The Meaning of Place in Supporting Sociality

Abstract

While social isolation in an ageing population is a concern in many locations, it is greater in towns where divisive local geography and declining investment conspire against meeting places and mutual awareness. This research into the design of location-based tools to support sociality asks whether embedded digital tools that make neighbourhood activities and/or people's movements more visible have the potential to increase serendipitous encounters and deepen a sense of community cohesion. Taking to the streets of a small town to explore if digital tools might improve the situation, we used participatory and provocation methods to inspire engagement with the theme and compare design concepts for sociality. Participants showed great passion for the town and its people, but also caution about publicly revealing even basic information, because of anticipated local consequences. They preferred an indirect approach.We use these insights to analyze "place" and discuss the specifics of designing for sociality in challenging contexts.

Understanding Meaningful Participation and the Situated Use of Technology in Community Music for Active Ageing

“…For example, in terms of efficacy and confidence, researchers argue that older people's prior life experiences and wisdom should be highlighted in social participation, so as to empower them with a feeling of confidence and reciprocity, and with self-worth from benefiting younger people (Hope et al, 2014;Rice et al, 2013). In terms of the tensions between privacy and information sharing, Light et al (2017) suggest an indirect way of recommending local events to people living in an English town (e.g., things happening in their local areas rather than who is at the scene), so as to serve their information needs as well as protect their privacy. What can be implied here is that experiences, competences and tensions in relation to technology use and active participation need to be discussed alongside situated practices, social relations and the wider contexts.…”

“…However, social media could be a supplement to existing activity promotion channels (e.g., websites, email lists, and flyers) in terms of the groups' collective identities and might be utilised to attract older people's younger family and people who have little access to the existing information distribution channels of community music. Moreover, photos, streamed video clips of performances and rehearsals (some websites already have such information), and even rich media contents from a first-person point-of-view recorded by a head-mounted webcam (Light et al, 2017) might give a sense of participation and a vivid knowledge of the routine practices. This could be particularly helpful for those actively seeking engagement and new to such activities.…”

The Technology Explorers: Partnering with Older Adults to Engage with Virtual Reality and Virtual Avatars

“…Alongside this move, research has also explored numerous creative ways of engaging older adults in the design process. These include playful approaches, such as "making" (Rogers et al, 2014), and providing design provocations to elicit reflections and ideas about technological innovation (Light, Howland, Hamilton, & Harley, 2017).…”

Designing the Lost Self

“…Another reason for projecting places from the past may be that familiar places provide an ongoing sense of belonging [40]. The notion of place as a site of sociality and belonging has been explored by humancomputer interaction researchers seeking to design tools that encourage older people to engage in local social activities [31]. Our analysis of older adults' self-representations in online games suggests that place is not only a site of local community interactions, but is also associated with older adults' life histories.…”