Output details

The Net in the Park

The journal paper describes the design of ‘Wi-roni’, an interactive system for public spaces. The research explores interaction design by looking particularly at patterns of behaviour and activity that may have aesthetic and imaginative value. The project began as a response to a design brief issued by the municipality of Monteroni d’Arbia, a small community near Siena. We responded to the challenges, set-down in the brief, by conceiving interaction modalities suitable for social activities occurring in the here-and-now, in real-time and real-place. The community, composed of seniors, young families, and immigrants, has a high-speed internet connection infrastructure. Our objective was to facilitate the process of socialization in public spaces among local citizens with special attention to children, the elderly, and immigrants – the main users of the space. This led us to focus on designing for intergenerational and multicultural users. The design methodology was based on a process in which concept design, technology design, and activity design were carried out simultaneously so that each strand of the process could inform the others. The system was well received in the local community with the primary school taking advantage of the system to begin storytelling activities. In 2010, 20 children, led by an educator during the after-school activities, worked in groups and created fictional stories. As a result, a group of students at the University of Siena, with the help of a musician for sound effects, assisted children to become digital authors by learning how to turn their stories into rich audio content. This allowed participants to interact with the web not just as passive users, but also as authors, and set in motion a process for making Wi-roni a tool for the whole community.