Technology meets adventure: learnings from an earthquake-interrupted Mt. everest expedition

Abstract

HCI is increasingly interested in supporting people's physically active lifestyle. Adventure is part of this lifestyle, and to contribute an HCI perspective on adventure, we present an autoethnographical account of an expedition via Nepal to Mt. Everest. During this expedition, on the 25th and 26th April 2015, two devastating earthquakes struck the region. We believe we can learn from such extreme experiences and therefore reflect on this epic adventure through a set of themes to articulate two dimensions (expected-unexpected and instrumental-experiential) in order to identify four roles for adventure-technology: as coach, rescuer, documentarian and mentor. Our work aims to provide HCI designers with an initial conceptual lens to embrace adventure, and more generally, to expand our knowledge of supporting people's physically active lifestyle.