returned cultural probe (pic)

We took some pictures for cultural probe after it returned
from participants.

The result is pretty diverse. Most of them have been
to Australia and some parts of Asia, such as Hong
Kong, Japan and Singapore. Although none of them
have been to Middle East of South America, they show
interest in visiting those countries one day. Most of
them chose Europe as their favorite destination.

For the section section, (Schedule),the results indicated
that they all have a pretty routine lifestyle.
Most of them only travel between their work
places and home. Also, users reported that they have
to communicate with different people from other
countries at their workplaces.

Third Section – Movie clips
Interestingly, all of them got over half of the
answers wrong. The result indicates that they have
a fairly low understanding about different cultural
gestures. Also, we realized that they tend to have a
negative interpretation of the gesture when they do not
understand what they are.

Last Section – experiences
it is the most interesting part, cause there are some stories
we just never expect, also we got people's opinions as well.

The Thai participant said that it is awkward for her to
see Australians put their feet on the coffee table at
home, as it is considered to be very rude to one’s feet
in her culture.
Also, she was surprised to know the dining culture in
Japan. She was told that she had to make loud eating
noise in order to show your respect to the chef, and in
fact, the louder the better!

Another participant from US doubts that whether
teenagers know the real meaning of putting two fingers
up on their shoulder, as this gesture means “I want to
buy $20 of Heroin” in the underground drug markets.

Cultural Probe content

Above: instruction of the cultural probe



pic2: Participants are required to select the countries they
have visited as well as the countries they are interested
in visiting in the future.



pic3: continue from the previous section


pic4: continue from the previous section




pic5: Participants are required to write down places they
have visited and people they have interacted with
during any three days of the week.



pic6: A CD contains a movie clip of different gestures are
selected from different countries. Participants are
required to write down the possible meanings of
the nine gestures based on their own knowledge or
instincts.


(you can also browse the clip from youtube!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khAQyc-eyv0



pic7: Stories/ Experiences
Participants are required to write down their experiences
regarding cultural differences.

Cultural Probe (objectives & Rational)

ok...here is our cultural probe objectives & Rational:

Topic: Cross Cultural communication with Gestures

Research method: Cultural Probe

Objectives: To obtain the subjective point of view from users. The end results of cultural probe should be able to tell us what they need most in terms of this topic, by acknowledging the users’ concerns, experiences as well as their knowledge about communication with gestures.

Rational:
Our cultural probe contains 4 major research tools which allow our users to share their stories, show their concerns and knowledge towards the topic of communication with gestures based on their own individual background.

1. A world map – Users are required to select the countries they have visited as well as the countries they are interested in visiting in the future. By acknowledging their preferences in destination, we are able to prioritise our content in the design.

2. A Diary – Users are given the opportunity to share their personal experiences of encountering new gestures in different cultures or situations. This open-ended question allows the users to express how they feel and how would they handle the situation.

3. A schedule – Users are required to write down places they have visited and people they have interacted with during any three days of the week. This helps us to determine which piece of information would be more relevant to them in terms of their daily life basis.

4. A CD – A CD contains a movie clip of different gestures are selected from different countries. Users are required to write down the possible meanings of the nine gestures based on their own knowledge or instincts. By doing this, it wil let us know how different people interpret the meaning of different gestures around the world.

US troops taught Iraqi gestures

US troops taught Iraqi gestures
By Paul Rincon
BBC News science reporter, St Louis

Iraqi being stopped by a US Marine
The new training tool aims to end confusing, dangerous situations
The US military has funded a computer game to teach its troops how to use and decipher Iraqi body language.

The purpose is to teach soldiers that using the wrong gestures can potentially cause offence and escalate already tense situations.

In the program, users must build trust with local people through verbal communication and gestures.

One of the system's creators says the training tool, known as Tactical Iraqi, has already been a great success.

Hannes Vilhjalmsson, a research scientist at the University of Southern California, gave details of the Tactical Iraqi at a conference in St Louis, US.

The system also gives troops Arabic language skills.

Cultural differences

The program teaches military personnel some key gestures such as an up-down movement with the right hand to ask someone to slow down and gives them tips such as removing mirror sunglasses when approaching local people.


In western countries, we control our body language more. In Arabic culture, it is important you show how open you are
Dr Hannes Vilhjalmsson
University of Southern California
"In Iraq, to show sincerity you have to put more effort into your gestures," said Dr Vilhjalmsson.

"In Western countries, we control our body language more. In Arabic culture, it is important you show how open you are."

He added that reserved body language in exchanges with local people could be interpreted as having something to hide in Iraq, potentially escalating a tense situation.

Military personnel also learn that people can approach each other more closely than one normally might in the West.

Dr Vilhjalmsson said it was important troops should not automatically interpret close proximity in an exchange as a threat.

And the game teaches them that pointing the finger at a person can be considered aggressive in Arab cultures.

Regional variation

Tactical Iraqi is built on top of the game engine for Unreal Tournament, a first-person computer "shoot-em-up". In the training tool, though, subjects use communication to resolve situations.

Dr Vilhjalmsson said initial testing of Tactical Iraqi with marines deployed to Iraq had shown the programme to be very effective.

The University of Southern California is also working on other versions of the game: Tactical Pashto, which trains troops in communication specific to Afghanistan; and Tactical Levantine, which teaches them Arabic language and gestures specific to Lebanon and other surrounding areas.

The training system has been funded by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).

Dr Vilhjalmsson was speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in St Louis, US.

Children & Mobile Technology:
The Japanese Experience

Mobile Phone Use in Japan
In Japan, mobile phone penetration is 62% of the total population, which means about 80 million people have and use mobiles, and 60 million phone users have IP connectivity. Every year the number of phone owners increases. Looking at the age range 12-30 one finds mobile phone use amongst 21% of the 12-14 age group, 64% of the 15-17 age group, 92% of the 18-22 age group, and 86% amongst the 23-30 year olds. In the three younger age groups girls mobile phone use is marginally higher than boys – 28% in 12-14 group, 68% in the 15-17 group, and 95% in the 18-22 group.

Generations Trying To Adapt to New Media
High school students and younger are growing up with new media technology. They are a born digital network generation and thus the way they communicate with other people is very different to older generations. In the younger age group, 78% of the 10-20 year olds, and 72% of the 20-30 year olds, have the highest proportion of those mobile phone users who access the Internet via their phone. In the 50-60 age group, 21% only of mobile phone users access the Internet via their phone, despite the fact that 33% of this age group who could access the Internet via their phone do not. The older generations who are adapting to the new media face more difficulties

Typical use of the camera function:

• To send to their boyfriend, girlfriend or best friend they use facial image to express their feeling – eg ‘What do you think about my new hairstyle?’
• Personification – with pets or toys as a proxy for a message. You speak to Dolls and in return, dolls speak back to you.
• Exposure the current circumstances through one’s view – pictures can be taken and used to be ‘live’ reporting of your current situation, or example graphic icons can say ‘I’m stuck in traffic’, or ‘ I am having curry for dinner’, ‘I have arrived at school’ etc.
• Emotions and feelings live of expressions – for eg a picture of a front door can express the message ‘Oh my god! I forgot to bring a key and I am waiting outside’

Mobile Photo Messaging’s Characteristics:

• Live and instant expression eg Reporting what is happening to myself right here; The message is only meaningful to send now; Instant emotions and feelings
• Send a photo to a specific person eg a photo meaningful particularly to the receiver, sharing one’s experience with some special person.
• A photo can modify the meaning of the text - a rich combination of image and text.

Mobile video communication:
The latest phone provided by the new facility of mobile video communication. This enables sensational experience via mobile – Experiencing by mobile what other people are doing, People can experience their body movements such as walking, pointing etc, and also their personal of consciousness experience, following their mental process, seeing what takes their thought or curiosity. People can share this with others in a distant location or visualize teleconferencing via mobile. Perhaps uses for this includes remote consumer interview and survey, or live teaching in a classroom, remotely collaborated fieldwork, visual navigation and guidance etc. New applications for this technology will come up by the next generation.

Mobile Visual Communication and Children:
There are great possibilities for children with this new technology:

• The understanding of others support: eg Attention & interest to other person’s perspective; compassion with other person’s emotions and feelings; diminishing egocentric thought;
• Collaboration and Supporting remote assistance and: eg training, fieldwork, education; mobile network intelligence’ and cooperative problem solving.
• New culture and arts’ possibility: eg a new and rich way of expression and interpretation; even art can be facilitated by the phones; visual poem, diary.

Small Business e-Business
Think Globally, Act Locally Online

If your online customer can conduct a transaction in their native tongue they will 4 times more likely to buy, do you know that?

The great equalizer and the gateway to the worldwide marketplace has been offered by the internet. Here’s an explanation: more than half of all internet users, a first language is not English.

To identify your target markets -- their habits, values, wants, needs, etc is the first step to globalizing your website. Here are some guidelines for user-friendly English content website to creating a cross-cultural:

• Simple is best, the most importantly
• Avoid figures of speech and slang - use plain, clear language; as common expressions may not be familiar to your readers
• Keep a way from use of humor, as it’s racially driven.
• Avoid vulgarity of any kind -- it possibly very rude to other cultures.
• Use simple & universal graphics that are unlikely to be misinterpreted.

Consider these aspects of development if your budget allows you to undertake some degree of globalization:

When wording is simple, direct translation of content is most effective, including one thought sentences only, kept a minimum to metaphors, and used terminology consistently.

Think carefully about design, graphics, navigational style and the cultural context of language.

Even common website graphics are not always universal so keep in mind your use of icons to assist the user. For instance, an icon of a house does not represent ‘home’ in France because the French call their homepage the ‘welcome page’. In the same way, for Macintosh’s garbage can icon for ‘trash’ has been mistaken as ‘email’ by British users whose mailboxes look similar to North American garbage cans.

Use wrongly of body language, logos or symbols can be embarrassing and can cost to your business. An owl in some Asian countries it connotes stupidity but in North America can symbolize wisdom. An open palm in other cultures it is an offensive gesture but it may mean ‘stop’ to North Americans.

Yet, color is cultural. For instance, white may signify in many Asian countries it is related to death and mourning but in North America may signify purity and may be associated with marriage.

Understanding of a global perspective and cultural sensitivity, small businesses doing business online can succeed in the international marketplace. Understand your target markets and you will be better equipped to serve them is the message behind globalization.

example of misunderstanding

If you find yourself on foreign soil, it's always best to know how to properly enrage your host with a native insult.

Here's a good example:
Example 1:

Margaret Thatcher mistakenly makes a palm-back v sign to English voters after an election gain. It's not the first time a politician told voters to piss off, but just not so elegantly.

Example 2

When President George Bush visited Australia on a state visit in 1993, as he passed the crowds of Aussies he flashed the “V” for Victory sign from the backseat of his limousine. Unfortunately, he did it backward that is, with the back of his hand facing people. The next day his picture appeared in newspapers from Sydney to Perth with the headline “President Insults Australia”, as in England that particular signal- the reverse “V”- signifies “Up yours”. The correct form is to have the palm face outward.

In conclusion, in most cultures; smiling means happy and frown means unhappy. [M. Argyle, Bodily Communication (New York: Methuen & Company, 1988)]. A few other gestures seem to be universal. But, most nonverbal symbols seem to be even further disconnected from any "essential meaning" than verbal symbols. Gestures seen as positive in one culture may be seen as offensive action in another culture.