WRISTBAND.IO:expanding input and output spaces of a Smartwatch

Smartwatches are characterized by their small size designed for wearability, discretion, and mobile interactions. Most of the interactivity, however, is limited to the size of the display, introducing issues such as screen occlusion and limited information density. We introduce Wristband.io, a smartwatch with an extended interaction space along the wristband, enabling (i) back-of-band interaction using a touchpad, (ii) a low resolution ambient watchband display for offscreen notification, and (iii) tangible buttons for quick, eyes-free input. Insights gained through a study show that back-of-band input increases accuracy and task completion rates for smaller on-screen targets. We probe the design space of Wristband.io with three applications

Evaluating Context-Aware Applications Accessed Through Wearable Devices as Assistive Technology for Students with Disabilities

The purpose of these two single subject design studies was to evaluate the use of the wearable and context-aware technologies for college students with intellectual disability and autism as tools to increase independence and vocational skills. There is a compelling need for the development of tools and strategies that will facilitate independence, self-sufficiency, and address poor outcomes in adulthood for students with disabilities. Technology is considered to be a great equalizer for people with disabilities. The proliferation of new technologies allows access to real-time, contextually-based information as a means to compensate for limitations in cognitive functioning and decrease the complexity of prerequisite skills for successful use of previous technologies. Six students participated in two single-subject design studies; three students participate in Study I and three different students participated in Study II. The results of these studies are discussed in the context applying new technology applications to assist and improve individuals with intellectual disability and autism to self-manage technological supports to learn new skills, set reminders, and enhance independence. During Study I, students were successfully taught to use a wearable smartglasses device, which delivered digital auditory and visual information to complete three novel vocational tasks. The results indicated that all students learned all vocational task using the wearable device. Students also continued to use the device beyond the initial training phase to self-direct their learning and self-manage prompts for task completion as needed. During Study II, students were successfully taught to use a wearable smartwatch device to enter novel appointments for the coming week, as well as complete the tasks associated with each appointment. The results indicated that all students were able to self-operate the wearable device to enter appointments, attend all appointments on-time and complete all associated tasks

WRISTBAND.IO:expanding input and output spaces of a Smartwatch

Smartwatches are characterized by their small size designed for wearability, discretion, and mobile interactions. Most of the interactivity, however, is limited to the size of the display, introducing issues such as screen occlusion and limited information density. We introduce Wristband.io, a smartwatch with an extended interaction space along the wristband, enabling (i) back-of-band interaction using a touchpad, (ii) a low resolution ambient watchband display for offscreen notification, and (iii) tangible buttons for quick, eyes-free input. Insights gained through a study show that back-of-band input increases accuracy and task completion rates for smaller on-screen targets. We probe the design space of Wristband.io with three applications

CurationSpace: Cross-Device Content Curation Using Instrumental Interaction

For digital content curation of historical artefacts, curators collaboratively collect, analyze and edit documents, images, and other digital resources in order to display and share new representations of that information to an audience. Despite their increasing reliance on digital documents and tools, current technologies provide little support for these specific collaborative content curation activities. We introduce CurationSpace – a novel cross-device system – to provide more expressive tools for curating and composing digital historical artefacts. Based on the concept of Instrumental Interaction, CurationSpace allows users to interact with digital curation artefacts on shared interactive surfaces using personal smartwatches as selectors for instruments or modifiers (applied to either the whole curation space, individual documents, or fragments). We introduce a range of novel interaction techniques that allow individuals or groups of curators to more easily create, navigate and share resources during content curation. We report insights from our user study about people’s use of instruments and modifiers for curation activities

CurationSpace:Cross-Device Content Curation Using Instrumental Interaction

For digital content curation of historical artefacts, curators collaboratively collect, analyze and edit documents, images, and other digital resources in order to display and share new representations of that information to an audience. Despite their increasing reliance on digital documents and tools, current technologies provide little support for these specific collaborative content curation activities. We introduce CurationSpace - a novel cross-device system - to provide more expressive tools for curating and composing digital historical artefacts. Based on the concept of Instrumental Interaction, CurationSpace allows users to interact with digital curation artefacts on shared interactive surfaces using personal smartwatches as selectors for instruments or modifiers (applied to either the whole curation space, individual documents, or fragments). We introduce a range of novel interaction techniques that allow individuals or groups of curators to more easily create, navigate and share resources during content curation. We report insights from our user study about people's use of instruments and modifiers for curation activities

Older people and smartwatches, initial experiences

Las tecnologías wearables, como los smartwatches (relojes inteligentes), se han visto como una oportunidad para resolver problemas, a menudo relacionados con las personas mayores (55+), tales como manejo de emergencias, falta de actividad física, y soledad. Sin embargo poco se sabe sobre en qué medida tales personas apropiarían estos dispositivos. Dotamos a 11 personas mayores con relojes inteligentes y seguimos sus primeras experiencia principalmente con dos entrevistas. De acuerdo con los resultados, las experiencias previas con otras tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, y las actitudes positivas hacia la tecnología fueron fundamentales para una primera apropiación de la nueva tecnología, y para superar los primeros problemas. Además el uso estuvo muy relacionado con las expectativas y los hábitos personales. Los participantes usaron los relojes en forma similar a la descrita en estudios previos con adultos (18-64), que incluye el manejo de notificaciones y los sistemas para seguimiento deportivo. El reloj proveía a la mayoría de los participantes un status social (asociado a ser guay, snob o joven), y creaba oportunidades o preocupaciones sobre el estilo personal.Abstract While wearable technologies, such as smartwatches, are seen as an opportunity to solve some problems often related to older people (65+), e.g. emergencies, physical activity, or isolation, little is known about how older people would domesticate such new technologies. In this study we provided eleven older individuals with smartwatches and tracked their expectations and initial experiences using two interviews. According to our preliminary findings, previous experience with ICTs along with optimistic attitudes toward technology were key to initial domestication of the new technology and overcoming initial problems. Moreover, use was closely related to expectations and personal habits. Participants in this study used smartwatches in similar ways to to those described in previous studies with adults (18–64), including managing notifications and sports’ tracking. Additionally, users reported that the smartwatch provided a boost in social status (associated with attributes such as cool, snobbish, young) and created some fashion opportunities and/or concerns

Diseño e implementación de un sistema de detección de caídas para smartwatch

En uno de cada diez hogares en España (0) vive una persona mayor o igual a 65 años sola. Por tanto, la probabilidad de que esas personas se caigan dentro de casa con graves consecuencias y sin posibilidad de poder avisar a nadie van aumentando a la par que aumenta su edad y su dependencia. Es por ello por lo que cada vez resulta más complicado a familiares estar seguros de que estas personas están bien. Para mejorar esta circunstancia, tanto para el individuo que cada vez será más dependiente como para sus parientes, desde AmIlab se ha pensado en diseñar una aplicación para smartwatch que detecte caídas y realice alertas a personas cercanas cuando éstos se caigan o incluso dar avisos a emergencias en caso de necesidad. Todo ello plantea un reto en el campo de detección de caídas, ya que el sistema tiene que tener un porcentaje muy cercano al cien por cien de eficacia para no dar falsos positivos/negativos, lo que hace de vital importancia tener un dataset completo para, más tarde, ser capaz de entrenar un sistema con esos datos. Por tanto, este trabajo de fin de grado pretende crear una herramienta para la creación de tal dataset en condiciones óptimas. Habrá dos aplicaciones, una para smartwatch y otra para smartphone, de tal modo que la primera recogerá todos los datos captados por los sensores en el momento de la caída y será la segunda la que procesará todos ellos creando así una base de datos completa con todos los tipos de caídas posibles, todo ello siendo lo más fiel a la realidad

Braille text entry on smartwatches : an evaluation of methods for composing the Braille cell

Smartwatches are gaining popularity on market with a set of features comparable to smartphones in a wearable device. This novice technology brings new interaction paradigms and challenges for blind users, who have difficulties dealing with touchscreens. Among a variety of tasks that must be studied, text entry is analyzed, considering that current existing solutions may be unsatisfactory (as voice input) or even unfeasible (as working with tiny QWERTY keyboards) for a blind user. More specifically, this paper presents a study on possible solutions for composing a Braille cell on smart-watches. Five prototypes were developed and different feedback features were proposed. These are confronted with seven specialists on an evaluation study that results in a qualitative analysis of which strategies can be more useful for blind users in a Braille text entry.Postprin