Index of /intel-research/exploratory
The Meaning of Place
technological imagination and human experience
http:/ / www. intel. com/ research/ exploratory/ papr/ meaning_of_place-forum. htm
forum and workshops
September 9 and 10, 2003
organized by
People and Practices Research Lab (PAPR)
Intel Research
WELCOME!
Forum Agenda
12:30
Welcoming
Remarks
Scott Mainwaring, PAPR
1:00
Opening
Keynote
Joe McCarthy, Int el Research Seat t le
Sit uat ed Comput ing: Technol ogy in Pl ace(s)
2:00
Break
2:30
Roundtable
Discussion
5:45
Forum Adj ourns
John Sherry, PAPR, moderat or
Gaetano Boriello, IR Seat t le & U Washingt on
Paul Dourish, UC Irvine
Mimi Ito, USC
Jamy Sheridan, Maryland Inst it ut e College of Art
Nina Wakeford, U Surrey
Barry Wellman, U Toront o
About Your Hosts
Intel Research
• Long-t erm research int o emerging
and disrupt ive t echnologies,
cent ered on a vision of ubiquit ous,
proact ive comput ing
• Port f olio of st rat egic research
proj ect s, collaborat ive universit y
labs, academic research grant s,
and PAPR
People and Practices Research
• Holist ic st udies of t echnology use
(and non-use) in real-world
set t ings t o inf orm and inspire
f ut ure designs and st rat egies
• Mult i-disciplinary t eam of
ant hropologist s, psychologist s,
int eract ion designers, and
engineers
Studying People, Practices, and Places
Product ion Environment s
Shared Comput ing Cent ers
Non-Of f ice Workplaces
Homes and Care Cent ers
Defining Place
A place is a space which is invest ed wit h
underst andings of behavioural appropriat eness,
cult ural expect at ions, and so f ort h. We are
l ocat ed in “ space, ” but we act in “ place. ”
Harrison & Dourish, 1996
• Place is a spat ial/ social concept – a point of
cont act bet ween physics and cult ure
• Root ed in everyday experience, of t en t aken f or
grant ed
• Of t en used met aphorically, t hough most of our
f ocus t oday and t omorrow is on lit eral, t angible
places
Technology and Place?
• Should t echnologist s care about place?
Why? How?
– Conversely, should makers, caret akers, and
users of place care about t echnology?
• How t o t hink about place wit h respect t o
t echnology?
– Place as inf rast ruct ure
– Place as habit at
– Place as creat ion
– Place as overhead
Place as Infrastructure
• Places of f er pre-exist ing collect ions of
resources t hat t echnologies can use
– To f ind users and t arget services
– To embed devices and ground augment at ions
– To serve as met aphors
– To leverage exist ing pract ices, laws,
percept ions
Place as Habitat
• Places are living syst ems whose
healt h is impact ed by t echnologies
– Nat ural habit at monit oring and management
– Sust ainabilit y – economic and ecological
– E-government and communit y net working
– Many crit iques, regarding surveillance,
privacy, isolat ion, dist ract ion, division
Place as Creation
• Places are expressions of design or
cult ure, made wit h t echnologies as
mat erials or t ools
– Places as cult ural st at ement s, vessels f or
emot ion and meaning
– Prof essional and vernacular place-makers
– Act s of creat ion, and re-creat ion
– Sense of place vs. placelessness
Place as Overhead
• Places impose barriers and const raint s on
f lows of people, t hings, and inf ormat ion
f or t echnology t o overcome
– Dist ance and ot her physical barriers
– Local, idiosyncrat ic pract ices as challenges t o
st andardizat ion, rat ionalizat ion, globalizat ion
– Challenges t o ubiquit ous adopt ion
Goals for the Forum and Workshops
• To bet t er underst and “ place” and it s relat ions t o
t echnology f rom a variet y of dif f erent disciplines
and perspect ives
• To begin a process of cross-pollinat ion t hrough
int erdisciplinary discussion
• To ident if y direct ions f or f ut ure research and
collaborat ion
technological imagination and human experience
http:/ / www. intel. com/ research/ exploratory/ papr/ meaning_of_place-forum. htm
forum and workshops
September 9 and 10, 2003
organized by
People and Practices Research Lab (PAPR)
Intel Research
WELCOME!
Forum Agenda
12:30
Welcoming
Remarks
Scott Mainwaring, PAPR
1:00
Opening
Keynote
Joe McCarthy, Int el Research Seat t le
Sit uat ed Comput ing: Technol ogy in Pl ace(s)
2:00
Break
2:30
Roundtable
Discussion
5:45
Forum Adj ourns
John Sherry, PAPR, moderat or
Gaetano Boriello, IR Seat t le & U Washingt on
Paul Dourish, UC Irvine
Mimi Ito, USC
Jamy Sheridan, Maryland Inst it ut e College of Art
Nina Wakeford, U Surrey
Barry Wellman, U Toront o
About Your Hosts
Intel Research
• Long-t erm research int o emerging
and disrupt ive t echnologies,
cent ered on a vision of ubiquit ous,
proact ive comput ing
• Port f olio of st rat egic research
proj ect s, collaborat ive universit y
labs, academic research grant s,
and PAPR
People and Practices Research
• Holist ic st udies of t echnology use
(and non-use) in real-world
set t ings t o inf orm and inspire
f ut ure designs and st rat egies
• Mult i-disciplinary t eam of
ant hropologist s, psychologist s,
int eract ion designers, and
engineers
Studying People, Practices, and Places
Product ion Environment s
Shared Comput ing Cent ers
Non-Of f ice Workplaces
Homes and Care Cent ers
Defining Place
A place is a space which is invest ed wit h
underst andings of behavioural appropriat eness,
cult ural expect at ions, and so f ort h. We are
l ocat ed in “ space, ” but we act in “ place. ”
Harrison & Dourish, 1996
• Place is a spat ial/ social concept – a point of
cont act bet ween physics and cult ure
• Root ed in everyday experience, of t en t aken f or
grant ed
• Of t en used met aphorically, t hough most of our
f ocus t oday and t omorrow is on lit eral, t angible
places
Technology and Place?
• Should t echnologist s care about place?
Why? How?
– Conversely, should makers, caret akers, and
users of place care about t echnology?
• How t o t hink about place wit h respect t o
t echnology?
– Place as inf rast ruct ure
– Place as habit at
– Place as creat ion
– Place as overhead
Place as Infrastructure
• Places of f er pre-exist ing collect ions of
resources t hat t echnologies can use
– To f ind users and t arget services
– To embed devices and ground augment at ions
– To serve as met aphors
– To leverage exist ing pract ices, laws,
percept ions
Place as Habitat
• Places are living syst ems whose
healt h is impact ed by t echnologies
– Nat ural habit at monit oring and management
– Sust ainabilit y – economic and ecological
– E-government and communit y net working
– Many crit iques, regarding surveillance,
privacy, isolat ion, dist ract ion, division
Place as Creation
• Places are expressions of design or
cult ure, made wit h t echnologies as
mat erials or t ools
– Places as cult ural st at ement s, vessels f or
emot ion and meaning
– Prof essional and vernacular place-makers
– Act s of creat ion, and re-creat ion
– Sense of place vs. placelessness
Place as Overhead
• Places impose barriers and const raint s on
f lows of people, t hings, and inf ormat ion
f or t echnology t o overcome
– Dist ance and ot her physical barriers
– Local, idiosyncrat ic pract ices as challenges t o
st andardizat ion, rat ionalizat ion, globalizat ion
– Challenges t o ubiquit ous adopt ion
Goals for the Forum and Workshops
• To bet t er underst and “ place” and it s relat ions t o
t echnology f rom a variet y of dif f erent disciplines
and perspect ives
• To begin a process of cross-pollinat ion t hrough
int erdisciplinary discussion
• To ident if y direct ions f or f ut ure research and
collaborat ion