The Meaning of Place
technological imagination and human experience
http:/ / www. intel. com/ research/ exploratory/ papr/ meaning_of_place-forum. htm
forum and workshops September 9 and 10, 2003
organized by
People and Practices Research Lab (PAPR) Intel Research
Forum Agenda
John Sherry, PAPR, moder at or
Gaetano Boriello, IR Seat t le & U Washingt on
Paul Dourish, UC Irvine
Mimi Ito, USC
Jamy Sheridan, Maryland Inst it ut e College of Art
Nina Wakeford, U Surrey
Barry Wellman, U Toront o
Roundtable Discussion 2:30
Joe McCarthy, Int el Research Seat t le
Sit uat ed Comput ing: Technol ogy in Pl ace(s)
Opening Keynote 1:00
Scott Mainwaring, PAPR
About Your Hosts
People and Practices Research
• Holist ic st udies of t echnology use (and non-use) in real-world
set t ings t o inf orm and inspire f ut ure designs and st rat egies • Mult i-disciplinary t eam of
ant hropologist s, psychologist s, int eract ion designers, and
engineers
Intel Research
• Long-t erm research int o emerging and disrupt ive t echnologies,
cent ered on a vision of ubiquit ous, proact ive comput ing
Studying People, Practices, and Places
Product ion Environment s Shared Comput ing Cent ers
Defining
Place
A place is a space which is i nvest ed wi t h
under st andings of behavioural appropriat eness, cult ural expect at ions, and so f ort h. We are
l ocat ed in “ space, ” but we act in “ place. ”
Har r i son & Dour i sh, 1996
• Place is a spat ial/ social concept – a point of cont act bet ween physics and cult ure
• Root ed in everyday experience, of t en t aken f or grant ed
Technology and Place?
• Should t echnologist s care about place?
Why? How?
– Conversely, should makers, caret akers, and users of place care about t echnology?
• How t o t hink about place wit h respect t o
t echnology?
– Place as inf rast ruct ure – Place as habit at
Place as Infrastructure
• Places of f er pre-exist ing collect ions of
resources t hat t echnologies can use
– To f ind users and t arget services
– To embed devices and ground augment at ions – To serve as met aphors
Place as Habitat
• Places are living syst ems whose
healt h is impact ed by t echnologies
– Nat ural habit at monit oring and management – Sust ainabilit y – economic and ecological
– E-government and communit y net working – Many crit iques, regarding surveillance,
Place as Creation
• Places are expressions of design or
cult ure, made wit h t echnologies as
mat erials or t ools
– Places as cult ural st at ement s, vessels f or emot ion and meaning
– Prof essional and vernacular place-makers – Act s of creat ion, and re-creat ion
Place as Overhead
• Places impose barriers and const raint s on
f lows of people, t hings, and inf ormat ion
f or t echnology t o overcome
– Dist ance and ot her physical barriers
Goals for the Forum and Workshops
• To bet t er underst and “ place” and it s relat ions t o t echnology f rom a variet y of dif f erent disciplines and perspect ives
• To begin a process of cross-pollinat ion t hrough int erdisciplinary discussion
