Multimedia Memories

Research in progress // memories and memorials between physical objects and personal data

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Finished memorial prototype handed over to the participant in her home

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Paper is laser cut and sprayed gold to form the inside decoration of the memorial.

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Unique Digital Memorial Concept

How the memorial is filled with stories by the deceased's friends and family:

How the memorial is build:

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Papier Maché Prototyping

Size 1 and 3 are good, comfortable for holding and have a good resonance. 2 feels too small. Opening Opening of 2 is too big, does not create enough inside space. As between 1 and 3 it is hard to decide, because 3 could not be testes with the mirror inside (did not fit into the opening) but 1 might still be a big too big. Sound creates vibrations you can feel with your hand while holding, less effective when tuned down. But when tuned down, the sounds seems to come more from the inside of the globe otherwise it can be heard in the whole room. First testing with Vibrating Speakers enforces the vibration effect and makes more use of the resonance of the globe. here the material must be carefully selected. Posture Holding the globes is most comfortable when sitting and holding the globe in the lab, but if the endproduct is not too heavy standing while listening is also possible. Still sitting seems more natural. When the sound is really low it helps a lot to bring the opening close to the ear which in turn leads to a very uncomfortable posture... It seems most natural to hold the globe with two hands positioned more under the globe than on the sides. In a natural posture one does not see oneself in the mirror, only when really leaning over the globe, which is not possible for long while the candle is on. Light The only light source tested in these prototypes were candles. Contribute very much to the atmosphere and the focus of the experience. Add an visual element to the otherwise sound based experience. Flame flickers in reaction to breath and changes the color of the inside of the globe. Noticeable difference in the felt temperature of globe 1 and 2 (with tin foil inside). 1 produces a nice warm feeling while 2 stays completely cold. Trigger As the audio should only be played when the participant holds the globe in her hands a suitable way to trigger it seems to be by touch. A capacitance sensor is connected to a piece of metal (works even with tin foil as tested) and reacts to the currency of the human body. It can trigger something to gradually increase the closer the body comes to the globe or start an interaction on touch.

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... it is unrealistic to think that the social and environmental conditions under which a solution is first conceived will remain unchanged throughout the course of implementing that solution.

image: Batya Friedman

In their paper "Multi-lifespan Information System Design: A Research Initiative for the HCI Community" Batya Friedman and Lisa P. Nathan discuss problems that are very unlikely to be solved within the lifespan of just one generation. For those a multi-lifespan system design is needed.

Problems could be for example - limitations of the human psyche - limitations of the structure of society (e.g. limitations of childbirth in Chinese families) One element of multi-lifespan systems is the preservation of knowledge! As the people responsible change, it is very important to document goals and detailed information about the problem and the anticipated solution. 3 dimensions of information design - what communications and activities are recorded - how and by whom they can be accessed - relevance and visibility of the recordings It is important that information does not get lost, but in case of traumatic events it is also important to allow some healing for the people involved. (record information but release it only after 20 years? How visible should the information be?) Challenges - Conditions are very likely to change during the implementation of the solutions > embed processes for adaption along core commitments that ensure the long-term goals stay the same - people who are responsible for the project will change and information has to be passed on - motivation can be a problem, as it will not always be possible to see progress or improvement within one individual's lifespan > the interaction design should help to make small progress visible

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[...] any media experience that engages the user sufficiently can leverage aura.

Image: Blair MacIntyre

In their paper "Presence and the Aura of Meaningful Places" Blair MacIntyre, Jay David Bolter and Maribeth Gandy define aura.

Aura

> personal and cultural significance of a places or objects.

Personal significance > individual associations someone has to places or objects Cultural significance > known history of place or object defines the shared interpretation of it > cultural significance is still dependent on the individuals concept of the world.

> Experience at a place with aura, makes the user experience that same aura. "Media technologies do not themselves possess aura in the mind of the user; the aura belongs to the object or place."

By increasing the knowledge of the user about the place, media can increase the place's aura, but not its own. But then again the places aura is transported when the media is used and therefore intertwined with the medium. Accuracy or how realistic the medium is, does not determine the transported aura - the knowledge and mindset of the user does. Therefore old, less sophisticated technologies may evoke greater aura. If the user is sufficiently engaged the medium can leverage the aura.

"The “poor” quality of the photo contributes to the sense of aura."

"Marsh argues, and we agree, that new media experience designers can draw on the techniques of filmmakers (and other media) to engage the emotions of the user."

Aura and presence are not the same.

Presence relates to originality in digital environments, aura relates to originality in physical environments. Presence

"VE researchers have used the term to describe the mental state of the user in response to being immersed in a virtual application."

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This work conceptually combines traditional physical rituals and modern photographic activities, also integrating this concept with interactive technologies formaking a new Japanese ritual surrounding death.

image: ThanatoFenestra Prototype

In the paper "ThanatoFenestra: photographic family altar supporting a ritual to pray for the deceased" present their project “ThanatoFenestra" as a family altar derived from Buddhist traditions in combination with digital technology. "Even now, in the author’s parents’ house, there is a superb Buddhist family altar, in front of which they can pray for their passed family members without visiting the gravesite." Buddhist Altar in the home > keep the departed's spirit close to the family life > provides spiritual support > place to perform rituals ThanatoFenestra Projects selected and uploaded photos on a display. The display frame holds also a candle and aroma oil, that is burned by the candle (to cleanse the spirits). The temperature of the tray controls which photos are shown. Photos also flicker with the flame of the candle controlled by light sensors. When the candle is put out, all photos run through in a fast slideshow until they disappear completely.

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One of the key challenges [...] was in constructing respectful interactions that were appropriate to the nature of the [...] site. Our approach was characterised as ‘low impact’ in that we [...] did not foreground a digitally ‘augmented’ visit to the site, but rather, quietly [added] a digital layer.

image: Pervasive Monuments deployment in Slovenia

In the paper "Spomenik: Augmenting Memorials in the Woods" David S. Kirk, Stuart Reeves and Abigail Durrant report on their development of a digital addition to a memorial in a remote Slovenian  wood to make it more accessible and enhance the experience of the visitor on site.

They designed a simple interactive site-specific audio-guide for a specific memorial (Jama pod Macesnovo Gorico). Key constraints - no internet connection, just phone network as it was a very remote site - link the physical site to wider communities For the audio guide they used Tropo (cloud API storage for telephone recordings) to generate a phone based audio guide that provides interactive access to narratives about what happened in the woods. Signs at the site mark the memorial area and provide instructions and the telephone number to connect to the recorded content. After the experience visitors can record their own statement which is made available on the memorial's website Participants did not feel the audio guide isolated them, but saw the benefits of the low-tech interaction and the shared an experience although it was perceived as an individual experience.

"A central feature of the prototype design is in connecting the physical and the digital, and the remote and the local."

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Elements to inspire the prototype of my personal digital memorial

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... however, we found that people like to keep their photographs. Therefore, we focused on positive selection, which emphasizes the favourite photographs without deleting any photographs.

image: "Pearl"

In this paper "Pearl: living media enabled by interactive photo projection" Martijn Jansen, Elise van den Hoven and David Frohlich experiment with ways to cope with overwhelming photo selections.

People simply enjoy taking photos, even if they know they are taking too many. This leads to massive amounts of photos that are very difficult to organise. But large amounts are not suitable for sharing, so in order to make the photo collection approachable the living memory concept uses positive selection, which is the identification of favorite pictures to increase their visibility and availability.

Living Media implements positive selection of photographs based on user actions. Photographs that are used often will stay alive, forgotten photographs will slowly fade to black. Using/looking at a faded photo will revive the photo just like it revives your memory.

The projecting device "Pearl" that projects photo collages in the living room, allows users to keep a central photo for a longer time, while other 5 photos are refreshed more often. Interaction with the collage influences what photos are shown more frequently. There is also a browser view to select photos. Participants appreciate the automation but want to have final control over the selection. Participants did not like to se the faded photos in their collages.

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"... memory itself cannot be stored, because the memory is recreated by its owner. In order to help people reconstruct memories, cues can be used. A cue is a stimulus that can help someone to retrieve information from memory..."

image: Cueb

In their paper "Facilitating parent-teenager communication through interactive photo cubes" Connie Golsteijn and Elise van den Hoven designed a prototype "Cueb" that facilitates storytelling between parents and teenagers. The cube functionalities lead to more exchange than traditional photo media. Each family member has his own cube with photos on six sides. When combined with other member's cubes, it shows common experiences. When a photo is locked (pressed inside) it produces more photos of the same topic. You can share photos between cubes by holding two sides together. If you shake the cube it shows another set of photos. Shaking worked good as a means of keeping the conversation going and moving on to the next thing. In general participants found the interactive character more interesting than traditional photos and it made it easy to talk about past events.

This study confirmed the findings by (Frohlich, Kuchinsky, Pering, Don, & Ariss, 2002) who pointed out that storytelling (asymmetrical communication from sender(s) to audience) with photos, occurred only when photos are shown to people who were not part of the experience. If photos are shown to people who were part of the experience, they do reminiscing talk (recalling details together and reflection on the photo and the people's appearance) This is a symmetrical communication between the participants. Leaving the actual story untold is a way of demonstrating mutual understanding and community.

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"... people’s interactions with digital content may not come with a specific, explicit, or even clear goal; but may be simply to enjoy, to consume, to reminisce, to explore, etc."

image: Tuck Leong

In their paper "Abdicating choice: the rewards of letting go" Tuck Leong, Frank Vetere and Steve Howard tested randomization of content as an alternative to selection when faced with overwhelming amounts of data.

If people have to choose this comes with emotional discomfort and personal dissatisfaction.    There are usecases (here listening to music from an iPod) where people are not sure what they are looking for - so precise search mechanisms don't help much.    > Therefore people might prefer to leave the choice to the system 

intelligent agent

profiling the user to offer recommendations 

random algorithm 

> serendipity surprise element leads to more intense listening >  frees the listener from his habits > opens up room for interpretation of connections and meaning    > defamiliarisation tear content apart from habitual recognition makes it appear fresh and enables a new original experience > "semantic shift" > memories or associations are still there but can be newly connected    > Design not for efficiency but for pleasurable, fulfilling experiences    Randomization could as well be perceived as annoying or unpleasant > depends on the material that is being shuffled and the User's individual preferences and context of use

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We [...] intended to create a design artifact, which had a form that did not demand attention from its owner(s) nor require active participation to enact its function.

The paper "Photobox: On the Design of a Slow Technology" by William Odom, Mark Selby, Abigail Sellen, David Kirk, Richard Banks and Tim Regan describes a device intended to be used over many years, which occasionally prints a randomly selected photo from the owner’s Flickr collection inside of a wooden chest."

"While very recent work has begun to explore how values underlying efficient life/task management might be inverted to support moments of slowness in end-user devices [e.g., 8], tools to support interaction designers in creating such slow technology applications remain conspicuously absent."

Long term experiment slow use has to be observed over a longer period of time to detect usage patterns and pros and cons Design decisions > wooden chest: Wood can transport a notion of durability > printed photos: building on socio-cultural associations of enduring artefacts

Photo discovery without prior selection Photobox prints a random flickr-Photo and that stays in the box until it is discovered - no input from the owner > contradicts the always on quality people get used to in digital devices

"We could have curated a special selection of photos from a person’s collection to appear in their Photobox over time. However, we selected randomness to introduce an unfamiliar and potentially disruptive machine behavior."

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SocialSafe to download and display your social media accounts

"SocialSafe is a Mac/Windows app built using Adobe Air, which lets users download and back up their content from social media accounts, with support for Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Viadeo and a few more. The resulting archive is then searchable or can be browsed via a handy calendar view." You can sync data from up to 20 social media accounts with their meta data (paid version) and get statistics about your most popular content and most active contacts and so on. Opposed to e.g. Facebook's own download feature SocialSafe keeps links, comments and likes from posts that are saved. Also posts are treated as items not as one giant stream of texts and meta info. Events and adds are missing in this archive which you would be able to keep with Facebook's download feature. The downloaded content is packed up into the SocialSafe Software which provides useful search options and a lot of other features like curated collections that can be turned into local folders or pdf. files. This is a nice idea as you can easily craft booklets about curated social media content or about certain periods of time in all your connected accounts. It is also possible to export accounts. The exported data is a database were authors and contacts are coded but messages, links and meta data are listed in a spreadsheet. Photos are sorted into folders (albums from eg. Facebook are kept together) but they loose their meta data.