Keynote speaker

Kenton O'Hara, Microsoft Research, Cambridge

   Kenton O’Hara is Senior Researcher in the Socio Digital Systems Group at Microsoft Research in Cambridge and Visiting Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Bristol where he is interested in body-based interaction, brain computer interaction and crowd computer interaction. His research explores everyday practices and social behaviours relating to mobile and ubiquitous computing and digital displays in public spaces. He has looked at a wide range of technologies applications in public settings, including crowd based games with large displays, location based experiences with barcode readers, mediascape authoring, cross media alternate reality games, interactive tabletops and collaborative jukeboxes.

   Kenton has authored 80 publications and two books on and public displays and collaborative music consumption. He has previously worked at at CSIRO in Australia as Director of the HxI Initiative, HP Labs, Rank Xerox EuroPARC and the Appliance Studio.

Abstract: Social Context and Interaction Proxemics in Pervasive Displays

Accompanying the growth of pervasive display systems within our environment is the interesting challenge of how we can interact with them in novel and appropriate ways. Multi touch surfaces, camera-based tracking systems, proximity sensors, barcode readers on mobile phones are to name but a few, with many more novel interaction possibilities emerging from the field. All of these interaction mechanisms have specific properties in terms of the ways they enable people to configure themselves with respect to the displays and to each other. This in turn relates to the ways that social action and behavioural practices are organised by particular communities of practice in different settings where pervasive displays are situated. Drawing on Hall’s notion of proxemics – the cultural and behavioural aspects of man’s use of space – we can think more specifically about the idea of an interaction proxemics – the social and spatial configuration of behaviour in relation to particular forms of interaction in different settings. To illustrate and develop these ideas I will explore examples of public and situated displays used in a range of different settings by particular communities of practice, including urban spaces, hospitals and the home.

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