36 research outputs found
Computational Commensality: from theories to computational models for social food preparation and consumption in HCI
Food and eating are inherently social activities taking place, for example, around the dining table at home, in restaurants, or in public spaces. Enjoying eating with others, often referred to as âcommensality,â positively affects mealtime in terms of, among other factors, food intake, food choice, and food satisfaction. In this paper we discuss the concept of âComputational Commensality,â that is, technology which computationally addresses various social aspects of food and eating. In the past few years, Human-Computer Interaction started to address how interactive technologies can improve mealtimes. However, the main focus has been made so far on improving the individual's experience, rather than considering the inherently social nature of food consumption. In this survey, we first present research from the field of social psychology on the social relevance of Food- and Eating-related Activities (F&EA). Then, we review existing computational models and technologies that can contribute, in the near future, to achieving Computational Commensality. We also discuss the related research challenges and indicate future applications of such new technology that can potentially improve F&EA from the commensality perspective
Social Media in Rural China
Chinaâs distinctive social media platforms have gained notable popularity among the nationâs vast number of internet users, but has Chinaâs countryside been âleft behindâ in this communication revolution? Tom McDonald spent 15 months living in a small rural Chinese community researching how the residents use social media in their daily lives. His ethnographic findings suggest that, far from being left behind, social media is already deeply integrated into the everyday experience of many rural Chinese people
Understanding personal and contextual factors to increase motivation in gamified systems
Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game contexts, has been shown to help people reaching their goals, affect people's behavior and enhance the users' experience within interactive systems. However, past research has shown that gamification is not always successful. In fact, literature reviews revealed that almost half of the interventions were only partially successful or even unsuccessful. Therefore, understanding the factors that have an influence on psychological measures and behavioral outcomes of gamified systems is much in need. In this thesis, we contribute to this by considering the context in which gamified systems are applied and by understanding personal factors of users interacting with the system. Guided by Self-Determination Theory, a major theory on human motivation, we investigate gamification and its effects on motivation and behavior in behavior change contexts, provide insights on contextual factors, contribute knowledge on the effect of personal factors on both the perception and effectiveness of gamification elements and lay out ways of utilizing this knowledge to implement personalized gamified systems. Our contribution is manifold: We show that gamification affects motivation through need satisfaction and by evoking positive affective experiences, ultimately leading to changes in people's behavior. Moreover, we show that age, the intention to change behavior, and Hexad user types play an important role in explaining interpersonal differences in the perception of gamification elements and that tailoring gamified systems based on these personal factors has beneficial effects on both psychological and behavioral outcomes. Lastly, we show that Hexad user types can be partially predicted by smartphone data and interaction behavior in gamified systems and that they can be assessed in a gameful way, allowing to utilize our findings in gamification practice. Finally, we propose a conceptual framework to increase motivation in gamified systems, which builds upon our findings and outlines the importance of considering both contextual and personal factors. Based on these contributions, this thesis advances the field of gamification by contributing knowledge to the open questions of how and why gamification works and which factors play a role in this regard.Gamification, die Nutzung von Spielelementen in spielfremden Kontexten, kann nachweislich Menschen helfen, ihre Ziele zu erreichen, das Verhalten von Menschen zu beeinflussen und die Erfahrung der User in interaktiven Systemen zu verbessern. Allerdings hat die bisherige Forschung gezeigt, dass Gamification nicht immer erfolgreich ist. So haben LiteraturĂŒbersichten ergeben, dass fast die HĂ€lfte der Interventionen nur teilweise erfolgreich oder sogar erfolglos waren. Daher besteht ein groĂer Bedarf, die Faktoren zu verstehen, die einen Einfluss auf psychologische MaĂe sowie auf das Verhalten von Usern in gamifizierten Systemen haben. In dieser Arbeit tragen wir dazu bei, indem wir den Kontext, in dem gamifizierte Systeme eingesetzt werden, betrachten und persönliche Faktoren von Usern, die mit dem System interagieren, verstehen. Geleitet von der Selbstbestimmungstheorie, einer der wichtigsten Theorien zur menschlichen Motivation, untersuchen wir Gamification und dessen Auswirkungen auf Motivation und Verhalten in Kontexten zur VerhaltensĂ€nderung. Wir liefern Erkenntnisse ĂŒber kontextuelle Faktoren, tragen Wissen ĂŒber den Einfluss persönlicher Faktoren auf die Wahrnehmung und EffektivitĂ€t von Gamification-Elementen bei und bieten Möglichkeiten, dieses Wissen fĂŒr die Implementierung personalisierter gamifizierter Systeme zu nutzen. Unser Beitrag ist mannigfaltig: Wir zeigen, dass Gamification die Motivation durch BedĂŒrfnisbefriedigung und durch das Hervorrufen positiver affektiver Erfahrungen beeinflusst, was letztlich zu VerhaltensĂ€nderungen fĂŒhren kann. DarĂŒber hinaus zeigen wir, dass das Alter, die Absicht, das Verhalten zu Ă€ndern, und Hexad-Usertypen eine wichtige Rolle bei der ErklĂ€rung von interpersonellen Unterschieden in der Wahrnehmung von Gamification-Elementen spielen. Ebenso zeigen unsere Resultate dass die Anpassung von gamifizierten Systemen auf Basis dieser persönlichen Faktoren positive Auswirkungen auf psychologische und verhaltensbezogene Ergebnisse hat. Letztlich zeigen wir, dass Hexad-Usertypen teilweise durch Smartphone-Daten und Interaktionsverhalten in gamifizierten Systemen vorhergesagt werden können und dass sie auf spielerische Art und Weise erhoben werden können. Dies ermöglicht, unsere Erkenntnisse in der Gamification-Praxis zu nutzen. Auf Basis dieser Ergebnisse schlagen wir ein konzeptuelles Framework zur Steigerung der Motivation in gamifizierten Systemen vor, das die Wichtigkeit der BerĂŒcksichtigung sowohl kontextueller als auch persönlicher Faktoren hervorhebt. Diese Erkenntnisse bereichern das Forschungsfeld Gamification, indem sie Wissen zu den offenen Fragen, wie und warum Gamification funktioniert und welche Faktoren in diesem Zusammenhang eine Rolle spielen, beitragen
Social Media in Rural China
Chinaâs distinctive social media platforms have gained notable popularity among the nationâs vast number of internet users, but has Chinaâs countryside been âleft behindâ in this communication revolution? Tom McDonald spent 15 months living in a small rural Chinese community researching how the residents use social media in their daily lives. His ethnographic findings suggest that, far from being left behind, social media is already deeply integrated into the everyday experience of many rural Chinese people
Social Media in Rural China
Chinaâs distinctive social media platforms have gained notable popularity among the nationâs vast number of internet users, but has Chinaâs countryside been âleft behindâ in this communication revolution? Tom McDonald spent 15 months living in a small rural Chinese community researching how the residents use social media in their daily lives. His ethnographic findings suggest that, far from being left behind, social media is already deeply integrated into the everyday experience of many rural Chinese people
Social Media in Rural China: Social Networks and Moral Frameworks
Chinaâs distinctive social media platforms have gained notable popularity among the nationâs vast number of internet users, but has Chinaâs countryside been âleft behindâ in this communication revolution? Tom McDonald spent 15 months living in a small rural Chinese community researching how the residents use social media in their daily lives. His ethnographic findings suggest that, far from being left behind, social media is already deeply integrated into the everyday experience of many rural Chinese people. Throughout his ground-breaking study, McDonald argues that social media allows rural people to extend and transform their social relationships by deepening already existing connections with friends known through their school, work or village, while also experimenting with completely new forms of relationships through online interactions with strangers. By juxtaposing these seemingly opposed relations, rural social media users are able to use these technologies to understand, capitalise on and challenge the notions of morality that underlie rural life.published_or_final_versio
The design and evaluation of novel technologies for the self monitoring and management of Parkinson's symptoms
PhD ThesisThis thesis explores how digital technologies might better support people with Parkinsonâs
(PwP) to take control of their condition, by engaging in self monitoring and management
practices. The specific focus of this thesis is around issues managed by Speech and Language
Therapists (SLTs) (namely drooling and speech and voice changes). Three case studies were
used to explore the ways that different technologies might be configured to aid the self
monitoring and management of these speech and drooling symptoms.
The first case study describes an evaluation of PDCue, a wrist worn device to assist
the self management of drooling through the use of a temporal cueing method, to increase
swallowing frequency. This study showed evidence that drooling can be behaviourally self
managed through cueingâlike other symptoms of Parkinsonâs such as gait freezingâand
proved a viable first step towards re-considering the use of additional medications as a first
option for drooling treatment. However, whilst this study proved successful in
understanding the ways in which a simple, temporal cueing technique might support
drooling management, it opened up questions around the ways in which PwP might use
technology to actively think about and understand their condition through self monitoring,
and use this information to support self management practices further. In response, the
second case study describes the design and evaluation of LApp, an application to support
both the self monitoring and management of vocal loudness issues through the use of an insitu
cueing approach. The Google Glass was chosen as the platform to run the cueing
method on, due to its technical capabilities as a multi-sensor, wearable platform, to analyse
a constant stream of audio and provide real time visual prompts to support the wearer in
increasing their volume at times when it is needed in conversation. This study highlighted
how participants saw value in LApp in supporting their loudness issues, but also noted a
desire for participants to understand more about their speech and the SLT strategies that
they were required to do in order to improve it. The third case study drew upon this desire
for increased understanding by developing and evaluating Speeching, which employed
crowdsourcing through a smartphone application to support the self monitoring of speech
and voice changes, through the provision of human feedback, and the subsequent effect
that this feedback had on self management practices. This study yielded positive responses
from participants, who valued the anonymous feedback from the crowd and the support
that this provided them in configuring their home based speech practice.
A final discussion chapter draws the 3 case studies together and discusses the
lessons learned throughout the research. It discusses the overall research questions for the
thesis in detail and describes the implications of the research for the wider HCI and medical
communities. A framework is presented which aims to visualise the levels of agency that the
studied technologies afforded and the levels of responsiveness required by participants to
make sense of, and implement the information being provided by the devices in order to
facilitate a change to the self monitoring and management practices. Through the design
and evaluation of the described technologies and a synthesis of the findings across the span
of the research, this thesis explores the ways in which PwP, with a diverse range of
symptoms and related physical, social and emotional issues, might value digital technologies
and their potential to facilitate new forms of self monitoring and self management in their
everyday lives.The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR):
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC):
Gordon Chapman Memorial Fund