Read the following article: Carmien,
S., Dawe, M., Fischer, G., Gorman, A., Kintsch, A., & Sullivan, J. F. (2004)
"Socio-Technical Environments Supporting People with Cognitive Disabilities
Using Public Transportation," Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction (ToCHI),
p. (in press). http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/~gerhard/papers/tochi-social-issues-final.pdf

More Information about the CLever
Project can be found at: http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/clever/index.html

Briefly discuss the following issues
for the paper that you have read:

1. what did you find

1.1. interesting about the article?

I had never really
thought about some of the potential hassles that frequent public transportation
can present. In Boulder, for instance, our public transportation is very straightforward
and essentially easy to use. Reading the article made me think back to my couple
trips to London where they have one of the largest subway systems in the world.
When I was there, I remember thinking how extremely impressive its function
and design was. But I also recall how the maps and tunnels were very complex.
The planners did a great job of trying to organize the information as best as
possible, but with so much of it, confusion and clutter is inevitable. These
kind of maps and transit guides are crucial for all different facets of life
(school, work, eating, social events, safety), and without a system where there
is "mobility for all," a lot of people could potentially be left out
in the cold. I thought bringing up that point was the most interesting part
of the article.

1.2. not interesting about the article?

There was nothing
in particular that I found uninteresting in the article.

2. what do you consider the main
message of the article?

The main message
of the article has a similar goal as the previous article we read. It goal of
the article is two fold. First, it is trying to address some interesting issues
in human computer interaction. The second is to propose some interesting solutions
to a group of society that often has less of a voice. The systems it proposed
also have potential to do some real social good.

3. what did you find interesting
about the systems?

3.1. Personal Travel Assistant

I thought the most
interesting part of this system was the idea of "just in time" notifications.
These seem like they would be very useful for people with memory issues. It
also seems like a fairly robust system, allowing users to navigate through complex
travel systems.

3.2. Memory Aiding Prompting System
(MAPS)

I thought this system
addressed the problem of granularity perfectly. It was an important point to
bring up that transit was not a goal in itself, but a means to an end. Allowing
for learning and task-specific needs to be factored in is a crucial step in
developing a real useful system of this kind.

3.3. Lifeline

This definitely seems
like the best system as long as some of the safety issues about remote monitoring
are dealt with and that the system is extremely reliable. That aside, independence
is usually a primary goal of patients with cognitive disabilities. So, a system
that encourages that would be a great help confidence and self-esteem building.

4. do you know of other papers, ideas,
and systems which are closely related to the article and the systems?

No, unfortunately,
none that I know of.

5. what do the article and the associated
systems say about

5.1. design

That design is a
process that must be done with the audience in mind, and must be developed iteratively
and with the people that will be using the system.

5.2. learning

Learning exists on
many different levels. Learning one thing often requires learning of something
else. Also, learning how to learn can not be overlooked as a goal in all system
development. Creating software that tailors to learning makes a system more
useful and robust.

5.3. collaboration

Design must be a
collaborative effort. If that was ever true before, it is most definitely true
with a system such as this. Working with the people that will manage the system
and use the system, and in some cases whose life depends on it, is a step that
cannot be overlooked, and needs to be just as important as every other part
of the project.

5.4. innovative media to support
these activities?

The power of GPS
in transit software is extremely helpful in this type of system because so much
information can be used just based on an objects location (an oncoming bus for
instance).

6. are themes discussed in the article
which you would like to know more about?

I would like to know
more about creating a system like Lifeline and how exactly the safety can be
assured at all times.

7. do you have any ideas how this
research could / should be extended (based on your own knowledge and experience)?

Not at this time,
no.