Watching the cars go round and round: designing for active spectating.

Spectating at sport events is a common and popular leisure activity worldwide. Recently spectating has also become a topic of interest to CHI, particularly the design of technology for both performers and audiences. In this paper we describe an in-depth study of spectating, drawn from fieldwork of outdoor car rallies in the UK and Sweden. We describe three findings with relevance to design: the viewing paradox of spectating, active spectating and the role of sociability. We describe the MySplitTime prototype which address these issues while retaining the active sociable nature of the spectating experience.