Showing papers by "Hans Gellersen published in 2010"

Location and Navigation Support for Emergency Responders: A Survey

Abstract: As this overview of products and projects shows, preinstalled location systems, wireless sensor networks, and inertial sensing all have benefits and drawbacks when considering emergency response requirements.

Toward Mobile Eye-Based Human-Computer Interaction

Abstract: Current research on eye-based interfaces mostly focuses on stationary settings. However, advances in mobile eye-tracking equipment and automated eye-movement analysis now allow for investigating eye movements during natural behavior and promise to bring eye-based interaction into people's everyday lives. Recent developments in mobile eye tracking equipment point the way toward unobtrusive human-computer interfaces that will become pervasively usable in everyday life. The potential applications for the further capability to track and analyze eye movements anywhere and anytime calls for new research to develop and understand eye-based interaction in mobile daily life settings.

PhoneTouch: a technique for direct phone interaction on surfaces

Abstract: PhoneTouch is a novel technique for integration of mobile phones and interactive surfaces. The technique enables use of phones to select targets on the surface by direct touch, facilitating for instance pick&drop-style transfer of objects between phone and surface. The technique is based on separate detection of phone touch events by the surface, which determines location of the touch, and by the phone, which contributes device identity. The device-level observations are merged based on correlation in time. We describe a proof-of-concept implementation of the technique, using vision for touch detection on the surface (including discrimination of finger versus phone touch) and acceleration features for detection by the phone.

HandsDown: hand-contour-based user identification for interactive surfaces

Abstract: HandsDown is a novel technique for user identification on interactive surfaces. It enables users to access personal data on a shared surface, to associate objects with their identity, and to fluidly customize appearance, content, or functionality of the user interface. To identify, users put down their hand flat on the surface. HandsDown is based on hand contour analysis; neither user instrumentation nor external devices are required for identification. Characteristic features of the hand are initially extracted from images captured by the surface's camera system and then classified using Support Vector Machines (SVM).We present a proof-of-concept implementation and show results of our evaluation which indicates the technique's robustness for user identification within small groups. Additionally, we introduce a set of interaction techniques to illustrate how HandsDown can improve the user experience, and we discuss the design space of such interactions.

Touch-display keyboards: transforming keyboards into interactive surfaces

Abstract: In spite of many advances in GUI workstations, the keyboard has remained limited to text entry and basic command invocation. In this work, we introduce the Touch-Display Keyboard (TDK), a novel keyboard that combines the physical-ergonomic qualities of the conventional keyboard with dynamic display and touch-sensing embedded in each key. The TDK effectively transforms the keyboard into an interactive surface that is seamlessly integrated with the interaction space of GUIs, extending graphical output, mouse interaction and three-state input to the keyboard. This gives rise to an entirely new design space of interaction across keyboard, mouse and screen, for which we provide a first systematic analysis in this paper. We illustrate the emerging design opportunities with a host of novel interaction concepts and techniques, and show how these contribute to expressiveness of GUIs, exploration and learning of keyboard interfaces, and interface customization across graphics display and physical keyboard.

GesturePIN: using discrete gestures for associating mobile devices

Abstract: Mobile devices with wireless network capabilities can be associated to form ad hoc networks to share resources; however, such an association of devices requires authentication. At present, PIN is the common authentication method, but in many cases, small devices may not have input interfaces to accommodate PIN entry. We therefore design a gesture-based authentication scheme, called GesturePIN, for associating multiple mobile devices; our solution provides the advantage of being adaptable to any PIN authentication systems. We have also conducted a quantitative user study to understand the speed and accuracy of people using our gesture-based system compared to using PIN.

IdLenses: dynamic personal areas on shared surfaces

Abstract: IdLenses is a novel interaction concept to realize user-aware interfaces on shared surfaces. Users summon virtual lenses which allow for personalized input and output. The ability to create a lens instantaneously anywhere on the surface, and to move it around freely, enables users to fluidly control which part of their input is identifiable, and which shall remain anonymous. In this paper, we introduce the IdLenses concept and its interaction characteristics. Further, we discuss how it enables the personalization of input and output on shared surfaces.

Cooperative Relative Positioning

Abstract: Many pervasive applications deal with relative positions between interacting entities rather than global coordinates. The Relate project developed sensing methods and a modular system architecture for peer-to-peer relative positioning. It studied the methods and architecture in application case studies on mobile spatial interaction, firefighter navigation, and wearable activity recognition.

Classification of Spontaneous Device Association from a Usability Perspective

Abstract: As computing devices become ubiquitous, devices are expected to encounter and associate with one another spontaneously to form ad hoc networks for sharing resources. One of the challenges in research remains in the task of making a device association scheme secure and, at the same time, easy to use. There have been numerous proposed solutions from literatures, with each solution designed for specific purposes and scenarios. At present, there is no clarity of differences and similarities amongst those association methods. In this paper, we present a classification of device association methods based on categories that influence the usability of an association.

The impact of cognitive load on the perception of time

Abstract: In cognitive psychology it is well known that cognitive load can have a significant impact on time perception. In this paper, we present an observation made during an empirical evaluation of several input techniques, showing that the cognitive load occurring during user input can significantly reduce perceived time. We provide a discussion of our findings, proposing that existing work in cognitive psychology, such as the Cognitive-Timer Model is applicable to HCI; and that this understanding can provide valuable information for predicting and actively modeling perceived input performance when designing user interfaces.

Ubiquitous computing for sustainable energy (UCSE2010)

Abstract: Providing sustainable energy is one of the fundamental challenges for mankind. With energy usage being a part of everyday activities and with the increasingly diversity of energy creation this is an inherently multi-disciplinary problem. Transportation and travel, heating and cooling, manu-facturing and production are major areas in which energy is used and all these domains become more and more linked to ubiquitous computing. With an increase in decentralized energy provision, ranging from energy harvesting in devices to personal green power plants, a great potential for creating sustainable energy arises, however at the cost of a higher complexity of the distribution network and storage mechanisms. Overall we believe that research in ubiquitous computing can provide important contributions for a world with sustainable energy. In this workshop we hope to get people from different disciplines together to share their visions and insights on how to conserve, efficiently produce, use, and distribute energy.

Two-handed input in a standard configuration of notebook with external mouse

Abstract: This paper discusses two-handed input for interaction with notebooks, motivated by the observation that notebooks are often used with an external mouse. We present results of a survey of 905 notebook users, of which 63.8% reported occasional, and 47.0% regular use of a mouse instead of the built-in pointing device (a touchpad in 95.8% of the reported configurations). Based on this finding, we propose use of the built-in touchpad with the non-dominant hand when an external mouse is used as primary pointing device. We provide a systematic analysis of the input space of such a configuration, and contribute a set of techniques that specifically exploit touchpad properties for input with the non-dominant hand. These techniques include flick, scale and rotate gestures; absolute positioning with tokens; and touchpad use as key modifier. The techniques are demonstrated in a variety of GUI applications in a standard environment of notebook with external mouse.

A study of two-handed scrolling and selection on standard notebook computers

Abstract: Although two-handed input can improve both efficiency and quality of user interaction, it is not commonly adopted as it requires additional input devices. In this paper we propose two-handed interaction on standard hardware - notebooks with external mouse - and for a common task - 2D scrolling. We introduce four techniques that leverage the built-in touchpad as a dedicated scrolling device for the non-dominant hand, for scenarios in which the mouse is used in parallel for object selection and manipulation tasks. The techniques implement relative scrolling, flicking, absolute positioning and token-based input on the touchpad. We present an empirical evaluation of these techniques in a task that simulates activities such as retouching of photos, or interaction with maps, in which users often switch between mouse interaction and scrolling. The results show initially best performance with relative scrolling as a familiar mapping, but strong learning effects for all techniques. Users had difficulty with absolute mapping of touchpad input due to a tendency to clutching and finger repositioning, but we observed that these problems are compensated when a token is used as absolute input device.

Ubiquitous Computing for Sustainable Energy (UCSE2010) Ubicomp 2010 Workshop

Abstract: Providing sustainable energy is one of the fundamental challenges for mankind. With energy usage being a part of everyday activities and with the increasingly diversity of energy creation this is an inherently multidisciplinary problem. Transportation and travel, heating and cooling, manufacturing and production are major areas in which energy is used and all these domains become more and more linked to ubiquitous computing. With an increase in decentralized energy provision, ranging from energy harvesting in devices to personal green power plants, a great potential for creating sustainable energy arises, however at the cost of a higher complexity of the distribution network and storage mechanisms. Overall we believe that research in ubiquitous computing can provide important contributions for a world with sustainable energy. In this workshop we hope to get people from different disciplines together to share their visions and insights on how to conserve, efficiently produce, use, and distribute energy.

Space-multiplexed input on mouse-extended notebooks

Abstract: Space-multiplexed input allows the distribution of tasks across spatially separated input devices. In this paper, we present an empirical study that evaluates the practical applicability of space-multiplexed input to mouse-extended notebooks - a common configuration which integrates both a touchpad and an external mouse. Our study shows that (1) two-handed input can instantly be performed by subjects without significant loss in performance; (2) one-handed operation of space-multiplexed interfaces performs worse than time-multiplexed input; and (3) the touchpad can be faster to acquire than virtual handles of standard size.