Human-computer interaction for development (HCI4D):the Southern African landscape

Human-Computer interaction for development (HCI4D) research aims to maximise the usability of interfaces for interacting with technologies designed specifically for under-served, under-resourced, and under-represented populations. In this paper we provide a snapshot of the Southern African HCI4D research against the background of the global HCI4D research landscape.We commenced with a systematic literature review of HCI4D (2010-2017) then surveyed Southern African researchers working in the area. The contribution is to highlight the context- specific themes and challenges that emerged from our investigation

A survey of the trajectories conceptual framework: investigating theory use in HCI

We present a case study of how Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) theory is reused within the field. We analyze the HCI literature in order to reveal the impact of one particular theory, the trajectories framework that has been cited as an example of both contemporary HCI theory and a strong concept that sits between theory and design practice. Our analysis of 60 papers that seriously engaged with trajectories reveals the purposes that the framework served and which parts of it they used. We compare our findings to the originally stated goals of trajectories and to subsequent claims of its status as both theory and strong concept. The results shed new light on what we mean by theory in HCI, including its relationship to practice and to other disciplines

Smart Computing and Sensing Technologies for Animal Welfare: A Systematic Review

Animals play a profoundly important and intricate role in our lives today. Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years, but they now work closely with us to assist the disabled, and in combat and search and rescue situations. Farm animals are a critical part of the global food supply chain, and there is increasing consumer interest in organically fed and humanely raised livestock, and how it impacts our health and environmental footprint. Wild animals are threatened with extinction by human induced factors, and shrinking and compromised habitat. This review sets the goal to systematically survey the existing literature in smart computing and sensing technologies for domestic, farm and wild animal welfare. We use the notion of \emph{animal welfare} in broad terms, to review the technologies for assessing whether animals are healthy, free of pain and suffering, and also positively stimulated in their environment. Also the notion of \emph{smart computing and sensing} is used in broad terms, to refer to computing and sensing systems that are not isolated but interconnected with communication networks, and capable of remote data collection, processing, exchange and analysis. We review smart technologies for domestic animals, indoor and outdoor animal farming, as well as animals in the wild and zoos. The findings of this review are expected to motivate future research and contribute to data, information and communication management as well as policy for animal welfare

Interactive Visualization Lenses:: Natural Magic Lens Interaction for Graph Visualization

Information visualization is an important research field concerned with making sense and inferring knowledge from data collections. Graph visualizations are specific techniques for data representation relevant in diverse application domains among them biology, software-engineering, and business finance. These data visualizations benefit from the display space provided by novel interactive large display environments. However, these environments also cause new challenges and result in new requirements regarding the need for interaction beyond the desktop and according redesign of analysis tools. This thesis focuses on interactive magic lenses, specialized locally applied tools that temporarily manipulate the visualization. These may include magnification of focus regions but also more graph-specific functions such as pulling in neighboring nodes or locally reducing edge clutter. Up to now, these lenses have mostly been used as single-user, single-purpose tools operated by mouse and keyboard. This dissertation presents the extension of magic lenses both in terms of function as well as interaction for large vertical displays. In particular, this thesis contributes several natural interaction designs with magic lenses for the exploration of graph data in node-link visualizations using diverse interaction modalities. This development incorporates flexible switches between lens functions, adjustment of individual lens properties and function parameters, as well as the combination of lenses. It proposes interaction techniques for fluent multi-touch manipulation of lenses, controlling lenses using mobile devices in front of large displays, and a novel concept of body-controlled magic lenses. Functional extensions in addition to these interaction techniques convert the lenses to user-configurable, personal territories with use of alternative interaction styles. To create the foundation for this extension, the dissertation incorporates a comprehensive design space of magic lenses, their function, parameters, and interactions. Additionally, it provides a discussion on increased embodiment in tool and controller design, contributing insights into user position and movement in front of large vertical displays as a result of empirical investigations and evaluations.Informationsvisualisierung ist ein wichtiges Forschungsfeld, das das Analysieren von Daten unterstützt. Graph-Visualisierungen sind dabei eine spezielle Variante der Datenrepräsentation, deren Nutzen in vielerlei Anwendungsfällen zum Einsatz kommt, u.a. in der Biologie, Softwareentwicklung und Finanzwirtschaft. Diese Datendarstellungen profitieren besonders von großen Displays in neuen Displayumgebungen. Jedoch bringen diese Umgebungen auch neue Herausforderungen mit sich und stellen Anforderungen an Nutzerschnittstellen jenseits der traditionellen Ansätze, die dadurch auch Anpassungen von Analysewerkzeugen erfordern. Diese Dissertation befasst sich mit interaktiven „Magischen Linsen“, spezielle lokal-angewandte Werkzeuge, die temporär die Visualisierung zur Analyse manipulieren. Dabei existieren zum Beispiel Vergrößerungslinsen, aber auch Graph-spezifische Manipulationen, wie das Anziehen von Nachbarknoten oder das Reduzieren von Kantenüberlappungen im lokalen Bereich. Bisher wurden diese Linsen vor allem als Werkzeug für einzelne Nutzer mit sehr spezialisiertem Effekt eingesetzt und per Maus und Tastatur bedient. Die vorliegende Doktorarbeit präsentiert die Erweiterung dieser magischen Linsen, sowohl in Bezug auf die Funktionalität als auch für die Interaktion an großen, vertikalen Displays. Insbesondere trägt diese Dissertation dazu bei, die Exploration von Graphen mit magischen Linsen durch natürliche Interaktion mit unterschiedlichen Modalitäten zu unterstützen. Dabei werden flexible Änderungen der Linsenfunktion, Anpassungen von individuellen Linseneigenschaften und Funktionsparametern, sowie die Kombination unterschiedlicher Linsen ermöglicht. Es werden Interaktionstechniken für die natürliche Manipulation der Linsen durch Multitouch-Interaktion, sowie das Kontrollieren von Linsen durch Mobilgeräte vor einer Displaywand vorgestellt. Außerdem wurde ein neuartiges Konzept körpergesteuerter magischer Linsen entwickelt. Funktionale Erweiterungen in Kombination mit diesen Interaktionskonzepten machen die Linse zu einem vom Nutzer einstellbaren, persönlichen Arbeitsbereich, der zudem alternative Interaktionsstile erlaubt. Als Grundlage für diese Erweiterungen stellt die Dissertation eine umfangreiche analytische Kategorisierung bisheriger Forschungsarbeiten zu magischen Linsen vor, in der Funktionen, Parameter und Interaktion mit Linsen eingeordnet werden. Zusätzlich macht die Arbeit Vor- und Nachteile körpernaher Interaktion für Werkzeuge bzw. ihre Steuerung zum Thema und diskutiert dabei Nutzerposition und -bewegung an großen Displaywänden belegt durch empirische Nutzerstudien

Designing technologies for intimate care in women

PhD ThesisDesigning for intimate care remains an underexplored area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI): while technologies for health and wellbeing might be plentiful, technologies for intimate care are limited. Intimate care is associated with personal hygiene, bodily functions and bodily products, and is a lifetime practice that requires well-defined interventions – by the self, or supported by others. With a move to experience, HCI has explored and responded to some of the concepts of intimate care in recent research, by addressing taboo and life disruptions. However, a wider understanding and conceptualization of intimate care work is missing from the broader HCI discourse on health and wellbeing, as well as a distinct framework for negotiating the design of technologies of intimate care. Addressing this space is noteworthy, within a field that designs technologies to support, enhance, and improve human life (Kannabiran et al. 2011). It is possible that this is related to uncertainty regarding the challenges that technology might bring to intimate interactions, particularly the challenges faced in practices that encompass bodywork and proximity to hidden parts of the body, and the impact of troublesome topics upon wellbeing education. The aim of this research is to enquire into the integration of digital technologies and intimate care towards the development of technologies for engagement with intimate care practices in women. I seek to investigate a methodological approach with a focus on the woman to understand the challenges of designing for and with intimate care; explore the qualities of such woman-centered approach in practice. In this thesis I present three case studies that incorporate empirical methods and new designs that I developed throughout this programme of research. These include 1) ethnographic observations of women’s health physiotherapy within a clinic to understand the components of intimate care within a professional setting; 2) a design toolkit that explores e-textiles for teaching female pelvic fitness, delivered through a series of workshops in which discussions that blended humour and laughter made it entertaining and less embarrassing to ask questions and to express curiosity about intimate bodies; 3) Labella, a probe/intimate wearable for self-learning about hidden parts of the female body and a technology which encompasses embodied interaction, that aims to contribute to breaking down the taboo of looking at oneself to help reduce the barrier of selfcare. Furthermore, Labella aims to support knowledge of the other, while exploring perceptions of esteem and reliance towards practices of care within the body. These three case studies begin to explore and offer insights on how designing for intimate care is entwined in woman-centered approaches to design. ! iv! This thesis contributes to interaction design research and outlines a framework for designing technologies for and with intimate care in women. The research highlights how intimate care pervades personal and professional settings, and its significance throughout the lifecourse. Specifically, I contribute to an underexplored area of HCI, women’s health (outside maternal health) by focusing on a woman-centered methodological approach. In doing this, I explore this approach in practice through challenging existing practices of care within women’s health and by offering novel design concepts and devices, in which I explore humour in design as a method to support learning of sensitive topics and as a tool to diminish the taboo nature of the interactions. Lastly, I propose woman-centered design as a novel form of inquiry in design practice research

Improving Multi-Touch Interactions Using Hands as Landmarks

Efficient command selection is just as important for multi-touch devices as it is for traditional interfaces that follow the Windows-Icons-Menus-Pointers (WIMP) model, but rapid selection in touch interfaces can be difficult because these systems often lack the mechanisms that have been used for expert shortcuts in desktop systems (such as keyboards shortcuts). Although interaction techniques based on spatial memory can improve the situation by allowing fast revisitation from memory, the lack of landmarks often makes it hard to remember command locations in a large set. One potential landmark that could be used in touch interfaces, however, is people’s hands and fingers: these provide an external reference frame that is well known and always present when interacting with a touch display. To explore the use of hands as landmarks for improving command selection, we designed hand-centric techniques called HandMark menus. We implemented HandMark menus for two platforms – one version that allows bimanual operation for digital tables and another that uses single-handed serial operation for handheld tablets; in addition, we developed variants for both platforms that support different numbers of commands. We tested the new techniques against standard selection methods including tabbed menus and popup toolbars. The results of the studies show that HandMark menus perform well (in several cases significantly faster than standard methods), and that they support the development of spatial memory. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that people’s intimate knowledge of their hands can be the basis for fast interaction techniques that improve performance and usability of multi-touch systems