2004-02-10

Finding the Right Moment - Fluidtime: Timing Tools for Social Networks 
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/et2004/view/e_sess/4668


Michael Kieslinger and Molly Wright Steenson from Ivrea in Italy.


example of a carton of milk that is labeled as going off overnight:
we've built -- "a culture of representation of time and changes that isn't
really what's going on in nature"

[heh. the difference between no-loophole and loopholed interface-shapes.]

over time, amount of communication before actual meeting or event [Goffman
encounter] has increased: from 1 letter, to phoning to arrange 'this evening'
then texting to iterate to an actual time as it gets closer. soon, he says, the
information will stream continuously.

trafficlight in India example: instead of red/green there's a timer to say when
it'll change. binary gets smoothed, over time.

from clock time to fluid time.

fluid time is about time coordination as affected by time concepts, event type,
social network roles, mood and so on.

chronos vs kairos in Robert Levine's 'The geography of time'
http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/bookreview/item_1209.html

[this also looks interesting
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226981525
'Time Maps: Collective Memory and the Social Shape of the Past']

in scenario 1: roles in negotiating an event, social network roles:
time manager, connector, time juggler

in scenario 2: 13 sms, wondering time 2 hours, meeting time 1 minute.

different models for arranging a time: point shift coordination/ progressive
coordination.

[now follows some social research looking at an actual group, how they organise
their time and their different roles.]

using this research, social network roles are found: leader, organizer,
connector, manager. they can tell who these people tend to connect to, what they
tend to do in the groups.

[this is important. how small groups self-organise. doesn't this need to be
taken into account with meeting requests in Outlook?]

communication and confirmation are the important things for making plans.
[that's feedback loops, essentially. you need massively re-entrant systems in
order for a group mind to evolve. cf universe of consciousness.]

[these guys are *really* good, btw. I'd like to see these slides again, a little
slower. it's a good overview of their project.]

so an example:

doing a laundry service for students. if you go check your laundry too early or
too late that's bad.

arrangement laundry times is needed too. the server takes care of
re-arrangements: asking users whether their timeslot can be shifted around. runs
over SMS or with mobile phone applications.

two parameters:

1. day density. if there aren't many people using the washing machines, you
don't need critical reminders.
2. punctuality. it remembers how punctual you are and changes reminders based on
that. (and reminders aren't "stick to the calendar", they're reminding you of
social obligation)

(they poll the washing machines every minute to see how long is left.)

there's an ambient device too that's wall mounted for awareness of washing
machine activity from far away.

summary:

"real life is messy"

[they're teaching at an interaction design college about social network
dynamics, ethnography etc. proper social software stuff. this conference appears
to be all object 2nd order cybernetics: it's not just the nodes, it's the
structure of the group, how humans work, and how we make the group model of the
constructed system a better fit to reality.]

question: personality models come from psychology? apparently these
personalities in fluidtime come from a mix of many different studies.
myers-briggs etc.

matt jones asks about this manifesting in infrastructure, and how that affects
space and cities. nice example in the answer: in the country, the back window of
the house lets you have an awareness that the bus is coming.

nick sweeney: do the tools change the people? yes: there are mechanisms for time
managers to sort of time squanderers.

[this is the bonabeau probe figuring out how to work the black box interface.
unintuitive strategies to have disproportionate effect. like the googlebomb
topographic successes.]

[what's really cool about this is that 2 years ago social software was really
flakey and all about random stuff and not really anywhere. now - like this -
it's at the point where microsoft could employ social software interaction
designers and it would improve their software and the lives of users. big
shift!]

#

Fluidtime
http://www.fluidtime.net/

Fluidtime gallery
http://www.interaction-ivrea.it/en/gallery/fluidtime/index.asp

This presentation:
http://www.girlwonder.com/presentations/Social-Fluidtime.pdf