Smart Conversational Agents for Reminiscence

In this paper we describe the requirements and early system design for a smart conversational agent that can assist older adults in the reminiscence process. The practice of reminiscence has well documented benefits for the mental, social and emotional well-being of older adults. However, the technology support, valuable in many different ways, is still limited in terms of need of co-located human presence, data collection capabilities, and ability to support sustained engagement, thus missing key opportunities to improve care practices, facilitate social interactions, and bring the reminiscence practice closer to those with less opportunities to engage in co-located sessions with a (trained) companion. We discuss conversational agents and cognitive services as the platform for building the next generation of reminiscence applications, and introduce the concept application of a smart reminiscence agent

The experience of enchantment in human-computer interaction

Improving user experience is becoming something of a rallying call in human–computer interaction but experience is not a unitary thing. There are varieties of experiences, good and bad, and we need to characterise these varieties if we are to improve user experience. In this paper we argue that enchantment is a useful concept to facilitate closer relationships between people and technology. But enchantment is a complex concept in need of some clarification. So we explore how enchantment has been used in the discussions of technology and examine experiences of film and cell phones to see how enchantment with technology is possible. Based on these cases, we identify the sensibilities that help designers design for enchantment, including the specific sensuousness of a thing, senses of play, paradox and openness, and the potential for transformation. We use these to analyse digital jewellery in order to suggest how it can be made more enchanting. We conclude by relating enchantment to varieties of experience.</p

Evocative computing – creating meaningful lasting experiences in connecting with the past

We present an approach – evocative computing – that demonstrates how ‘at hand’ technologies can be ‘picked up’ and used by people to create meaningful and lasting experiences, through connecting and interacting with the past. The approach is instantiated here through a suite of interactive technologies configured for an indoor-outdoor setting that enables groups to explore, discover and research the history and background of a public cemetery. We report on a two-part study where different groups visited the cemetery and interacted with the digital tools and resources. During their activities serendipitous uses of the technology led to connections being made between personal memo-ries and ongoing activities. Furthermore, these experiences were found to be long-lasting; a follow-up study, one year later, showed them to be highly memorable, and in some cases leading participants to take up new directions in their work. We discuss the value of evocative computing for enriching user experiences and engagement with heritage practices

Venturing into the labyrinth: the information retrieval challenge of human digital memories

Advances in digital capture and storage technologies mean that it is now possible to capture and store one’s entire life experiences in a Human Digital Memory (HDM). However, these vast personal archives are of little benefit if an individual cannot locate and retrieve significant items from them. While potentially offering exciting opportunities to support a user in their activities by providing access to information stored from previous experiences, we believe that the features of HDM datasets present new research challenges for information retrieval which must be addressed if these possibilities are to be realised. Specifically we postulate that effective retrieval from HDMs must exploit the rich sources of context data which can be captured and associated with items stored within them. User’s memories of experiences stored within their memory archive will often be linked to these context features. We suggest how such contextual metadata can be exploited within the retrieval process

General characteristics of anticipated user experience (AUX) with interactive products

Providing a positive user experience (UX) has become the key differentiator for products to win a competition in mature markets. To ensure that a product will support enjoyable experiences for its users, assessment of UX should be conducted early during the design and development process. However, most UX frameworks and evaluation techniques focus on understanding and assessing user’s experience with functional prototypes or existing products. This situation delays UX assessment until the late phases of product development which may result in costly design modifications and less desirable products. A qualitative study was conducted to investigate anticipated user experience (AUX) to address this issue. Twenty pairs of participants were asked to imagine an interactive product, draw their product concept, and anticipate their interactions and experiences with it. The data was analyzed to identify general characteristics of AUX. We found that while positive AUX was mostly related to an imagined/desired product, negative AUX was mainly associated with existing products. It was evident that the pragmatic quality of product was fundamental, and significantly influenced user’s anticipated experiences. Furthermore, the hedonic quality of product received more focus in positive than negative AUX. The results also showed that context, user profile, experiential knowledge, and anticipated emotion could be reflected in AUX. The understanding of AUX will help product designers to better foresee the users’ underlying needs and to focus on the most important aspects of their positive experiences, which in turn facilitates the designers to ensure pleasurable UX from the start of the design process

Place-centred interaction design: situated participation and co-creation in places of heritage

This paper argues that the design of interactive installations for museums and other heritage sites should be concerned with understanding, supporting and augmenting visitors 19 lived experiences in context, thus their ability to actively participate in an exhibition. We use the concept of 18place 19 to refer to the physical environment as it is invested by the qualities of human experience, and to placemaking as the active process of connecting and relating to locations that become meaningful in our lives. We will discuss some of the limitations of existing heritage technologies in considering aspects of active place experience, and will argue how a place-sensitive approach can lead to successful interaction design whereby people establish meaningful and active connections at personal, cultural, social and physical levels to the places of heritage they experience

Sound for Fantasy and Freedom

Sound is an integral part of our everyday lives. Sound tells us about physical events in the environ- ment, and we use our voices to share ideas and emotions through sound. When navigating the world on a day-to-day basis, most of us use a balanced mix of stimuli from our eyes, ears and other senses to get along. We do this totally naturally and without effort. In the design of computer game experiences, traditionally, most attention has been given to vision rather than the balanced mix of stimuli from our eyes, ears and other senses most of us use to navigate the world on a day to day basis. The risk is that this emphasis neglects types of interaction with the game needed to create an immersive experience. This chapter summarizes the relationship between sound properties, GameFlow and immersive experience and discusses two projects in which Interactive Institute, Sonic Studio has balanced perceptual stimuli and game mechanics to inspire and create new game concepts that liberate users and their imagination

From Codes to Patterns: Designing Interactive Decoration for Tableware

ABSTRACT We explore the idea of making aesthetic decorative patterns that contain multiple visual codes. We chart an iterative collaboration with ceramic designers and a restaurant to refine a recognition technology to work reliably on ceramics, produce a pattern book of designs, and prototype sets of tableware and a mobile app to enhance a dining experience. We document how the designers learned to work with and creatively exploit the technology, enriching their patterns with embellishments and backgrounds and developing strategies for embedding codes into complex designs. We discuss the potential and challenges of interacting with such patterns. We argue for a transition from designing ‘codes to patterns’ that reflects the skills of designers alongside the development of new technologies

EXPLORING THE CREATION OF IMMERSIVE AND RESPONSIVE SPACES FOR INTERRELATIONSHIP THROUGH THE CONCEPT OF PLAYFULNESS

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 is causing serious damage to many countries. As of May, the number of confirmed patients worldwide is at 3.35 million and the death toll stands at 239,000 people. As a way to prevent the pandemic, most countries encourage people to keep social or physical distance and self-quarantine. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they recommend that people stay at least six feet away from each other and the South Korean government also recommend keeping their distance from each other at least two meters. Because of the current situation, the places where people can interact with each other, such as schools, businesses, restaurants, etc., are not able to function properly because of the prevention of people’s physical contact with each other and the need to ‘social distance’ and this is causing continued economic deterioration. Through this pandemic, I have realized once again how important interrelationships are in the society we belong to, and at the same time, how the society we live in has been changed by modern technologies. With the development of automobiles, machinery and technology day by day, these modern technologies have become a natural convergence of our society. But as a result, teenagers, in particular, were exposed too much to the information technology, such as mobile phones and computers, and such developments have caused a lack of thinking, creativity and physical abilities, resulting in a cut-off in communication with each other, and making it a non-face-to-face and isolated society. People in various fields, such as philosophy, sociology, and art, talk about how important each other\u27s interrelationship plays a role in shaping the framework of society. While the development of technology is increasing the number of people who are becoming isolated from society, the development of these technologies now helps people engaging in constant exchanges to escape the isolated environment by allowing them to see and communicate with each other at a time when they have to maintain a distance of more than six feet or be isolated at home by the COVID-19 pandemic. An important difference in the impact of technology on well-being lies in other aspects of technology, how it is used, and with other users and situations. Just as the technological developments exemplify the potential to have a positive impact on people\u27s lives, I also aim to apply a positive use of technology to create a virtual interactive space where people can once again feel how important interrelationships are in our society through experiences. I have so far emphasized two things, the concept of playfulness and designing a virtual interactive space optimized for engagement and play, for the past two years to create the virtual space based on my experience. The goal of my thesis work, based on the two things that I have emphasized greatly above, is to build an environment in which audiences can share various movements through cooperation without being restricted by their actions or aware of the surrounding environment, to enhance their thinking, creativity, and engaged living by using the design I envisioned through instilling positive emotions. Unfortunately, my thesis work could not be installed due to the current pandemic and it is also unclear that if the design I structured for people was successful. It greatly affected the development of work, and made it impossible to install and interact with various players in that it is necessary to return to South Korea due to the closure of the studio and the pandemic