The Joy of Cheques: Banking without the Banks: In this presentation John Vines (Northumbria Design/Culture Lab) will talk about our recent work that has explored the banking experiences of people over eighty years old, an age group whom are typically ignored by the banking industry. In the talk John will focus on one particularly pertinent ‘technology’ to this group: the cheque. A cheque is a paper document that orders the transfer of money between bank accounts. Whilst an eighty-year-old in the UK is predicted on average to live at least another ten years, cheques may not. Despite many older peoples extensive use of cheques, UK banks are eager to abolish them and design electronic alternatives that are less costly to process and less vulnerable to fraud. As will be explained, cheques support financial collaboration with others in ways that digital payment systems do not. From the collaborative qualities of cheques emerges an intimate network of trust between the known and unknown – and whilst it might be possible to improve the design of digital payment systems to better support financial collaboration, the case for retaining and enhancing cheques is stronger. The implication here, therefore, is rather than design a new cheque we should design for its survival without the banks. Find more about John and his work here: http://www.johnvines.eu/

Dali: Designing Assisted Locomotion Innovations by Lynne Coventry (PaCT Lab). Ageing is generally associated with a decrease in mobility and social interaction. A growing body of research suggests that reduced levels of out-of-home mobility can have widespread, detrimental effects for older adults. Adults for whom mobility is a problem suffer in a variety of ways. Not only are their social lives restricted but they are also more limited in terms of their access to good nutrition, leisure and other activities. Shopping has been found to be a useful way of maintaining physical exercise as well as providing the opportunity for social interaction. However, older adults can lose confidence in their ability to go out independently, particularly in unfamiliar and crowded spaces and may start to withdraw into their homes. This talk will introduce you to our FP7 funded project (Dali) which is looking to develop an intelligent walker. This mobility aid supports navigation in crowded and unstructured spaces by acquiring sensory information, by anticipating the intent of human agents and by deciding the path that minimises the risk of collisions with people or obstacles. The walker is aimed at providing physical, cognitive and emotional support to older adults in public environments such as shopping centres and airports. Find more about Lynne and her work here.

Location and Time:

Wednesday, 25th of January 2012, 16:00 – 17:30; at Culture Lab Newcastle University.

The museum is dead, long live the museum: Together with the audience Giovanni Innella was reflecting about the role of museums in our contemporary culture.

Giovanni is a designer, researcher and currently a PhD student at Northumbria University, School of Design. Have a look at one of Giovanni’s previous projects: Googling Burkina and visit his nice blog randombutnice.

What stories do you tell about technology? Marianna Obrist was introducing us to her research on User Experience Qualities with and through Technology over Time.

Joining Culture Lab Newcastle Marianna started her Marie Curie Fellowship project in autumn 2011. From 2005 to 2011 Marianna was working at the HCI & Usability Unit at the the ICT&S Center of the University of Salzburg. Please find out more on obrist.info

Find a nice Storify summary by Vicky Teinaki here.

Location and Time:

Wednesday, 9th of November 2011, 16:00 – 17:30; at Northumbria University, School of Design. Presentation hall (right opposite the main entrance, you cannot miss it)

Our first speaker was Malcom Jones. He is a graphic designer and illustrator and currently works as a PhD student and researcher at Northumbria Design (www.malcolmjones.com). His talk was on the role of Scenarios and Storyboards in design. Malcolm introduced us to his previous work and projects with and for industry.

Our second speaker was Lizette Reitsma. Lizette introduced us to her work on StoryBeads: about how tangible objects can become story carriers of indigenous knowledge. Lizette joined Northumbria School of Design this autumn as a PhD student. Please find out more about Lizette and her work on http://www.meetlizette.com

Location and Time:

Wednesday, 7th of December 2011, 16:00 – 17:30; at Northumbria University, School of Design. Presentation hall (right opposite the main entrance, you cannot miss it)