RDspeed: development framework for speed-based adaptation of web content on public displays

Abstract

Viewers of public displays perceive the content of a display at different walking speeds. While responsive design (RD) adapts web content to different viewing contexts, so far only the characteristics of the device and recently the proximity of the viewers are taken into account. Yet, little attention has been paid to speed-based adaption of content and its potential in case of public displays. We therefore decided to develop a framework that would support speed-based adaptation of public display applications. In this paper, we present a framework called RDSpeed that allows developers and designers alike to easily utilize our speed-based adaptation technique and integrate them into their own applications. RDSpeed extends the standard RD definition by adding new media queries for each adaptation technique. Media queries have long been established as the go-to technique for developing responsive web applications when dealing with a variety of different devices. A user study was conducted to investigate the potential of our content adaptation technique, and possible use and extensions in the future. We show several example adaptive applications of RDSpeed, as well as discussing advantages and limitations of our framework as revealed by our user study.