Local issues, local uses: tools for robotics and sensing in community contexts

This paper describes six creativity support tools we developed to foster community engagement and expression with robotics and sensing, assessing the benefits and shortcomings of each tool. From the descriptions of these tools and their uses, we highlight two issues. The first is the challenge of, and a general strategy for, enabling informed speculation with unfamiliar technologies. The second issue is that in enabling such speculation, the research process is opened to significant shifts in trajectory. These shifts concomitantly serve as markers of technological fluency and challenge the research project, reinforcing the value of a community co-design approach. Author Keywords Participatory Sensing, Robots, Participatory Design, Critical Engagements, Technological Fluency, Creativity Support Tools, Community Co-design ACM Classification Keywords H.5 Information Systems. H5.m. Miscellaneous. General Terms Design

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: CANDC
• Authors: Carl F. DiSalvo, Marti Louw, Julina Coupland, MaryAnn Steiner
• Keywords: CANDC 2009, Community Co-design, Creativity Support Tools, Emerging Technology, Technological Fluency