Pervasive and standalone computing: The perceptual effects of variable multimedia quality.

The introduction of multimedia on pervasive and mobile communication devices raises a number of perceptual quality issues, however, limited work has been done examining the 3-way interaction between use of equipment, quality of perception and quality of service. Our work measures levels of informational transfer (objective) and user satisfaction (subjective)when users are presented with multimedia video clips at three different frame rates, using four different display devices, simulating variation in participant mobility. Our results will show that variation in frame-rate does not impact a user’s level of information assimilation, however, does impact a users’ perception of multimedia video ‘quality’. Additionally, increased visual immersion can be used to increase transfer of video information, but can negatively affect the users’ perception of ‘quality’. Finally, we illustrate the significant affect of clip-content on the transfer of video, audio and textual information, placing into doubt the use of purely objective quality definitions when considering multimedia presentations

EyePACT: eye-based parallax correction on touch-enabled interactive displays

The parallax effect describes the displacement between the perceived and detected touch locations on a touch-enabled surface. Parallax is a key usability challenge for interactive displays, particularly for those that require thick layers of glass between the screen and the touch surface to protect them from vandalism. To address this challenge, we present EyePACT, a method that compensates for input error caused by parallax on public displays. Our method uses a display-mounted depth camera to detect the user's 3D eye position in front of the display and the detected touch location to predict the perceived touch location on the surface. We evaluate our method in two user studies in terms of parallax correction performance as well as multi-user support. Our evaluations demonstrate that EyePACT (1) significantly improves accuracy even with varying gap distances between the touch surface and the display, (2) adapts to different levels of parallax by resulting in significantly larger corrections with larger gap distances, and (3) maintains a significantly large distance between two users' fingers when interacting with the same object. These findings are promising for the development of future parallax-free interactive displays

Answering a Questionnaire Using Eyetracking

The beginning of eye tracking research lies far back in the past. Since eye tracking costs decreased over the past years, the usage of an eye tracker for everyday matters, like the interaction with a personal device, becomes more and more attractive. In the present work, the realization of interacting with a computer interface with only the help of an eye tracker is illustrated. The conducted study examines the acceptance and usability of such a system. Therefore, three different interaction methods have been implemented. In a study, the participants had to complete a questionnaire with those interaction methods using a Windows application and a low-cost eye tracking device. All in all, the study results imply that the number of negative aspects about this system outweigh the positive ones. The biggest issue was the restriction of mobility during the usage of the tracking device. In addition, the usage of the system turned out to be rather exhausting for the eyes. Generally speaking, among the three implemented interaction methods, the interaction method that combines gaze with a second input modality (a keyboard) scored best in terms of interaction speed and usefulness considering the completion of a questionnaire

A Review and Analysis of Eye-Gaze Estimation Systems, Algorithms and Performance Evaluation Methods in Consumer Platforms

In this paper a review is presented of the research on eye gaze estimation techniques and applications, that has progressed in diverse ways over the past two decades. Several generic eye gaze use-cases are identified: desktop, TV, head-mounted, automotive and handheld devices. Analysis of the literature leads to the identification of several platform specific factors that influence gaze tracking accuracy. A key outcome from this review is the realization of a need to develop standardized methodologies for performance evaluation of gaze tracking systems and achieve consistency in their specification and comparative evaluation. To address this need, the concept of a methodological framework for practical evaluation of different gaze tracking systems is proposed.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in IEEE Access in July 201

Designing to Support Workspace Awareness in Remote Collaboration using 2D Interactive Surfaces

Increasing distributions of the global workforce are leading to collaborative workamong remote coworkers. The emergence of such remote collaborations is essentiallysupported by technology advancements of screen-based devices ranging from tabletor laptop to large displays. However, these devices, especially personal and mobilecomputers, still suffer from certain limitations caused by their form factors, that hinder supporting workspace awareness through non-verbal communication suchas bodily gestures or gaze. This thesis thus aims to design novel interfaces andinteraction techniques to improve remote coworkers’ workspace awareness throughsuch non-verbal cues using 2D interactive surfaces.The thesis starts off by exploring how visual cues support workspace awareness infacilitated brainstorming of hybrid teams of co-located and remote coworkers. Basedon insights from this exploration, the thesis introduces three interfaces for mobiledevices that help users maintain and convey their workspace awareness with their coworkers. The first interface is a virtual environment that allows a remote person to effectively maintain his/her awareness of his/her co-located collaborators’ activities while interacting with the shared workspace. To help a person better express his/her hand gestures in remote collaboration using a mobile device, the second interfacepresents a lightweight add-on for capturing hand images on and above the device’sscreen; and overlaying them on collaborators’ device to improve their workspace awareness. The third interface strategically leverages the entire screen space of aconventional laptop to better convey a remote person’s gaze to his/her co-locatedcollaborators. Building on the top of these three interfaces, the thesis envisions an interface that supports a person using a mobile device to effectively collaborate with remote coworkers working with a large display.Together, these interfaces demonstrate the possibilities to innovate on commodity devices to offer richer non-verbal communication and better support workspace awareness in remote collaboration

Multimodality with Eye tracking and Haptics: A New Horizon for Serious Games?

The goal of this review is to illustrate the emerging use of multimodal virtual reality that can benefit learning-based games. The review begins with an introduction to multimodal virtual reality in serious games and we provide a brief discussion of why cognitive processes involved in learning and training are enhanced under immersive virtual environments. We initially outline studies that have used eye tracking and haptic feedback independently in serious games, and then review some innovative applications that have already combined eye tracking and haptic devices in order to provide applicable multimodal frameworks for learning-based games. Finally, some general conclusions are identified and clarified in order to advance current understanding in multimodal serious game production as well as exploring possible areas for new applications