Caring, sharing widgets: a toolkit of sensitive widgets

Although most of us communicate using multiple sensory modalities in our lives, and many of our computers are similarly capable of multi-modal interaction, most human-computer interaction is predominantly in the visual mode. This paper describes a toolkit of widgets that are capable of presenting themselves in multiple modalities, but further are capapble of adapting their presentation to suit the contexts and environments in which they are used. This is of increasing importance as the use of mobile devices becomes ubiquitous

Music and Speech in Auditory Interfaces: When is One Mode More Appropriate Than the Other?

A number of experiments, which have been carried out using non-speech auditory interfaces, are reviewed and the advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed. The possible advantages of using non-speech audio media such as music are discussed – richness of the representations possible, the aesthetic appeal, and the possibilities of such interfaces being able to handle abstraction and consistency across the interface

Parallel earcons: reducing the length of audio messages

This paper describes a method of presenting structured audio messages, earcons, in parallel so that they take less time to play and can better keep pace with interactions in a human-computer interface. The two component parts of a compound earcon are played in parallel so that the time taken is only that of a single part. An experiment was conducted to test the recall and recognition of parallel compound earcons as compared to serial compound earcons. Results showed that there are no differences in the rates of recognition between the two groups. Non-musicians are also shown to be equal in performance to musicians. Some extensions to the earcon creation guidelines of Brewster, Wright and Edwards are put forward based upon research into auditory stream segregation. Parallel earcons are shown to be an effective means of increasing the presentation rates of audio messages without compromising recognition rates

Ecological IVIS design : using EID to develop a novel in-vehicle information system

New in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) are emerging which purport to encourage more environment friendly or ‘green’ driving. Meanwhile, wider concerns about road safety and in-car distractions remain. The ‘Foot-LITE’ project is an effort to balance these issues, aimed at achieving safer and greener driving through real-time driving information, presented via an in-vehicle interface which facilitates the desired behaviours while avoiding negative consequences. One way of achieving this is to use ecological interface design (EID) techniques. This article presents part of the formative human-centred design process for developing the in-car display through a series of rapid prototyping studies comparing EID against conventional interface design principles. We focus primarily on the visual display, although some development of an ecological auditory display is also presented. The results of feedback from potential users as well as subject matter experts are discussed with respect to implications for future interface design in this field

Towards a framework for investigating tangible environments for learning

External representations have been shown to play a key role in mediating cognition. Tangible environments offer the opportunity for novel representational formats and combinations, potentially increasing representational power for supporting learning. However, we currently know little about the specific learning benefits of tangible environments, and have no established framework within which to analyse the ways that external representations work in tangible environments to support learning. Taking external representation as the central focus, this paper proposes a framework for investigating the effect of tangible technologies on interaction and cognition. Key artefact-action-representation relationships are identified, and classified to form a structure for investigating the differential cognitive effects of these features. An example scenario from our current research is presented to illustrate how the framework can be used as a method for investigating the effectiveness of differential designs for supporting science learning

An Introduction to 3D User Interface Design

3D user interface design is a critical component of any virtual environment (VE) application. In this paper, we present a broad overview of three-dimensional (3D) interaction and user interfaces. We discuss the effect of common VE hardware devices on user interaction, as well as interaction techniques for generic 3D tasks and the use of traditional two-dimensional interaction styles in 3D environments. We divide most user interaction tasks into three categories: navigation, selection/manipulation, and system control. Throughout the paper, our focus is on presenting not only the available techniques, but also practical guidelines for 3D interaction design and widely held myths. Finally, we briefly discuss two approaches to 3D interaction design, and some example applications with complex 3D interaction requirements. We also present an annotated online bibliography as a reference companion to this article

Using Augmented Reality as a Medium to Assist Teaching in Higher Education

In this paper we describe the use of a high-level augmented reality (AR) interface for the construction of collaborative educational applications that can be used in practice to enhance current teaching methods. A combination of multimedia information including spatial three-dimensional models, images, textual information, video, animations and sound, can be superimposed in a student-friendly manner into the learning environment. In several case studies different learning scenarios have been carefully designed based on human-computer interaction principles so that meaningful virtual information is presented in an interactive and compelling way. Collaboration between the participants is achieved through use of a tangible AR interface that uses marker cards as well as an immersive AR environment which is based on software user interfaces (UIs) and hardware devices. The interactive AR interface has been piloted in the classroom at two UK universities in departments of Informatics and Information Science

Communicating graphical information to blind users using music : the role of context

We describe the design and use of AUDIOGRAPH - a tool for investigating the use of music in the communication of graphical information to blind and partially sighted users. This paper examines the use of the system to communicate complex diagrams and gives some examples of user output. Performance is not as good as expected and it is postulated that context will play an important part in the perception of diagrams communicated using music. A set of experiments are reported which indicate that context does indeed seem to play an important role in assisting meaningful understanding of the diagrams communicated. The implications for using music in auditory interface design are discussed