The history tablecloth: Illuminating domestic activity

William Gaver; John Bowers; Andy Boucher; Andy Law; Sarah Pennington; Nicholas Villar

The history tablecloth: Illuminating domestic activity

William Gaver^*, John Bowers, Andy Boucher, Andy Law, Sarah Pennington, Nicholas Villar

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

107 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The History Tablecloth is a flexible substrate screen-printed with electroluminescent material forming a grid of lace-like elements. When objects are left on the table, cells beneath them light to form a halo that grows over a period of hours, highlighting the flow of objects in the home. The Tablecloth explores an approach to design that emphasises engaging, open-ended situations over defined utilitarian purposes. Long-term deployment of the History Tablecloth in a volunteer household revealed complex ways that people experienced and interacted with the Tablecloth. Beyond evoking reflection on the flow of objects over a particular table, the Tablecloth served as a ground for interpretative reflection about technology, an asset for social interaction, and an aesthetic object. Even behaviours we saw as system errors were interpreted by the users as interactively rich. Their experience highlights the subtlety of domestic ubiquitous computing, illustrating alternatives to traditional views of technology's domestic role.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006
Pages	199-208
Number of pages	10
Publication status	Published - 2006
Externally published	Yes
Event	Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006 - University Park, PA, United States Duration: 26 Jun 2006 → 28 Jun 2006

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, DIS
Volume	2006

Conference

Conference	Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006
Country/Territory	United States
City	University Park, PA
Period	26/06/06 → 28/06/06

Keywords

Aesthetics
Domestic technology
Information appliance
Interaction design
Interpretation
Ubiquitous computing

Research Group keywords

Interaction Research Studio

UN SDGs

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

Cite this

@inproceedings{d95746323f014b27abd38ab209fa725f,

title = "The history tablecloth: Illuminating domestic activity",

abstract = "The History Tablecloth is a flexible substrate screen-printed with electroluminescent material forming a grid of lace-like elements. When objects are left on the table, cells beneath them light to form a halo that grows over a period of hours, highlighting the flow of objects in the home. The Tablecloth explores an approach to design that emphasises engaging, open-ended situations over defined utilitarian purposes. Long-term deployment of the History Tablecloth in a volunteer household revealed complex ways that people experienced and interacted with the Tablecloth. Beyond evoking reflection on the flow of objects over a particular table, the Tablecloth served as a ground for interpretative reflection about technology, an asset for social interaction, and an aesthetic object. Even behaviours we saw as system errors were interpreted by the users as interactively rich. Their experience highlights the subtlety of domestic ubiquitous computing, illustrating alternatives to traditional views of technology's domestic role.",

keywords = "Aesthetics, Domestic technology, Information appliance, Interaction design, Interpretation, Ubiquitous computing",

author = "William Gaver and John Bowers and Andy Boucher and Andy Law and Sarah Pennington and Nicholas Villar",

year = "2006",

language = "English",

isbn = "1595933417",

series = "Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, DIS",

pages = "199--208",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006",

note = "Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006 ; Conference date: 26-06-2006 Through 28-06-2006",

}

Gaver, W, Bowers, J, Boucher, A, Law, A, Pennington, S & Villar, N 2006, The history tablecloth: Illuminating domestic activity. in Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006. Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, DIS, vol. 2006, pp. 199-208, Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006, University Park, PA, United States, 26/06/06.

The history tablecloth: Illuminating domestic activity. / Gaver, William; Bowers, John; Boucher, Andy et al.
Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006. 2006. p. 199-208 (Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, DIS; Vol. 2006).

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

TY - GEN

T1 - The history tablecloth

T2 - Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006

AU - Gaver, William

AU - Bowers, John

AU - Boucher, Andy

AU - Law, Andy

AU - Pennington, Sarah

AU - Villar, Nicholas

PY - 2006

Y1 - 2006

N2 - The History Tablecloth is a flexible substrate screen-printed with electroluminescent material forming a grid of lace-like elements. When objects are left on the table, cells beneath them light to form a halo that grows over a period of hours, highlighting the flow of objects in the home. The Tablecloth explores an approach to design that emphasises engaging, open-ended situations over defined utilitarian purposes. Long-term deployment of the History Tablecloth in a volunteer household revealed complex ways that people experienced and interacted with the Tablecloth. Beyond evoking reflection on the flow of objects over a particular table, the Tablecloth served as a ground for interpretative reflection about technology, an asset for social interaction, and an aesthetic object. Even behaviours we saw as system errors were interpreted by the users as interactively rich. Their experience highlights the subtlety of domestic ubiquitous computing, illustrating alternatives to traditional views of technology's domestic role.

AB - The History Tablecloth is a flexible substrate screen-printed with electroluminescent material forming a grid of lace-like elements. When objects are left on the table, cells beneath them light to form a halo that grows over a period of hours, highlighting the flow of objects in the home. The Tablecloth explores an approach to design that emphasises engaging, open-ended situations over defined utilitarian purposes. Long-term deployment of the History Tablecloth in a volunteer household revealed complex ways that people experienced and interacted with the Tablecloth. Beyond evoking reflection on the flow of objects over a particular table, the Tablecloth served as a ground for interpretative reflection about technology, an asset for social interaction, and an aesthetic object. Even behaviours we saw as system errors were interpreted by the users as interactively rich. Their experience highlights the subtlety of domestic ubiquitous computing, illustrating alternatives to traditional views of technology's domestic role.

KW - Aesthetics

KW - Domestic technology

KW - Information appliance

KW - Interaction design

KW - Interpretation

KW - Ubiquitous computing

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33750911095&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:33750911095

SN - 1595933417

SN - 9781595933416

T3 - Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, DIS

SP - 199

EP - 208

BT - Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS2006

Y2 - 26 June 2006 through 28 June 2006

ER -

The history tablecloth: Illuminating domestic activity

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Research Group keywords

UN SDGs

Other files and links

Fingerprint

The Curious Home Exhibition at the Pacific Playhouse, London

The History Tablecloth and Drift Table in Touch Me, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Cite this