Urban CyclingUbiquitous Computing Improving Safety for Cyclists

+ Drivers

Table of ContentsAbstractIntroduction

Initial Ideation

Research

Design

Video Sketch

Conclusion

Initial IdeationElderly UsersUrban Cyclists

Surveys

Storyboarding

OTB Bike Cafe

Survey Results

Storyboards

Safety Concerns

Rapid Ideation

Research Notes

Sign IdeationDTSS Signage

DTSS Design

Video Sketch

DTSS Features

Looking Forward

An Interaction Design project by Emily Sappington, John Gruen and Priscilla Mok Carnegie Mellon, MDes Interaction Design 2013

3

Abstract

O ur ubiquitous computing project focused on urban cycling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Through research we gained a sense

of differing perspectives on urban cycling safety between two very different stakeholders: cyclists and drivers. As cycling increases in popularity, both groups must learn how to share the road. Our proposed system reaches out to drivers to be aware of a cyclist’s presence, LQ�RUGHU�WR�SUHYHQW�DFFLGHQWV���7KLV�QRWL¿FDWLRQ�GRHV�QRW�GLVWUDFW�RU�endanger either group, but rather raises attention through a familiar FKDQQHO���:H�HPSOR\�WKH�FRPPRQ�YLVXDO�ODQJXDJH�RI�D�ÀDVKLQJ�OLJKW�DW�an intersection, and use simple motion tracking sensors to detect and capture cyclist movement in the area. Our research indicates that safety is the primary concern for both cyclists and drivers in Pittsburgh, and the DTSS solution helps to increase safety for cyclists and drivers alike.

Initial Ideation

Initial brainstorming on potential areas for ubiquitous computing

solutions was done through post-it sessions of mapping ideas. We gen-erated concepts in a variety of areas surrounding the terms live, move, work, play. These areas included health monitoring, public transit, elder care, cycling, gaming, playful RI¿FHV�DQG�FLYLF�DHVWKHWLF�UHDOPV���Though we liked the idea of work-ing on a project that involved 3LWWVEXUJK�XUEDQ�F\FOLVWV��ZH�¿UVW�went with the idea of researching elder care. We quickly arranged a site visit to a local rehabilitation and nursing center in Shadyside.

5

Opposite:

Our first brainstorming post-it session

Above:

Materials from our first site visit to Shadyside Nursing and Rehabilitation

We began our research at Shadyside Nursing and Re-

habilitation Center on Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA. We were initially met with the staff who were happy to let us photograph the rooms, take a tour, and ask questions of various staff members. With invitations to visit again, we planned to design ubiquitous computing solutions for the elderly, particularly those in assisted living and rehabilitation centers. During our visit we docu-mented several areas of concern, such as call signals to nurses that did not vary based on urgency.

Elderly Users

The environment itself yearned to be designed for the patient’s experi-ence, as the many cues, audio tones, and the overall aesthetic seemed to serve the staff and nurses’ needs. We were excited to begin interviews with patients, and drafted a long list of questions to ask each of the residents at Shadyside Nursing and Rehabilitation.

It was at this juncture that our project came to a screeching halt, as restrictions on speaking with and visiting patients kept us from mov-ing forward. A requirement of hav-ing our project pass at the center’s

7

quarterly research meeting would suspend any further interactions, and thus force us to change our user group completely.

After the disappointment of being locked out from access to our user group of the elderly, we chose to research a more accessible group of mobile individuals: cyclists. We ZRXOG�ODWHU�¿QG�WKDW�XUEDQ�F\FOLQJ�provided a number of interesting and challenging design problems.

Opposite and Above:

Images of the workout and rehabilitation room, activities board, nursing information screen, and call button. Photos taken during a tour of Shadyside Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Fifth Avenue.

9

Opposite:

A locked bike in Oakland, Pittsburgh.

Photo credit:

Emily Sappington

Urban Cyclists

Cyclists in Pittsburgh are fewer than in cities like Portland or Am-sterdam in part because Pittsburgh is an extremely hilly city, and

very few bike lanes are painted directly on the roads. Regular commut-ing by bike in Pittsburgh is no easy task. Our group began research on this urban cyclist user group with investigations into organizations such as Bike PGH and Flock of Cycles, in settings such as Over The Bar Bicyle Café in Southside. We also started interviewing local cyclists and drivers in Shadyside and Oakland about their experience coexisting on the roads in Pittsburgh.

2XU�¿UVW�XUEDQ�F\FOLQJ�VLWH�YLVLW�ZDV�WR�2YHU�WKH�%DU�%LF\FOH�&DIp�LQ�WKH�Southside of Pittsburgh, PA. There we distributed links to our online survey and talked with drivers and cyclists alike about their perspectives on cycling or driving in Pittsburgh. Their opinions varied, and most noticeably, drivers did not seem to feel there was a problem with how cyclists and drivers interact in Pittsburgh, while cyclists felt that cycling in Pittsburgh was dangerous. Weather was noted as the biggest concern for cyclists, and most rode for just three seasons to avoid the snow and ice in this already hilly city. Drivers responded that they felt there was OLWWOH�WR�QR�SUREOHP�ZLWK�F\FOLVWV�LQ�3LWWVEXUJK��UHÀHFWLQJ�OHVV�FRQFHUQ��If an accident did occur, the driver would be in far less physical danger

OTB Bike Cafe

11

than the cyclist. This discrepancy in perspectives on the severity of the problem of safety with urban cycling gave us the early belief that we could not expect drivers to pay for or implement themselves a design to help increase cyclist safety.

From this point forward we focussed our designs on the interaction of three realms:

Opposite:

Survey distribution at Over the Bridge Bike Cafe.

Photos of food, mural, wall and ceiling decorations, the bar and bartender, and bicycle locked outside OTB.

Photo credits:

Jon Pratt

& Priscilla Mok

the city of Pittsburgh

cyclists drivers

Cyclists in Pittsburgh expressed that weather was one of their main concerns when cycling. Most ride 3 of 4 seasons.

Photo credit:

Emily Sappington

13

Safety Concerns

The main concern for most cyclists in Pittsburgh was the weather, but because our design brief asked that we focus on ubiquitous comput-

ing, we felt that weather issues were somewhat outside of our scope. Instead, we zeroed in on safety as a major issue. In terms of sharing the road, many cyclists we interviewed expressed that they were fearful of cars not seeing them and of getting into accidents, especially while rid-ing at night.

Interestingly, regarding accidents one bartender at OTB Bicycle Café told us “not a month goes by when I haven’t heard of one if my [cyclist] friend’s getting in an accident [with a car]”. This alarming anecdote directly contrasted what one driver revealed to us when we asked his opinion. “There’s a cycling problem in Pittsburgh?” the driver respond-ed. This feedback would help us in our next rapid ideation phase, as we explored potential frames for our problem.

We created two surveys, one for drivers and one for cy-

clists. Questions on these surveys ranged in depth, and some examples include “Have you ever been in an accident with a cyclist or driver?” DQG�³:KDW�LV�WKH�PRVW�GLI¿FXOW�thing about sharing the road with a bikes?” Respondents answered frankly, and overall we collected a combined 105 survey responses from cyclists and drivers. An LQWHUHVWLQJ�¿QGLQJ�IURP�WKH�GULYHU�survey, is that 73% of respondents were indifferent about sharing the road with cyclists, indicating a simi-ODU�¿QGLQJ�WR�WKRVH�ZH�KHDUG�IURP�DW�

Surveys

15

OTB-- namely, a lack of conscious-ness on the part of drivers regarding the safety concerns of cyclists.

Our surveys were posted at the OTB cafe, sent to local drivers in Pittsburgh, and posted on the Bike PGH website. This posting helped us get a lot of feedback from local cyclists, and helped us better frame our design problem.

Survey results

Top 3 Cyclist Concerns

Top 3 Driver Concerns

17

Our surveys provided us with a lot of data with which to frame our design problem. We realized that the top con-

cerns for cyclists, in order are the weather, nighttime, and cycling in traffic. For Drivers the top three concerns that they had regarding sharing the road with cyclists were having enough space on the road, passing cyclists, and nighttime. We saw simi-larities from this, as both groups were concerned with nighttime, which we interpreted as visibility and awareness of cyclists. This was underscored by feedback at Over the Bar Bike Café of drivers being weary of “ninja cyclists” who seemed to pop up out of nowhere at night. Both groups were concerned with is-sues of traffic and sharing the road, which helped us frame our project around Pittsburgh’s roads.

Out of our 90 cyclist responses, 67 people took the time to write additional comments about their run-ins with cars. This ex-pressed to us a desire for cyclists to have their stories heard, and to be taken seriously, for they perceive the problem of sharing the road to be far more dire than drivers do.

Survey Results

This Page:

Organizing cyclist and driver feedback with post-its.

Opposite:

An online spreadsheet with all of our ideas.

19

A IWHU�RXU�¿UVW�VLWH�YLVLW�WR�2YHU�7KH�%DU�%LNH�Café, we created 75 quick ideas addressing cyclists, drivers, and the urban environ-

ment. Each of us looked over our notes and from the feedback we got from our interviews at OTB and then conceptualized design solutions for cyclists and drivers. These ideas ranged from lights that would burn through snow, to apps that facilitate group rides, to futuristic goggles with information feedback. Initially, many of these concepts were initially product-based, but after a few rounds of ideation, we saw such solutions as untenable. We realized that because drivers and cyclists do not see eye-to-eye on the issue of cars and cyclists sharing the road, it would be hard to implement a new safety product. Particularly, drivers didn’t even acknowledge that there was a problem with cyclists or acci-dents with drivers, and so encouraging them to purchase a new product for a problem they don’t even perceive to exist would be an uphill battle. After this ideation exercise, we began to focus our ideas more on urban interventions, dealing with the roads themselves and things the city of Pittsburgh could do to improve safety between cyclists and drivers.

Rapid Ideation

Storyboarding

R HVHDUFK�¿QGLQJV�OHDG�XV�WR�develop six design concepts

to storyboard. These ideas were based on our interviews at Over the Bar Bike Cafe, and the surveys we posted for cyclists and drivers. Our storyboards centered around WKH�DUHDV�RI�WUDI¿F��YLVLELOLW\��DQG�awareness. While weather was a concern to cyclists, we decided to not combat mother nature with a ubiquitous computing project. We instead developed concepts cen-tered around signage and signaling drivers to be aware of cyclists. We also devised projects that would use audio and visual cues to alert

21

Storyboarding

Opposite:

Priscilla Mok and John Gruen ideating at the Coffee Tree in Shadyside, photo by Emily Sappington.

Above:

A close-up of notebook sketches,

drivers of their proximity to cy-clists. As research at OTB and from our surveys indicated, we would develop designs that were not reli-ant on drivers being proactive and purchasing new technology.

Our design concepts are presented in brief on the following pages. Since we sought design solutions for both groups, we varied these concepts for both drivers and cy-clists. Each design was shown from either the driver or cyclist point of view, highlighting each user group’s EHQH¿WV�IURP�WKH�GHVLJQ�

StoryboardsCyclist Indication LightQuestion: Have you ever felt that you didn’t see a cyclist until the very last minute?

Dynamic CateyesQuestion: Would you like to know how much room to give to a cyclist when passing?

Question: Can we make it more fun for cyclists to stay on the right side of the road?

Sound Spots

Sound SensorQuestion: need to know how much space to allow when passing bikers in the road?

Smart Street SignsQuestion: Would you like to know more about cycling laws?

Left Turn SignalQuestion: Would you like to know when the bikes around you are making left turns?

Our second visit to Over the Bar was planned to coin-

cide with a meeting of Flock

of Cycles, a cycling advocacy group in Pittsburgh. This group goes on monthly rides in order to educate new cyclists and create a responsible cycling community in Pittsburgh. We attended their meeting, run by Nick Drombosky (the President of Flock of Cycles) and spoke with the group’s members. In this meeting we were also able to discuss our ideas with Pittsburgh City Planner, Sarah Walfoort.

Storyboards

25

During this visit we conducted “speed dating” inspired interviews with individuals for a few min-utes, sharing with them our de-sign concepts and getting helpful feedback. We created six different design interventions and drew up storyboards from both a driver and cyclist perspective. The feedback for each varied quite a bit, but most often focused on optimizing cyclist safety.

Opposite:

A photograph from showing our storyboards

Above,Clockwise from top left:

Storyboarding with drivers, Nick Drombosky, Sarah Walfoort, and more storyboard sessions

“Yeah when I’m at an intersection and they pass like that sometimes I want to say WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING to the bike.” -Driver

[On singage for cyclist awareness] “That’d be good, for safety it could just be lit-up, not such an elaborate design.” -Cyclist & City Planner

[On a sound sensor in the car] ”The car would be beeping and the kids yelling and I’d just say ‘SHUT UP – I don’t care about the the bike anymore, I’ll hit it!’” -Driver

³���5HDOO\�±�QRWKLQJ�EHDWV�D�>ÀDVKLQJ@bike light, those things are the best and I really notice them on the road.” -Driver

[On cyclist indication light] “I would like that, an alert to help me know that someone is coming on a bike, I would then look around me, in my rear and side PLUURUV�DQG�WU\�WR�¿QG�WKH�ELNH���$QG�drivers, if we had this sign and knew the biker was there we would yield” -Driver

“I think drivers believe cyclists to be stereotypical, and this billboard design breaks the stereotype of a ‘roadie’, which we aren’t. From tonight you can see we’re a pretty diverse group.” -Cyclist at Flock of

Cycles meeting

[On a sound sensor in the car] “This is better than the cateye, but the sound could also cause drivers to swerve away from bikers, it could scare them.” -Cyclist

27

In our story board sessions, we received lots of excellent feedback from both drivers and cyclists. Drivers in particular wanted help

negotiating the space around cyclists on the road. Many drivers noted that they often don’t think about sharing the road with cyclists. One respondent in particular noted “I admit to not paying attention to cy-clists.” We saw a clear need for more awareness of where a cyclist is on the road. Simultaneously, it was obvious that both cyclists and driv-ers were unaware of the laws governing cyclists’ behavior on the road. Many drivers interviewed seemed to wonder why cyclists didn’t stay on the sidewalks. We also learned that driver distractibility posed a problem as well. At the same time, many interviewees were concerned about the feasibility and scalability of our of our storyboard concepts, and expressed that systems needed to be easily understood by visitors, and should be simple enough so that they didn’t need to go back to drivers ed. to understand it.

Research Notes

“Why should we have this [a bike lane left turn signal] for bikers and not pedestrians?” -Driver

³7KLV�>D�ÀDVKLQJ�OLJKW@�LV�KHOS-ful because most drivers treat a bike lane as a right turn lane, and this reminds them ‘I’m here’” -Cyclist

DTSS Signage

29

Opposite:

Various road signs from around the World. We began our research on signage with a comprehensive look at

what shapes, iconography, and colors are used in road signs, VSHFL¿FDOO\�WKRVH�XVHG�WR�DOHUW�GULYHUV�WR�FKDQJHV�LQ�WUDI¿F�SDWWHUQV���7KH�original concept was born out school zone signs. These signs run on WLPHUV�ZLWK�OLJKWV�WKDW�ÀDVK�ZKHQ�VFKRRO�LV�OHW�RXW��WR�UHPLQG�GULYHUV�WR�be aware that children may be walking near the street. We aimed to re-PLQG�GULYHUV�RI�F\FOLVWV�RQ�WKH�URDG�E\�XWLOL]LQJ�VLPLODU�ÀDVKLQJ��ZKLFK�would use a familiar convention of alerting drivers. One important point which arose from our storyboard speed dating interviews is that both cyclists and drivers alike were fearful of distracting drivers with too much signage. When presented with concepts such as large illumi-nated billboards or sonic, many feared that drivers would swerve out of WKHLU�ODQH�LQWR�RQFRPLQJ�WUDI¿F��RU�MXVW�EH�WRR�GLVWUDFWHG�WR�SD\�DWWHQWLRQ�for cyclists. These concerns caused us to look at our design in terms of practical application, and thus the decision to build off of a safe and established design convention was made.

We began our ideation for the DTSS with sketches based

on our storyboards. We removed WKH�QXPEHU�FRXQWHU�ZH�KDG�¿UVW�included in our storyboard, based on our speed dating feedback, and focused on simple bike rider iconography. Signs that inspired us in particular included school zone signs. These are easily understood E\�GULHUV��LQFRUSRUDWH�D�ÀDVKLQJ�light, and do not distract drivers. This sort of signage’s main purpose is to call attention to the possibility of children on or nearby the roads, and we intended to raise similar attention of cyclists on the roads

Sign Ideation

31

Opposite:

Early concept sketches

Above:

We found that most cyclists don’t like the idea of being tracked via RFID

in Pittsburgh. We realized after sev-eral conversations that the function-DOLW\�RI�RXU�GHVLJQ�ZRXOG�KDYH�WR�¿W�with cyclist culture. After feedback from a city planner, we changed our initial plan to trigger the light with RFID sensors. Both cyclists and the city planner we consulted told us that people don’t want to feel that they are being tracked through-out the city. This “big brother” fear doesn’t sit well with cyclists, and thus we altered the design from RFID censors, to motion detectors programmed to recognize cyclist-shaped silhouettes on the street.

33

Opposite:

A rendering of the DTSS, including both the tracking eye below the traffic signal, and the LED light up sign next to it.

DTSS Design

OXU�¿QDO�GHVLJQ�VROXWLRQ�LV�JURXQGHG�LQ�RXU�XVHU�UHVHDUFK��UDWKHU�than in an attempt to create a futuristic ubiquitous computing solu-

tion for its own sake. Safety was of the utmost importance in this proj-ect. On countless occasions both drivers and cyclists alike mentioned that drivers needed to be aware of cyclists’ presence and to remain aware even if they cannot see any cyclists. The feedback we gathered during our storyboarding interviews lead us to choose the Directional

7UDI¿F�6DIHW\�6HQVRU as our ubiquitous computing solution for urban cyclists and drivers in Pittsburgh.

2XU�¿QDO�GHVLJQ�ORRNV�VLPSOH��EXW�LV�TXLWH�VPDUW���,W�FRQVLVWV�RI�D�VHULHV�of motion sensors, which detect and track the motion of cyclists through WUDI¿F���%HFDXVH�WKLV�VRUW�RI�blob detection is fairly simple, the DTSS VLJQDJH�FRXOG�HDVLO\�EH�PDGH�WR�ZRUN�WR�LQGLFDWH�PRWRUF\FOLVWV��¿UH�trucks, ambulances, and other vehicles which drivers need to be aware RI���7KH�'766��JHQHUDOO\�LQWHQGHG�IRU�KLJK�WUDI¿F�VWUHHWV���([DPSOHV�of these streets in Pittsburgh include Forbes Avenue, Fifth Avenue and Centre Avenue, the location of our video sketch.

Emily Sappington taking video sketch photos on Centre Avenue.

35

We photographed for our video sketch over the span of two days, timing carefully to accommodate weather, lighting, and our

JXHVW�DFWUHVV���2Q�WKH�¿UVW�GD\��ZH�SKRWRJUDSKHG�-RKQ�*UXHQ��F\FOLQJ�RQ�Centre Avenue in Pittsburgh in the late afternoon at a time when some drivers would have their lights on, and yet there would be enough natu-ral light to get quality images. With each shoot, one of the team mem-bers would reference a detailed storyboard to be sure that we captured images from the angles we intended. Frames from these storyboards are included here, drawn by Priscilla Mok.

Our process required careful planning of shots while remaining aware RI�WUDI¿F�SDWWHUQV�DQG�ZD\V�LQ�ZKLFK�ERWK�DFWRU�DQG�SKRWRJUDSKHU�FRXOG�achieve the image they want while remaining safe. Some images such DV�WKRVH�RI�-RKQ�RU�³3DWULFN´�ZDONLQJ�LQWR�:KROH�)RRGV�RU�F\FOLQJ�RQ�D�TXLHW�VWUHHW�ZHUH�UHODWLYHO\�HDV\����+RZHYHU��RWKHUV�ZKHUH�-RKQ�ZRXOG�SDVV�EHWZHHQ�FDUV�DQG�WKURXJK�WUDI¿F�OLJKWV�SURYHG�WR�EH�D�PRUH�WKULOOLQJ�process for cyclist and photographer alike.

On the second day of shooting, Kimberly Harvey played the role of “Megan” in our video sketch, the fun-loving, and distracting passenger

Video Sketch

Video Sketch

37

in Sarah’s car. Emily Sappington played the role of Sarah, driving to Target with Megan. All of our actors wore bright colors so that they would pop on camera, and the expressions captured in the car suited our story well. Timing shots where both characters in the car were vis-ible as they passed Patrick, our cyclist character, on the road required careful timing. Shooting each scene several times and taking photos with plenty of area to zoom in and pan gave us a bevy of options when choosing which photos to use. By the end of the two days we had taken well over 700 photos to use in our video sketch. From this point on we would construct our video by sequencing layers in Adobe After Effects. To this we added narration by Alison Servis, recorded at the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts audio booth. The script when edited into a video explaining two sides of the story, one from our cyclist Patrick’s perspective, and one from the drivers, Sarah and Megan’s perspectives. Both user groups interact with the the DTSS in a unique way, and all arrive at their destinations safely because of it.

Opposite:

Stills from the video sketch

This Page:

Still from the videosketch showing the DTSS in action

Opposite:

Close up views of the motion sensor array and the led sign.

39

With continued use throughout the city, the DTSS will form a city-wide network of sensors to help city planners better understand

FLW\�WUDI¿F��7KH�PRUH�OLJKWV�DQG�VHQVRUV�WKDW�DUH�LPSOHPHQWHG��WKH�PRUH�complete the sensor’s effect will be. The DTSS is useful for data col-lection that can improve upon a city’s decisions about where to put bike lanes, which would make the minimal investment worthwhile to city planners. The design also is easily extensible and could be applied to RWKHU�YHKLFOHV�WKDW�VKDUH�WKH�URDG�VXFK�PRWRUF\FOLVWV��DQG�VSHFLDO�WUDI¿F�like funerals or ambulances. This same technology could be used to observe pedestrian behavior as well. The DTSS design is also easily adaptable to any urban environment. As long as the DTSS in its current design state lives on arterial roads in urban areas, it is applicable outside of Pittsburgh.

DTSS Features

The future of the DTSS has a wider application to urban

environments as cities envision ways to best serve their populations. The sensor of the DTSS observes FLW\�WUDI¿F�DQG�WKXV�FRXOG�FROOHFW�data for city planners to better GHVLJQ�URDGV�IRU�WUDI¿F�ÀRZ���/('�lights were chosen for this design VSHFL¿FDOO\�VR�WKDW�IXWXUH�YHUVLRQV�of the DTSS could be changed to alert of other vehicles. Any graphic could be formed out of the grid of /('V��VR�WKDW�FDUV�FDQ�SRWHQWLDOO\�be alerted to other vehicles, such as PRWRUF\FOLVWV��DPEXODQFH�DQG�¿UH�trucks on their roads.

Looking Forward

41

Cyclists and drivers we interviewed early-on in our research process returned to offer IHHGEDFN�RQ�RXU�¿QDO�GHVLJQ�VROXWLRQ���+HUH¶V�ZKDW�WKH\�KDG�WR�VD\�DERXW�WKH�'766�

Looking Forward“As a commuter cyclist who occasionally uses her driver’s license, I understand the importance of cyclist visibility—especially at night. And even when cyclists are visible, drivers are o!en reluctant to share the road. It would be helpful for both drivers and cy-clists if there were a way to increase visibility while also making space for cyclists.”

“It would be a smart idea...if its like a school zone light it could work. It would work if its not not too close to red light to where an elderly person that may not be fully there might get confused.

-XOLD���3LWWVEXUJK�F\FOLVW

Curt - Pittsburgh driver