1,987 research outputs found

    Behavioral patterns of individuals and groups during co-located collaboration on large, high-resolution displays

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    Collaboration among multiple users on large screens leads to complicated behavior patterns and group dynamics. To gain a deeper understanding of collaboration on vertical, large, high-resolution screens, this dissertation builds on previous research and gains novel insights through new observational studies. Among other things, the collected results reveal new patterns of collaborative coupling, suggest that territorial behavior is less critical than shown in previous research, and demonstrate that workspace awareness can also negatively affect the effectiveness of individual users

    Designing and deploying an information awareness interface

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    Quality assessment technique for ubiquitous software and middleware

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    The new paradigm of computing or information systems is ubiquitous computing systems. The technology-oriented issues of ubiquitous computing systems have made researchers pay much attention to the feasibility study of the technologies rather than building quality assurance indices or guidelines. In this context, measuring quality is the key to developing high-quality ubiquitous computing products. For this reason, various quality models have been defined, adopted and enhanced over the years, for example, the need for one recognised standard quality model (ISO/IEC 9126) is the result of a consensus for a software quality model on three levels: characteristics, sub-characteristics, and metrics. However, it is very much unlikely that this scheme will be directly applicable to ubiquitous computing environments which are considerably different to conventional software, trailing a big concern which is being given to reformulate existing methods, and especially to elaborate new assessment techniques for ubiquitous computing environments. This paper selects appropriate quality characteristics for the ubiquitous computing environment, which can be used as the quality target for both ubiquitous computing product evaluation processes ad development processes. Further, each of the quality characteristics has been expanded with evaluation questions and metrics, in some cases with measures. In addition, this quality model has been applied to the industrial setting of the ubiquitous computing environment. These have revealed that while the approach was sound, there are some parts to be more developed in the future

    Immersive Planetarium Visualizations For Teaching Solar System Moon Concepts To Undergraduates

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    Digital video fulldome has long been heralded as a revolutionary educational technology; yet the discipline-based astronomy education research literature showing planetarium effectiveness has been sparse. In order to help understand to what extent immersion impacts learning and the effect of the “narrative journey” model of presentation, we conducted a pre- and post-test effectiveness study of lectures on moon systems in the Solar System presented to 781 college undergraduates under immersive and non-immersive treatment conditions. Although all students showed some learning gains immediately after instruction, those who saw presentations in an immersive fulldome planetarium showed the greatest retention, compared to control classes that witnessed the same lecture and visuals on a flat screen in their regular classroom, and students that saw no interactive visuals. Because the same instructors, presentation visuals, and instructional outline were used for both the classroom and dome instruction using the virtual environment, the results suggest that the large display and wide field-of-view, two elements unique to the dome, resulted in greater attention, and were primarily responsible for the greater gains

    The cockpit for the 21st century

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    Interactive surfaces are a growing trend in many domains. As one possible manifestation of Mark Weiser’s vision of ubiquitous and disappearing computers in everywhere objects, we see touchsensitive screens in many kinds of devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers and interactive tabletops. More advanced concepts of these have been an active research topic for many years. This has also influenced automotive cockpit development: concept cars and recent market releases show integrated touchscreens, growing in size. To meet the increasing information and interaction needs, interactive surfaces offer context-dependent functionality in combination with a direct input paradigm. However, interfaces in the car need to be operable while driving. Distraction, especially visual distraction from the driving task, can lead to critical situations if the sum of attentional demand emerging from both primary and secondary task overextends the available resources. So far, a touchscreen requires a lot of visual attention since its flat surface does not provide any haptic feedback. There have been approaches to make direct touch interaction accessible while driving for simple tasks. Outside the automotive domain, for example in office environments, concepts for sophisticated handling of large displays have already been introduced. Moreover, technological advances lead to new characteristics for interactive surfaces by enabling arbitrary surface shapes. In cars, two main characteristics for upcoming interactive surfaces are largeness and shape. On the one hand, spatial extension is not only increasing through larger displays, but also by taking objects in the surrounding into account for interaction. On the other hand, the flatness inherent in current screens can be overcome by upcoming technologies, and interactive surfaces can therefore provide haptically distinguishable surfaces. This thesis describes the systematic exploration of large and shaped interactive surfaces and analyzes their potential for interaction while driving. Therefore, different prototypes for each characteristic have been developed and evaluated in test settings suitable for their maturity level. Those prototypes were used to obtain subjective user feedback and objective data, to investigate effects on driving and glance behavior as well as usability and user experience. As a contribution, this thesis provides an analysis of the development of interactive surfaces in the car. Two characteristics, largeness and shape, are identified that can improve the interaction compared to conventional touchscreens. The presented studies show that large interactive surfaces can provide new and improved ways of interaction both in driver-only and driver-passenger situations. Furthermore, studies indicate a positive effect on visual distraction when additional static haptic feedback is provided by shaped interactive surfaces. Overall, various, non-exclusively applicable, interaction concepts prove the potential of interactive surfaces for the use in automotive cockpits, which is expected to be beneficial also in further environments where visual attention needs to be focused on additional tasks.Der Einsatz von interaktiven Oberflächen weitet sich mehr und mehr auf die unterschiedlichsten Lebensbereiche aus. Damit sind sie eine mögliche Ausprägung von Mark Weisers Vision der allgegenwärtigen Computer, die aus unserer direkten Wahrnehmung verschwinden. Bei einer Vielzahl von technischen Geräten des täglichen Lebens, wie Smartphones, Tablets oder interaktiven Tischen, sind berührungsempfindliche Oberflächen bereits heute in Benutzung. Schon seit vielen Jahren arbeiten Forscher an einer Weiterentwicklung der Technik, um ihre Vorteile auch in anderen Bereichen, wie beispielsweise der Interaktion zwischen Mensch und Automobil, nutzbar zu machen. Und das mit Erfolg: Interaktive Benutzeroberflächen werden mittlerweile serienmäßig in vielen Fahrzeugen eingesetzt. Der Einbau von immer größeren, in das Cockpit integrierten Touchscreens in Konzeptfahrzeuge zeigt, dass sich diese Entwicklung weiter in vollem Gange befindet. Interaktive Oberflächen ermöglichen das flexible Anzeigen von kontextsensitiven Inhalten und machen eine direkte Interaktion mit den Bildschirminhalten möglich. Auf diese Weise erfüllen sie die sich wandelnden Informations- und Interaktionsbedürfnisse in besonderem Maße. Beim Einsatz von Bedienschnittstellen im Fahrzeug ist die gefahrlose Benutzbarkeit während der Fahrt von besonderer Bedeutung. Insbesondere visuelle Ablenkung von der Fahraufgabe kann zu kritischen Situationen führen, wenn Primär- und Sekundäraufgaben mehr als die insgesamt verfügbare Aufmerksamkeit des Fahrers beanspruchen. Herkömmliche Touchscreens stellen dem Fahrer bisher lediglich eine flache Oberfläche bereit, die keinerlei haptische Rückmeldung bietet, weshalb deren Bedienung besonders viel visuelle Aufmerksamkeit erfordert. Verschiedene Ansätze ermöglichen dem Fahrer, direkte Touchinteraktion für einfache Aufgaben während der Fahrt zu nutzen. Außerhalb der Automobilindustrie, zum Beispiel für Büroarbeitsplätze, wurden bereits verschiedene Konzepte für eine komplexere Bedienung großer Bildschirme vorgestellt. Darüber hinaus führt der technologische Fortschritt zu neuen möglichen Ausprägungen interaktiver Oberflächen und erlaubt, diese beliebig zu formen. Für die nächste Generation von interaktiven Oberflächen im Fahrzeug wird vor allem an der Modifikation der Kategorien Größe und Form gearbeitet. Die Bedienschnittstelle wird nicht nur durch größere Bildschirme erweitert, sondern auch dadurch, dass Objekte wie Dekorleisten in die Interaktion einbezogen werden können. Andererseits heben aktuelle Technologieentwicklungen die Restriktion auf flache Oberflächen auf, so dass Touchscreens künftig ertastbare Strukturen aufweisen können. Diese Dissertation beschreibt die systematische Untersuchung großer und nicht-flacher interaktiver Oberflächen und analysiert ihr Potential für die Interaktion während der Fahrt. Dazu wurden für jede Charakteristik verschiedene Prototypen entwickelt und in Testumgebungen entsprechend ihres Reifegrads evaluiert. Auf diese Weise konnten subjektives Nutzerfeedback und objektive Daten erhoben, und die Effekte auf Fahr- und Blickverhalten sowie Nutzbarkeit untersucht werden. Diese Dissertation leistet den Beitrag einer Analyse der Entwicklung von interaktiven Oberflächen im Automobilbereich. Weiterhin werden die Aspekte Größe und Form untersucht, um mit ihrer Hilfe die Interaktion im Vergleich zu herkömmlichen Touchscreens zu verbessern. Die durchgeführten Studien belegen, dass große Flächen neue und verbesserte Bedienmöglichkeiten bieten können. Außerdem zeigt sich ein positiver Effekt auf die visuelle Ablenkung, wenn zusätzliches statisches, haptisches Feedback durch nicht-flache Oberflächen bereitgestellt wird. Zusammenfassend zeigen verschiedene, untereinander kombinierbare Interaktionskonzepte das Potential interaktiver Oberflächen für den automotiven Einsatz. Zudem können die Ergebnisse auch in anderen Bereichen Anwendung finden, in denen visuelle Aufmerksamkeit für andere Aufgaben benötigt wird

    Subtle, intimate interfaces for mobile human computer interaction

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    Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-122).The mobile phone is always carried with the user and is always active: it is a very personal device. It fosters and satisfies a need to be constantly connected to one's significant other, friends or business partners. At the same time, mobile devices are often used in public, where one is surrounded by others not involved in the interaction. This private interaction in public is often a cause of unnecessary disruption and distraction, both for the bystanders and even for the user. Nevertheless, mobile devices do fulfill an important function, informing of important events and urgent communications, so turning them off is often not practical nor possible. This thesis introduces Intimate Interfaces: discreet interfaces that allow subtle private interaction with mobile devices in order to minimize disruption in public and gain social acceptance. Intimate Interfaces are inconspicuous to those around the users, while still allowing them to communicate. The concept is demonstrated through the design, implementation and evaluation of two novel devices: * Intimate Communication Armband - a wearable device, embedded in an armband, that detects motionless gestures through electromyographic (EMG) sensing for subtle input and provides tactile output;(cont.) * Notifying Glasses - a wearable notification display embedded in eyeglasses; it delivers subtle cues to the peripheral field of view of the wearer, while being invisible to others. The cues can convey a few bits of information and can be designed to meet specific levels of visibility and disruption. Experimental results show that both interfaces can be reliably used for subtle input and output. Therefore, Intimate Interfaces can be profitably used to improve mobile human-computer interaction.by Enrico Costanza.S.M

    Exploração de realidade virtual para suporte ao laboratório de psicologia experimental

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    Threat processing is a psychology field that studies how the emotional response to fear stimuli is processed under unawareness. Researchers study this area by presenting to participants threat inducing stimuli in visual unawareness conditions, using visual suppression paradigms in the experimental psychology labs. These paradigms require that two different images are shown to each eye to create the unaware state. One such paradigm is breaking-Continuous Flash Suppression (bCFS). The traditional methods use special equipment to display a different image to each eye. However, these have several unappealing factors, such as expensiveness or effectiveness. Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that has seen its use increase in recent research studies, showing promising results. In this regard, in collaboration with the Department of Education and Psychology, it is proposed to evaluate VR technology as a suitable alternative to current traditional methods through experimental data collection sessions. An application system is developed to perform threat processing experiments implementing the bCFS paradigm that allows the data collection, supporting VR, and the current traditional methods, satisfying a list of requirements created to guide its development. The application developed is capable of performing the experiments required and collecting the resulting data analysis, supporting VR and the traditional methods. The experiment setup is achieved via a configuration file that allows setting various parameters to produce different experiment conditions. The system is capable of displaying stimuli accurately, containing other functionalities such as image calibration, and runtime troubleshooting features. The software application developed allows, in its current state, the experimental data collection to validate Virtual Reality as a suitable technology for the experimental psychology lab.O processamento de ameaça é uma área da psicologia que estuda como é processada a resposta emocional a estímulos de medo sob inconsciência. Os investigadores estudam esta área apresentando estímulos ameaçadores a participantes em condições de inconsciência visual, usando paradigmas de supressão visual, em laboratórios de psicologia experimental. Estes paradigmas exigem que duas imagens diferentes sejam mostradas a cada olho para criar o estado de inconsciência. Um desses paradigmas é a "breaking- Continuous Flash Suppression" (bCFS). Os métodos tradicionais usam equipamento especial para exibir uma imagem diferente para cada olho. No entanto, estes têm vários factores insatisfatórios, como o custo ou a eficácia. A Realidade Virtual (RV) é uma tecnologia cujo uso tem vindo a aumentar em estudos recentes e tem-se mostrado promissora. Nesse sentido, em colaboração com o Departamento de Educação e Psicologia, propõe-se avaliar se a tecnologia RV será uma alternativa adequada para substituir os métodos tradicionais actuais através de sessões experimentais de recolha de dados. É desenvolvida uma aplicação para realizar experiências de processamento de ameaça com o paradigma bCFS que permite a recolha de dados, suportando RV e os métodos tradicionais atuais, satisfazendo uma lista de requisitos criada para orientar o seu desenvolvimento. A aplicação desenvolvida é capaz de realizar as experiências necessárias e fazer a recolha dos dados resultantes para a análise, suportando RV e os métodos tradicionais. A configuração da experiência é feita através de um ficheiro de configuração que permite definir vários parâmetros que produzem diferentes condições na experiência. O sistema da aplicação é capaz de exibir estímulos com precisão, incluindo outras funcionalidades, como a calibração de imagem e recursos de resolução de problemas em tempo de execução. A aplicação de software desenvolvida permite, no seu estado actual, a recolha de dados experimentais para validar a Realidade Virtual como uma tecnologia adequada para o laboratório de psicologia experimental.Mestrado em Engenharia Informátic

    Seeing Eye to I? The Influence of Self-Video Display Size on Visual Attention and Collaborative Performance in Peer-to-Peer Video Chat

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    This thesis examines the influence of self-video size in video chat conversations on visual attention, collaborative performance, grounding, comfort and distraction during a brainstorming task. Twenty pairs of female university students were randomly assigned to either a large or small self-video condition. Two eye tracking systems were used to simultaneously record pairs of participants' gaze across 4 areas-of-interest spanning a 15-minute task. Participants with larger self-video gazed at themselves longer but did not spend a significantly different percentage of the conversation gazing at their partner. Participants sufficiently estimated how long they looked at each other, but significantly overestimated how long they, and their partners, gazed at their own self-video. A majority of participants found their self-video to be comforting, and participants with larger displays found it to be more distracting than those with smaller displays. Over a third of participants would prefer to chat without their self-video visible

    Attentional Narrowing: Triggering, Detecting and Overcoming a Threat to Safety.

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    In complex safety-critical domains, such as aviation or medicine, considerable multitasking requirements and attentional demands are imposed on operators who may, during off-nominal events, also experience high levels of anxiety. High task load and anxiety can trigger attentional narrowing – an involuntary reduction in the range of cues that can be utilized by an operator. As evidenced by numerous accidents, attentional narrowing is a highly undesirable and potentially dangerous state as it hampers information gathering, reasoning, and problem solving. However, because the problem is difficult to reproduce in controlled environments, little is known about its triggers, markers and possible countermeasures. Therefore, the goals of this dissertation were to (1) identify reliable triggers of attentional narrowing in controlled laboratory settings, (2) identify real-time markers of attentional narrowing that can also distinguish that phenomenon from focused attention – another state of reduced attentional field that, contrary to attentional narrowing, is deliberate and often desirable, (3) develop and test display designs that help overcome the narrowing of the attentional field. Based on a series of experiments in the context of a visual search task and a multi-tasking environment, novel unsolvable problems were identified as the most reliable trigger of attentional narrowing. Eye tracking was used successfully to detect and trace the phenomenon. Specifically, three eye tracking metrics emerged as promising markers of attentional narrowing: (1) the percentage of fixations, (2) dwell duration and (3) fixation duration in the display area where the novel problem was presented. These metrics were used to develop an algorithm capable of detecting attentional narrowing in real time and distinguishing it from focused attention. A command display (as opposed to status) was shown to support participants in broadening their attentional field and improving their time sharing performance. This dissertation contributes to the knowledge base in attentional narrowing and, more generally, attention management. A novel eye tracking based technique for detecting the attentional state and a promising countermeasure to the problem were developed. Overall, the findings from this research contribute to improved safety and performance in a range of complex high-risk domains.PHDIndustrial & Operations EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135773/1/jprinet_1.pd
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