Diversity Computing Spaces

In increasingly pluralistic societies, the question of how we live together, avoiding destructive conflict, is arguably one of the biggest challenges of our time with some of the most prominent fault lines running along gender, ethnicity, (dis)abilities, age, political affiliation and socio-economic status. Digital technologies play key roles in framing differences and othering, i.e. the construction of social boundaries that lead to tensions, both in online and real-world contexts. This project takes a design research approach to investigate how interactive technologies can create smart, physical spaces that scaffold shared, meaningful experiences for diverse groups of people. We build on the emerging paradigm of Diversity Computing and explore it for unstructured, in-between spaces for children and young adults in educational settings, e.g. school yards, aisles, break rooms or after-school care - spaces in which diverse groups of children and young adults naturally interact and processes of othering unfold and are learnt. Creating such DivComp Spaces poses a number of novel and unsolved research questions. Most prominently, we require a) methodological innovation to enable us to design technology in non- normative ways, across lines of difference; b) technological innovation in creating systems that combine sensing and processing of data with novel interfaces to afford meaningful, shared experiences; and c) theoretical innovation to understand roles of technology and its nuanced contributions in processes of othering. We envision DivComp Spaces that are meaningful to different people in different ways, but also afford common references and structures that offer a shared frame for action. They are designed to afford encounters and modes of participation that enable constructive, respectful and non-violent controversy, in contrast to antagonistic othering that might be normative, delineating or polarising. This vision constitutes a significant departure from the prevailing paradigm of technology that focuses on sameness and the individual, rather than pluralism and togetherness. The contribution of this project is a body of knowledge that reaches beyond its core disciplinary boundaries of human-computer interaction (HCI) and (participatory) design research, including broader computer science (e.g. innovative applications of sensor networks and data analytics), but also into areas of sociology (e.g. science and technology Studies (STS), and political sciences), philosophy (e.g. ethics, moral philosophy, new materialism) and cognitive science. Across these fields, the kinds of contributions this project will make are unique, as its design research approach means it goes beyond a purely analytical ambition to understand the impact of technology on societal processes, but bridges the gap to generative knowledge for the creation of alternative, technological futures.

In increasingly pluralistic societies, multiple dimensions of difference such as (dis)ability, gender, ethnicity or socio-economic status, create societal and inter-personal tensions, processes of exclusion and polarisation. In the past years, digital technology has been deeply implicated in these processes, often framing and amplifying differences for economic and political purposes. In contrast, this project has explored possible roles of digital technology with the aim to mediate difference to enable meaningful shared experiences between people. This aligns with the broader idea of "Diversity Computing", which aims to design interactions with computing in ways that embrace and leverage on diversity, rather than foster and perpetuate pre-determined categories of people. This project has explored the idea of Diversity Computing in a particular setting and for a particular target group: children and young adults in physical spaces around school. This is a context in which young people with diverse backgrounds naturally come together and develop social competencies that relate to processes of inclusion, exclusion, group building or conflict resolution. In particular during times outside of the regular teaching hours, in breaks, young people experience complex social situations in which they acquire social skills. It is precisely these in-between spaces that this project targets, asking whether digital technology can be used to create interactive physical spaces that support and mediate such experimentation for diverse groups of children and young adults. We engaged pupils in an Austrian middle school to better understand the social dynamics in these "in-between spaces" and invited them to co-design interactive technologies for these spaces. We iteratively developed a range of prototypes, which we tested in school and as part of an exhibition. We installed the final prototype in the hallway of the school for a long-term evaluation. The prototype consisted of multiple screens, drawing areas and other sensors, implemented in multiple physical elements that together formed a DivComp space and allowed users to participate in multiple ways, collaborate or explore functions on their own. In the long-term study, we investigated the impact of this interactive technology on the social behaviours of pupils. Over the course of 7 months we conducted observations and interviews, and discovered multiple ways in which our prototype facilitated a wide range of interactions between different groups of children and young adults. From our analysis, we distilled design principles for Diversity Computing Spaces that will help others to create similar interactive technology. The project has made significant contributions to academic research: methodologically in terms of co-designing such technology with children and young adults; theoretically in terms of understanding social group dynamics and the role of technology in it; and practically by developing design knowledge for how to create interactive technology for Diversity Computing.