Notification mechanisms in second-screen scenarios: towards a balanced user experience

As technological devices surrounding the television are changing, so are viewers’ habits. When the interactive Television industry turns its focus to the development of second-screen applications, this paper reports on a study aiming to analyse the impact, on users, of notifications in second-screen scenarios. As part of the study, the research team developed a prototype that simulated an application able to deliver synchronized information related with TV content, notifying the user – through visual, audio and haptic stimuli - whenever new content was displayed in the tablet. The study included observation sessions, conducted in laboratory settings, with participants (N=12) being invited to watch a 15-minute film while using the application. Tests were conducted under a cognitive walk-through methodology, and data collected through direct observation and questionnaires. Results show that to achieve a balanced user experience in second-screen scenarios notifications on tablet should be combined with visual notifications on TV

Investigating the effect of relative time delay on companion screen experiences

Mobile devices are increasingly used while watching television, leading to the development of companion apps that complement the content of programmes. A concern for these applications is the extent to which companion app and television content need to be temporally aligned for live synchronisation. In this study, 18 participants watched a nature programme while being shown companion content on a tablet. Temporal synchronisation of content between the devices was varied. Participants completed questionnaires measuring immersion and affect and were tested on their recall for companion app content. While there were no statistically significant effects on these measures, qualitative interviews with participants after viewing consistently revealed that longer 10s delays in content synchronisation were frustrating. This suggests that poor content synchronisation can produce a negative companion experience for viewers and should be avoided

Notifications Efficiency, Impact, and Interference in Second-Screen Scenarios

The growing use of second-screen devices stresses the importance of finding a balance between engagement, distraction, and disturbance of its users, while simultaneously watching television. In this framework, this article reports on a study designed to analyze the efficiency, impact, and interference of different notification strategies aiming to identify the best approach to be used when an alert is needed in second-screen scenarios. A prototype able to deliver synchronized information related with TV content, with intervals of 10, 30 and 60 s, followed by individual or combined notifications (e.g., audio, visual, and haptic—on the tablet and visual—on the TV) was developed. A laboratory adapted to replicate a living room was set up and a test that involved watching three segments of a 20-min clip while using the prototype was carried with 30 participants, under a cognitive walk-through protocol. Quantitative and qualitative results show that receiving notifications while watching TV is effective in alerting users about new information, despite its inherent cognitive disturbance for the TV viewing experience. It was also possible to highlight that in an HCI perspective, the most suitable strategy for integrating notifications (considering type and cadence) should be based on a combination of a visual notification (displayed only on the TV screen) along with a haptic notification (vibration on the tablet); spaced by an interval of at least 30 s

Challenges in mobile multi-device ecosystems

BACKGROUND Coordinated multi-display environments from the desktop, second-screen to gigapixel display walls are increasingly common. Personal and intimate mobile and wearable devices such as head-mounted displays, smartwatches, smartphones and tablets are rarely part of such multi-device ecosystems. METHODS We conducted a literature research and an expert survey to identify challenges in mobile multi-device ecosystems. RESULTS We present grounded challenges relevant for the design, development and use of mobile multi-device environments as well as opportunities for future research. While our surveys indicated that a large number of challenges have been identified, there seems to be little agreement among experts on the importance of individual challenges. CONCLUSION By presenting the identified challenges, we contribute to a better understanding about factors that impede the creation and use of mobile multi-device ecosystems and hope to contribute to shaping the research agenda on interacting with those systems.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Film, interrupted: Investigating how mobile device notifications affect immersion during movies

Mobile devices are increasingly used while watching video, both as a secondary device and for dedicated viewing. However, devices frequently issue notifications that can interrupt viewing. This study investigated the effect of interruptions from notifications on viewer immersion. Participants watched 10 minutes of a movie without notifications, and 10 minutes while receiving message notifications. There were two participant groups: one watched video on a 30-inch monitor with messages sent to a separate smartphone; while another watched on a smartphone while also receiving messages on it. Viewer immersion was assessed after each condition via questionnaire. We also considered message response times. Results showed that immersion scores were lower when the video was interrupted with notifications, regardless of viewing device. Message response times were fastest when using the phone as a secondary device. Our results suggest that device-driven interruptions should be minimised for an immersive film experience

Performance, workload, and usability in a multiscreen, multi-device, information-rich environment

Potential benefits of multiscreen and multiple device environments were assessed using three different computing environments. A single factor, within-subject study was conducted with 18 engineering students in a laboratory experiment. Three levels for the computing environment factor included one with a desktop computer with a single monitor (control, condition A); one with a desktop with dual monitors, as well as a single tablet computer (condition B); and one with a desktop with a single monitor, as well as two tablet computers (condition C). There was no statistically significant difference in efficiency or workload when completing scenarios for the three computing environments. However, a dual monitor desktop with a single tablet computer (B) was the ideal computing environment for the information-rich engineering problem given to participants, supported by significantly fewer errors compared to condition C and significantly higher usability ratings compared to conditions A and C. A single desktop monitor with two tablet computers (C) did not provide any advantage compared to a single desktop monitor (A)

The Living Room of the Future

Emergent media services are turning towards the use of audience data to deliver more personalised and immersive experiences. We present the Living Room of the Future (LRoTF), an embodied design fiction built to both showcase future adaptive physically immersive media experiences exploiting the Internet of Things (IoT) and to probe the adoption challenges confronting their uptake in everyday life. Our results show that audiences have a predominantly positive response to the LRoTF but nevertheless entertain significant reservations about adopting adaptive physically immersive media experiences that exploit their personal data. We examine ‘user’ reasoning to elaborate a spectrum of adoption challenges that confront the uptake of adaptive physically immersive media experiences in everyday life. These challenges include data legibility, privacy concerns and potential dystopias, concerns over agency and control, the social need for customisation, value trade-off and lack of trust

Enhancing fan experience during live sports broadcasts through second screen applications

When sports fans attend live sports events, they usually engage in social experiences with friends, family members and other fans at the venue sharing the same affiliation. However, fans watching the same event through a live television broadcast end up not feeling so emotionally connected with the athletes and other fans as they would if they were watching it live, together with thousands of other fans. With this in mind, we seek to create mobile applications that deliver engaging social experiences involving remote fans watching live broadcasted sports events. Taking into account the growing use of mobile devices when watching TV broadcasts, these mobile applications explore the second screen concept, which allows users to interact with content that complements the TV broadcast. Within this context, we present a set of second screen application prototypes developed to test our concepts, the corresponding user studies and results, as well as suggestions on how to apply the prototypes’ concepts not only in different sports, but also during TV shows and electronic sports. Finally, we also present the challenges we faced and the guidelines we followed during the development and evaluation phases, which may give a considerable contribution to the development of future second screen applications for live broadcasted events

Proceedings of Cross-Surface 2016: Workshop on Challenges and Opportunities for 'Bring-Your-Own-Device' (BYOD) in the Wild

In this workshop, we reviewed and discussed challenges and opportunities for Human-Computer Interaction in relation to cross-surface interaction in the wild based on the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) practice. We brought together researchers and practitioners working on technical infrastructures for cross-surface computing, studies of cross-surface computing in particular domains as well as interaction challenges for introducing cross-surface computing in the wild, all with a particular focus on BYOD. Examples of application domains are: cultural institutions, work places, public libraries, schools and education. Please find more details about the workshop, in the submitted proposal [1]. The workshop was held in conjunction with the 2016 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), that took place from May 7 to 12 in San Jose, USA. [1] Steven Houben, Nicolai Marquardt, Jo Vermeulen, Johannes Schöning, Clemens Klokmose, Harald Reiterer, Henrik Korsgaard, and Mario Schreiner. 2016. Cross-Surface: Challenges and Opportunities for 'bring your own device' in the wild