(N.B. This is the study blog for the course Theory and Method for Media Technology. More detailed information regarding the theme as well as the course is available on the course page [1].)
Section 1
In this blog, I will firstly try to answer five questions regarding the Paper by Réhman, S., Sun, J., Liu, L., & Li, H. (2008). Turn Your Mobile Into the Ball: Rendering Live Football Game Using Vibration [2]. IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, 10(6), 1022-1033
How can media technologies be evaluated?
The media technologies can be evaluated from two perspectives, i.e. quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. For example in the study paper above, media technologies are reviewed through discussions on previous research results, such as the discussion on mobile phones at the beginning of the paper. “MOBILE phones are becoming part of everyday life and their prevalence makes them ideal not only for communication but also for entertainment and games. For example, with the rapid growth of 2.5G and 3G mobile networks and DVB-H, we have a new option to enjoy a football game: watching it on mobile phones. Different from traditional means, such as watching football on TV, mobile TV services are rather hungry for power.” It shows that quantitative analysis aims to discuss how the technology is, while qualitative analysis focuses more what is new for the technology.
What role will prototypes play in research?
Prototypes play the role as demonstrator and validator in research. In other words, on one hand prototypes are used to illustrate the key concept or demonstrate the main idea proposed in the research. On the other hand, prototypes are useful to validate the research proposed technology.
Why could it be necessary to develop a proof of concept prototype?
Developing a proof of concept prototype will contribute to explain the research proposal and turn the concept into a real model for readers to better understand. Meanwhile, through prototypes, it is able to test the feasibility. Additionally, the technology performance can also be able to be tested via prototypes.
What are characteristics and limitations of prototypes?
As mentioned earlier, the characteristics of prototypes lie in its demonstration and validation function. The limitations of prototypes can also be found in behind of these functions. As prototypes aim to develop of concept prototype, it is quite common that prototypes are developed in a lab environment instead of real scenario. This also makes the functions demonstrated by prototypes limited in real life. Also, even though the prototypes is developed for demonstration, its demonstrated function is still quite limited due to various reasons.
How can design research be communicated/presented?
The design research can be communicated/presented via technical documents, such as academic paper, project report or conference presentation. Also, it is important to use prototypes to present the research technology and main findings.
Section 2
Then, two papers are suggested to read for the second lecture on Friday with Ylva Fernaeus, which are Finding design qualities in a tangible programming space - Fernaeus & Tholander [3], and Differentiated Driving Range - Lundström [4]. And there are another five questions raised with regard to the two papers as below. I will answer and discuss some of them in this blog.
Can
practical design work in itself be considered a 'knowledge contribution'?
Yes, because practical design work in itself also creates new knowledge to the research field. Meantime, it is also quite common to see that new technology has been used practical design work. This can be seen as another way for its knowledge contribution.
Are there any differences in design intentions within a research project, compared to design in general?
Yes, there are. The design intention is often much clearer within a research project, compared to design in general. When design in general, there is no clear guidelines for the intended design results. While within a research project, what is expected is always explicit for design.
Is research in tech domains such as these ever replicable? How may we account for aspects such as time/historical setting, skills of the designers, available tools, etc?
Yes, research in tech domains is replicable. Replication indicates the research results are valid. If the research is not replicable, then the research itself might be problematic. For the aspects of the research, we may account for them based on a general setting with explicit explanation of every step to enable the research replicable for others. In other words, no particular setting, skills or tools should be required for research in tech domains.
Yes, because practical design work in itself also creates new knowledge to the research field. Meantime, it is also quite common to see that new technology has been used practical design work. This can be seen as another way for its knowledge contribution.
Are there any differences in design intentions within a research project, compared to design in general?
Yes, there are. The design intention is often much clearer within a research project, compared to design in general. When design in general, there is no clear guidelines for the intended design results. While within a research project, what is expected is always explicit for design.
Is research in tech domains such as these ever replicable? How may we account for aspects such as time/historical setting, skills of the designers, available tools, etc?
Yes, research in tech domains is replicable. Replication indicates the research results are valid. If the research is not replicable, then the research itself might be problematic. For the aspects of the research, we may account for them based on a general setting with explicit explanation of every step to enable the research replicable for others. In other words, no particular setting, skills or tools should be required for research in tech domains.
Those are all for today’s blog. Thanks for reading. Your valuable comments are welcome. Please let me know if you find anything interesting or want to have a further discussion. I am looking forward to more discussions in seminar with you all.
Sources:
[1] https://www.kth.se/social/course/DM2572/page/theme-5-design-research-2/
[2] Réhman, S. U., Sun, J., Liu, L., & Li, H. (2008). Turn your mobile into the ball: rendering live football game using vibration. Multimedia, IEEE Transactions on,10(6), 1022-1033.
[3] Fernaeus, Y., & Tholander, J. (2006, April). Finding design qualities in a tangible programming space. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems (pp. 447-456). ACM.
[4] Lundström, A. (2014, September). Differentiated Driving Range: Exploring a Solution to the Problems with the Guess-O-Meter in Electric Cars. InProceedings of the 6th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications (pp. 1-8). ACM.
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