The SPP2199 Winter School of 2022 was held on the island of Borkum in the North Sea from March 7th to 11th, 2022. The event brought together 47 researchers from the 11 projects and guests for an intense week of presentations, discussions, and hands-on workshops. The event also marked the first time all researchers physically met since the COVID-19 global pandemic curtailed face-to-face meetings.
The event started with a meet-up at Emden from midday before boarding a ferry to the venue. The arrival at sunset allowed for some networking after dinner. On the first day, there was a formal introduction to the programme, activities for the week, and who was responsible for what actions. Next, the PhD students from each project presented their topics and backgrounds in an adapted Pecha Kucha format before everyone adjourned for lunch. In the afternoon, everyone was involved in group work and brainstorming on relevant themes around the priority programme, including the rich interactive potential of everyday objects in the home and differences in privacy concerns for ubiquitous computing in private and public spaces. The group work ended, and the participants went for dinner, then reconvened for the poster reception, where emerging ideas from past and already published work were shared in insightful and graphically pleasing posters.
The second day of activities began with a crash course on ideation methods and pilot studies, done in groups. After lunch, participants met for more collaboration activities and ideation on referent scenarios in private and public spaces. After a hands-on activity on using the ESP32 board for tinkering under the guidance of Albrecht Schmidt, the group adjourned for dinner and then met for a screening of the documentary “Picture a Scientist.” In a social setting, discussions were had with SPP members from marginalized groups (minority races and women) to understand the challenges they face and draw parallels between those highlighted in the documentary and lived experiences.
On the final day, participants had a social mudflat hike in the morning, where they saw the North Sea ecosystem in low tide before convening for lunch. After that, they finalised the ideation activities from the previous days before laying the groundwork for future collaboration between projects. The day ended with a games night and socialising as participants left on the first ferry to Emden the following morning. The primary outcomes from the 2022 winter school were joint publications, prototype fabrication proposals, and an update on what each priority-project member was working on.
