Design, Prototyping and Evaluation of Ambient Media: Lessons Learned from the Ambient Notifier

This paper presents the design, prototyping and evaluation of the Ambient Notifier, a standalone ambient display which passively notifies users of incoming calls, missed calls and received SMSs awaiting on their mobile phone. The paper provides an overview of the system, and presents the insights obtained during its evaluation. The discussion provides a reflection on the tools that were used to build the system (including the Arduino and Android platforms), their shortcomings, and suggests how these tools can be improved to assist in the design and development of mobile and pervasive systems. Author Keywords Ambient media, ubiquitous computing, calm technology, peripheral awareness, ambient display, tools