The researchers in the DESIRE4EU project propose the use of an eco-optimized PLA/Flax-based PCB manufacturing substrate that could be recycled or degraded after use due to the organic, biodegradable nature of the material. However, having a biodegradable PCB is not enough, as we need to rethink electronics design to better fit specific use cases, avoiding a one-size-fits-all philosophy. This paper includes a set of learned lessons in the form of design guidelines extracted from the experience of a small-scale manufacturing of a set of biodegradable microcontroller boards. These lessons outline contemporary technical limitations of biodegradable PCBs, which the authors trust will be overcome during the development of the mentioned EU project by 2027. This should be a first step towards reducing e-waste in the not-so-far future. This positioning paper states that, in the current ecological crisis, the different engineering communities need to rethink their priorities in order to produce ecology-friendly innovations by keeping concepts such as just enough computing and ecooptimization in mind. In particular, when talking about the TinyML community, we suggest carefully considering the hardware’s limiting factors presented by computational power, or radio communication when designing new Edge devices so that they could use 2-layers biodegradable PCBs. In parallel to the hardware discussion, the authors bring up issues emerging from using bloated inference software production workflows, which have a very direct impact in the ecology due to the computation power needed for embedded machine learning software production. This paper suggests the adoption of ondevice training to minimize the energy consumption and dependance on connected toolchains during programming. 

Electronics prototyping platforms such as Arduino enable a wide variety of creators with and without an engineering background to rapidly and inexpensively create interactive prototypes. By opening up the process of prototyping to more creators, and by making it cheaper and quicker, prototyping platforms and toolkits have undoubtedly shaped the HCI community. With this workshop, we aim to understand how recent trends in technology, from reprogrammable digital and analog arrays to printed electronics, and from metamaterials to neurally-inspired processors, might be leveraged in future prototyping platforms and toolkits. Our goal is to go beyond the well-established paradigm of mainstream microcontroller boards, leveraging the more diverse set of technologies that already exist but to date have remained relatively niche. What is the future of electronics prototyping toolkits? How will these tools fit in the current ecosystem? What are the new opportunities for research and commercialization?  

There are currently few ways to reliably and objectively assess olfaction outside of the research laboratory or clinic. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for remote olfactory assessment; in particular, smell training at home is a promising method for olfactory rehabilitation, but further methodological advances might enhance its effectiveness and range of use. Here, we present Exerscent, a portable, low-cost olfactory display designed primarily for uses outside of the laboratory and that can be operated with a personal computer. Exerscent includes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that are attached to odor stimuli and read with a MFRC522 module RFID reader/antenna that encodes the odor in order to provide adaptive challenges for the user (e.g., an odor identification task). Hardware parts are commercially available or 3D printed. Instructions and code for building the Exerscent are freely available online (https://osf.io/kwftm/). As a proof of concept, we present a case study in which a participant trained daily to identify 54 odors, improving from 81% to 96% accuracy over 16 consecutive days. In addition, results from a laboratory experiment with 11 volunteers indicated a very high level of perceived usability and engagement. Exerscent may be used for olfactory skills development (e.g., perfumery, enology), and rehabilitation purposes (e.g., postviral olfactory loss), but it also allows for other forms of technological interactions such as olfactory-based recreational interactions.

Since the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), researchers have asked how intelligent computing systems could interact with and relate to their users and their surroundings, leading to debates around issues of biased AI systems, ML black-box, user trust, user’s perception of control over the system, and sys- tem’s transparency, to name a few. All of these issues are related to how humans interact with AI or ML systems, through an interface which uses different interaction modalities. Prior studies address these issues from a variety of perspectives, spanning from under- standing and framing the problems through ethics and Science and Technology Studies (STS) perspectives to finding effective technical solutions to the problems. But what is shared among almost all those efforts is an assumption that if systems can explain the how and why of their predictions, people will have a better perception of control and therefore will trust such systems more, and even can correct their shortcomings. This research field has been called Explainable AI (XAI). In this studio, we take stock on prior efforts in this area; however, we focus on using Tangible and Embodied Interaction (TEI) as an interaction modality for understanding ML. We note that the affordances of physical forms and their behaviors potentially can not only contribute to the explainability of ML sys- tems, but also can contribute to an open environment for criticism. This studio seeks to both critique explainable ML terminology and to map the opportunities that TEI can offer to the HCI for designing more sustainable, graspable and just intelligent systems.

This paper introduces the experiments realized by Arduino Education in the field of educational robotics. The paper, written as a collection of annotated exemplars, covers a series of prototypes, kits, and full educational programmes which were tested with students of different ages and educators. Some projects are of a do-it-yourself (DIY) nature, a property we came to describe as DIY-ness, while some others have been manufactured and served to tens of thousands of students. There are however things in common that can help others in the conceptualization, development, and deployment of educational robotics initiatives.

This article explores the history of contemporary Spanish Do-It-Yourself (DIY) spaces (hacklabs, hackerspaces, fab labs, makerspaces and after-school academies) and the growth of each type since the 1990s. The development of these types of spaces is reflected against the commodification and commoditisation of DIY in Spain. The article argues that the removal of the political layer of the early Spanish DIY techno-tactical movements allowed a higher degree of dissemination within society in general, while reducing the emancipatory poten-tial of these new spaces. However, the analysis of the degree of com-modification and commoditisation of types of spaces in relation to the amount of spaces per type shows an anomaly for makerspaces. The authors reflect upon this anomaly and whether a data set enlarge-ment could correct it. For their analysis, the authors constructed a data set of events of the Spanish DIY history through the design of an ad hoc mixed method. Tracing events and spaces could not be done in a simple way due to the long time span of the study: older spaces existed in the pre-social network days, and new ones exist only in dedicated platforms for niche communities of practice. This method of tracing events and spaces is another contribution of the article as it could be used to make similar causality analyses of historical data in other case studies.

At the first signs of the Covid-19 pandemic, the uncertainty around the global stock of medical supplies sparked a response in the DIY communities around the world. In the case of Spain, a community called Coronavirus Makers (CVM) appeared to supply ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE) to hospitals and people in need. This paper explores the evolution of this community-driven development, detailing the patterns proposed by members of the group acting as design experts to tackle different problems. More specifically, the paper uses face shields, the most produced PPE in Spain, as a boundary object to highlight the relationships between individuals, institutions, and companies. These objects of design, being devices for medical use, must overcome validation at the technical level. Authors will also explore some of the controversies surrounding the transfer of these products from horizontal innovation networks to traditional production companies. 

This paper introduces different experiences, from experiments to commercial kits, looking at how to make IoT easier to understand by users from a variety of age groups. The hereby presented trials cover highly complex technical platforms. Connectivity, data collection, visualisation, or analysis are concepts that participants in workshops and courses have been introduced to with different degrees of success. The different experiments are finally compared offering other scholars and curriculum creators a point of departure to further work.  

Nowadays universities and other classical research institutions are changing their role in knowledge creation. In general terms we can characterize this transition as the path from “Closed Science” to “Open Science” as a part of a deeper and structural phenomenon known as “knowledge democratization”, where different stakeholders as students, makers and other tech and science enthusiasts are able to create knowledge learning from the researchers and cooperating with them.

In this process, science engagement of these new actors is a key point to stimulate their creativity, get some important research skills learnt directly from the researchers and be able to apply these skills teaching others in a continuous “learning chain”.

In this article, we introduce some main features and preliminary results of an experiment called “The infinite learning chain” done in cooperation with Arduino, focused on sensing science and based in a real research project of Group of Atmospheric Science (GAS) called Luleå Environmental Monitoring Stations (LEMS). We debate some interesting questions related to the impact of the format in terms of science engagement, STEM skills acquisition and cooperative learning involvement. We used as “learning ecosystem” a professional Lab, the INSPIRE Lab a complete multidisciplinary facility for space and environmental research and exploration

Physical computing toolkits have long been used in educational contexts to learn about computational concepts by engaging in the making of interactive projects. This paper presents a comprehensive toolkit that can help educators teach programming with an emphasis on collaboration, and provides suggestions for its effective pedagogical implementation. The toolkit comprises the Talkoo kit with physical computing plug-and-play modules and a visual programming environment. The key suggestions are inspired by the results of the evaluation studies which show that children (aged 14–18 in a sample group of 34 students) are well motivated when working with the toolkit but lack confidence in the kit’s support for collaborative learning. If the intention is to move beyond tools and code in computer education to community and context, thus encouraging computational participation, collaboration should be considered as a key aspect of physical computing activities. Our approach expands the field of programming with physical computing for teenage children with a focus on empowering teachers and students with not only a kit but also its appropriate classroom implementation for collaborative learning.

Platform Design is a study of different viewpoints on the creation of digital systems, and how they converge in platforms designed, built, and managed by communities. As sociotechnical constructs in which features emerge through the interaction of different stakeholders, platforms are understood as both means and outcomes—the ‘things’ or boundary objects in a design process—generating the spaces where communities of practice can form. Utilizing two strongly interwoven timelines in education and research (both in academia and industry), the thesis shifts the centre of balance in actor–networks by iteratively recalibrating from a techno-deterministic analysis towards a community-driven one. The theoretical background in the fields of cybernetics, critical theory, design, and the sociology of technology frames the empirical work, which consists of academic publications, design reports, and the publicly available documentation of realized projects. In the space between theory and praxis, a methodological toolbox is developed, a posteriori revisiting experiences gathered over a decade Drawing on a series of functional concepts, the thesis proposes an alternative co-design framework, termed inclusive multiple prototyping. Meant to augment new sensibilities that are pertinent to the design process of platforms, this framework addresses the inherent complexity of actor–networks and human–machine communities. In practical terms, the thesis describes a series of projects, some of which can be considered platforms, while others would be better categorized as tools, toolboxes, kits, or infrastructure. These include co-creating the Arduino community, repurposing kitchen appliances for connection to the cloud, designing a modular prototyping platform involving programming and electronics, deploying an indoor location system, creating educational kits for upper secondary school teachers, and inventing new haptic interactive interfaces. Some of the projects required the long-term involvement of the researcher in intimate communities of practice; others were temporal interventions, yet reached thousands of users. Practice-based and transdisciplinary, the thesis contributes to the field of interaction design by bringing in elements of a sociotechnical discourse, while problematizing notions such as democracy and governance, openness of tools and outcomes, modularity, generalizability, and transferability—the three latter terms further fuelling the research questions. The research shows that these are properties that enable the creation of platforms, although the question remains whether there is such a thing as a standardized platform. While this thesis touches upon the potentials of state-of-the-art platform technology, it also points to the fact that there is work to be done, socially, ethically, and politically, when considering the augmentation of platforms for everyday use as pervasive and artificial intelligence agents.

Introducing physical computing into regular school classes is challenged by constraints of schedules and curricula structures, which do not allow for time-consuming electronics prototyping. We present a novel approach to prototyping with physical computing components with the Arduino-based TALKOO kit: It comprises hardware modules, a visual IDE and prototyping material. Sensor and actuator modules are pluggable and do not require soldering and prior knowledge in electronics. The components have the ability to "talk" back to the visual IDE and to a learning analytics system. A new paradigm for visual programming maps physical modules onto virtual representations on screen making programming more intuitive. The TALKOO kit expands the field of application of physical computing for children in regular school contexts. Preliminary evaluation results show that children were able to build elaborative prototypes within an hour.

This paper presents a recently started research project that aims to generate, analyze, use, and provide feedback for analytics derived from hands-on, project-based and experiential learning scenarios. The project draws heavy influence from digital fabrication activities and related inquiry-based learning. The intention of the poster is to raise the discussion about how learning analytics from the project can be used to support and enhance learning for tangible technologies, These activities include physical computing and other lab work for small group work in higher education and high school settings.

This poster discusses work on the design of a visual-based programming language for physical computing and mobile tools for the learners to actively document and reflect on their projects. These are parts of a European project that is investigating how to generate, analyze, use and provide feedback from analytics derived from hands-on learning activities. Our aim is to raise a discussion about how learning analytics, intelligence, and the role of learners’ documenting their work can provide richer opportunities for supporting learning and teaching.

Arduino is a free, opensource hardware platform that can be reprogrammed with a piece of opensource software. Software that reprograms hardware allows people to transform the way they understand and interact with the world because electronics are omnipresent in our everyday activities. Elevators run with microcontrollers, in an average car there are seventy microcontrollers and even a microwave oven has microcontrollers. The goal of Arduino is to empower people other than engineers to understand interaction paradigms such as physical, tangible and ubiquitous computing and to create their own interactive artifacts with digital electronics. Eventually, it democratizes learning by practical experimentation so that learners discover how to be independent, how to use things by themselves, how to exploit those things to build interactive systems by themselves and how to be critically demanding about technology. In this talk, I will introduce the feature that makes a free hardware platform such as Arduino a powerful learning tool that foster creativity and I will talk about a vision for the computing education for the 21st century: accessible and pleasant approaches to teach kids how to reprogram the surrounding environment. To this end, I will share experiences and insights gathered from project-based learning experiments with Arduino in secondary schools.

This deliverable is an overall status report on the technical development and kit design made within the PELARS project prior to launching a series of trials with students within three different learning scenarios.

The document presents a series of tools: hardware, software and crafting materials that will both enable the students perform a series of tasks, but also get real time feedback about the state of their projects. The feedback will also be sent to the teachers to inform them about potential issues faced by the students, allowing them take actions there where it is most needed.

The tools here presented have been developed for the project based on the research made mainly as part of workpackages WP2 and WP4, but also on the technical descriptions of WP5.

When it comes to the technical development, it advanced faster than anticipated, thanks to a relocation of human resources, what allowed the project to be presented at Ars Electronica in September 2015 and fulfill some of the partners’ plans for trials with students to start in late October 2015. At the time of writing 4 different series of boards have been produced adding up to more than 700 circuits of 13 different types that will be put in the hands of students during the different trials.

The electronic development platform is now called TALKOO kits (formerly known as PELARS kits) that together with the PELARS crafting materials and the PELARS visualization tool will be at the core of the trials to be performed with groups of university students in interaction design and engineering, as well as high school students in different countries. PELARS has an extensive trial plan that is described in WP7’s deliverables and that builds on the results of this deliverable D4.2.

This document summarizes the way how the SandS hardware ecosystem can be deployed inside an appliance and programmed to connect to the internet and, by extension, to the SandS infrastructure.

This deliverable builds on top of D2.1 that was dedicated to describing the SandS hardware. In this case, we focus in the ways the different elements can be configured and reprogrammed. It also describes the tools created specifically for the project in order to reprogram the appliances.

Together with this deliverable, we provide a series of documents that look in more detail into the different parts of the system. The following documents are referred to throughout the deliverable:

• D2-2_Getting-Starter-Guide_SandS_motherboard.pdf: explains how to configure the drivers and how to upload Arduino code to the SandS motherboard
• D2-2_Getting-Started-Guide_SandS_I2C_configuration_tool.pdf: explains how to connect a series of modules to a SandS motherboard and configure them from a command line interface
• D2-2_Getting-Started-Guide_SandS_cross_compiler.pdf: explains how to create an SDK to compile code that can be uploaded to the Linux part of the SandS motherboard
• D2-2_Built_In_Oven_Remote_Extension_Protocol.pdf: specifies the communication over serial port towards Gorenje's HomeChef oven. This serves as an example of how to get the SandS motherboard to talk to devices that offer a serial port connection

The Stitchies system consists of two bodysuits which each incorporate a network of 120 microprocessors and connected over networks. The open-source based system allows for complete telehaptic communication, that is physical and touch based connectivity over all of the users bodies. The artistic presentation will allow visitors to try the system and experience a next step towards online and telehaptic performance.  

The scope of deliverable 2.1 is to create a series of datasheets for the different hardware designs created for the SandS project members to prototype connected appliances. These designs are part of the work made by Arduino during Workpackage 2 and set the ground for the different partners to understand how the different electronic blocks can be used as part of SandS work.

This deliverable will be complemented by D2.2, which will focus more on the software that can be created to control different types of appliances, as well as in a series of practical documents to help the partners getting started in using the modules described in D2.1.

This deliverable is a compendium of:

1. different datasheets for each one of the modules created
2. a datasheet for the SandS motherboad
3. a document describing the communication protocol between the modules
4. a folder with the firmware created for all the modules

In this paper we present the next iteration in our study of wearable and mobile haptic communication, proposing to conduct a many-to-many haptic communication experiment over time. We wish to present the project and results in both the Demo and Poster format. 

This paper investigates how artistic explorations can be useful for the development of mobile haptic technology. It presents an alternative framework of design for wearable haptics that contributes to the building of haptic communities outside specialized research contexts. The paper also presents our various wearable haptic systems for mobile computing capable of producing high-order tactile percepts. Our practice based approach suggests a design framework that can be applied to create advanced haptic stimulations/situations for physically embodied interaction in real-world settings. 

Prototyping Futures gives you a glimpse of what collaborating with academia might look like. Medea and its co-partners share their stories about activities happening at the research centre – projects, methods, tools, and approaches – what challenges lie ahead, and how these can be tackled. Examples of highlighted topics include: What is a living lab and how does it work? What are the visions behind the Connectivity Lab at Medea? And, how can prototyping-methods be used when sketching scenarios for sustainable futures? Other topics are: What is the role of the body when designing technology? What is collaborative media and how can this concept help us understand contemporary media practices? Prototyping Futures also discusses the open-hardware platform Arduino, and the concepts of open data and the Internet of Things, raising questions on how digital media and connected devices can contribute to more sustainable lifestyles, and a better world.

Installing indoor location system prototypes yields practical lessons about how to design and deploy future ubiquitous technologies. The design of context-aware technologies has been on many research team agendas since Mark Weiser first described his ubiquitous computing vision. Determining the location of people and objects in indoor environments with a high degree of accuracy is a main technical obstacle to achieving this vision.

From its origin as a craft, passing through the market reappropriation of the term during the 80’s, to the moment when many disciplines have adopted it as a generic creative strategy, design has taken many forms and has incurred a series of ideological transformations. In an attempt of making sense within the already established structures in the fields of science and academic practices, some authors suggest the creation of the area of design research through the methodology of systematic inquiry.

This text (first) analyzes the evolution of design as presented by different design practitioners, design philosophers, and design theorists. After studying the etymological definitions for both Design and Research according to two contemporary scholars, I will depict my understanding of the contemporary academic design scene through a historical overview, thus taking an evolutionary approach to the concept of Design Research.

The text ultimately concludes by counterattacking the position of systematic inquiry applied to design research by starting from the original statement of design: to provide with solutions, making use of the argument of the western-centered background of the scientific knowledge, and presenting cases that I have faced in my everyday design practice as part of a design collective.

With Resign Desearch I try to address that Gestalt is a big part of design, a part that contains an ideological discourse that is as hard to leave out of design practice as it is to find it in scientific knowledge. This contextualization politicizes design research to the point of making it partial. As a matter of fact, it isn’t until the postmodern era that design found a way of coping with the market. Therefore I believe that there is room for creating a research discipline with a different character—more contextualized—than any of the other scientific disciplines.

The interesting evolutional characteristic of design resides in the fact that the different forms it has taken since its origins are coexistent nowadays. The use of the term »Darwinian evolution« in the subtitle to this paper is therefore intentionally ironic. It tries to address that despite all the controversy around the different kinds of work within design (commercial, research, educational, social, etc.) there is room for all of them.