Switch access to technology - A comprehensive Guide.

When most of us use a computer we use the standard interface of a keyboard and mouse. However, what do you do if you cannot use a keyboard or mouse? A number of alternative access systems exist, for example: alternative keyboards, tracker balls, touchscreens, head pointers etc. But for some people these devices are also an impossibility, and this is where switches 'kick in'. The main subject of this document is the switch user. For completeness we have include a brief mention of other input devices, which may be grouped together as 'alternative access systems'.We aim to: - Encourage developers to include switch access into their products - Standardise practice and terminology. This document explains some of the issues involved for people with severe physical difficulties who access computers and other electronic devices with switches. It details the ways in which switch users interact with computer programs and other technology designed to be directly accessible to them. The document includes some precise definitions of terms. It also attempts to survey the whole range of issues associated with switch use. As such it should be useful to professionals working or entering the field, those software developers considering switch users for the first time and also for those already developing in this area

Towards Inferring Mechanical Lock Combinations using Wrist-Wearables as a Side-Channel

Wrist-wearables such as smartwatches and fitness bands are equipped with a variety of high-precision sensors that support novel contextual and activity-based applications. The presence of a diverse set of on-board sensors, however, also expose an additional attack surface which, if not adequately protected, could be potentially exploited to leak private user information. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of a new attack that takes advantage of a wrist-wearable's motion sensors to infer input on mechanical devices typically used to secure physical access, for example, combination locks. We outline an inference framework that attempts to infer a lock's unlock combination from the wrist motion captured by a smartwatch's gyroscope sensor, and uses a probabilistic model to produce a ranked list of likely unlock combinations. We conduct a thorough empirical evaluation of the proposed framework by employing unlocking-related motion data collected from human subject participants in a variety of controlled and realistic settings. Evaluation results from these experiments demonstrate that motion data from wrist-wearables can be effectively employed as a side-channel to significantly reduce the unlock combination search-space of commonly found combination locks, thus compromising the physical security provided by these locks

Interaction With Tilting Gestures In Ubiquitous Environments

In this paper, we introduce a tilting interface that controls direction based applications in ubiquitous environments. A tilt interface is useful for situations that require remote and quick interactions or that are executed in public spaces. We explored the proposed tilting interface with different application types and classified the tilting interaction techniques. Augmenting objects with sensors can potentially address the problem of the lack of intuitive and natural input devices in ubiquitous environments. We have conducted an experiment to test the usability of the proposed tilting interface to compare it with conventional input devices and hand gestures. The experiment results showed greater improvement of the tilt gestures in comparison with hand gestures in terms of speed, accuracy, and user satisfaction.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure

Typing the Future: Designing Multimodal AR Keyboards

Recent demonstrations of AR showcase engaging spatial features while avoiding text input. However, this is not due to descending relevance but rather because no satisfactory solution to text input in a comprehensive AR system is available yet. Any novel technological device requires rethinking the way we interact with it, including text input. With its variety of sensors, AR devices offer numerous possibilities for uni- and multimodal interaction. However, it is essential to evaluate the actual problem space before suggesting solutions. In our design science research project, we aim to create design knowledge about the learnability and performance of AR keyboards. Based on transfer of learning theory and HCI literature on virtual keyboards, we propose meta requirements and initial design principles that serve as basis for developing a multimodal AR keyboard prototype

CleanGraph - Graph viewing and editing for family trees and UML class diagrams

Traditionally, different types of diagrams are used to represent varying types of data in a fast and easy way to read. Their usage includes describing systems, understanding their features and presenting how different parts are interconnected, making them useful for many applications. Unfortunately, as the complexity of the data showed increases, so does the complexity of the diagram, making it more difficult to read and interpret. Since interactions are usually limited to panning and zooming, there is room for improvement with more interaction and different input methods. The goal is to tackle these issues in two types of diagrams -- Family Trees (FT) and Universal Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams. To achieve this, a new platform will be created, capable of generating diagrams and displaying them in a way where overlapping and unrelated data is minimised alongside having better methods for interacting with and manipulating information. These diagrams will prioritise visual clarity by grouping together elements with relevant or important information, as well as having new ways of interaction, such as selecting elements to receive more information and manually grouping them to better explore the data. Guaranteeing the viability of the solution will require two main issues to be addressed: (1) Defining a fitting diagram disposition and why it is the more advantageous; (2) Understanding the best way to create interactions with diagrams while making it intuitive and keeping them readable. Finding the best platform for the solution to reach its intended audience while providing the desired ease of use is one of the priorities. The evaluation of this work will be attained through previously defined metrics, to ensure that the generated diagram is adequate. The quality of the diagrams will be defined by characteristics such as overlapping connections between elements, related or unrelated data of adjacent elements to the selected one and the amount of displayed data at once. The result of the proposal aims to give a better tool to users seeking improved methods to view their ancestry data, as well as software architects, project managers and system analysts, who would benefit from a better platform for system representation. The developed features can help them convey their ideas easily to developers or anyone interested in the data represented, improving simplicity, workflow and potentially bringing new and improved methods of viewing and displaying information in these areas