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Technology

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Emotions and Mobile Phones

In this somewhat dated article Amparo Lasen demonstrates how mobile phones are affective technologies - that is, objects which mediate the expression and exchange of feelings and emotions.

Mobility is part of the original sense of the notion of emotion as it refers to agitated motion, mental agitation or feelings of mental agitation. Emotions are those mental states called "passions" in the past. An important feature of the affects depicted by the category of passions is the idea that they entail ways of being acted upon, of being moved by other beings, objects, events, and situations. Nowadays people are moved and acted upon by their mobile phones. Mobile phone uses are the result of a shared agency. Competences and performances are distributed between people and devices. People and their mobile phones constitute a particular example of the assemblies between the human and non-human, as described by Bruno Latour. The assembly 'me and my mobile phone' is constituted in situated practices where other actants -groups, individuals, objects and spaces- are involved.

Mobile phones have become affective technologies. That is, objects which mediate the expression, display, experience and communication of feelings and emotions. Users enjoy an affective relationship with their phones and feel attached to them. This is partly due to the intrinsic affective character of human communication, and also because mobile phones are close to the body. They are an extension of the human body at the same time that they extend and augment its abilities. Emotional attachment is enacted in the personalisation of handheld devices and services. Mobile phones are not only an extension of the owner's presence, but they also allow the virtual presence of those linked to us by phone communication. Thus, they become an important element in the building and maintaining of groups and communities.

Great insight into the social factors affecting the shape of mobile devices.

Download the .pdf

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What does it take to come up with a winning mobile phone?

Jung Younghee

One of the things that I appreciate about Nokia is how they provide access to their leading thinkers and researchers, and the results of their work. They are so successful at sharing insight that I've come to think of them more as a company that does research into mobile, than a company that produces amazing product. A counterpoint is of course Apple, recently repositioned as a mobile products company, who outside of marketing language keeps research that may have informed any design a tightly held secret. You never hear the designers on Apples team talk about their ideas nor outside of Jonathan Ive is it commonly known who they even are.

In a recent interview with Malaysian journalist Iswan Ismail, Nikki Barton, Jung Younghee and Robert Williams, three of Nokia's top designers, described what it takes to come up with a winning mobile phone.

Nikki Barton, head of digital design at Nokia Design Studio:

... good design delivers the goods that are not only pretty to look at, but also work the way people want them to. She says a good design also should let people interact and use their device easily.

At Nokia, the motto is Look, then design ...

"As all the models must be user-friendly, designers often spend hours observing how people all over the world use and interact with their phones. They then bring back their new insights to the studios."

Jung Younghee, research leader at Nokia Research Center:

... her work as a phone designer is mostly about forecasting future trends, focusing on people. "People's behaviour and motivation change slower than technology, but simultaneously guide its development,"

"The challenge is in coming up with better ways of how we can involve people in our design process, which is essential to the quality of what we deliver" ...

"Being connected is still the most important feature, but the definition of what 'being connected' means is changing. The mobile phone has become the digital device that people don't leave home without. They want the phone to suit their lifestyle, whether it be expressing their personal style or customising the ways in which they want to be connected."

Robert Williams, Design Manager:

"But I have come to realise that you can't depend solely on your experiences. You need to understand people and what makes them tick,"

... good design always keeps the user's needs central. "A good design is something that solves a problem simply" ...

From Phone designs that deliver.

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Andy Rubin: The Future of Mobile

It's only been a couple years since I originally linked to this piece by Andy Rubin and while good thinking is always worth repeating, it's interesting to see how much of his vision, given the frenetic pace of mobile development, is already coming true.

Here is part of what he wrote in 2008:

Project out these trends another ten years. You will be carrying with you, 24x7 (a recent study of Chinese mobile customers showed that the majority of them sleep within a meter of their phones), a very powerful, always connected, sensor-rich device. And the cool thing is, so will everyone else. So what are you going to do with it that you aren't doing now? Here are some possibilities:

Smart alerts: Your phone will be smart about your situation and alert you when something needs your attention.

Augmented reality: Your phone uses its arsenal of sensors to understand your situation and provide you information that might be useful.

Crowd sourcing goes mainstream: Your phone is your omnipresent microphone to the world, a way to publish pictures, emails, texts, Twitters, and blog entries. When everyone else is doing the same, you have a world where people from every corner of the planet are covering their experiences in real-time.

Sensors everywhere: Your phone knows a lot about the world around you. If you take that intelligence and combine it in the cloud with that of every other phone, we have an incredible snapshot of what is going on in the world right now.

Tool for development: Your phone may be more than just a convenience, it may be your livelihood. Already, this is true for people in many parts of the world: in southern India, fishermen use text messaging to find the best markets for their daily catch ...

The future-proof device: Your phone will open up, as the Internet already has, so it will be easy for developers to create or improve applications and content

Safer software through trust and verification: Your phone will provide tools and information to empower you to decide what to download, what to see, and what to share.

While I believe that hardware as the dominant feature is dead, I can't yet imagine a future where manufacturers design products that are future proof beyond the normal 2yr mobile contract cycle - nor do I share his enthusiasm for auto-approved software updates.

The future of mobile

Also: I, Robot: The Man Behind the Google Phone and Designing Products Your Customers' Customers Will Love.

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The Effects Of Mobile Telephones On Social And Individual Life

Yes it's an old study but it's full of wonderful insight which is still relevant today. A few excerpts:

Whatever it is called, and wherever it is used, this simple, accessible technology alters the way in which individuals conduct their everyday lives. It has extensive implications for the cultures and societies in which it is used; it changes the nature of communication, and affects identities and relationships. It affects the development of social structures and economic activities, and has considerable bearing on its users' perceptions of themselves and their world.

The telephone has always been important to the lovelorn and the lustful, but the personal nature of the mobile changes the nature of the roles it plays, dispensing with the old necessity to sit by the phone and wait for it to ring, but adding to the significance of exchanging numbers and making calls.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, one of the earliest uses of the word 'mobile' was in association with the Latin phrase mobile vulgus, the excitable crowd. Today's mobile lives up to these origins: the mobile introduces new senses of speed and connectivity to social life, establishing new kinds of relationships between individuals and with the urban crowd. In this respect, the mobile can facilitate the emergence of a new private world, a virtual community which can be pulled together in a matter of moments.

on the mobile
the effects of mobile telephones
on social and individual life
Dr Sadie Plant

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The Time Has Come

"Join us" -- umm no but though the aural message and visual don't match I do love the production values of this viral piece. I kept expecting our quiet hero to brandish a weapon but thankfully she didn't.

The phone is question is the Else mobile which seems to have positioned itself as the Nokia 7110 (or the Samsung SPH-N270), aka Matrix phone, for the iPhone generation.

More: Emblaze's First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer and First ELSE mobile phone - First Look review.

ELSE Mobile

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A compendium of commentary on the iPad

While I am interested in new devices that hope to improve our interaction with data or more grandly hope to improve our lives, in the case of the recent announcment of Apples iPad I am still finding the online reaction as fascinating as the device itself.

The following is a selection of some of the more reasoned opinion on the iPad I have read recently.

Design-centric Thoughts on Apple's iPad

The iPad is not a laptop nor is it a smart phone. It is a couch device, a bedroom device (don't read that the wrong way), and a kitchen device (swivel it to cook from a recipe you find online). In all these places, a laptop always felt wrong. The iPad is optimized for media consumption: surfing the Web, reading blogs/news/books, watching TV shows, playing casual games, listening to music, managing personal productivity (calendar, contacts) and looking at photos.

Now some might note that the modern Web is as much about creation as it is about consumption and that people are no longer just consumers of media -they are participants in the conversation. While this is increasingly true, the vast majority of time spent online is still focused on consumption. And a lot of creation remains lightweight (commenting, rating, status updates) -which the iPad easily supports.

Continue reading >>

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iPad for Information Management

Last time there was this much excitement about a tablet, it had some commandments written on it. - wsj

Even if you tried you probably couldn't escape the din of prophesying over what would comprise yesterdays launch of Apple's iPad. Like with many well executed product launches there are strong feelings for and against what has been revealed. I'm more interested in what it can and could do than can't or won't.

Without actually trying one, here are a couple uses, beyond what could be the best vessel for a web browser and mail client I have ever seen, which I am most excited about seeing develop.

This device is going to be amazing as a device to use with families with kids.

Apple seems to be the only one creating interfaces for mobile devices that anyone can use and enjoy using. And no file systems to deal with -- all files are contained within the apps themselves. I can't wait for more rich reading experiences and art/paint apps.

It looks like an amazing device for reading, editing and curating content (information management).

I read, edit, and share content for hours every day and having a bit of freedom as to where I can perform this function will be liberating. Not to mention the fact that the iPhone OS UI brings with it all kinds of innovations -- there is a physicality to manipulating data views on screen; an immediacy. The iPad will be a much more intimate experience. Yes it's very much like an iPhone but with the increase in resolution of the display comes longer or richer usage.

Some people have pointed out that netbooks do more for less. I love netbooks for their portability (and price point) but no one buys a netbook for their usability. The software sucks and the hardware is slow.

I could see myself using the iPad for half of what I do everyday.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this product launch has been the chorus of negative commentary. David Pogue sums up this phenomenon well:

Now Phase 2 can begin: the bashing by the bloggers who've never even tried it: "No physical keyboard!" "No removable battery!" "Way too expensive!" "Doesn't multitask!" "No memory-card slot!"

That will last until the iPad actually goes on sale in April. Then, if history is any guide, Phase 3 will begin: positive reviews, people lining up to buy the thing, and the mysterious disappearance of the basher-bloggers.

As does @Cabel:

Internet Commenters are great at pointing out the 2 or 3 things a device doesn't do, but very bad at recognizing what it _does_ do.

My experience tells me that a device/product that attempts to appeal to everyone ends up being a failure to many and a success to few (hello Nokia Nseries).

I can't wait to see what people design for this device and like the iPod before it, the changes it might bring forth culturally.

Worth reading elsewhere:
The iPad Big Picture
The Apple iPad: First Impressions
Apple's iPad Will Revolutionize The Way We Travel
I don't see myself using the iPad for travel, at least not in the same manner I use an iPhone, it's too large and conspicuous to use on the street.

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NTT DoCoMo Mobile Future

I remember watching this particular video when I was in grad. school, we chuckled then but the humor seems to be lost on me now. Interesting ideas but with the future arriving in April we don't have much time. Will we make it?

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Hong Kong iPhone Orchestra

Samson Young's iPhone orchestra performed on January 3rd, 2010 at the Pavilion in Hong Kong as part of the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-city Biennal of Urbanism\Architecture. It's a fine example of the possibilities of mobile music in general and the iPhone in particular.

The video is an excerpt of that performance and shows Young leading the first-time musicians through a music score comprised of a 12x10 matrix. Each box of the matrix corresponded to a box on the music software on their iPhone. The iPhone applications used were Melodica, Nlog, Kalimba and Satori.

The barriers to entry for creating music have fallen yet again.

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New input interface for mobile

This new input interface by Tokyo University can capture the in-air movement of fingertips. Is this the logical evolution of mobile interfaces after multi-touch?

As you can see in Nintend Wii and iPods, more devices are adopting intuitive interfaces like touchpanels and motion capturing today. These devices make it much easier for people to use otherwise complex devices.

A device developed by Tokyo University team seems to go a step ahead of existing devices. It can translate in-air movements of fingers to computer command, which enables you to use portable devices without even a touch.

Via Gigazine.

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