An Interactive Space as a Creature:Mechanisms of Agency Attribution and Autotelic Experience

Interacting with an animal is a highly immersing and satisfactory experience. How can interaction with an artifact can be imbued with the quality of an interaction with a living being? The authors propose a theoretical relationship that puts the predictability of the human-artifact interaction at the center of the attribution of agency and experience of “flow.” They empirically explored three modes of interaction that differed in the level of predictability of the interactive space's behavior. The results of the authors' study give support to the notion that there is a sweet spot of predictability in the reactions of the space that leads users to perceive the space as a creature. Flow factors discriminated between the different modes of interaction and showed the expected nonlinear relationship with the predictability of the interaction. The authors' results show that predictability is a key factor to induce an attribution of agency, and they hope that their study can contribute to a more systematic approach to designing satisfactory and rich interaction between humans and machines

A conceptual affective design framework for the use of emotions in computer game design

The purpose of this strategy of inquiry is to understand how emotions influence gameplay and to review contemporary techniques to design for them in the aim of devising a model that brings current disparate parts of the game design process together. Emotions sit at the heart of a game player’s level of engagement. They are evoked across many of the components that facilitate gameplay including the interface, the player’s avatar, non-player characters and narrative. Understanding the role of emotion in creating truly immersive and believable environments is critical for game designers. After discussing a taxonomy of emotion, this paper will present a systematic literature review of designing for emotion in computer games. Following this, a conceptual framework for affective design is offered as a guide for the future of computer game design

Tailoring a psychophysiologically driven rating system

Humans have always been interested in ways to measure and compare their performances to establish who is best at a particular activity. The first Olympic Games, for instance, were carried out in 776 BC, and it was a defining moment in history where ranking based competitive activities managed to reach the general populous. Every competition must face the issue of how to evaluate and rank competitors, and often rules are required to account for many different aspects such as variations in conditions, the ability to cheat, and, of course, the value of entertainment. Nowadays, measurements are performed out through various rating systems, which considers the outcomes of the activity to rate the participants. However, they do not seem to address the psychological aspects of an individual in a competition. This dissertation employs several psychophysiological assessment instruments intending to facilitate the acquisition of skill level rating in competitive gaming. To do so, an exergame that uses non-conventional inputs, such as body tracking to prevent input biases, was developed. The sample size of this study is ten, and the participants were put on a round-robin tournament to provide equal intervals between games for each player. After analyzing the outcome of the competition, it revealed some critical insights on the psychophysiological instruments; Especially the significance of Flow in terms of the prolificacy of a player. Although the findings did not provide an alternative for the traditional rating systems, it shows the importance of considering other aspects of the competition, such as psychophysiological metrics to fine-tune the rating. These potentially reveal more in-depth insight into the competition in comparison to just the binary outcome

Interactive Sonic Environments: Sonic artwork via gameplay experience

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of video-game technology in the design and implementation of interactive sonic centric artworks, the purpose of which is to create and contribute to the discourse and understanding of its effectiveness in electro-acoustic composition highlighting the creative process. Key research questions include: How can the language of electro-acoustic music be placed in a new framework derived from videogame aesthetics and technology? What new creative processes need to be considered when using this medium? Moreover, what aspects of 'play' should be considered when designing the systems? The findings of this study assert that composers and sonic art practitioners need little or no coding knowledge to create exciting applications and the myriad of options available to the composer when using video-game technology is limited only by imagination. Through a cyclic process of planning, building, testing and playing these applications the project revealed advantages and unique sonic opportunities in comparison to other sonic art installations. A portfolio of selected original compositions, both fixed and open are presented by the author to complement this study. The commentary serves to place the work in context with other practitioners in the field and to provide compositional approaches that have been taken

Towards an Internet of Glass Things: Glass Artworks as Digitally Communicating Objects

The research explores the combination of digital technologies with glass art to generate interactivity, animacy and playful experiences. From the mid-nineties artists and designers started blending digital technology with crafted artefacts to enable interaction between artwork and audience, at times mediated through the Internet. The last two decades saw the development of the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT), web-connected devices that are environment-sensing and communicate with each other independently of users. The contextual survey revealed that to date there are few projects or papers exploring the potential of integrating glass as an artistic medium with interactive digital media. My aim was to use a multiple-methods practice-based methodology to investigate the creative possibilities of incorporating digital interactivity in glass art. A series of artworks selected from my recent practice using physical computing for digital interactions are described, demonstrating methods and narratives that expand possibilities for storytelling. The thesis investigates how novel interactive technologies embedded in glass may engage viewers and communicate content. A number of ways that glass lends itself to blending with computational materials were explored. Investigation into embedding conductive traces in glass by adapting glass-making processes to create circuitry for smart interfaces was undertaken. Blending IoT technology with glass enables connectivity between artwork and audience offering the potential for telepresence. Research carried out during the COVID-19 global pandemic explored networked working methods and also applied research into the effects of COVID lockdowns on touch in the generation of digitally-augmented artworks. Projects in this study contribute to the expansion of the contemporary glass field in the 21st Century. Combining glass and digital technologies including IoT offers potential for expression and expansion of artistic ideas. These are articulated for practitioners working with glass, curators, academics and designers interested in embedded computer systems. An ‘Internet of Glass Things’ is proposed as a term to describe interactive glass artworks

The Role of User Experience in a Business-to-Business Context

As industrial companies strive to discover new ways to provide value for their customers, their focus has shifted from offering products and services to creating superior experiences for customers and users. This study focuses on the role of user experience (UX) in a business-to-business (B2B) context. The main objective is to increase the understanding of how UX is perceived and utilized in the suppliers’ and customers’ activities within a B2B context. From the suppliers’ view, the focus is on the role of UX in research and development (R&D) and also in sales and marketing (S&M). In the customer companies, the aim is to create knowledge about whether UX has an impact on technology investment decisions. In addition, a comparison is made between the users and designers of specific products considering the importance of UX-related attributes. A case study research strategy was adopted in order to better understand complex phenomena and the dynamics present within single settings. An embedded case study design included three cases, all of which consisted of one supplier company and two customer companies. As the study follows the research paradigm of pragmatism, both qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to address the research questions. The results suggest that although UX was seen as an important aspect, some challenges occurred in utilizing UX-related knowledge. Although supplier companies focused on designing better experiences for the users, methods for utilizing UX in new product development (NPD) were not internalized yet in all cases and other stakeholders working outside of R&D were not actively involved in the design process. Considering UX in sales activities, it was found challenging to transfer the benefits of UX into sales argumentation or to find suitable methods for disseminating UX-related knowledge effectively for potential customers. From the customers’ point of view, UX can have an indirect impact on supplier selection as previous experiences of the supplier and their products affect decision making. The products’ market superiority and technical details, as well as the supplier company’s reliability, were considered the most important aspects in choosing a supplier. The results also suggest that R&D mostly agrees on which UX-related attributes are important for users. The results indicate that the pragmatic aspects (e.g. reliability, ease-of-use) of technological products are more important than the hedonic aspects (e.g. attractiveness, visual aesthetics). The study’s findings contribute to both prior research and managerial practices. The research provides new knowledge to the research streams of UX as well as customer value in the B2B context. First, a framework is presented in order to combine these theories and illustrate the benefits of UX for different stakeholders. The findings of the empirical part of the study contribute especially in the research on user-centered de-sign and value-based UX selling, as well as the value of UX in technology investment decisions. Based on previous studies on UX measurement, this research also offers a systematically constructed tool for measuring the importance of UX in different contexts. The study also provides practical implications for managers striving to incorporate UX into everyday practices in their company.Teollisten yritysten pyrkiessä löytämään uusia keinoja tuottaa arvoa asiakkailleen, on havaittavissa siirtymä tuotteiden ja palveluiden tarjoamisesta ylivertaisten kokemusten luomiseen asiakkaille ja tuotteiden loppukäyttäjille. Tämä tutkimus keskittyy käyttäjäkokemuksen rooliin yrityskontekstissa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä siitä, miten käyttäjäkokemus koetaan ja miten sitä hyödynnetään toimittajien ja asiakkaiden toiminnoissa yrityskontekstissa. Toimittajien näkökulmasta käyttäjäkokemuksen roolia tutkitaan tuotekehityksessä sekä myynnissä ja markkinoinnissa. Asiakasyrityksissä tarkoitus on tuottaa tietoa siitä, onko käyttäjäkokemuksella vaikutusta teknologian hankintaan liittyvissä päätöksissä. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa on vertailtu tuotteiden suunnittelijoiden ja käyttäjien näkemyksiä käyttäjäkokemukseen liittyvien tekijöiden tärkeydestä. Tutkimusstrategiana käytettiin tapaustutkimusta, joka mahdollistaa monitahoisten ilmiöiden sekä sisäisen dynamiikan ymmärtämisen yksittäisissä tapauksissa. Tutkimus koostui kolmesta tapaustutkimuksesta, joista jokainen sisälsi yhden toimittajayrityksen ja kaksi asiakasyritystä. Koska tutkimus on luonteeltaan pragmaattinen, tutkimuskysymysten vastaamiseen käytettiin sekä kvalitatiivisia että kvantitatiivisia menetelmiä. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että vaikka käyttäjäkokemus koettiin tärkeänä, käyttäjäkokemukseen liittyvän tiedon hyödyntämisessä ilmeni haasteita. Vaikka toimittajat keskittyivät parempien kokemusten suunnitteluun tuotteidensa käyttäjille, menetelmiä käyttäjäkokemuksen hyödyntämiseen tuotteiden kehittämisessä ei ollut vielä sisäistetty kaikissa tapauksissa. Myöskään tuotekehityksen ulkopuoliset sidosryhmät eivät aktiivisesti osallistuneet kehitysprosessiin. Erityisesti käyttäjäkokemuksen tuomien etujen muuttaminen myyntiargumenteiksi sekä sopivien menetelmien löytäminen tiedon välittämiseksi potentiaalisille asiakkaille koettiin myyntitoiminnassa haasteelliseksi. Asiakkaiden näkökulmasta käyttäjäkokemuksella voi olla epäsuora vaikutus toimittajan valintaan, sillä aikaisemmat kokemukset toimittajasta ja heidän tuotteistaan voivat vaikuttaa investointipäätökseen. Tuotteen paremmuus markkinoilla ja sen tekniset ominaisuudet, kuten myös toimittajan luotettavuus koettiin kaikista tärkeimpinä tekijöinä toimittajaa valittaessa. Tulokset myös osoittavat, että tuotteiden kehittäjät kokevat suurimmaksi osaksi samat käyttäjäkokemukseen liittyvät tekijät tärkeinä kuin tuotteiden käyttäjät. Erityisesti pragmaattiset tekijät (esim. luotettavuus, käytön helppous) koettiin tärkeämpinä kuin hedonistiset tekijät (esim. houkuttelevuus, hyvännäköisyys). Tutkimuksen tulokset tuovat oman kontribuutionsa sekä aikaisempaan tutkimukseen että johtamiskäytäntöihin liittyen. Tutkimus tarjoaa uutta tietoa käyttäjäkokemuksen ja asiakasarvon tutkimukseen yrityskontekstissa. Ensinnäkin, teoreettinen viitekehys yhdistää edellä mainitut teoriat osoittaakseen käyttäjäkokemuksen hyödyt eri sidosryhmille. Empiirisen osuuden tulokset tuovat oman panoksensa käyttäjäkeskeisen suunnittelun ja käyttäjäkokemuksen arvopohjaisen myynnin tutkimuksiin, kuten myös käyttäjä-kokemukseen arvoon teknologian investointipäätöksissä. Aikaisempiin tutkimuksiin pohjaten tutkimus tarjoaa myös systemaattisesti rakennetun menetelmän käyttäjäkokemuksen tärkeyden mittaamiseen. Tutkimus tarjoaa myös ehdotuksia johdolle siitä, miten käyttäjäkokemusta voidaan sisällyttää yrityksen jokapäiväisiin käytäntöihin

Videogames, persuasion & deceit

Tese de doutoramento, Informática (Engenharia Informática), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2014Videogames have grown to be one of the most important forms of entertainment. Designers and developers constantly strive to innovate and include mechanics which provide the best experiences to consumers. Games typically integrate a diversity of instruments and mechanisms (among these, persuasive technology) which attempt to offer players the best experience possible, leading them to a state of optimal experience. The relation between these instruments and their effects on player experience suffer from scarce documentation and empirical sustainment, resulting in a lack of insight regarding how players are affected by them. This thesis documents how we addressed these research opportunities, tied videogames, persuasive technology and players as well as driven existing knowledge about persuasion forward. This research’s goal concerns the gathering of empirical evidence showing that different types of persuasive instruments can be employed in videogames to steer players towards a state of optimal experience. Our analysis focuses exclusively on how these mechanisms impact on the player’s performance and emotional state. In addition to this goal, we explored alternative persuasion strategies which are often disregarded due to existing and preconceived negative coverage – deceit. This effort lead us to cover how deceitful persuasive interventions are designed, in what circumstances they are employed and the relation between them and the videogames domain. Treading throughout these research goals resulted in a set of theoretical and empirical contributions tying both persuasive technology and videogames. We present player experience data supporting the role of persuasive technology in attaining an optimal experience state, addressing both performance and physiological evidence. We also a model, created with the intent of supporting designers and developers in establishing deceitful persuasive interventions. This model is put into practice, allowing us to test and show that deceitful and real persuasive instruments can have equivalent effects on player experience.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

How can people’s spatial behaviour be used to dynamically lay out content on multi-user, interactive screens, and how does this dynamic layout affect people’s spatial behaviour?

This thesis aims to explore the influencing factors of layout and presentation changes of large interactive and adaptive displays in multi-user interactions and social organisation. While significant bodies of work have considered the interactivity of digital displays to identify phenomena of use, these have been conducted in localised isolation, and do not address the wider ecological impacts for the influences of emergent organisations of simultaneous use where a system or display may support this. Through considerations of how display presentation and layout can influence the emergence of social organisations, a series of iterative lab-based studies have been carried out to assess and inform a number of interaction modalities. This leads to a series of design recommendations around a system-led approach in presenting a mechanism to support approach behaviours and the maximised utility of a large display, whilst mitigating conflict between social boundaries and impact to user experience. This has identified a range of factors in both the mechanisms of natural social organisation and supporting layout changes and adaptations in maintaining user experience leading towards wider use, scaffolding features of the environment, on-going use, and adaptation within a novel system-led approach. This has presented clear implications to the field, and identified significant areas for further research to refine the subtle factors of interaction which have been identified here