A Virtual Conversational Agent for Teens with Autism: Experimental Results and Design Lessons

We present the design of an online social skills development interface for teenagers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The interface is intended to enable private conversation practice anywhere, anytime using a web-browser. Users converse informally with a virtual agent, receiving feedback on nonverbal cues in real-time, and summary feedback. The prototype was developed in consultation with an expert UX designer, two psychologists, and a pediatrician. Using the data from 47 individuals, feedback and dialogue generation were automated using a hidden Markov model and a schema-driven dialogue manager capable of handling multi-topic conversations. We conducted a study with nine high-functioning ASD teenagers. Through a thematic analysis of post-experiment interviews, identified several key design considerations, notably: 1) Users should be fully briefed at the outset about the purpose and limitations of the system, to avoid unrealistic expectations. 2) An interface should incorporate positive acknowledgment of behavior change. 3) Realistic appearance of a virtual agent and responsiveness are important in engaging users. 4) Conversation personalization, for instance in prompting laconic users for more input and reciprocal questions, would help the teenagers engage for longer terms and increase the system's utility

Simple VR for better living

Physical and cognitive rehabilitation based on natural interaction and VR has been on our horizon for several years, and we have been conducting experimentation towards that goal through several exploratory research initiatives.This article addresses some aspects of the state-of-the-art of VR in healthcare and well-being, with opportunities in the domain of rehabilitation based on natural interaction and VR being analyzed and put in perspective with the SmartAL ecosystem roadmap.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Looking for Group: Sociality, Embodiment, and Institutions in World of Warcraft

This ethnography examines the varying degrees of conflict between multiple stakeholders involved in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW). The game’s designers, like many software developers in the contemporary world, tend to be guided by an ideology influenced by classical liberalism, but also inspired by a utopian view of technology in general. That ideological position has directly affected many aspects of the game, from the largely unregulated in-game economy, to the strong emphasis on individual mastery of the game’s systems to progress through the complete content of the game world. World of Warcraft advertises itself not just on its narrative and combat mechanics; it also entices players to participate because of its very nature as a multiplayer game. The structure of WoW encourages players to join together in tight-knit communities (“guilds”) not just to overcome powerful opponents, but to socialize as well. In this way the game exists for many players as a significant social outlet in their everyday lives. However, players, guilds, and designers exist in a state of tension due to the ideological and architected constraints of the game. Due to the classical liberal bent of WoW promoting individual achievement through the game’s many obstacles, players oftentimes find themselves having to break away from close friends they game with in order to follow the primary goals of the narrative. This leads to an environment where players are constantly weighing the social bonds they establish and/or maintain through play against the concerns of software programmers intent on directing them to endgame content above all else

EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITIES ON TRUST IN VIRTUAL TEAMS

Purpose – In an environment of constant technological change, the use of virtual teams has become commonplace for many organizations. Virtual teams (VTs) bring together dispersed individuals with varying knowledge and skill sets to accomplish tasks. VTs rely heavily on information technology as the medium for communication and coordination of work. The issue of establishing and maintaining trust in VTs poses challenges for these dispersed workers. Previous research has established that higher trusting teams have better cooperation and experience improved outcomes. We hope to contribute to the literature on trust in VTs by exploring how technology can facilitate high trusting teams. Specifically, this paper reports the results of our research addressing the following questions: How does the use of technology capabilities afforded by virtual worlds affect the development of trust in virtual teams? Design/methodology/approach: We employed a multiple case study research design. Each case spanned a two-week period allowing for longitudinal data collection. Findings: We found that communication, rendering, and interaction technology capabilities allowed participants to use the technology to assess individual capabilities. While this paper answers some questions about how technology capabilities can help develop trust in VTs, it also raises many questions. This study offers a model and framework for further work on this topic and encourages researchers to investigate other social and behavioral issues faced by VTs in a virtual world setting. Originality/value: – This paper offers practical implications for developing trust in VTs, specifically, how the use of information technology capabilities can facilitate trust development. Our goal was not to recommend a specific technology platform, but rather explore how unique technology capabilities impact behaviors in VTs. The study identified interesting findings relating to how people use technology on a team. These findings may be used to help develop guidelines and recommendations for using technology to enhance work practices in VTs

Current challenges and methods in adherence with mHealth applications used for alcohol use monitoring and reduction

Abstract. Smartphones have become ubiquitous in the modern world; with them business of mobile applications (apps) has risen. Included in these applications are mobile health (mHealth), also referred as electronic health (eHealth), apps that are designed to aid people suffering from a variety of health issues. In this thesis the focus is on apps that aid people with alcohol related issues. Goal for this thesis was to study the current field of existing mobile applications that, deal in people suffering from substance use issues, mainly excessive drinking. Specific focus is on the adherence of those apps and how they plan to maintain it. Using this existing expertise and utilizing a Design Science Research (DSR) approach, MyLimits, a design prototype of mHealth application was designed. MyLimits aims at aiding young adults to self-manage their drinking amounts and habits better, with the purpose of designing an app that is would be able to maintain adherence among its users. Two new features were innovated for MyLimits to improve its adherence and these new features were an unnoticeable mode for widget feature and regular check-up meetings with a chatbot. MyLimits and its new features were evaluated in interview sessions with members of the target age group, along with gathering experiences and thoughts on adherence in behaviour change apps. The research found that existing alcohol related mHealth apps apply a variety of tools for their users. Personal monitoring tools such as self-reporting and goals settings a popular among many others. Social features are also common allowing users to connect with other users, health professionals or people who have experience in reducing their drinking. Gamification and rewarding systems are on the forefront of upcoming apps, but their actual affects still require studying. Findings on adherence show that mHealth app’s adherence benefits from segmenting the progress as behaviour change requires a long-term process. Visits and communication with a health counsellor were a great predictor for adherence. Other key aspect to adherence were tailoring to allow the user to personalize their mHealth tool and reminders have been shown to increase adherence and effectiveness of the interventions. The small number of interviewees was a limitation for this thesis, with five interviewees being interviewed. This was greatly affected by the COVID-19 situation affecting the world during the fall of 2020. Therefore, the interviews were done online, by use of audio call and screen sharing. This removed the possibility for testing the app in a real-world scenario. The interviewees did not have self-reported issues with drinking, and this could affect how sensitively they see the topic. Measuring adherence requires a longer period of monitoring and testing, greatly limiting the potential of evaluating the adherence of MyLimits.Tiivistelmä. Älypuhelimet ovat kaikkialla nykymaailmassa ja niiden yleistyttyä on syntynyt uusia liiketoiminnan aloja, kuten mobiilisovellukset. Näihin lukeutuvat myös mobiiliterveys- eli mHealt-sovellukset sekä muut terveys- eli eHealth-sovellukset, jotka on suunniteltu auttamaan erilaisista terveysongelmista kärsiviä ihmisiä. Tämä tutkielma keskittyy alkoholin käytön ja juomisen seurantaan ja raportointiin liittyviin sovelluksiin. Tutkielmassa tarkkaillaan olemassa olevia alkoholiin liittyviä mobiilisovelluksia. Erityisesti tutkielmassa keskitytään sovellusten antamiin ohjeistuksiin ja niiden noudattamiseen sekä siihen, miten sovellukset parantavat käytön jatkuvuutta. Hyödyntämällä olemassa olevia taustatutkimuksia ja suunnittelutieteellisen (DSR) tutkimuksen lähestymistapaa, tässä tutkielmassa suunniteltiin mHealth-sovellusprototyyppi, MyLimits. MyLimitsin tarkoitus on auttaa nuoria aikuisia hallitsemaan juomismääriään ja -tapojaan paremmin samalla, kun sovelluksen kehityksessä keskitytään ylläpitämään käytön jatkuvuutta. MyLimitsille kehitettiin kaksi täysin uutta ominaisuutta, joiden tarkoituksena on sitouttaa käyttäjiä. Nämä uudet ominaisuudet ovat huomaamaton tila (unnoticiable mode) widget-pienohjelmaominaisuudelle sekä säännölliset tarkastustapaamiset chattibotin kanssa. MyLimitsiä ja sen uusia ominaisuuksia arvioitiin haastattelemalla kohderyhmään sopivia henkilöitä. Haastatteluissa kerättiin myös haastateltavien kokemuksia ja ajatuksia käyttäytymisenmuutossovellusten käytöstä ja niiden antamien ohjeiden noudattamisesta. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että nykyiset alkoholin käyttöön liittyvät mHealth-sovellukset tarjoavat useita erilaisia työkaluja käyttäjilleen. Henkilökohtaiset seurantatyökalut, kuten itseraportointi ja tavoitteiden asettaminen, ovat suosittuja. Yleisiä ovat myös sosiaaliset työkalut, joilla käyttäjät voivat olla yhteydessä toisiin käyttäjiin, terveydenhuollon ammattilaisiin tai ihmisiin, joilla on kokemusta juomisen vähentämisestä. Tulevaisuuden sovellusten eturintamassa testataan nykyisin pelillistämis- ja palkitsemisjärjestelmiä, mutta niiden vaikutukset edellyttävät vielä lisätutkimuksia. Käyttäjien sitoutumista testattaessa on huomattu, että mHealth-sovelluksen antamien ohjeiden noudattaminen vahvistuu edistymistä segmentoimalla, sillä pysyvä käytöksen muutos on pitkäaikainen prosessi. Tapaamiset ja viestintä terveydenhuollon henkilökunnan kanssa olivat tutkimuksen mukaan erinomaisia työkaluja sovelluksen antamien ohjeiden noudattamisen kannalta. Muita keskeisiä löytöjä ohjeiden noudattamiseen liittyen olivat sovelluksen mukauttaminen, jotta käyttäjä voi muokata sovelluksen työkaluja mieltymystensä mukaisesti, sekä muistutukset, joiden todettiin myös lisäävän sovellusten ohjeiden noudattamista ja yleistä tehokkuutta. Yksi rajoitus tutkimukselle oli haastateltavien pieni lukumäärä: haastatteluissa haastateltiin vain viittä potentiaalista käyttäjää. Tähän vaikutti suuresti syksyllä 2020 maailmaa kurittanut COVID-19-tilanne, joka poisti mahdollisuuden testata MyLimitsiä tosielämän käyttötilanteissa. Haastattelut suoritettiin verkossa äänipuheluita ja näytön jakoa hyödyntäen. Haastateltavat eivät ilmoittaneet heillä olevan ongelmia alkoholin käytön kanssa, joten he eivät ehkä suhtautuneet aiheeseen niin varautuneesti kuin oikea ongelmakäyttäjä saattaisi suhtautua. Sovellukseen sitoutuminen ja sen antamien ohjeiden noudattamisen tutkiminen vaatisivat pidempää seuranta- ja testausjaksoa, jonka puute rajoitti selvästi MyLimitsin sitouttamiskyvyn arviointia

Player attitudes to avatar development in digital games: an exploratory study of single-player role-playing games and other genres

Digital games incorporate systems that allow players to customise and develop their controllable in-game representative (avatar) over the course of a game. Avatar customisation systems represent a point at which the goals and values of players interface with the intentions of the game developer forming a dynamic and complex relationship between system and user. With the proliferation of customisable avatars through digital games and the ongoing monetisation of customisation options through digital content delivery platforms it is important to understand the relationship between player and avatar in order to provide a better user experience and to develop an understanding of the cultural impact of the avatar. Previous research on avatar customisation has focused on the users of virtual worlds and massively multiplayer games, leaving single-player avatar experiences. These past studies have also typically focused on one particular aspect of avatar customisation and those that have looked at all factors involved in avatar customisation have done so with a very small sample. This research has aimed to address this gap in the literature by focusing primarily on avatar customisation features in single-player games, aiming to investigate the relationship between player and customisation systems from the perspective of the players of digital games. To fulfill the research aims and objectives, the qualitative approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis was adopted. Thirty participants were recruited using snowball and purposive sampling (the criteria being that participants had played games featuring customisable avatars) and accounts of their experiences were gathered through semi-structured interviews. Through this research, strategies of avatar customisation were explored in order to demonstrate how people use such systems. The shortcomings in game mechanics and user interfaces were highlighted so that future games can improve the avatar customisation experience

"No Girls on the Internet": The Experience of Female Gamers in the Masculine Space of Violent Gaming

The experience of female gamers in the masculine space of violent videogame playing was explored. Hypotheses concerned identity management strategies used online as well as offline. The study adopts a mixed methods approach. 291 women aged 18-48 were recruited via advertisements on social media. An online questionnaire addressed gaming habits, while a focus group with three women explored the pleasures they take from playing violent games. It was found that those who do play violent games, play video games for significantly more hours than those who don't play games which are violent. In turn, the more hours they play, the more likely it is they will discuss their gamer identity socially. Focus group findings however, showed that, by default, women players stay away from the topic of gaming. Regarding their gaming habits, the results support previous research that choice of games depend on the time gamers have available. Investigating female gamers’ reactions to harassment based on their gender identity during online gaming, it was found that those exposed to toxic behaviour probably stopped playing online because of its impact on their psychological well-being. Additionally, the focus group showed participants strategically express their gender identity when they have won. The impact for women to succeed in a male-dominated activity is discussed

Using 3D Immersive Technologies for Organizational Development and Collaboration

Over the course of the Spring 2011 semester, a team of three student researchers, led by Dr. Ana Reyes of the University of Pennsylvania set out to explore the 3D immersive technologies currently in use by corporations, non-profit, government and academic organizations for organizational development and collaboration. During this first phase of the project, our team endeavored to identify organizations who are leading the way in the use of these technologies. Our hope was to tour the identified immersive workspaces, observe individuals or groups as they use these spaces and to interview key stakeholders such as the participants, the immersive project champions and organizational leaders and the vendors providing the solutions in order to identify best practices and key learnings from these early adopters. Our key objectives were as follows: Identify corporate, academic, non-profit and government workplaces that are presently utilizing 3D immersive environments to meet organization development needs; Understand why immersive technologies were chosen and how these organizations are using the 3D environments to accomplish their goals, and Derive lessons and insights from this research for the purposes of designing 3D Learning Conferences and a potential 3D Organizational Dynamics Laboratory at Penn. This paper provides a high-level business and technology summary of each platform reviewed, along with team observations about their capabilities and the challenges that we faced in our own use of each one. Later, it describes in varying detail several organizational use cases provided by vendors and key stakeholders, the benefits they realized from using 3D tools and the key learnings they acquired through their use of the immersive workspaces for organizational development and collaboration purposes. The conclusion highlights several best practices gathered from our research with both user organizations and technology vendors and proposes additional areas for further exploration

Kromosomer - an experience in shared creative work and expression

This article is a reflection on the Kromosomer project, a storytelling performance held in both physical and virtual worlds, which was implemented and disseminated through digital, virtual and social media. The aim of the whole project was to search for an expression that could combine physical experience with virtual world. The project was also looking at how to deal with social inclusion. The motto for this enterprise was the traditional Norwegian legend characters who represent “the other,” the “not-normal,” as a pretext to address the question of alterity. These legends’ characters were re-created as avatars in the metaverse, where they were also freely distributed in virtual installations as unfinished artifacts, open to mutation. In the Second Life virtual world, participants could pick up avatars and create their own stories through snapshots, machinima, etc. The physical performance later used these participants/produsers’ interpretations and narratives of the avatars in stage design and in the storytelling performance itself. We describe and analyse the main work method used for this project — a shared creative process of collective and distributed creativity. The project encompasses different forms of expression therefore we will also focus on how metaphors constitute themselves as paramount to our way of workin