This research will study ways in which several collocated devices may be enabled to work together as a system and take advantage of the unique characteristics of collocation. Specifically, the research seeks to explore and evaluate the use of embodied mobile agents (EMAs) -- animated agents that can transfer seamlessly among different devices -- as one potential solution to the problem of multi-device interaction. The move in many societies toward individuals using multiple networked computational devices -- workstations, notebooks computers, mobile phones, PDAs -- radically changes the ways in which people engage those devices. However, we lack interaction paradigms that support a coherent experience across these technologies and enable them to work as systems of collocated devices. Therefore, this research will develop technological and interactional solutions that promote learning, engagement, accessibility and collaboration across heterogeneous networks of collocated computational devices.
This work will integrate and build on previous research in a variety of research fields including autonomous agents, human computer interaction, computer graphics, mobile computing, computer supported learning, and other areas. By expanding on these domains, the research will advance the state of the art in understanding how people can work simultaneously with multiple devices. By developing theoretical and practical foundations for collocated device systems, this research lays the groundwork for many new kinds of multi-device interactions. And by rigorously evaluating specific implementations, the research will help pave the way for wider-scale adoption of collocated device systems.
This research effort is closely coupled with two educational programs: a series of informal science education museum exhibits based on a system of collocated devices, and an interdisciplinary educational effort at the University of California, Irvine. The museum exhibits are being designed in collaboration with ecologists, educators and science centers around the country to help 8-12 year old children learn about restoration ecology. The educational work at the university involves the engagement of students from several departments in collaborative research projects and the design of several new courses. The integration of computer science and applied fields will help make the research more relevant to the interests of female students.
Systems of collocated devices enabled by this research could be applied to numerous areas including collaborative work settings, educational exhibits, and new entertainment media. By producing innovative research, by developing a publicly available interactive educational tool, and by building partnerships both within the university and to the external community, this project will provide significant benefits to society.
PI Tomlinson received this award to support research integrating multi-agent systems and human-computer interaction as a way of helping collocated devices work together more seamlessly. During the first three years, this research yielded a number of significant research results in this domain, including the following highlights: A set of animation techniques for visualizing the transfer of information between two nearby computing devices (e.g., a tablet and a laptop computer). A conceptual framework for building richly connected systems of collocated devices, include multiple channels of real and apparent connectivity among devices: for example, multiple kinds of data networking, cross-device graphics and sound, and embodied mobile agents that inhabit the multi-device system. An implemented participatory simulation to support informal education about restoration ecology and environmental sustainability. As the research progressed, the sustainability aspects of the research, which had originally been part of the educational outreach aspects of the grant, became more salient, due to a growing global focus on the environmental challenges facing humanity. At the end of the third year, Tomlinson applied for and was granted a "change of scope" for this grant, with the goal of providing deeper insight into the role of multi-device systems and other technologies in sustainable human communities. Adjusting the focus of this grant for its last two years allowed the PI to direct his group's efforts toward the topics that emerged during the first three years as having the most intellectual merit and the broadest societal impacts. The PI's book, "Greening through IT" (MIT Press, 2010), highlighted the group's early results in this area, including multi-device systems designed to support restoration ecology education and IT resource sharing. The core argument of the book is based on the fact that environmental concerns such as global climate change occur over long time periods, large distances, and vast scales of complexity. Unassisted, humans are not well equipped to deal with problems on such broad scales. Throughout history, technological innovations have enabled human cultures to engage with broader suites of problems than we would otherwise be able to address. In particular, information technology (IT) involves tools and techniques for dealing with vast bodies of information across wide ranges of time, space, and complexity, and is thus well suited for addressing environmental concerns. Since the publication of "Greening through IT," the team has pursued several ongoing research efforts relating to sustainability and information technology. Specific projects in this domain include: An analysis of the role that the software engineering discipline could play in supporting sustainability across many different sectors of society. An online system designed to guide users through the process of creating a viable ecosystem for long-term food production in their back yard. An examination of the complex relationship between efficiency and sustainability in the IT sector. In addition to the intellectual merit in the various publications the team has produced, we hope that our research into the relationship between sustainability and information technology will have significant broader impacts in the long term by supporting efforts to design systems, using modern IT tools and techniques, that can support sustainable ways of living. Over its duration, this grant has directly supported research by one professor, one postdoctoral researcher, six PhD students, seven MS students, and more than two dozen undergraduate researchers. Indirectly, it has enabled work by at least five professors and several dozen students and other researchers who co-authored papers supported by this grant. Note: portions of the above text have been adapted from several publications funded by this grant.
