The embodied Web: embodied Web‐services interaction with an umbrella for augmented city experiences

Abstract

This paper introduces the embodied Web, a new design paradigm for mobile devices. The embodied Web aims to provide an interface using real-world embodied interaction to provide a computer-augmented reality that accesses web services. This platform regards embodied interaction at three levels: operational level, activity level and social level; and is implemented with a combination of sensor, actuator and network connectivities. The platform is developed as a complex of hardware, software and network services. The implementation takes an approach of modularization of hardware, software and web services. As a practical prototype of the embodied Web, the Internet Umbrella Pileus was developed and tested. In contrast to the small screens of mobile devices, Pileus has a big screen on the underside of the umbrella, and it is operated by embodied interaction, including motion sensing of the device and location sensing of walking activities. Photo-sharing and 3D map navigation is provided on the umbrella to expand the user's activity area. These services are provided by API hookups with Flickr and Google Earth. Pileus has been iteratively developed from user observations, design observations and intuitions and prototype evaluations. The umbrella was tested in a large urban environment (the city of Tokyo).

The Cognitive Ecology of the Internet

“…Mobility is a key factor in increasing our access to online data and services. It is also central to the emergence of what is sometimes referred to as the 'Embodied Web' (see Matsumoto et al, 2008)-the idea that our interactions with the Web will eventually occur as part of our everyday embodied engagements with a heterogeneous array of material artifacts. The fact that mobile devices, such as smartphones and wearable devices, are becoming so closely associated with the biological body, coupled with the fact that their modes of operation are increasingly linked to our physical movements and physiological processes, highlights the potential relevance of the Internet (and Internet-enabled devices) to issues of material embodiment and embodied cognition (see Section 3.2).…”

“…Other kinds of interactivity aim to capitalize on the way in which we typically interact with a common array of physical artifacts and objects, helping to support forms of 'embodied interaction' (see Dourish, 2001) with the online world. Consider, for example, work by Matsumoto et al (2008) to develop a Web-enabled umbrella. The umbrella features a variety of sensors (e.g., GPS, compass, accelerometer, etc.…”

Embodiment, Cognition and the World Wide Web

“…Another device that is of interest in the current context is the Web-enabled umbrella described by Matsumoto et al (2008). The umbrella features a variety of sensors (e.g., GPS, compass, accelerometer, etc.…”

“…By providing the user with a range of interaction opportunities (e.g., the normal turning, dipping, and twisting actions that people perform with umbrellas), and by also integrating information from a variety of sensors and Web services, the umbrella is able to present a variety of forms of context-relevant information that take into account both the user's physical location, as well as their current interests and activities. Interestingly, and of particular relevance in the current context, Matsumoto et al (2008) describe their work as part of an effort to realize what they call the 'Embodied Web': a form of enhanced interactivity in which "natural embodied interactions...augments [a users] experience in the real world" (pg. 49).…”

“…The work of researchers like Matsumoto et al (2008), as well as the research and development efforts of organizations like Google, will, in all likelihood, transform the nature of our future interaction with the Web. In place of conventional forms of browser-based access, we are witnessing the transition to an era in which the Web is placed at the heart of our everyday embodied interactions with the world.…”