| Since Mark Weiser presented his vision for Calm Computing, researchers have been exploring deeply the relationship between digital technology and the surrounding environment. Such explorations challenge the common notions of where computers are located, how they are used, and their role within daily life. A concept that has developed from these explorations is that of the "ambient display," which are artifacts intended to blend seamlessly into the surrounding environment, often conveying information by exploiting peoples' ability to detect subtle changes in color, sound, scent, temperature, or light. These artifacts have broken the common notions of human-computer interaction since they are not used directly, but are perceived from a person's periphery of awareness. This particular quality demands a rethinking on how such technologies are evaluated since most HCI methods focus on use.;This dissertation presents a design framework that describes the design space for ambient displays, as well as a set of novel approaches intended to address the particular issues that arise when performing evaluations in this domain. The framework is intended to enhance future designs by providing a lingua franca for use when thinking about and designing new displays. The issue of evaluation is addressed by identifying the specific problems that arise when working with this type of information artifact, and providing a series of alternatives to consider when measuring the impact of a particular implementation. The primary contributions of this dissertation are a design framework presented in chapter 6, a development process for implementing large-scale installations, a series of three in-situ user studies expose evaluation issues, and a discussion of a series of possible alternative approaches to evaluation. |
