Thesis Proposal
Woohoo, I submitted my thesis proposal last week. If you’re interested in mobile location-based awareness, check it out [pdf]!
Here’s the abstract:
Researchers in context-aware computing aim to solve real-world problems by adapting systems to context. For many years, the HCI research community have explored the possibilities that context-aware computing has to offer, leading to novel applications in the CSCW (Computer-supported Collaborative Work) domain.This work is tied in with presence research in sociology and psychology, which aim to learn more about how the value of mediated communications technology is affected by the extent of which you feel “present” with the other person(s) while using the system. We search a domain of a lighter form of presence–one that uses ambient forms of emotional communication to make one feel aware and connected with someone.
Location as a geographical coordinate is a relevant dimension of context that can be transformed to a low level indicator of activity. Knowing ones patterns and history of location is machine-detectable and if transformed correctly can be combined with social knowledge, to help people infer activity. However, the mapping between geographical coordinates of one or multiple people into an efficient visualisation that supports sociability has not been previously explored comprehensively in previous research efforts. Additionally, measuring the amount of awareness and connectedness between those with such information has thus far been inadequate.
This document proposes methods that will attain knowledge to fill this gap in research after explaining in detail the issues involved in this syndication of research areas from social psychology, HCI and computer science.
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