Participatory Sensing
A core principle in cognitive design is that we seek to create artifacts based on an understanding of how minds actually work. Further, there are five distinct types of minds we can design for including the individual, extended, group, emergent and machine minds. Designs that combine insights into three or more types of mind into a single solution are often on the forefront of innovation.
For example, the participatory sensing projects at UCLA uses cell phones, individuals, groups and computers to gather information on decisions, behaviors and conditions across a geographic region to support a new form of collective intelligence and problem solving. Check out their Participatory Urban Sensing: Vision Video.
For a deeper dive you can go to UCLA’s Center for Embedded Network Sensing. Or check out this short (5 page) position paper that defines participatory sensing as:
“This paper introduces the concept of participatory sensing, which tasks everyday mobile devices, such as cellular phones, to form interactive, participatory sensor networks that enable public and professional users to gather, analyze and share local knowledge.”
