Rise and Shine

Check out my visual presentation for Rise and Shine:

rise-and-shine-visual-presentation

You can try the prototype here:

https://popapp.in/w/projects/58474c2321a09fba5cd77e7c/preview/58474c8d413176fd652be055

 

 

Mobile Health

Blake Atkins, a 16-year-old student from California, uses his iPhone to keep track of his Type 1 Diabetes. Blake and his family are taking part in an experimental program from Apple called HealthKit(Farr, 2015). In Blake’s case he has a device attached to his body that monitors his blood glucose levels every couple of minutes. With a Bluetooth connection the information is sent to his phone as well as his mother’s. That information is then sent to an app his doctor has that contains all of his medical information. His doctor receives reports every two weeks about his medical facts.

Keeping track of blood sugar is a key part of having Type 1 Diabetes. Rajiv Kumar, Blake’s doctor from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, says determining how much insulin is needed and how it should be given is a driving factor in maintaining the disease. Finger pricking and diet tracking is the typical way to keep track of blood sugar (2015). However, technology has more recently been a big part of tracking that kind of information. Dr. Kumar also says that technology could be a large factor in improving the difficulty of tracking and maintaining blood sugar levels. Technology can help doctors discover flaws that could lead to bigger problems. One issue that has come up is that doctors rarely have time to look over and process such large amounts of information. This may lead to the need to invest in different technological devices or medical teams hat present the information in a more simple manner

This technology Blake and his family used is technology that focuses on improving life on the go, making vital parts of every day life simpler. Especially when on the go. So a technological application I would make compared to the app that tracks blood sugar would be home security applications. For example the app Frontpoint keeps your house safe even when you’re not home. It monitors activity and alerts you when something is not right. You can keep track of things from your phone or other mobile device. The important information about your house is easy to access and keep track of. Frontpoint users have more control over what they can do through the app than Blake does over his diabetes monitor but both of these applications keep users aware of what is going on through the use of technology.

These examples late to our class on a more broad level because they are both apps that focus on technology on the go. This class is all about mobile media and that is exactly what these two apps are. The focus of these two technologies is making important parts of life easier for users.

3 Discussion Questions:

1. Do you use any mobile life hack apps like these two?
2. What do you think of home security on the go?
3. How was mobile technology made your life easier on the go?

 

Reference:

Farr, Christina. (2015, November 18). “Here’s how an iPhone helps one

teen (and his mom) manage diabetes.” npr. Retrieved from

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/11/18/

456217932/heres-how-an-iphone-helps-one-teen-and-his-mom-

manage-diabetes?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

Politics and Mobile Media

The app FireChat has helped people across the nation in times of need. The app doesn’t require a cell tower or WiFi connection, it is supported by mesh networking. Mesh networking is a way for cell phones to come together to create their own temporary Internet (Hu, 2014). FireChat and mesh networking have been key during times when the government has had control over the Internet and restricts usage or tracks peoples information. For example in Hong Kong protesters are using the network to communicate and organize. Over 100,000 people downloaded the app in 1 day. People in Iraq and Taiwan are also using the app to communicate (2014).

Mesh networking is effective because it is strong and isn’t taken down easily. In order cut the whole connection you would have to turn off the Bluetooth on every phone. It can’t be controlled by any one organization unlike other connections (2014).

In a way WhatsApp reminds me of FireChat. WhatsApp requires WiFi but it does not require a cell tower. Not only can you text for free with this app you can send and receive picture messages and phone calls. You can even receive your own phone number where people can leave you voicemails. With this app you can stay connected without cell towers, similar in a way to FireChat.These applications relate to our class because they are all about being on the go while also being connected. Both are new age technology that keep you connected and in the loop.

 

Reference

Hu, Elise. (2014, September 29). “How Hong Kong protesters are connecting, without cell

or wifi networks.” npr. Retrieved from

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/09/29/352476454/how-hong-

kong-protesters-are-connecting-without-cell-or-wi-fi-networks

Citizen Surveillance

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey has allowed citizens to tape police interactions. The ACLU released the app Police Tape which grants users the ability to record police interaction. According to the website the app allows consumers to “hold police police accountable in the palm of their hands” (Mlot, 2012). The app is free and enables users to record as well as report all interactions. Police Tape is a tool allowing everyday citizens to hold police officers accountable. This app dovetails court cases in which there have been clashes between citizens and officers on recordings of police officers. Citizens have had cellphones taken away and according to Alexander Shalom, ACLU-NJ’s policy counselor, citizens have the constitutional right to videotape police(2012). The app offers users the choice to video or audio record, check out a citizens rights tutorial, and even record discreetly. The discreet option records the interaction but the phone looks like it is off.

New York was the only other state at the time (2012) that offered a citizen surveillance app like Police Tape. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) released an app called the Stop and Frisk Watch Application. The point of this technology was to give some power back to citizens who felt unfairly targeted. This app records the encounter, and then sends details about the location, ethnicity of the person being frisked, and the names of the officers involved to NYCLU (2012).

Officers are encouraging users to apply common sense in their encounters.

“I hope that if a police officer is attempting to stop an individual on the street, that person is not suddenly trying to pull a phone from his pocket in an attempt to film a police encounter,” says James Stewart, President of the Newark Fraternal Oder of Police.

Apps like Police Tape and the Stop and Frisk Watch Application are apps that allow users to take charge and allow users voices be heard. Citizens were dissatisfied with the police force and the way things were being handled; now they have a way of holding officers accountable. With these apps there is a slim chance of deceit from either side because the recording is done in real time. Facebook Live is a relevant technological application to those two apps because it allows users to record whatever they are doing in real time. Facebook Live can be used for almost anything, I have seen live recordings of things like trips to the grocery store to recordings of real time deadly police interaction. Not only is Facebook Live a relevant technological application because it allows users to record in real time, like Police Tape of the Stop and Frisk Watch Application, but also because it is an outlet for users to let their frustrations be heard.

These applications relate to our class on a broader level because they are mobile media resources that have been a part of significant changes in our social system. They have given volume to voices that would otherwise go unheard, which has helped break down barriers in our social system. When it comes down to it the apps are here to make a change and that is exactly what mobile media has become a pilot for.

Discussion Questions:

1. What other mobile resources have given a voice to the silenced?
2. Do you use Facebook Live? What do you use it for?
3. Have you ever experienced or witnessed something on an application like this that have been significant in our culture?

 

Reference

Mlot, Stephanie. (2012, July 5). “NJ ACLU app lets you tape police encounters.”

   pcmag.com. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406764,00.asp

 

Instagram and Online Identity

In an article written by Valeriya Safronova, the mobile app Instagram and the culture that surrounds it is addressed. Safronova suggests Instagram, more often than not, features impossible beauty standards that are hard to believe. Safronova says Instagram has become a platform that allows users to present themselves in a false light and believes celebrities have been a big part in influencing that.

Many young people are fed up and have expressed their frustration by presenting themselves in a way that is not publicly seen on the site, they have started using fake instagrams or “finstagrams” (Safronovo, 2015). Finstagrams are profiles set to private. Usually only family or close friends have access to the profile. Inside jokes, unflattering or ugly pictures, and random stories are the kinds of things featured on these fake instagrams. The typical unwritten rules of Instagram are forgotten. For example: posting more than one picture in a day is considered a social blunder but on finstagram nobody would blink twice.

Studies have shawn there are links between the amount of strangers a user follows correlates with the likelihood they express symptoms of depression, says Leora Trub, an assistant professor at Pace University as well as a clinical psychologist. According to the article teenagers have reported their real instagram accounts to not fully represent who they are as a person. Finstagram can be used as a way for millennial to “funnel their self expression” and in a way has become the real Instagram (2015). According to Dr. Trub finstagrams are not going anywhere anytime soon and can be used as an effective learning force.

Instagram accounts, whether they are fake or real, are a way to sculpt how society views a user. Users have the ability to record and post what they want when they want, add information whether it is true or not, describe themselves in their own words, and present material that builds a persons character. This sounds strikingly similar to online dating accounts. Users shape a profile that builds a character around them. Often times we hear about users tweaking profiles and smudging facts. So in a way they are very different: Finstagram allows users to be the real person they are versus online dating where we often hear how people lie on their profiles. However they both provides users a way to manipulate our society into seeing what they want society to see and believe.

These concepts relate to our class on a broad level because these concepts are about creating your online persona, even if it is a false persona. It is about having free rein to mobile technology, the limitless possibilities technology creates for us, and how mobile technology shapes us as a society.

 

Discussion questions:

1. Do you have a finstagram account? If so, what is your reasoning behind it?
2. How else does mobile technology help create an online persona for ourselves?
3. Why do you think this trend is so prevalent among young users?

 

 

Reference:

Safronovo, Valeryia. (2015, November 15). “On fake instagram, a chance to be real.” The  

    New York Times.  Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/fashion/instagram-finstagram-fake-

account.html?smid=tw-share

Social Justice

For this weeks theme of social justice I read about a homeless man named Leo Grand who learned computer programming and recently launched his own app (Berkman, 2013). Patrick McConlogue offered Grand $100 or lessons in coding. Grand chose coding and spent three and a half months studying textbooks, receiving hour long lessons, and practicing coding on a used Chromebook laptop. A majority of their lessons were spent outside but they eventually moved to McConlogue’s new office of the company Noodle. The company is owned by John Katzman, Mccqnlogue’s boss who allowed him the time to work with Grand on their project.

“My boss deserves a…,” McConlogue said, trailing off before finishing the thought: “I owe him big,” (2013).

Grand’s app was successfully launched and after he was already focused on the his next idea and applying for other jobs. He was still sleeping on the streets but had a hopeful look on the future because of his new come fortune. McConlogue has decided to continue his mentoring program in the future. There have been 150 plus programmers (2013) around the world who have shown interest in his programming mentorship program. The program would be hour long lessons each day for two months, however McConlogue is still working on organizing the movement.

This is a representation of social justice through mobile media because Leo Grand was given a chance at improving his life because he learned a type of mobile communication (coding). He was able to get justice for himself not only with his newfound knowledge of communication but also wit the launching of his new app. He may still have been homeless after the fact but he did something for himself that he would never have been able to do beforehand.

 

A relevant technological application would be something like Yelp. Yelp gives consumers the opportunity to use their voice and it gives companies and businesses the chance to improve. Yelp also helps consumers make decisions about companies, which gives them the opportunity to improve their experience.

This connects to our class on a broader level because being able to use your voice is a new way to make a movement, in other words its a way to make a group of people interact with you in ways they normally wouldn’t. All this is done online via mobile communication.

 

3 Discussion questions:

1. In what other ways could social media or mobile technology be used for social justice?
2. Have you ever experienced social justice via mobile communication or technology?
3. Do you use Yelp or sites like Yelp to make decision on your experience?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Berkman, Fran. (2013, 10 December). “Homeless ‘Journeyman Hacker’ launches eco-friendly

mobile app.” Mashable. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl

 

Social Interaction

This week I chose to read the article about mobile music. This article talks about mobile music players and the role they play in our society. Katz, Lever, and Chen conducted an experiment to learn more about things like iPods and mp3 players and how millennial use them in their environment and social life. The experiment conducted concluded that mobile music products are often used as a way to control surrounding environments, whether that be shutting people out or building relationships with music/technology sharing.

A relevant communication technology would be SoundCloud, which is a music streaming app. This app allows you to listen to music, follow your friends, and share music with your followers as well. This app is a great way to control your environment because you can tune people out by listening to the music with headphones and you can also play it out loud and connect with others. You can also connect with others by falling them or sharing/liking music. It is especially convenient because you can download it on your phone, laptop, or tablet-like accessory.

This connects to our class because music streaming is fairly new technology. There are more apps likeSoundCloud out there that are being used everyday as a communication technology. SoundCloud, and apps like it, also allows you to listen to music on the go. Whether that be walking, driving, or even for things like cleaning your house.

 

Reference:

Katz, James E., Lever, Katie M., and Chen, Yi-Fan. (2008). “Mobile Music as Environmental Control and

Prosocial Entertainment.” In Katz, J. E. (Ed.). Handbook of Mobile Communication Studies. Cambridge,

MA: MIT Press. P. 367-376

Mobile Life Research Project

Research subject:

             

 

Presentation slides:

 

Research Essay:

The research topic that this project focuses on is improving a mobile technology users day-to-day life. Mobile technology largely focuses on connecting users to people around them but I want to discover how mobile technology can improve individuals themselves. To do this I wanted to learn more about people with a consistently busy schedule. For the photo essay and participant observation part of this project I chose Makena, she is a senior studying animal science. Makena has a full class schedule, early classes everyday, multiple labs throughout the week, and a part time job.

When I asked her what “mobile” meant to her she said it was being on the move and always on the go but also being connected via phone or Internet. The objects she had with her in her backpack included notebooks, her laptop, her planner, her car keys, a coffee mug, and her cell phone. The objects that I found most useful for my project and concept design were her planner, her car keys, and her cell phone. The planner, car keys, and cell phone were most significant because they are signs that she spends lots of time on the go. Her planner tells me she likes to stay on track and be organized, her car keys are because she has classes that are not in walking distance and she has lots of different places to go during the day, and her cell phone tells me she stays connected to the mobile life around her.

Makena is an active, college student with a busy lifestyle. Based on the technology she uses everyday and the aspects of her life she would like to improve I believe an app concept like Rise and Shine would be beneficial to her, or any other busy college student.

 

Project Proposal:

The overarching research question that I started my project with was: how can mobile technology improve day-to-day life? Mobile technology has quickly become a huge part of our society and it provides many opportunities to stay connected with those around you. However, I want to find a way that mobile technology can focus on the individual and benefit the user by making their day-day life more productive in an easy way based on their daily and weekly schedule.

A person who would care about this program would be anyone who has a busy schedule and is looking for a way to utilize his or her time in a more organized manner. This program will benefit someone who has an active, busy schedule, a fair amount of schoolwork, and uses mobile technology. This program will aim to keep users on task and focuses when needed but will allow them to utilize the down time they have available based on information from their schedule.

A few terms I can expand on are “improve” and “benefit.” When I say my program can improve my user’s life I mean this program can and should advance a person’s lifestyle in a way that does not disrupt their current way of life, rather it expands on it in an easy manner. My program would “benefit” users by expanding on mobile technology they already use in a new way that broadens the way the user’s their technology.

The first literature that I will be drawing information from for my project is the last reading that I responded to. The reading is the chapter “Discovering What to Build” from the book Moving Data: The iPhone and the future of media. This excerpt expanded on an efficient, direct observational process. It helped me execute a structured method to plan a concept for my program. It helped me frame my process beginning with a research question down to how to organize my information in a practical matter.

 

The citation for this reading:

 

Barret, E., & Bentley, F. (2012). “The iPhone Apps: A Digital Culture of Interactivity.” In Snickars,

1. and Vonderau, P. (Eds). Moving Data: The iPhone and the future of media. New York:

Columbia University Press. p. 171-183.

 

The second literature that I will be using for my project is the article “App-powered Car Service Leaves Cabs in the Dust,” by Brian X. Chen. I chose this article because it gave me a new perspective on apps, how they are used, and how companies utilize new ways to improve people’s lives. I believe this will help me farther along in my design process when I need to dive into more detail and design with my program.

 

The citation for this article:

 

Chen, B. X. (2011, May 4). App-Powered Car Service Leaves Cabs in the Dust. Retrieved

September 07, 2016, from http://www.wired.com/2011/04/app-stars-uber/

 

The solution to my problem is an app design that takes what people already have and helps user’s keep their lives on track. I am working on a concept in which user’s can input their daily (or weekly) schedule and set an alarm based on that information. In the morning the program can tell you how long you have to sleep in based on the schedule for that day, while also taking into consideration what else is going on that week. The program will also have the option to lock app use while in class, at work, or during important times of the day. It will help keep users on track when they need to be focused and paying attention during their day.

To ensure that I am getting the best information and coming up with an efficient program I will be doing semi-structured interviews and direct observation to gather data that I can use to create themes. With those themes I hope to find other ways to improve upon my initial concept and expand on the mobile media design.

The timeline for my project will start with doing my direct observation and semi-structured interviews between now (October 6^th) and October 23^rd. After that I will organize my information and come up with groupings and themes that will help me expand on my concept. I will begin initial concept design the first week of November. The rest of November will be dedicated to polishing up the design and presentation and finally it will be finished the beginning of the week of December 5^th.

Mobile Research

Since our mobile life field research is due this week I decided to read the chapter from a book by Frank Bentley and Edward Barret called Discovering What to Build. In this chapter the authors describe the research process used to best come up with mobile product concepts and designs. The process they have found to be most useful is direct observation, which leads to ideas and research that is most valuable to their product and service design process.

The process begins with a research question or questions they wish to answer. The researchers then begin their observation and immerse themselves in the subject’s lives, gaining insight on their everyday life and their use of technology that goes long with that. After the researchers finish their actual observation they move on to the analysis part. Bentley and Barret how when they break down the vast amount of data they collected they use a process called “affinity analysis” (2012). This affinity analysis goes like this: identify the raw data, group the data into categories by similarity, take this the first level of categories and break them up into a broader level that can explain the observed behavior, then finally create high-level themes that can be used to summarize findings (Barret & Bentley, 2012). After affinity analysis is finished then the brainstorming for concepts can begin. A shorter version of this entire process is called “deep dive.”

The biggest take away I got from this reading was that you have to know your audience so you can make your mobile product successful while also fulfilling their needs. Online shoe stores like justfab.com require user to fill out short style quizzes before they can create a profile. They ask questions about life-style, preferred style, and price range. The website then uses that information to send users styles and shoes they think would be most fitting for that person. This relates to the reading because this website uses an information processing system that in turn caters to users on an individual level and benefits both parties. I chose this reading because I felt it would be beneficial to me in doing our class project. The observation process it described is very similar to the process I will be doing and I read things that would help me in my design process. The justfab.com example relates to our class because they are doing an extremely basic, small-scale version of this online.

Discussion questions:

1. How efficient do you believe this process to be? Do you think there are other ways to come up with designs or concepts?
2. Have you ever encountered anything like this process before? How did you feel about it?
3. How do you plan to go about your project process?

Resources:

Barret, E., & Bentley, F. (2012). “The iPhone Apps: A Digital Culture of Interactivity.” In     Snickars, P. and Vonderau, P. (Eds). Moving Data: The iPhone and the future of media. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 171-183.

justfab.com

Games and Creativity

In an article written by Bill Wasik, he discuses riots and flash mobs and how communication technology affects the mayhem crowds can cause. Wasik begins by talking about how technology does a good job of keeping us out of crowds, but can also have the complete opposite affect. In London in 2011 a BlackBerry Messenger was responsible for crowds of people gathering together and looting a shopping center in Enfield. The incident kept building because of the mass amounts of people receiving the message.

Wasik conducted a communication experiment and that experiment ended up resulting in what we know today as “flash mobs”(2011).  He sent out emails about spontaneous get together and the phenomenon kept growing. Sean Savage, a grad student who attended UC Berkley, was the original person who coined the term “flash mob.”

A man named Clifford Stott studies violence among soccer fans and his studies say that crowds aren’t about the individual members per say but about the identity they share. He goes on to talk about the two factors that have to do with crowd violence: legitimacy and power (2011). An example of power would be when the DJ Kaskade tweeted about an impromptu block party that drew thousands of people and ending up turning into chaos.

Wasik winds down his article with the fact that media helps us stay connected, not only online but in person too (2011). Wasik also talks about how crowds aren’t necessarily formed for violence; they are formed to show numbers. Large crowds allow groups, who don’t normally have a voice, to be heard in an effective way.

When reading this a mobile app that game to mind was GroupMe. This is an application that allows users to contact each other in group messages. This technology allows users to be in contact with large amounts of people all in the same message; they are connected because everyone is seeing the same thing. This type of app could very easily allow a riot or flash mob to happen, it could even be more effective because people can reply to each other and everyone would see it. So things like date, location, and time could all be changed easily and everyone participating would be in the know.

GroupMe relates to this class on a more broad level because this technology is available to everyone, not just users with certain operating systems. This allows people with iPhones, Androids, or Windows phones (or any kind of smart phone) to be on the same page and in constant communication. Not only that but users are able to use this app wherever they are, whether that be on the go or at home.

Discussion questions:

• From this article we can gather that technology can have a negative impact on people. What other ways has technology had a negative impact on our society?
• In what situation would an event like a flash mob be a positive or helpful thing?
• Technology is advancing quickly. Do you think technology like GroupMe or group messaging will be advanced further? How so?

Source:

Wasik, B. (December 16, 2011). #Riot: Self-organized, hyper-networked revolts-coming to     a city near you. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2011/12/ff_riots/