This paper examines the process of customizing Particle sensors for use in a home energy monitoring project. Our developments affected sensor hardware, sensor software and data capture. The developed sensors have been deployed in two homes in the UK. ...

Keywords: sensor nodes, ubiquitous computing, home applications, energy.

This paper describes a series of user-centred design sessions conducted with children of varying ages to explore near-future applications of sensor-based technologies. We explain how a review of each session resulted in redesign of the activity and the ...

Keywords: children, participatory design, ubiquitous computing, user-centred design

The Ambient Horn is a novel handheld device designed to support children learning about habitat distributions and interdependencies in an outdoor woodland environment. The horn was designed to emit non-speech audio sounds representing ecological processes. ...

Keywords: Audio-based learning, Augmented reality, Mobile learning, Pervasive computing

Ubiquitous and mobile technologies provide opportunities for designing novel learning experiences that move out of the classroom. Information can be presented and interacted with in a variety of ways while exploring a physical environment. A key issue ...

Keywords: digital augmentation, mobile learning, outdoor learning, reflective learning, ubiquitous computing

Pervasive technologies are increasingly being developed and used outdoors in different and innovative ways. However, designing user experiences for outdoor environments presents many different and unforeseen challenges compared with indoor settings. ...

Keywords: novel user experiences, outdoor applications, pervasive environment design, play and learning, wireless networking

This paper describes an interactive device, the Periscope, designed to be used as an educational tool featured during a children's digitally enhanced field trip in a woodland setting. The Periscope assembly, including a display and RFID equipped tangibles, ...

Keywords: Educational tool, Interactive display, RFID, Tags, Tangibles

How do we conceptualize and design mixed reality environments (MREs)? Here we describe a first pass at a conceptual framework and use it to inform the design of different kinds of activities for children to experiment with. Our aim was to investigate ...

How does designing for novel experiences with largely untried technologies get its inspiration? Here we report on a project whose goal was to promote learning through novel, playful visions of technologies. To this end, we experimented with a diversity ...

Keywords: adventure game, blue-sky research, conceptual development, innovation, novel user experiences, physical/virtual integration, tangibles, technology inspiration, wearables

A projection screen in the shape of a tent provides children with a shared immersive experience of a virtual world based on the metaphor of camping. RFID aerials at its entrances sense tagged children and objects as they enter and leave. Video tracking ...

Keywords: RFID, immersive and traversable interfaces, single display groupware, video tracking, virtual environments