Personal and Ubiquitous Computing

, Volume 18, Issue 3, pp 671–683 | Cite as

Broken probes: toward the design of worn media

Original Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

This article describes the development and use of broken probes: prompted processes of degradation that produce unique identifiers with which to associate and retrieve digitally recorded histories. We offer our design and deployment of Broken Probes as a methodology for eliciting insights into how broken objects and acts of breakage may be given new life through their integration with ubiquitous computing technologies. Based on these developments, we introduce the genre of worn media—a variety of computational material with which to frame and critically examine the manifestation of wear among digital things. We end by discussing how the genre of worn media sensitizes designers and Ubicomp researchers to issues of incompleteness, impermanence, and imperfection to help account for the ethical, material, and historical terms of endurance in a digital age.

Keywords

Craft Interaction Aesthetics Everyday life Social impact 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the participants in this research for their dedicated time, efforts, and stories.

References

  1. 1.
    Banks R (2011) The future of looking back (Microsoft Research)Google Scholar
  2. 2.
    Barad K (2003) Posthumanist performativity: toward an understanding of how matter comes to matter. Signs 28(3):801–831Google Scholar
  3. 3.
    Bardzell S, Bardzell J, Forlizzi J, Zimmerman J, Antanitis J (2012) Critical design and critical theory: the challenge of designing for provocation. In: Proceedings of the designing interactive systems conference. ACM, pp 288–297Google Scholar
  4. 4.
    Benjamin W (2008) The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. PenguinGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    Buechley L, Eisenberg M (2009) Fabric PCBs, electronic sequins, and socket buttons: techniques for e-textile craft. Pers Ubiquit Comput 13(2):133–150Google Scholar
  6. 6.
    Dunne A (1999) Hertzian tales. Royal College of Art, LondonGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    Garfinkel H (1967) Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    Gaver B, Dunne T, Pacenti E (1999) Design: cultural probes. Interactions 6(1):21–29CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    Hallnäs L, Redström J (2001) Slow technology–designing for reflection. Pers Ubiquitous Comput 5(3):201–212CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Haraway D (1988) Situated knowledges: the science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Fem Stud 14(3):575–599Google Scholar
  11. 11.
    Holman D, Vertegaal R (2008) Organic user interfaces: designing computers in any way, shape, or form. Commun ACM 51(6):48–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    Hutchinson H, Mackay W, Westerlund B, Bederson BB, Druin A, Plaisant C, Beaudouin-Lafon M et al. (2003) Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems. ACM, pp 17–24Google Scholar
  13. 13.
    Ingold T (2001) Beyond art and technology: the anthropology of skill. In: Anthropological perspectives on technology, pp 17–31Google Scholar
  14. 14.
    Ingold T (2006) Walking the plank: meditations on a process of skill. In: Defining technological literacy: towards an epistemological framework. pp 65–80Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    Jackson SJ (2013) Rethinking repair. In: Boczkowski P, Foot K, Gillespie T (eds) Media meets technology. MIT Press (forthcoming)Google Scholar
  16. 16.
    Joyce R (2011) Traces of the human presence: antece-dents and precedents. Paper presented at the annual an-tropological association meeting (AAA), MontrealGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Jung H, Bardzell S, Blevis E, Pierce J, Stolterman E (2011) How deep is your love: deep narratives of ensoulment and heirloom status. Int J Des 5(1):59–71Google Scholar
  18. 18.
    Kopplin M (2008) Flickwerk: the aesthetics of mended Japanese ceramics. In: Exhibition catalogue, 28 June–10 August 2008, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithica, NY, USAGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Koren L (1994) Wabi-sabi: for artists, designers, poets and philosophers. Imperfect PubGoogle Scholar
  20. 20.
    Küchler S (1987) Malangan: art and memory in a Melanesian society. Man 22(2):238–255CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. 21.
    Lave J (2011) Apprenticeship in critical ethnographic practice. University of Chicago PressGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    Mishler EG (1999) Storylines: craftartists' narratives of identity. Harvard University PressGoogle Scholar
  23. 23.
    Odom W, Pierce J, Stolterman E, Blevis E (2009) Understanding why we preserve some things and discard others in the context of interaction design. In: Proceedings of the 27th international conference on Human factors in computing systemsGoogle Scholar
  24. 24.
    Odom W, Banks R, Kirk D, Harper R, Lindley S, Sellen A (2012) Technology heirlooms?: considerations for passing down and inheriting digital materials. In: Proceedings of the 2012 ACM annual conference on human factors in computing systems, pp 337–346Google Scholar
  25. 25.
    Odom W, Banks R, Durrant A, Kirk D, Pierce J (2012) Slow technology: critical reflection and future directions. Group 11(11):30Google Scholar
  26. 26.
    Ramakers R (2002) Less+ more: droog design in context. 010 PublishersGoogle Scholar
  27. 27.
    Rosner DK (2012) The material practices of collaboration. In: Proceedings of the ACM 2012 conference on computer supported cooperative work. pp 1155–1164Google Scholar
  28. 28.
    Rosner D, Bean J (2009) Learning from IKEA hacking: i’m not one to decoupage a tabletop and call it a day. In: Proceedings of the 27th international conference on Human factors in computing systems. pp 419–422Google Scholar
  29. 29.
    Rosner D, Daniela K, Ikemiya M, Kim D, Koch K (2013) Designing with traces. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, pp 1649–1658Google Scholar
  30. 30.
    Schütte AA (1998) Patina: layering a history-of-use on digital objects, Masters thesis, MIT Media Laboratory, Cambridge, USAGoogle Scholar
  31. 31.
    Sengers P, Gaver B (2006) Staying open to interpretation: engaging multiple meanings in design and evaluation. In: Proceedings of the 6th conference on designing interactive systems. pp 99–108Google Scholar
  32. 32.
    Star SL, Strauss A (1999) Layers of silence, arenas of voice: the ecology of visible and invisible work. Comput Support Cooperative Work (CSCW) 8(1–2):9–39Google Scholar
  33. 33.
    Turkle S (2008) Inner history. The Inner History of DevicesGoogle Scholar
  34. 34.
    Verbeek PP, Kockelkoren P (1998) The things that matter. Des Issues 14(3):28–42CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. 35.
    Were G (2010) Lines that connect: rethinking pattern and mind in the Pacific. Asian Theatre J 29(2)Google Scholar
  36. 36.
    Zoran A, Buechley L (2013) Hybrid reassemblage: an exploration of craft, digital fabrication and artifact uniqueness. Leonardo 46(1):4–10CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag London 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.California College of the ArtsSan FranciscoUSA
  2. 2.Stanford UniversityStanfordUSA

Personalised recommendations