Can't Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era

Jennifer Pearson; Gavin Bailey; Simon Robinson; Matt Jones; Tom Owen; Chi Zhang; Thomas Reitmaier; Cameron Steer; Anna Carter; Deepak Ranjan Sahoo; Dani Kalarikalayil Raju

doi:10.1145/3491102.3501980

Can't Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era

Jennifer Pearson, Gavin Bailey, Simon Robinson, Matt Jones, Tom Owen, Chi Zhang, Thomas Reitmaier, Cameron Steer, Anna Carter, Deepak Ranjan Sahoo, Dani Kalarikalayil Raju

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

11 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

What do pedestrian crossings, ATMs, elevators and ticket machines have in common? These are just a few of the ubiquitous yet essential elements of public-space infrastructure that rely on physical buttons or touchscreens; common interactions that, until recently, were considered perfectly safe to perform. This work investigates how we might integrate touchless technologies into public-space infrastructure in order to minimise physical interaction with shared devices in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on an ethnographic exploration into how public utilities are being used, adapted or avoided, we developed and evaluated a suite of technology probes that can be either retrofitted into, or replace, these services. In-situ community deployments of our probes demonstrate strong uptake and provide insight into how hands-free technologies can be adapted and utilised for the public domain; and, in turn, used to inform the future of walk-up-and use public technologies.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI 2022
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Simone Barbosa, Cliff Lampe, Caroline Appert, David A. Shamma, Steven Drucker, Julie Williamson, Koji Yatani
Place of Publication	London
Publisher	ACM
Pages	1-14
Number of pages	14
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450391573
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501980
Publication status	Published - 29 Apr 2022
Externally published	Yes
Event	2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2022 - Virtual, Online, United States Duration: 30 Apr 2022 → 5 May 2022

Conference

Conference	2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2022
Country/Territory	United States
City	Virtual, Online
Period	30/04/22 → 5/05/22

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

field studies
prototyping/implementation
Public displays

Access to Document

10.1145/3491102.3501980Licence: CC BY

3491102.3501980Final published version, 1.76 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Pearson, J., Bailey, G., Robinson, S., Jones, M., Owen, T., Zhang, C., Reitmaier, T., Steer, C., Carter, A., Sahoo, D. R., & Raju, D. K. (2022). Can't Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era. In S. Barbosa, C. Lampe, C. Appert, D. A. Shamma, S. Drucker, J. Williamson, & K. Yatani (Eds.), CHI 2022: Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14). Article 401 ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501980

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title = "Can't Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era",

abstract = "What do pedestrian crossings, ATMs, elevators and ticket machines have in common? These are just a few of the ubiquitous yet essential elements of public-space infrastructure that rely on physical buttons or touchscreens; common interactions that, until recently, were considered perfectly safe to perform. This work investigates how we might integrate touchless technologies into public-space infrastructure in order to minimise physical interaction with shared devices in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on an ethnographic exploration into how public utilities are being used, adapted or avoided, we developed and evaluated a suite of technology probes that can be either retrofitted into, or replace, these services. In-situ community deployments of our probes demonstrate strong uptake and provide insight into how hands-free technologies can be adapted and utilised for the public domain; and, in turn, used to inform the future of walk-up-and use public technologies.",

keywords = "field studies, prototyping/implementation, Public displays",

author = "Jennifer Pearson and Gavin Bailey and Simon Robinson and Matt Jones and Tom Owen and Chi Zhang and Thomas Reitmaier and Cameron Steer and Anna Carter and Sahoo, \{Deepak Ranjan\} and Raju, \{Dani Kalarikalayil\}",

year = "2022",

month = apr,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1145/3491102.3501980",

language = "English",

pages = "1--14",

editor = "Simone Barbosa and Cliff Lampe and Caroline Appert and Shamma, \{David A.\} and Steven Drucker and Julie Williamson and Koji Yatani",

booktitle = "CHI 2022",

publisher = "ACM",

address = "United States",

note = "2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2022 ; Conference date: 30-04-2022 Through 05-05-2022",

}

Pearson, J, Bailey, G, Robinson, S, Jones, M, Owen, T, Zhang, C, Reitmaier, T, Steer, C, Carter, A, Sahoo, DR & Raju, DK 2022, Can't Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era. in S Barbosa, C Lampe, C Appert, DA Shamma, S Drucker, J Williamson & K Yatani (eds), CHI 2022: Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 401, ACM, London, pp. 1-14, 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2022, Virtual, Online, United States, 30/04/22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501980

Can't Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era. / Pearson, Jennifer; Bailey, Gavin; Robinson, Simon et al.
CHI 2022: Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Simone Barbosa; Cliff Lampe; Caroline Appert; David A. Shamma; Steven Drucker; Julie Williamson; Koji Yatani. London: ACM, 2022. p. 1-14 401.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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AU - Pearson, Jennifer

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AU - Owen, Tom

AU - Zhang, Chi

AU - Reitmaier, Thomas

AU - Steer, Cameron

AU - Carter, Anna

AU - Sahoo, Deepak Ranjan

AU - Raju, Dani Kalarikalayil

PY - 2022/4/29

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N2 - What do pedestrian crossings, ATMs, elevators and ticket machines have in common? These are just a few of the ubiquitous yet essential elements of public-space infrastructure that rely on physical buttons or touchscreens; common interactions that, until recently, were considered perfectly safe to perform. This work investigates how we might integrate touchless technologies into public-space infrastructure in order to minimise physical interaction with shared devices in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on an ethnographic exploration into how public utilities are being used, adapted or avoided, we developed and evaluated a suite of technology probes that can be either retrofitted into, or replace, these services. In-situ community deployments of our probes demonstrate strong uptake and provide insight into how hands-free technologies can be adapted and utilised for the public domain; and, in turn, used to inform the future of walk-up-and use public technologies.

AB - What do pedestrian crossings, ATMs, elevators and ticket machines have in common? These are just a few of the ubiquitous yet essential elements of public-space infrastructure that rely on physical buttons or touchscreens; common interactions that, until recently, were considered perfectly safe to perform. This work investigates how we might integrate touchless technologies into public-space infrastructure in order to minimise physical interaction with shared devices in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on an ethnographic exploration into how public utilities are being used, adapted or avoided, we developed and evaluated a suite of technology probes that can be either retrofitted into, or replace, these services. In-situ community deployments of our probes demonstrate strong uptake and provide insight into how hands-free technologies can be adapted and utilised for the public domain; and, in turn, used to inform the future of walk-up-and use public technologies.

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KW - prototyping/implementation

KW - Public displays

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A2 - Barbosa, Simone

A2 - Lampe, Cliff

A2 - Appert, Caroline

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PB - ACM

CY - London

Y2 - 30 April 2022 through 5 May 2022

ER -

Can't Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era

Abstract

Conference

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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