Participatory Action Research and Open Source Hardware Appropriation for Large Scale In-The-Wild Studies

With the rise of ubiquitous computing, the use of research in-the-wild approach in both Ubicomp and HCI context has become more viable, but not without its challenges. End-users and communities can be great beneficiaries of such an approach if actively involved in the process from an early stage and throughout the whole process. We start by presenting a future case study, the Cue Band study, which revolves around the creation of a wristband cueing device for people with Parkinson’s that experience drooling. We present an approach for research in-the-wild, which draws on participatory action research theory, that places the end-user at the centre of the process, aiming to first and for most to create a workable product for the end-user, before engaging in a formal study. In the last section, we explore the appropriation of existing open-source hardware for in-the-wild research, by describing problems and solutions associated with developing Ubicomp technologies for large-scale studies.