GlobalPositioningSystemsarenowapartofeverydaydrivinginmanycountries.Thesesatellite-basedsystemsprovideturn-by-turndirectionstohelppeoplegettowheretheywanttogo.Buttheycanalsocausealotofproblemssendingyoutothewrongplaceorleaveyoucompletelylost.Manytimesthedriveristoblame.SometimesaGPSerrorisresponsible.MostoftensaysBarryBrownitisacombinationofthetwo.

BarryBrowniswiththeMobileLifeCentreinStockholmSweden.Thecenterstudieshuman-computerinteractionorHCIespeciallycommunicationsinvolvingwirelessdevices.WespoketoMr.BrownbySkype.HetoldusaboutanincidentinvolvingafriendwhohadflowntoanairportintheeasternUnitedStates.ThereheborrowedaGPS-equippedcartouseduringhisstay.

BarryBrown:“Andtheyjustpluggedinanaddressandthensetofftotheirdestination.Andthenitwasn’tuntiltheyweredrivingforthirtyminutesthattheyrealizedtheyhadputinadestinationbackontheWestCoastwheretheylived.Theyactuallyputtheirhomeaddressin.SoagaintheGPSiskindof“garbageingarbageout”.Mr.Brownsaysthisisacommonhumanerror.ButhesayswhatmakestheproblemworsehastodowithsomeoftheshortcomingsorfailuresofGPSequipment.

BarryBrown:“OneproblemwithmanyGPSunitsistheyhaveaverysmallscreenandtheyjusttellyouthenextturn.Becausetheyjustgiveyouthenextturnsometimesthatmeansthatitisnotreallygivingyoutheoverviewthatyouwouldneedtoknowthatit’sgoingtothewrongplace.”

BarryBrownformerlyservedasaprofessorwiththeUniversityofCaliforniaSanDiego.WhilethereheworkedonaprojectwithEricLaurierfromtheUniversityofEdinburgh.ThetwomenstudiedtheeffectsofGPSdevicesondrivingbyplacingcamerasinpeople’scars.Theywroteapaperbasedontheirresearch.Itiscalled“TheNormalNaturalTroublesofDrivingwithGPS.”

BarryBrown:“Oneofthethingsthatstruckusperhapsthemostimportantthingwasthatyouhavetoknowwhatyou’redoingwhenyouuseaGPS.Therearethesenewskillsthatpeoplehavedeveloped.TherearethesenewcompetenciesthatyouneedtohavetobeabletouseaGPSbecausetheysometimesgowrong.”BarryBrownsaysthisgoesagainstacommonbeliefthatGPSsystemsareforpassivedriverswholacknav