BEng (Hons) Qld

Enhancing the Experience of Public Transport through Mobile-mediated Interactions and Services

(PhD, 2010-2013)

Abstract

Public transport is generally accepted as an environmentally sustainable and cost effective way to commute, especially in densely populated metropolitan areas. However, many people are still reluctant to take public transport regularly, as it is commonly associated with unpleasant experiences such as limited services, uncertain travel times and crowded spaces.

This study aims to explore the use of innovative mobile services and subsequently investigate their impact on our everyday commuting experience. The main objective of this research is to develop and evaluate design interventions to foster mobile-mediated interactions among passengers, as well as between passengers and the infrastructures surrounding public transport, with the goal to positively influence the user experience of commuting.

Each design intervention will be studied using two contrasting lenses: First, passenger’s individual enjoyment, secondly, collective benefits to the passenger community, in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding and thorough evaluation. Ultimately, this study hopes to generate useful guidelines towards creating a more enjoyable public transport experience, as well as to explore innovative uses of mobile-mediated technologies and location-based services for the urban lifestyle.

Biography

Jimmy Ti is a PhD student with the Mobile Innovations Lab and the Urban Informatics Research Lab at Queensland University of Technology. In his research, Jimmy investigates how to create and design better mobile computing experiences by leveraging various contextual information. In addition, Jimmy is interested in context-aware mobile systems and ubiquitous computing platforms, especially how smart systems and services could be utilized to enhance virtual and physical social interactions. Prior to his postgraduate study, Jimmy undertook internships with NICTA Queensland and Oracle (formerly Sun Microsystems) research labs. He has worked on various projects including mobile ad-hoc wireless routing protocols and a scalable static-level bug checker.

Supervisors

Dr. Dian W. Tjondronegoro (Principal)

Assoc. Prof.  Marcus Foth (Associate)

Publications

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Ti,_Jimmy.html

MeshVision: an adaptive wireless mesh network video surveillance system – http://www.springerlink.com/content/j28k14p225g8667h/