On Monday 6th August at the National Eisteddfod the People’s Collection Wales, University of Nottingham and Swansea University will showcase Placebooks, an innovative, bi-lingual, online toolkit that allows anyone to create, publish and share digital “books” on the places they care about, and make these available to all online, or via a smartphone app designed to work even in areas with no mobile phone coverage.

The website and app are being developed with funding from the Research Councils UK and support from the Ordnance Survey, and are designed specifically for use in rural Wales – much of the testing and development work has been conducted in Ceredigion. Both the app and website make use of detailed Ordnance Survey mapping, and the app is designed to work even in areas with no mobile phone reception.

Users of the website can upload their own media, or draw on a wealth of content from their People’s Collection Wales user accounts to create “books” that incorporate text, images, video, audio, maps and routes. Dr Chamberlain of the Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham said, “Giving people the chance to tell and share stories about their culture, interests and daily life is of the upmost importance, and could have both a direct impact upon the economy and heritage of an area for years to come.”

Those attending the workshop on Monday 6th August will be given a chance to start developing their own Placebooks, will take part in a discussion over the further development of the open-source system, and will be able to ask the developers for advice about how best these tools can be used to promote their community,

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Ends
Notes for Editors

Placebooks website – placebooks.peoplescollectionwales.com
Placebooks app – available on Android app store http://bit.ly/QsXmks
People’s Collection Wales website– www.peoplescollectionwales.com
This work was supported by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) [grant number - EP/I001816/1]

Contact

Name: Dr Alan Chamberlain (English& Cymraeg)                                           Email: Alan.Chamberlain@Nottingham.ac.uk
Name: Tom Pert (English) Tel: 07818593114
Name: Rheinallt Jones (Cymraeg) Tel: 07540881925

‘Rural Needs in Scotland’

A SICSA Smart Tourism and dot.rural event, 16 March 2012, University of Aberdeen

We are pleased to confirm that our next event will be held on the topic of ‘rural needs in Scotland’. Organised in partnership with the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub, this will take the form of a one-day event on Friday 16 March, to be held at the University of Aberdeen. The day will be split into two halves: The morning will be spent looking at existing projects in dot.rural and beyond which explore how the digital economy can support rural activities, with topics ranging from transport, through cultural heritage to small business support.

The afternoon will be centred around genealogy and ancestral tourism, understanding the needs of visitors, venues and supporting organisations. The main aim of this event will be to scope possible innovation projects to address problems in rural tourism for the forthcoming deadline of 16 May 2012.

Website: http://www.researchinthewild.org

We are starting to see a paradigm shift within the field of HCI. We are witnessing researchers leaving the safety and security of their controlled, lab-based environments and moving their research out into ‘the wild’. Their studies are carrying out in-situ development and extended engagement, sampling experiences and working with communities in their homes and on the streets. This research has initially focused upon understanding the impacts that technological intervention has upon our day-to-day life and is leading us to explore the ways in which in-situ design, development and evaluation can be used to understand and explore these technological interventions. Is it the case that lab-based studies, taking people out of their natural environment and designing in the lab without long term user engagement are no longer appropriate to properly understand the impacts of technology in the real world?

Organisers: Alan Chamberlain, Andy Crabtree, Tom Rodden, Matt Jones and Yvonne Rogers

The presentation is available to download here

At the moment we’re writing something for the symposium on ‘Research in the Dyfi Biosphere’ to be held on the 18th of May.

If you have any interest in the project or want to get involved, please email us.

Gweithio yn y gymuned a thu hwnt

Mae’r prosiect wedi cael ei symud ymlaen, ac rydym wedi bod yn gweithio gyda’r gymuned a llawer cyfarfod o wahanol bobl a chlywed am eu hanghenion a’u diddordebau. Rydym wedi trefnu hefyd ac wedi i rai weithdai diddorol iawn, yn arbennig, roedd yn wych i fynd i’r Digidol Arloesedd Gweithdy (a drefnwyd gan Inventorium). Rydym hefyd wedi bod yn siarad â Croeso Cymru ac maent yn mynychu gweithdy eu bod yn trefnu o gwmpas data a thwristiaeth.

Ar hyn o bryd rydym yn ysgrifennu rhywbeth ar gyfer y symposiwm ar ‘Ymchwil yn y Biosffer Dyfi’ i’w gael ei gynnal ar y 18fed o mis Mai.

Os oes gennych unrhyw ddiddordeb yn y prosiect neu am gymryd rhan, anfonwch e-bost atom.

We went past the church, pet cemetary, Uppingham Boys memorial, followed the river Leri up to Ynyslas, over the road, down the side of the boat yard, onto Ynyslas beach, through the dunes then all the way down the beach to the tourist info office. Numerous ideas were discussed and this proved to be a really fruitful exercise. Next we’ll map the data and see what we have.

Aethon ni i Borth / Ynys-las heddiw, er mwyn canfod beth rhwydweithiau ffôn symudol yn bodoli yn yr ardal a sut gryf oedd y signal. Daethon ni â amrywiaeth o ffonau (oedd e’n rhedeg Android a meddalwedd ein hunain) pob un â cherdyn rhwydwaith gwahanol. Roeddwn ni’n dilyn llwybr a roddwyd i ni gan y Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru. Mae diddordeb gyda nhw mewn hyrwyddo’r daith cerdded.

Cerddon ni heibio yr eglwys, fynwent anifeiliaid anwes, Bechgyn Uppingham coffa, yn dilyn yr afon Leri hyd at Ynyslas, dros y ffordd, i lawr ochr yr iard gychod, ar draeth Ynyslas, drwy’r twyni, yr holl ffordd i lawr y traeth i’r swyddfa twristiaid. Roeddwn ni’n siarad am nifer o syniadau ac mae hyn yn profi i fod yn ymarfer ffrwythlon iawn. Nesa byddwn ni’n mapio data, a gweld beth sydd gyda ni.

Alan

Welcome to the first post about the project.
Peter and I spent a couple of days doing fieldwork: filming, photographing, interviewing and visiting sites of interest prior to the fist meeting.
This was done in order to get an impression of the different user groups that use the sites, meet and understand some of the communities that use these sites and to get a feel for the area.

The start up meeting was held at the Digi-Lab in the YHA Borth (great venue), attending were Nottingham University, Swansea University, the Countryside Council for Wales and the OS. After introductions and food (Locally sourced and provided by Uncle Leos), we made our first journey to the site at Ynyslas where we were lead around the site and went to the visitors centre. Back at the YHA we discussed the project, it’s implications for the area and discussed what each partner could bring to the project and get out of it.  Later that night we ventured out into Aberystwyth and went to the Ship and Castle (Pub of the Year) and then went to Gwesty  Cymru for our inaugural project meal, where the discussions about the project carried on.

The next day was all about planning and demos, work-packages were given further detail and the finer points of the project were discussed and expanded upon. Mark did a presentation on some of the visualisation and mapping work that he had already started in the area. We further discussed the idea of sensors and the representation of data and how to make mapping services seem more ‘human’. These discussions went on into the afternoon, with workshops and research activities being planned for Dec 15th and 16th.

Croeso i’r post gyntaf am y prosiect.
Treuliodd Peter, a fi gwpl o ddyddiau yn neud gwaith-maes: ffilmio, tynnu lluniau, cyfweld pobl ac ymweld â safleoedd o ddiddordeb cyn y cyfarfod cyntaf.
Gwnaed hyn er mwyn cael argraff o’r gwahanol grwpiau defnyddwyr sy’n defnyddio’r safleoedd, i gyfarfod a deall rhai o’r cymunedau sy’n defnyddio’r safleoedd hyn ac i gael blas ar yr ardal.

Caeth y cyfarfod cyntaf ei gynnal yn y Digi-Lab yn y Borth YHA (lleoliad gwych), oedd yn mynychu Prifysgol Nottingham, Prifysgol Abertawe, Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru a’r Arolwg Ordnans (OS). Ar ôl cyflwyniadau a bwyd (o ffynonellau lleol a ddarperir gan Yncl Leos yn Y Borth), Aeth ar ein taith gyntaf at y safle yn Ynyslas lle yr oedden ni’n arwain o amgylch y safle ac a aeth i’r ganolfan ymwelwyr. Yn ôl yn y YHA buon ni’n trafod y prosiect, mae’n oblygiadau ar gyfer yr ardal a’u trafod yr hyn y gallai pob partner yn dod at y prosiect a chael allan ohono. Yn ddiweddarach y noson honno ni mentro allan i Aberystwyth ac a aeth at y Ship a Castle (Tafarn y Flwyddyn) ac aeth i Gwesty Cymru ar gyfer ein prydau prosiect cyntaf, lle’r trafodaethau am y prosiect a gynhaliwyd ar.

Y diwrnod canlynol oedd y cyfan yn ymwneud â chynllunio a demos, gwaith-becynnau, rhoddwyd manylion pellach ac mae’r pwyntiau manylaf y prosiect yn cael eu trafod gan ehangu arnynt. Mark wnaeth cyflwyniad ar beth o’r gwaith Delweddu a mapio ei fod eisoes wedi dechrau yn yr ardal. Roeddwn ni’n bellach yn trafod y syniad o synwyryddion a chynrychiolaeth o ddata a sut i sicrhau bod gwasanaethau mapio ymddangos yn fwy ‘dynol’. Mae’r trafodaethau hyn aeth ymlaen i mewn i’r prynhawn, gyda gweithdai a gweithgareddau ymchwil yn cael eu cynllunio ar gyfer 15ed – 16ed mis Rhagfyr.

Alan

The Schools of Computer Science at and Swansea University are partners, in a new and exciting research project that will research the issues pertaining to the urban/rural technological divide. The project seeks to bridge the rural divide through the development of innovative mapping services, which will enhance a broad range of activities that sustain the rural economy – from walking and cycling to surfing and bird watching.

‘Bridging the Rural Divide’ will develop community-based maps that enhance our engagement with the countryside. These will be coupled with new data services to both input and access digital content in the field. The team will develop these services ‘in the wild’, hoping to provide a blueprint for the future provision of services that will meet the needs of users in rural settings. The project is supported by: the Research Councils UK – Digital Economy programme , Ordnance Survey, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Horizon Digital Economy Hub (University of Nottingham).

“Current digital mapping services largely focus on urban environments”, Dr Alan Chamberlain of the University’s Mixed Reality Lab, said. “Google Maps, for example, offers rich street views of urban settings, but such views of rural space are largely absent.”

New developments in mobile, location and sensor-based or ‘ubiquitous’ computing now make it possible for users to move beyond the urban fringes. They herald the expansion of computing from cities into rural locations that have long been marginalised due to the limitations of existing technology.

It is hoped that the user-led development of a ‘rural ubicomp toolkit’ will allow people to create and share community-based maps that reflect their interests and concerns. For example, users will be able to sketch routes of their favourite pathways through the countryside. These routes will be augmented by GPS data and community content relevant to different points on their route. Tags and content can also be added to other users’ routes, adding to the overall body of knowledge.

he toolkit will also allow this content to be accessed and added to, via displays in visitor centres, on-line and via mobile phones. ‘Bridging the Rural Divide’ will result in an openly availably set of tools to allow people to capture experiences, represent rural experiences and share them.

The work will take place in the UNESCO designated Dyfi Biosphere, focusing on Borth and Ynyslas.

With thanks to Elin Jones AM (Minister for Rural Affairs) and Mark Williams MP (Ceredigion) for their support.

For more information contact Dr Alan Chamberlain: A.Chamberlain(@)nottingham.ac.uk (remove brackets)