possam interagir com aplicações apresentadas na TV ao pressionar de teclas em um controle remoto. Considerando que controles remotos tradicionais apresentam limitações de usabilidade, este trabalho teve o objetivo investigar a aplicação de conceitos de computação ubíqua, em particular interfaces naturais e multimodais, como alternativas para prover interatividade entre usuários e programas de TV digital. Como resultado, um dispositivo móvel alternativo ao controle remoto tradicional foi utilizado no projeto de novos mecanismos de interação que incluem interfaces baseadas em telas sensíveis ao toque, interfaces sensíveis a gestos capturados por dispositivos que contêm acelerômetros, e interfaces que contêm microfones que permitem entrada de dados por voz. A construção de protótipos correspondentes foi beneficiada pela (assim como beneficiou) implementação prévia de um componente que oferece funcionalidades para envio de dados multimodais para um receptor de TV digital contendo o middleware Ginga, e de um componente que, instalado no receptor, permite a comunicação peer-to-peer entre dispositivos sem fio / The tradicional Brazilian TV system is being replaced by an interactive digital platform. The Ginga middleware, responsible for allowing the presentation of interactive programs, is able to support user interactions with TV applications by means of key presses on a remote control. Since traditional remotes have usability limitations, this work aimed at investigating the application of ubiquitous computing concepts, such as natural and multimodal interfaces, to provide alternatives for the interaction among users and TV applications. Considering the availability of mobile devices such as smartphones, prototype interfaces based on touch screens, as well as gesture-based, accelerometer-based, and voice-based interfaces have been designed and implemented to allow the interaction usually provided by remote controls. The implementation of those interfaces was supported by the previous development of components providing multimodal interaction and peer-to-peer communication in the context of the Brazilian interactive digital TV system middleware

Generating ideas and creating prototypes of physical products is a highly non-linear and iterative process. Current tools divide this process into multiple discrete steps with different tools to support each of these steps such as CAD modelling, simulation and fabrication. We believe, design interfaces that combine different steps of the process and create different layers of abstraction depending on the type of the user and where they are in the process can support users in generating more creative ideas and creating better functioning prototypes more efficiently. In order to validate this, we developed three interfaces- a sketch-based ideation tool, a live programming interface to create IoT devices and a design tool to support design and fabrication of hand wearables. The foundation of these design interfaces is the layer of abstraction that allows users to focus on idea generation and converting it into a tangible prototype with little or no technical knowledge, and a continuous visual feedback that guides the user to make necessary changes to improve their design. The three tools were evaluated through user testing for supporting creation of different ideas and converting them into functional prototypes.

Tangible social network system is a home-based communication solution specifically designed for elders. Former researches indicate that insufficient communication among elders cause several challenges in their daily activities such as social isolation, loneliness, depression and decreased appetite. In addition, lack of social participation increases the risk of Alzheimer´s (Ligt Enid, 1990). The major cause of these challenges are that elders are increasingly removed from communication technology using emails, text messaging, interact with social network systems and mobile phones due to cognitive and physical difficulties. To overcome this problem, new suggested social network system incorporates photo frame and photo album based interaction which allows instantaneous participation to the social network. By designing the new social network system, I tried to create an easier venue for more active cross-generational communication between elders and younger family members.This paper discusses the early results of the marker based social networking system aiming to propose digital technologies to enhance the social life of older people, who live alone their home. A prototype combining a touch screen, photo frame and a camera are described. It allows the older people to manage their participation to the social network system and get in touch with their loved ones. This paper demonstrates a User Sensitive inclusive Design (USID) process from the generation of user needs to the evaluation prototype. A key theme of tangible social network system shows how usable and emotional design derived from a user inclusive design process can encourage elders to adopt new modern technology. A first evaluation has shown the usability as well as the good acceptance of this system. / AGNES