We present the results of two studies on social television concepts. In one study, a social TV prototype was tested in the field, allowing groups of users watching television at home to talk to each other over an audio link. Specific patterns of use are described, showing that users did perceive the system as valuable. In another study, focus groups were presented with several social TV concepts, and their responses were collected. These participants saw only moderate to marginal value in the concept. We discuss the discrepancy with reference to the limitations of each method. Based on our analysis, we conclude that our social television experience provides user value under certain favorable conditions. Participants deal with potential conflicts between conversation and television audio without the need for additional technical support, and there is no indication that a video link would improve the experience. However, designing for the social dynamics at the beginnings, ends, and outside of conversations remains an open challenge.
With the rise in highly capable, mobile and networked secondary devices, the two-screen Enhanced TV is a more plausible proposition today than ever before. This paper presents a field trial of a prototype that aimed to understand a conceptual merger of TV and second screen user experiences. Our prototype concept can be described as a companion device experience that enhances TV viewing by providing auxiliary information and media on a second screen. The additional media is semantically related and synchronized, in terms of timeline, to the TV content. We ran a three-week field trial in 11 households. Participants used our prototype as a companion to their TV shows. We provided a total of 43 episodes from 10 popular TV shows throughout the study period. Overall feedback to our concept was quite positive. 10 out of our 11 participants said they enjoyed the experience. Our prototype allowed participants to better connect with their TV shows and have an enriched social life around TV. We also report some of the discovered user desires regarding user interaction design such as kinds of customization controls needed and the pacing of posts of additional information to the second screen.
We present the Motion Presence application, an augmented phone book style application that allows close friends and family to view each other's current motion status ("moving" or "not moving") on their mobile phones. We performed a two week long field trial with 10 participants to observe usage and investigate any privacy concerns that might arise. We found that our participants used the motion information to infer location and activity as well as to plan communication, to help in coordinating in-person gettogethers, and to stay connected to patterns in each others' lives. Participants saw the motion data as mostly confirming their existing thoughts about the locations and activities of others and expressed few privacy concerns. In fact, they frequently asked for more information to be shared to make the application more compelling.
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