Trace-Based Decision Making in Interactive Application: Case of Tamagotchi systems

International audience— We present our exploratory work for situation preselecting in interactive applications, assuming that the application is an Interactive Adaptive System based on a sequence of contextualized "situations". Each situation confines activities and interactions related to a common context, resources and system actors. When one situation is completed, the system has to determine which is the best following one. We introduce in this paper a new preselecting method that identifies possible next situations among all available situations. We propose a strategy using Naïve Bayes based on the analysis of the sets of available traces (the past of users). Combining all obtained results, we get a set of situations, called set of alternatives that can be used in any decision algorithm. We demonstrate our approach on a case study based on Tamagotchi game

A process for Trace-Based Criteria Weighting in Multiple Criteria Decision Making

Decision-making has evolved as an interesting research problem for decision community. We consider a decision problem that takes into account several criteria called Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) in an interactive application for adaptive execution. In this paper, we present a method for automatically weighting criteria generation based on users' traces. In our method, we suggest a process that contains all steps describing alternately what is necessary to prepare in order to weight all criteria. We propose a modified method using Naïve Bayes network to exploit the traces (the past of users), there will be used as information for estimating the score of criteria. Experimental results are presented to illustrate a full process and an automatic generation of weighting criteria by a set of values

Trace-Based Weighting Approach for Multiple Criteria Decision Making

International audienceDecision-making has evolved as an interesting research problem for decision community. We consider a decision problem that takes into account several criteria called Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) in an interactive application for adaptive execution. In this paper, we present a method for automatically weighting criteria generation based on users' traces. In our method, we suggest a process that contains all steps describing alternately what is necessary to prepare in order to weight all criteria. We propose a modified method using Naïve Bayes network to exploit the traces (the past of users), there will be used as information for estimating the score of criteria. Experimental results are presented to illustrate a full process and an automatic generation of weighting criteria by a set of values

Description des tâches avec un système interactif multiutilisateur et multimodal : Etude comparative de notations

International audienceMulti-user multimodal interactive systems involve multiple users who can use multiple interactionmodalities. Multi-user multimodal systems are becoming more prevalent, especially systems based on largeshared multi-touch surfaces or video game centers such as Wii or Xbox. In this article we address thedescription of the tasks with such interactive systems. We review existing notations for the description of taskswith a multi-user multimodal interactive system and focus particularly on tree-based notations. For elementarytasks (e.g. actions), we also consider the notations that describe multimodal interaction. The contribution isthen a comparison of existing notations based on a set of organized concepts. While some concepts are generalto any notation, other concepts are specific to human-computer interaction, or to multi-user interaction andfinally to multimodal interaction.De nombreux systèmes interactifs, professionnels ou grand public, permettent conjointementl’interaction multiutilisateur et multimodale. Un système interactif est multimodal lorsqu’un utilisateur peutinteragir avec le système par l’usage de plusieurs modalités d’interaction (en entrée ou en sortie) de façonparallèle ou non. Nous constatons que de plus en plus de systèmes multiutilisateurs ou collecticiels sontmultimodaux, comme ceux construits autour d’une surface interactive et les consoles de jeu de type Wii ouXbox. Nous traitons dans cet article de la description des tâches-utilisateur avec de tels systèmes interactifsmultiutilisateurs et multimodaux. Précisément, nous dressons un panorama des notations existantes permettantla description des tâches mono ou multi-utilisateur avec une attention particulière pour les notations à based’arbre de tâches. Nous focalisons aussi sur les tâches élémentaires ou actions mono/multi-modales del’utilisateur en considérant les notations de description de l’interaction multimodale. Pour cela, nousproposons une étude comparative d'un ensemble de notations de description selon une grille d’analyseregroupant des concepts généraux à l’interaction et des concepts propres à l’interaction multiutilisateur etmultimodale

Approche de présélection multicritère à base de traces pour la prise de décision dans les applications interactives de type jeux

International audienceLa prise de décision dans les jeux est une fonctionnalité indispensable pour automatiser les jeux et les rendre plus autonomes et plus intelligents. Un algorithme de décision effectue les calculs d’optimisation sur l’ensemble des solutions possibles. Cela fait augmenter le temps de calcul et pose un problème d’explosion combinatoire lorsque l’espace de solutions est grand. Afin de surmonter ce problème, nous présentons une approche de présélection des solutions pertinentes avant d’effectuer une décision. Notre approche comporte deux étapes : i) utilisation des traces (exécutions antérieures des utilisateurs) pour identifier toutes les solutions potentielles ; ii) estimation de la pertinence, appelée utilité, de chacune de ces solutions potentielles. Nous obtenons un ensemble de solutions candidates présélectionnées qui sera utilisé comme entrée à la prise de décision. Nous expérimentons notre approche sur un prototype du jeu Tamagotchi

Development and Specification of Virtual Environments

This thesis concerns the issues involved in the development of virtual environments (VEs). VEs are more than virtual reality. We identify four main characteristics of them: graphical interaction, multimodality, interface agents, and multi-user. These characteristics are illustrated with an overview of different classes of VE-like applications, and a number of state-of-the-art VEs. To further define the topic of research, we propose a general framework for VE systems development, in which we identify five major classes of development tools: methodology, guidelines, design specification, analysis, and development environments. Of each, we give an overview of existing best practices

The Design and evaluation of the specification framework for user interface design

This thesis presentsthe design and evaluation of an interface specification meta-language(ISML) that has been developed to explicitly support metaphor abstractions in a model-based, user interface design framework. The application of metaphor to user interface design is widely accepted within the HCI community, yet despite this, there exists relatively little formal support for user interface design practitioners. With the increasing range and power of user interface technologies made widely available comes the opportunity for the designof sophisticated, new forms of interactive environments. The inter-disciplinary nature of HCI offers many approaches to user interface design that include views on tasks, presentationand dialogue architectures and various domain models. Notations and tools that support these views vary equally, ranging from craft-based approachesthrough to computational or tool- based support and formal methods. Work in these areas depicts gradual cohesion of a number of these design views, but do not currently explicitly specify the application of metaphorical concepts in graphical user interface design. Towards addressing this omission, ISML was developed based on (and extending) some existing model- based user interface design concepts. Abstractions of metaphor and other interface design views are captured in the ISML framework using the extensible mark-up language(XML). A six-month case study, developing the `Urban Shout Cast' application is used to evaluate ISML. Two groups of four software engineers developed a networked, multi-user, virtual radio-broadcasting environment. A qualitative analysis examines both how each group developed metaphor designs within the ISML framework and also their perceptions of its utility and practicality. Subsequent analysis on the specification data from both groups reveals aspects of the project's design that ISML captured and those that were missed. Finally, the extent to which ISML can currently abstract the metaphors used in the case study is assessed through the development of a unified `meta-object' model. The results of the case study show that ISML is capable of expressing many of the features of each group's metaphor design, as well as highlighting important design considerations during development. Furthermore, it has been shown, in principle, how an underlying metaphor abstraction can be mapped to two different implementations. Evaluation of the case study also includes important design lessons: ISML metaphor models can be both very large and difficult to separate from other design views, some of which are either weakly expressed or unsupported. This suggests that the appropriate mappings between design abstractions cannot always be easily anticipated, and that understanding the use of model-based specifications in user interface design projects remains a challenge to the HCI community

The design and evaluation of the specification framework for user interface design

This thesis presentsthe design and evaluation of an interface specification meta-language(ISML) that has been developed to explicitly support metaphor abstractions in a model-based, user interface design framework. The application of metaphor to user interface design is widely accepted within the HCI community, yet despite this, there exists relatively little formal support for user interface design practitioners. With the increasing range and power of user interface technologies made widely available comes the opportunity for the designof sophisticated, new forms of interactive environments. The inter-disciplinary nature of HCI offers many approaches to user interface design that include views on tasks, presentationand dialogue architectures and various domain models. Notations and tools that support these views vary equally, ranging from craft-based approachesthrough to computational or tool- based support and formal methods. Work in these areas depicts gradual cohesion of a number of these design views, but do not currently explicitly specify the application of metaphorical concepts in graphical user interface design. Towards addressing this omission, ISML was developed based on (and extending) some existing model- based user interface design concepts. Abstractions of metaphor and other interface design views are captured in the ISML framework using the extensible mark-up language(XML). A six-month case study, developing the `Urban Shout Cast' application is used to evaluate ISML. Two groups of four software engineers developed a networked, multi-user, virtual radio-broadcasting environment. A qualitative analysis examines both how each group developed metaphor designs within the ISML framework and also their perceptions of its utility and practicality. Subsequent analysis on the specification data from both groups reveals aspects of the project's design that ISML captured and those that were missed. Finally, the extent to which ISML can currently abstract the metaphors used in the case study is assessed through the development of a unified `meta-object' model. The results of the case study show that ISML is capable of expressing many of the features of each group's metaphor design, as well as highlighting important design considerations during development. Furthermore, it has been shown, in principle, how an underlying metaphor abstraction can be mapped to two different implementations. Evaluation of the case study also includes important design lessons: ISML metaphor models can be both very large and difficult to separate from other design views, some of which are either weakly expressed or unsupported. This suggests that the appropriate mappings between design abstractions cannot always be easily anticipated, and that understanding the use of model-based specifications in user interface design projects remains a challenge to the HCI community.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Définition d'un langage et d'une méthode pour la description et la spécification d'IHM post-W.I.M.P. pour les cockpits interactifs

Avec l'apparition de nouvelles technologies comme l'iPad, etc., nous rencontrons dans les logiciels grand public des interfaces de plus en plus riches et innovantes. Ces innovations portent à la fois sur la gestion des entrées (e. g. écrans multi-touch) et sur la gestion des sorties (e.g. affichage). Ces interfaces sont catégorisées de type post-WIMP et permettent d'accroitre la bande passante entre l'utilisateur et le système qu'il manipule. Plus précisément elles permettent à l'utilisateur de fournir plus rapidement des commandes au système et au système de présenter plus d'informations à l'utilisateur lui permettant par là-même de superviser des systèmes de complexité accrue. L'adoption par le grand public et le niveau de maturité de ces technos permet d'envisager leur intégration dans les systèmes critiques (comme les cockpits ou de façon plus générale les systèmes de commande et contrôle). Toutefois les aspects logiciels liés à ces technologies sont loin d'être maîtrisés comme le démontrent les nombreux dysfonctionnements rencontrés par leurs utilisateurs. Alors que ces derniers peuvent être tolérés pour des applications de jeux ou de divertissement elles ne sont pas acceptables dans le domaine des systèmes critiques présentés précédemment. La problématique de cette thèse porte précisément sur le développement de méthodes, langages, techniques et outils pour la conception et le développement de systèmes interactifs innovants et fiables. La contribution de cette thèse porte sur l'extension d'une notation formelle : ICO (Objets Coopératifs Interactifs) pour décrire de manières exhaustive et non ambiguë les techniques d'interactions multi-touch et la démonstrabilité de son application dans le cadre des applications multi-touch civils. Nous proposons en plus de cette notation, une méthode pour la conception et la validation de systèmes interactifs offrants des interactions multi-touch à leurs utilisateurs. Le fonctionnement de ces systèmes interactifs est basé sur une architecture générique permettant une structuration des modèles allant de la partie matérielle des périphériques d'entrées jusqu' à la partie applicative pour la commande et le contrôle de ces systèmes. Cet ensemble de contribution est appliqué sur un ensemble d'étude de ca dont la plus significative est une application de gestion météo pour un avion civil.With the advent of new technologies such as the iPad, general public software feature richer and more innovative interfaces. These innovations are both on the input layer (e.g. multi-touch screens) and on the output layer (e.g. display). These interfaces are categorized as post-W.I.M.P. type and allow to increase the bandwidth between the user and the system he manipulates. Specifically it allows the user to more quickly deliver commands to the system and the system to present more information to the user enabling him managing increasingly complex systems. The large use in the general public and the level of maturity of these technologies allows to consider their integration in critical systems (such as cockpits or more generally control and command systems). However, the software issues related to these technologies are far from being resolved judging by the many problems encountered by users. While the latter may be tolerated for gaming applications and entertainment, it is not acceptable in the field of critical systems described above. The problem of this thesis focuses specifically on the development of methods, languages, techniques and tools for the design and development of innovative and reliable interactive systems. The contribution of this thesis is the extension of a formal notation: ICO (Interactive Cooperative Object) to describe in a complete and unambiguous way multi-touch interaction techniques and is applied in the context of multi-touch applications for civilians aircrafts. We provide in addition to this notation, a method for the design and validation of interactive systems featuring multi-touch interactions. The mechanisms of these interactive systems are based on a generic architecture structuring models from the hardware part of the input devices up to the application part for the control and monitoring of these systems. This set of contribution is applied on a set of case studies, the most significant being an application for weather management in civilian aircrafts