Showing papers on "Interactive systems engineering published in 2013"

An interaction vocabulary. describing the how of interaction.

Abstract: New technologies and opportunities in interaction design also come with new responsibilities. Besides the product's visual aesthetics, design needs to address the aesthetics of interaction. We discuss the various starting points of emerging approaches and then present an own approach to the How of interaction. We suggest an interaction vocabulary, i.e., a set of eleven dimensions of descriptive, non-judgmental, non-technology bound attributes of interaction. First insights from applying the vocabulary in design and evaluation studies and future research are discussed.

Systems and methods of online social interaction

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for enabling users to identify other users of interest. An initial ordering of potential users of interests may be based on one or more criteria. The ordering may be modified in response to one or more events. A profile feed of potential matching users may be provided to a user wherein the ordering of the feed may be based on the modified ordering.

How Much Control Is Enough? Influence of Unreliable Input on User Experience

Abstract: Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) provide a valuable new input modality within human-computer interaction systems However, like other body-based inputs such as gesture or gaze based systems, the system recognition of input commands is still far from perfect This raises important questions, such as what level of control should such an interface be able to provide What is the relationship between actual and perceived control? And in the case of applications for entertainment in which fun is an important part of user experience, should we even aim for the highest level of control, or is the optimum elsewhere? In this paper, we evaluate whether we can modulate the amount of control and if a game can be fun with less than perfect control In the experiment users (n=158) played a simple game in which a hamster has to be guided to the exit of a maze The amount of control the user has over the hamster is varied The variation of control through confusion matrices makes it possible to simulate the experience of using a BCI, while using the traditional keyboard for input After each session the user completed a short questionnaire on user experience and perceived control Analysis of the data showed that the perceived control of the user could largely be explained by the amount of control in the respective session As expected, user frustration decreases with increasing control Moreover, the results indicate that the relation between fun and control is not linear Although at lower levels of control fun does increase with improved control, the level of fun drops just before perfect control is reached (with an optimum around 96%) This poses new insights for developers of games who want to incorporate some form of BCI or other modality with unreliable input in their game: for creating a fun game, unreliable input can be used to create a challenge for the user

Design, User Experience, and Usability. Health, Learning, Playing, Cultural, and Cross-Cultural User Experience

Abstract: Computers and many of their applications are extremely vital and play a crucial role in the children's education and knowledge building. This paper discusses the results of a study about Arabic-speaking children’s interaction with an Arabic application. Then, researchers collected information to study how these children reacted and felt when they were interacting with this Arabic reading application.

Mobile Interaction Technologies in the Factory of the Future

Abstract: Current production systems become more complex. The increase of complexity is often relayed to the user interface. The transfer of new interaction techniques from the area of information and communication technology into the area of the production automation is a possibility to decrease the operating complexity. This paper introduces several demonstrators with different platforms and interaction metaphors of future interaction methods for the domain of production automation which have been researched in the SmartFactory KL .

Personalized and adaptive user interface framework for mobile application

Abstract: User interfaces in mobile applications are complex since they need to provide sufficient features to variety of users in a restricted space where a small number of components are available When user acquires expertise in the system they expect user interfaces which satisfy their unique needs Therefore, user interfaces in mobile applications should be adapted to different users Since this problem exists in various applications a general solution is required to make user interfaces adaptive using user context history In this paper, we introduce a conceptual prototype framework for mobile applications to make the user interfaces adaptive to the user This identifies a suitable experience level to a user by learning his/her history of interactions with applications and then displays adaptive user interfaces A proof of concept application is implemented to inspect the behavior of framework Further, a user study was conducted on the developed proof of concept application and user context data was stored This data was used as the training data for the Inference engine This framework introduces an abstract solution which can be used to adapt various user interfaces based on human computer interactions We believe the suggested framework can be used in related adaptation for Web applications, desktop applications and other mobile platforms

Minimal mobile human computer interaction

Abstract: In the last 20 years, the widespread adoption of personal, mobile computing devices in everyday life, has allowed entry into a new technological era in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). The constant change of the physical and social context in a user's situation made possible by the portability of mobile devices means that the user's attention becomes limited. This can negatively impact the user experience. To deal with this problem, this thesis draws from two developments in HCI, context-awareness and 3D gestural input. From these developments, we introduce the concept of minimal mobile HCI, a subset of eyes-free mobile interaction that allows minimal combination of the visual modality with other sensory modalities to improve the user experience of interacting with smartphones. In the first part, we look closely at the design and evaluation of location-aware multimedia messaging systems, and how they can lead to playfulness in a minimal interaction setting. We then look at how urban interactions are connected across locations by designing and evaluating an exploration-based route planner that makes use of large amounts of geotagged data. In the second part, we look closely at the usability and user experience issues associated with 3D mobile gestural interaction when recognition errors occur. Upon showing that this form of interaction is usable in the face of errors, we then investigate two example applications. We revisit how this kind of 3D gestural interaction can be applied in a playful setting by looking at gesture-based music composition and gaming. Finally, we look at how minimal mobile interaction can be used to support mobile user authentication using 3D gestural input. Together, our user studies show that interaction designers need not abandon screen-based interaction, nor stop designing for users' visual modality, only complementing it with context-awareness or 3D gestural input solutions. This can expand the design space for designing and developing mobile systems/applications that keep user interaction costs at a minimum.

Providing universally accessible interactive services through TV sets: implementation and validation with elderly users

Abstract: One of the challenges that Ambient Intelligence (AmI) faces is the provision of a usable interaction concept to its users, especially for those with a weak technical background. In this paper, we describe a new approach to integrate interactive services provided by an AmI environment with the television set, which is one of the most widely used interaction client in the home environment. The approach supports the integration of different TV set configurations, guaranteeing the possibility to develop universally accessible solutions. An implementation of this approach has been carried out as a multimodal/multi-purpose natural human computer interface for elderly people, by creating adapted graphical user interfaces and navigation menus together with multimodal interaction (simplified TV remote control and voice interaction). In addition, this user interface can also be suited to other user groups. We have tested a prototype that adapts the videoconference and the information service with a group of 83 users. The results from the user tests show that the group found the prototype to be both satisfactory and efficient to use.

Moving Tangible Interaction Systems to the Next Level

Abstract: Understanding tangible interaction's foundational concepts can lead to systems with direct, integrated, and meaningful data control and representation

Systems engineering interfaces: A model based approach

Abstract: The engineering of interfaces is a critical function of the discipline of Systems Engineering. Included in interface engineering are instances of interaction. Interfaces provide the specifications of the relevant properties of a system or component that can be connected to other systems or components while instances of interaction are identified in order to specify the actual integration to other systems or components. Current Systems Engineering practices rely on a variety of documents and diagrams to describe interface specifications and instances of interaction. The SysML[1] specification provides a precise model based representation for interfaces and interface instance integration. This paper will describe interface engineering as implemented by the Operations Revitalization Task using SysML, starting with a generic case and culminating with a focus on a Flight System to Ground Interaction. The reusability of the interface engineering approach presented as well as its extensibility to more complex interfaces and interactions will be shown. Model-derived tables will support the case studies shown and are examples of model-based documentation products.

A multimodal interaction concept for cooperative driving

Abstract: This article proposes a theory-driven interaction and user interface concept for a cooperative lane-change scenario in a highly automated driving environment. First, cooperative systems are defined and a taxonomy of five levels of cooperation (driver and system intention, mode of cooperation, allocation, interface, and contact) is elaborated. Second, the scenario is introduced and analyzed for each of the levels of cooperation, with a focus on the support of mode awareness, concluded by a detailed analysis based on an interaction diagram. Third, based on this cooperative interaction sequence, a prototypical user interface design is presented, heavily using a scene-linked augmented information display with multimodal amendments.

Social design feedback: evaluations with users in online ad-hoc groups

Abstract: Social design feedback is a novel approach to usability evaluation where user participants are asked to comment on designs asynchronously in online ad-hoc groups. Two key features of this approach are that (1) it supports interaction between user participants and development team representatives and (2) user participants can see and respond to other participants’ comments. Two design cases, involving 250 user participants, were studied to explore the output of social design feedback and investigate the effect of the two key features of this approach. Of all the design feedback, 17% was rated highly useful, and 21% contained change suggestions. The presence of an active moderator, representing the development team and interacting with the user participants, increased the usefulness of the design feedback. The opportunity to see and respond to others’ design feedback had a minor effect on the kind of design feedback provided, but no effect on usefulness. Based on the findings, we offer advice on how to implement social design feedback and suggest future research.

Exploring the interaction design space for interactive glasses

Abstract: In this paper, we explore the interaction design space for interactive glasses. We discuss general issues with interactive glasses (i.e., optics, technology, social, form factors), and then concentrate on the topic of the nature of interaction with glasses and its implications to provide a delightful user experience with the NotifEye.

EISEval, a generic reconfigurable environment for evaluating agent-based interactive systems

Abstract: The evaluation of interactive systems has been an active subject of research for many years. Many methods have been proposed, but most of them do not take the architectural specificities of an agent-based interactive system into account, nor do they focus on the link between architecture and evaluation. In this paper, we present an agent-based architecture model for interactive systems. Then, based on this architecture, we propose a generic, reconfigurable evaluation environment, called EISEval, designed and developed to help evaluators analyze and evaluate certain aspects of interactive systems in general and of agent-based architecture interactive systems in particular: User Interface (UI), non-functional properties (e.g., response time, complexity) and user characteristics (e.g., abilities, preferences, progress). System designers can draw useful conclusions from the evaluation results to improve the system. This environment was applied to evaluate an agent-based interactive system used to supervise an urban transport network in a study organized in laboratory.

An analysis of input-output relations in interaction with smart tangible objects

Abstract: This article focuses on the conceptual relation between the user's input and a system's output in interaction with smart tangible objects. Understanding this input-output relation (IO relation) is a prerequisite for the design of meaningful interaction. A meaningful IO relation allows the user to know what to do with a system to achieve a certain goal and to evaluate the outcome. The work discussed in this article followed a design research process in which four concepts were developed and prototyped. An evaluation was performed using these prototypes to investigate the effect of highly different IO relations on the user's understanding of the interaction. The evaluation revealed two types of IO relations differing in functionality and the number of mappings between the user and system actions. These two types of relations are described by two IO models that provide an overview of these mappings. Furthermore, they illustrate the role of the user and the influence of the system in the process of understanding the interaction. The analysis of the two types of IO models illustrates the value of understanding IO relations for the design of smart tangible objects.

Design, User Experience, and Usability. User Experience in Novel Technological Environments

Abstract: The Michigan Workforce Background Check (MWBC) system is a Web-based application that centralizes the screening process for job applicants at long-term care facilities by integrating the checking of registries and databases, and by providing secure communication between the system and state agencies. A key feature of the system is the rap back, which is a process whereby fingerprint images submitted by healthcare workers are maintained in a database and compared against arrest fingerprints to track subsequent criminal activity. Rap backs eliminate the need for subsequent fingerprinting to update criminal record information. A user-centered design process was used to create the interaction design during the development process, resulting in very few post-release adjustments and saved time and financial resources. Patient safety is improved due to this rap back process because unfit workers are immediately identified and removed from long-term care facilities.

Human-Computer Interaction. Interaction Modalities and Techniques

Abstract: The present approach targets to provide a framework for facilitating multilingual interaction in online business meetings with an agenda as well as in similar applications in the service sector where there is a less task-oriented form of interaction. A basic problem to be addressed is the control of the topics covered during the interaction and the expression of opinion. In the proposed template-based approach, the System is proposed to act as a mediator to control the dialog flow, within the modeled framework of the sublanguage-specific and pragmatically related design.

User Interaction Templates for the Design of Lifelogging Systems

Abstract: A variety of life-tracking devices are being created to give opportunity to track our daily lives accurately and automatically through the application of sensing technologies. Technology allows us to automatically and passively record life activities in previously unimaginable detail, in a process called lifelogging. Captured materials may include text, photos/video, audio, location, Bluetooth logs and information from many other sensing modalities, all captured automatically by wearable sensors. Experience suggests that it can be overwhelming and impractical to manually scan through the full contents of these lifelogs. A promising approach is to apply visualization to large-scale data-driven lifelogs as a means of abstracting and summarizing information. In this chapter, we outline various UI templates that support different visualization schemes.

The study of the teacher's role and student interaction in e-learning process

Abstract: Today the effect of the interaction between students and teachers in learning and teaching is an undeniable issue. Without interaction, learners will not only be motivated to continue their courses, but also the learning does not occur. But the discussion of interaction in e-learning environment is more complex than traditional education. This paper introduces and analyzes the interaction types, interaction and interactive e-learning tools. The survey results show that students and teachers can benefit from methods and tools and overcome the challenges of electronic transactions with each other. Some of the ways to overcome the challenges of interaction are using modified techniques of presentation style, speed, graphics, and content of the survey and one of the best ways to overcome the challenges of interaction by students is the formation of discussion groups and student associations.

A web questionnaire generating tool to aid for interactive systems quality subjective assessment

Abstract: This paper is related to the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field and more specifically to the interactive system quality evaluation using a subjective method known by the questionnaire. Efforts and research have been performed to enhance subjective usability evaluation of Human - Computer interface of interactive systems by deploying various methods and techniques. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a subjective assessment tool to help designers measure the quality of evaluated interface. This article presents a new tool for generating a web questionnaire in order to collect the individuals' attitudes and feelings toward an interactive system. It is developed to facilitate the presentation and usage of questionnaires designated for the evaluation of interactive systems. The developed questionnaire tool is validated by the evaluation of traffic supervision system in Valenciennes (France) as a part of CISIT-ISART project.

Creativity and Rationale

Abstract: Much effort and thought goes into decision making and design. Nonetheless, it is often the case that bad decisions are made and bad designs conceived and implemented primarily because some critical and relevant perspective has not been brought to bear. This is especially often true if the relevant perspective is that of a stakeholder in the outcome. Therefore, ensure that every relevant stakeholder perspective is brought to bear early. Problem : Problem solving or design that proceeds down the wrong path can be costly or impossible to correct later. As the inconvenience and cost of a major change in direction mount, cognitive dissonance makes it somewhat likely that the new information will be ignored or devalued so that continuance along the wrong path is likely. Context: Complex problems such as the construction of new social institutions or the design of complex interactive systems require that a multitude of viewpoints be brought to bear. Unfortunately, this is all too often not the case. One group builds a “solution” for another group without fully understanding the culture, the user needs, the extreme cases, and so on. The result is often a “system” whether technical or social, that creates as many problems as it solves. The idea for this pattern comes from a Native American story transcribed by Paula Underwood ( 1983 ) . In brief, the story goes as follows. The tribe had as one of its members, a man who took it upon himself to learn all that he could about wolves. He became such an expert, that his fellow tribes-people called him “Wolf.” While Wolf and several other braves were out on a long hunting expedition, it became clear to the tribe that they would have to move to a new location. After various reconnaissance missions, a new site was selected and the tribe moved. Shortly thereafter, it became clear that a mistake had been made. The new location was in the middle of the wolves’ spring breeding ground. The wolves were threatening the children and stealing the drying meat. Now, the tribe was faced with a hard decision. Should they move again? Should they post guards all day and all night? Or, should they destroy the wolves? And, did they even want to be the sort of people who would kill off another species for their own convenience? At last it was decided they would move to a new location. But as was their custom, they also asked themselves, “What did we learn from this? How can we prevent making such mistakes in the future?” Someone said, “Well, if Wolf would have been at our fi rst council meeting, he would have prevented this mistake.” “True enough,” they all agreed. “Therefore, from now on, whenever we meet to make a decision, we shall ask ourselves, ‘Who speaks for Wolf?’ to remind us that 409 19 Patterns for Emergent Global Intelligence someone must be capable and delegated to bring to bear the knowledge of any missing stakeholders.” Forces : Gaps in requirements are most cheaply repaired early in development; it is • important for this and for reasons of acceptance (as well as ethics!) by all parties that all stakeholders have a say throughout any development or change process. Logistical dif fi culties make the representation of all stakeholder groups at every • meeting dif fi cult. A new social institution or design will be both better in quality and more easily • accepted if all relevant parties have input. Once a wrong path is chosen, both social forces and individual cognitive disso• nance make it dif fi cult to begin over, change direction or retrace steps. Solution: Provide automated reminding of stakeholders who are not present. These could be procedural (certain Native Americans always ask, “Who Speaks for Wolf” to remind them) or visual or auditory with technological support. Examples: As a positive case, some groups make it a practice to “check in” at the beginning of any meeting to see whether any group members have an issue that they would like to have discussed. In “User Centered Design”, and “Contextual Design” methodologies, an attempt is made to get input from the intended users of the system early on in the design process. Resulting Context: When every stakeholder view is taken into account, the solution will be improved in quality and in addition, there will be less resistance to implementing the solution. Rationale: Much of the failure of “process re-engineering” can be attributed to the fact that “models” of the “is” process were developed based on some executive’s notion of how things were accomplished rather than a study of how they were actually done or asking the people who actually did the work how they were done. A “should be” process was designed to be a more ef fi cient version of the “is” process and then implementation was pushed down on workers. However, since the original “is” model was not based on reality, the “more ef fi cient” solution often left out vital elements. Technological and sociological “imperialism” provide many additional examples where the input of all the stakeholders is not taken into account. Of course, much of the history of the US government’s treatment of the Native Americans was an avoidance of truly including all the stakeholders. A challenge in applying the “Who Speaks for Wolf” pattern is to judge honestly and correctly whether, indeed, someone does have the knowledge and delegation to “speak for Wolf.” If such a person is not present, we may do well to put off design or decision until such a person, or better, “Wolf” can be present. Related Patterns: Radical Co-location (Provided all stakeholders are present in the radical co-location, this tends to insure that their input will be given at appropriate times).

A relationship model of playful interaction, interaction design, kansei engineering and mobile usability in mobile learning

Abstract: Mobile learning is a new technology embraced in the educational environment. In general, mobile learning can be described as teaching and learning activities by using mobile technologies. Designing interactivity with mobile learning is important for learners and educators. The requirements and different perspective towards mobile learning need to be explored. The demographic profiling of the user may also affect the usage and usability of mobile learning. Designers may need to identify the elements and relevant methodologies when designing interactivity of mobile learning. This main objective of this paper is to conceptualize the relationship model of (i) playful interaction, (ii) interaction design, (iii) kansei engineering and (iv) mobile usability in mobile learning. The model from this study may provide the motivation and prescription to designers in designing mobile application for teaching and learning.

A case for human-driven software development

Abstract: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) plays a critical role in software systems, especially when targeting vulnerable individuals (e.g., assistive technologies). However, there exists a gap between well-tooled software development methodologies and HCI techniques, which are generally isolated from the development toolchain and require specific expertise. In this paper, we propose a human-driven software development methodology making User Interface (UI) a full-fledged dimension of software design. To make this methodology useful in practice, a UI design lan- guage and a user modeling language are integrated into a tool suite that guides the stakeholders during the development process, while ensuring the conformance between the UI design and its implementation.

Gamification interaction design of online education

Abstract: One of the fastest growing use of technology is for online education which is a trend of contemporary education. And it is continually improving with constantly developing and revising its programs to suit today's students. This paper analyzes the existing problems of interaction design for online education, discusses a user-centered gamification interaction strategy, with the purpose of improving the utilization rate of online education resources and realizing the optimization of teaching effect and user experience. At last, it explores the future development of online education interaction.

Comparative Evaluation among Diverse Interaction Techniques in Three Dimensional Environments

Abstract: This paper reports on the results of a user-based evaluation that was conducted on a 3D virtual environment that supports diverse interaction techniques. More specifically, the interaction techniques that were evaluated were touch, gestures hands and legs and the use of a smart object. The goal of the experiment was to assess the effectiveness of each interaction modes as a means for the user to complete common tasks within the application. A comparison is attempted in order to provide an insight to the suitability of each technique and direct future research in the area.

Automated Usability Evaluation of Model-Based Adaptive User Interfaces for Users with Special and Specific Needs by Simulating User Interaction

Abstract: Adaptive applications have the potential to help users with special and specific needs. However, evaluating the usability of such adaptive applications tends to become very complex. This chapter presents an integrated concept for the automated usability evaluation of model-based adaptive user interfaces. The approach is supposed to be used complementary to custom usability evaluations at an early stage of development. Interaction of a user is simulated and evaluated by combining a user model with user interface models from a model-based development framework, which is capable of providing different adaptation alternatives based on user attributes and the context of use. The main benefit of the approach is that no additional descriptions of the application’s UI and tasks need to be created for the usability evaluation because they are already available from the development process. As a result, different design alternatives and adaptation variants can be compared under equal usability evaluation criteria. Further, the complexity and costs for applying automated usability evaluation to adaptive user interfaces for users with special and specific needs can be reduced.

Using new communication technologies and social media interaction to improve the motivation of users to exercise

Abstract: The number of communication technologies and devices from which users can access information has rapidly increased. Moreover, users now have the chance to interact through social media channels, in order to share what they like and what they are experiencing in their everyday life. Both these aspects influence the design and development of Human-Computer Interaction applications that aim at motivating users to exercise more. In fact, the possibility to manage the exercising activity from different types of devices and the possibility to interact with other users, can increase the motivation of a user to exercise more. This paper presents a persuasive web application for sport and health, designed to motivate people in their exercising activity. The innovative aspect of our application is the possibility to use on a web browser some features previously available only through a mobile application. Moreover, it allows a richer interaction with the Facebook social network. Preliminary results show how different types of devices and new communication networks can be integrated, in order to improve the user experience and motivate users to a more active lifestyle.

'Designeering Interaction': A Missing Link in the Evolution of Human-Computer Interaction

Abstract: Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is a fascinating research field because of its multidisciplinary nature, combining such diverse research domains as design, human factors and computer science as well as a variety of methods including empirical and theoretical research. HCI is also fascinating because it is still young and so much is left to discover, invent and understand. The evolution of computers, and more generally of interactive systems, is not frozen, and so are the ways in which we interact with them. From desktop computers, to mobile devices, to large displays or multi-surface environments, technology extends the possibles, needs initiate technologies, and HCI is thus a constantly moving field. The variety of challenges to address, as well as their underlying combinations of sub-domains (design, computer science, experimental psychology, sociology, etc.), imply that we should also adapt, question and sometimes reinvent our research methods and processes, pushing the limits of HCI research further. Since I entered the field 12 years ago, my research activities have essentially revolved around two main themes: the design, implementation and evaluation of novel interaction techniques (on desktop computers, mobile devices and multi- surface environments) and the engineering of interactive systems (models and toolkits for advanced input and interaction). Over time, I realized that I had entered a loop between these two concerns, going back and forth between design- ing and evaluating new interaction techniques, and defining and implementing new software architectures or toolkits. I observed that they strongly influence each other: The design of interaction techniques informs on the capabilities and limitations of the platform and the software being used, and new architectures and software tools open the way to new designs and possibilities. Through the discussion of several of my research contributions in these fields, this document investigates how interaction design challenges technology, and how technology - or engineering of interactive systems - could support and unleash interaction design. These observations will lead to a first definition of the "Designeering Interaction" conceptual framework that encompasses the specificities of these two fields and builds a bridge between them, paving the way to new research perspectives. In particular, I will discuss which types of tools, from the system level to the end user, should be designed, implemented and studied in order to better support interaction design along the evolution of interactive systems. At a more general level, Designeering Interaction is also a contribution that, I hope, will help better "understand how HCI works with technology".