TxtBoard: from text-to-person to text-to-home

The design of existing mobile phone technology has emphasised the primacy of person-to-person communication for voice, SMS and image-based communication. It may be contrasted with place-to-place communication, the key property of fixed line telephony. However, other forms of communication may mix these two approaches: these include place-to-person or person-to-place for example. These patterns may afford different values to users. This reports a field study of a prototype person-to-place SMS communications device, `TxtBoard'. This is a small, fixed display appliance for home settings. It displays text messages sent to it from any standard mobile phone. The study highlights how the person-to-place character of the device, combined with the `public' or situated characteristics of its placement within home settings in particular, create new opportunities for use of SMS. Keywords TxtBoard, mobile phone, SMS, text messaging, public display, situated display, home. ACM Classificat...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Kenton O'Hara, Richard H. R. Harper, Axel Unger, James Wilkes, Bill Sharpe, Marcel Jansen
• Keywords: CHI 2005, Human Computer Interaction, Mobile Phone, SMS Communications Device, Standard Mobile Phone