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Telecom ParisTech Future challenges in sciences and technologies

FUTURE CHALLENGES IN SCIENCESAND TECHNOLOGIES

Co-Design: Shaping the future of ICTtechnologies and services

Isabelle Demeure - Computer Sciences and NetworksAnnie Gentès - Economics and Social Sciences

Future challenges in sciences and technologiespage 2 Telecom ParisTech

Preamble: lecture objective

We:• An expert in media design (Annie Gentès)• An expert in distributed computer systems (Isabelle Demeure)

Have been collaborating on projects involving the design of newsoftware infractructures and innovative services

Consequently, we have developed a co-design interdisciplinaryapproach.

This lecture:• Defines design in the ICT field• Presents Transhumance, a French government funded project in which

we developed a new software infrastructure and innovative services• Uses Transhumance as a case study to expose the co-design

approach• Concludes on the effectiveness of this approach


Design in the ICT field


Design definition (s)


Design(s) Common Points Techniques and materials Industrial production process Costs and market issues Legal aspects Forms (aesthetics) Ergonomics Social Status

Specificities Medias Contents and messages Symbolic signs (linguistic and

iconic) Interactions

media culture and communication strategy


Inventing Communicating Digital Objects

Simondon - internal consistency

Simon - external consistency - environmental« feed back »

signes

enunciation

Communication strategies

Medias/ tools that shape- actions and interactions- access to information and legitimacyprocesses- Forms of communication andrepresentations (aesthetics)Intellectual technologies that modifylanguages and knowledge


Communicating object : challenging theoreticalmodels on technical objects

The technical object : purposes, functions, environment

• To pursue internal consistency of the technical object (Simondon, Dumode d’existence des objets techniques)

• To develop the functions and systemic coherence with the environment(Simon, The Sciences of the Artificial)

Between technical and social dimensions : a specific milieu

• Media anticipate literacy and create new forms• Users always interpret and rewrite what is offered to their literacy (Yves

Jeanneret)• Art is in the eye of the beholder (Duchamp)


Outline of Transhumance Project

The goal of the Transhumance project was to design asoftware platform (middleware) to support innovative services in thecontext of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (aka MANet)

1- MANet ? 2- Transhumance platform 3- Demonstrator: a teasure hunting game « Team exploration » 4- Co-design methodology 5- Analysis and conclusions


MANet ?

user1 user3user2

user4user5


MANet: Mobile Adhoc Network

A MANet is a self configuringnetwork of mobile nodes connectedby wireless links• A node is at the same time a

terminal ... And a router

Consequences :• You may spontaneously form a

network of terminals withoutpreexisting infrastructure

• But• Communications may be

interrupted• Terminals may become isolated• You cannot rely on centralized

servers to deliver services

user1 user3user2

user4user5


MANet gaming potential

Spontaneous network: mobile groups and lose registration Hop structure: new relation to space Localized contents and action No geo-localization but a network topology

AGFDB


Three main promises of MANet technology

A new form of sociability based on physical proximity and looseprocedure of admission

A new organization of contents related to mobile times and spaces A gamut of MANet games suggestions• MANET games depend on the variety of urban mobility and sociability


Transhumance platform


Transhumance project challenges and objectives Design and prototype a middleware

platform• Over Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANet)• To support spontaneous collaborative

applications• Involving up to 20 PDAs, with wifi cards

in ad-hoc mode. Main challenge: topology evolves and

nodes may become out of reach. Consequences• Client/server model not adapted• Cannot rely on node reachability

Middleware key aspects:• Fully distributed solution• Event communication and data sharing

robust to disconnections• Presence service, group management

(collaboration)• Lightweight security mechanism

OS, Routing (OLSR)

Middleware

Applications (Chat,games, …)

API

Tresor hunting game(team exploration)

« MANet »


Main Transhumance services

Communication system supporting messages with life duration(persistency).

User group with common interest ... In support of collaboration.• Security provided at group level (not individuals)• Services made available within a group

Lightweight security mechanism based on trust shared by group members

Data sharing space where group members may place their data to sharethem

Multi-user chat, voting service, presence service, service discovery

Energy management system that allows to degrade the functions ofTranshumance in order to lengthen battery life.


State of the art

No commercial solution available About 10 research projects, such as: ex : PROEM, JMobiPeer,

SELMA, XMIDDLE, STEAM, Infoware … None proposes an integrated solution including all Transhumance

functionalities

Energy management

Lightweight MANet fit securitymechanism

No servers

Robust to disconnections (eventservice, data sharing)

Group management

Event system (“publish-subscribe”)

Resource discivery (presence,services, data)

Data sharing

Strong pointsFunctionalities reused


Functional architecture

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Terminalmanagement User managemt

Routing

Augmented routing

Transport

Event service

Presence

Gestion

des

groupes

Identification

Services

Chat, Vote ...

Data sharing

File

transfer

S

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Applications

Application

managemen

t

Hardware and

software

profiles

Data, global

policies

Local

policies

User

preferences

Security

profile

Service

Announce/discovery services

communications

Identity, presence, hw,

management ...


Demonstrator: a treasure hunting game« Team exploration »


Demonstrator: a compromise ...

Both a demonstrating object• .... and a way to communicate on innovative technical aspects of the

project A game:• ...interest, attractivity, gameplay

A way to mature technical aspects• ... as well as a way to integrate a new technology in users practice ...

An object that should trigger reactions from users• ... as well as from researchers

… in any case• ... Not a finished product !!!!


Game perimeter: the Butte-aux-Cailles.At the top of the screen: chat areaOn the left of the screen: 5 photos (1 blured).

Objective : locate each photo in a grid cell. If 4photos are located the 5th one is unveiled andshows the final location.

Game duration : 30 mn. The 4 photos change every10 mn if no photo has been foundTree showing presence and distance to other users-challenge: keep playing with unstable connections-Interest of developing strategies to scatter andreunitereunite


4- Codesign methodology


Co design Approach

Design the demonstrator and the platform in parallel 2 kinds of actors: ICT specialists and media specialists• Mix competences to a point (social and semiotical analyses, platform technical

specifications).

Cross their vues to:• Encourage analysis and explicitation of choices• Come up with ideas of new functionalities. From two sources: technical

research, design research (families of objects, similarity in situations andinterfaces, history of media, services and interfaces…)

• Include new and traditional literacy of users• Develop a demonstrator that is seamfully designed so as to explicit the cultural

and technical choices• Develop a creative evaluation based on a wide range of expertise and hands

on tests

This in spite of the difficulties generated by interdisciplinarity:- Background, vocabulary, practices ... Often very different from one area to another


Co-design methodology in waterfall researchprojects

Requirementsdocuments

userscenarii

PlatformSpecifications& interfacedesign

Demonstrator prototype

Creative evaluation

PlatformDesign

Platformprototype

DemonstratorSpecifications& interface design

Demonstratordesign

PlatformTests

DemonstratorTests

xxx Phase in which media andICT specialists cooperate

xxx Phase by ICT specialists


Seamful design of the demonstrator

The demonstrator has

To show the fact that even though there is no network infrastructurepeople are connected or have been connected: tree of connections

To manage the tension between the dispersal of players and theirbunching together while creating the game board: the map

To provide tools that contribute to the proof of concept but alsomake sense in the game scenario: chat, vote system

To provide an application that leads people to move, communicate,and share data: the treasure hunt scenario


How to assess an emerging technology?

A specific object: the demonstrator. Neither a produce nor aprototype

A specific “open” design: to help us imagine, define, materialize thetechnology

A specific question: what is the potential of this technology A specific assessment: creative assessment based on users

involvement and imagination


Five step creative assessment

Discovery and explanation of the device and technology First interview on users’ habits: drawing the user’s portrait Manipulation and use of the interface: explicit on going comments-

the thinking aloud method Evaluation of the experience Exploration of potential use


conclusion

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