Usability of vision-based interfaces

Vision-based interfaces can employ gestures to interact with an interactive system without touching it. Gestures are frequently modelled in laboratories, and usability testing should be carried out. However, often these interfaces present usability issues, and the great diversity of uses of these interfaces and the applications where they are used, makes it difficult to decide which factors to take into account in a usability test. In this paper, we review the literature to compile and analyze the usability factors and metrics used for vision-based interfaces.Postprint (published version

Merging the Analogue and the Digital: Combining Opposite Activities in a Mixed Media Game

While much of the games research field for the last two decades has focused on digital games, this article draws attention to the benefits of combining analogue and digital game components to cater for a serious but fun game experience. In this case, the game design provides a set of game rules for players, where the goal is to win by finding another player’s hidden treasure. But, the game also includes deceptive characters, initially unknown to the players, whose goal is to lure the players to reveal information, which will make a player lose the game. Hence, the players and the unknown characters are involved in opposite but intertwined activities. To describe the differing activities we use the activity system model found in Activity Theory. The theoretical conceptualisation, the game design and the play situation create what we term a zone of experience where young players can experience the consequences of sharing too much information. The game design mimics real world online interactions, but under safe off-line conditions. The zone of experience also creates the foundation for an ensuing activity that fits well within the concept of the zone of proximal development: A follow-up conversation under adult guidance of game experiences aimed at raising children’s online risk awareness

Wizard of Oz in Designing a Collaborative Learning Serious Game on Tabletops

International audienceThis paper aims to introduce Wizard of Oz methodology as an effective method in testing a serious game design which is aimed at enhancing collaborative learning on tabletops. The interface design enables mixed reality over tabletops to engage the players effectively in the learning activities. Additionally, the serious game scenario has been created to learn traffic rules and signs inside a city. The Wizard of Oz methodology was employed to experiment the design. Both questionnaire and observation were adopted to measure three perspectives of the serious game: supporting collaboration, facilitation of learning, and validation of design. The results of experiment by Wizard of Oz show that this method is highly effective in measuring collaborative learning in the serious game design. Moreover, the qualities of interface design and game scenario are explored during the experiment

Animated props for responsive playspaces

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-93).Playgrounds are special places within the urban landscape specially designed for children. Here, they encounter the outdoors and the physical properties of large spaces through play, which allows children to develop their physical skills, explore the natural and built environment as well as interact with their peers. Even more importantly, children direct their own play activities in playgrounds in an open-ended way. As digital technologies become increasingly present in children's lives an important question arises regarding their role in playgrounds. This thesis contributes to playground design in a meaningful way by exploring how digital technologies can enhance children's open-ended and physically active play in outdoor settings. Can animated playground props support and possibly enhance open-ended and physically active play in playgrounds? This thesis expands the repertoire of objects conceived specifically for children's outdoor play environments through a review of existing technologies and designs followed by a design exploration with a new category of animated playground prop. I develop an ecological approach to children's digital playground props which takes into account the links among children props play settings.In playing with objects, children gather information about the physical characteristics and embedded meanings of their three-dimensional surroundings. In other words, children's interactions with play props are one lens for experiencing the world. This theoretical framework leads me to a new category of animated prop called "space explorer". The thesis describes a design process for one prop, an autonomous, pneumatic playground ball which is part of the "space explorers" category. The method combines design development with input from children in two workshops about their playground and specific objects. The design and research exploration concludes with reflections and recommendations for future attempts to design more autonomous and responsive objects which can enrich children's outdoor play experiences.by Susanne Seitinger.S.M

Interactive spaces for children: gesture elicitation for controlling ground mini-robots

[EN] Interactive spaces for education are emerging as a mechanism for fostering children's natural ways of learning by means of play and exploration in physical spaces. The advanced interactive modalities and devices for such environments need to be both motivating and intuitive for children. Among the wide variety of interactive mechanisms, robots have been a popular research topic in the context of educational tools due to their attractiveness for children. However, few studies have focused on how children would naturally interact and explore interactive environments with robots. While there is abundant research on full-body interaction and intuitive manipulation of robots by adults, no similar research has been done with children. This paper therefore describes a gesture elicitation study that identified the preferred gestures and body language communication used by children to control ground robots. The results of the elicitation study were used to define a gestural language that covers the different preferences of the gestures by age group and gender, with a good acceptance rate in the 6-12 age range. The study also revealed interactive spaces with robots using body gestures as motivating and promising scenarios for collaborative or remote learning activities.This work is funded by the European Development Regional Fund (EDRF-FEDER) and supported by the Spanish MINECO (TIN2014-60077-R). The work of Patricia Pons is supported by a national grant from the Spanish MECD (FPU13/03831). Special thanks are due to the children and teachers of the Col-legi Public Vicente Gaos for their valuable collaboration and dedication.Pons Tomás, P.; Jaén Martínez, FJ. (2020). Interactive spaces for children: gesture elicitation for controlling ground mini-robots. 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Exploring the potential of video technologies for collaboration in emergency medical care: Part I. Information sharing

We are investigating the potential of 3D telepresence, or televideo, technology to support collaboration among geographically separated medical personnel in trauma emergency care situations. 3D telepresence technology has the potential to provide richer visual information than current 2D video conferencing techniques. This may be of benefit in diagnosing and treating patients in emergency situations where specialized medical expertise is not locally available. The 3D telepresence technology does not yet exist and there is a need to understand its potential before resources are spent on its development and deployment. This poses a complex challenge. How can we evaluate the potential impact of a technology within complex, dynamic work contexts when the technology does not yet exist? To address this challenge we conducted an experiment with a post-test, between-subjects design that takes the medical situation and context into account. In the experiment we simulated an emergency medical situation involving practicing paramedics and physicians, collaborating remotely via two conditions: with today’s 2D videoconferencing and a 3D telepresence proxy. In this paper we examine information sharing between the attending paramedic and collaborating physician. Postquestionnaire data illustrate that the information provided by the physician was perceived to be more useful by the paramedic in the 3D proxy condition than the 2D condition. However, data pertaining to the quality of interaction and trust between the collaborating physician and paramedic show mixed results. Post-interview data help explain these results

Including the Experiences of Physically Disabled Players in Mainstream Guidelines for Movement-Based Games

Movement-based video games can provide engaging play experiences, and also have the potential to encourage physical activity. However, existing design guidelines for such games overwhelmingly focus on non-disabled players. Here, we explore wheelchair users’ perspectives on movement-based games as an enjoyable play activity. We created eight game concepts as discussion points for semi-structured interviews (N=6) with wheelchair users, and used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to understand their perspectives on physical activity and play. Themes focus on independent access, challenges in social settings, and the need for comprehensive adaptation. We also conducted an online survey (N=21) using the same game concepts, and thematic analysis highlighted the importance of adequate challenge, and considerations around multiplayer experiences. Based on these findings, we re-contextualize and expand guidelines for movement-based games previously established by Mueller and Isbister to include disabled players, and suggest design strategies that take into account their perspectives on play

Using a Bayesian Framework to Develop 3D Gestural Input Systems Based on Expertise and Exposure in Anesthesia

Interactions with a keyboard and mouse fall short of human capabilities and what is lacking in the technological revolution is a surge of new and natural ways of interacting with computers. In-air gestures are a promising input modality as they are expressive, easy to use, quick to use, and natural for users. It is known that gestural systems should be developed within a particular context as gesture choice is dependent on the context; however, there is little research investigating other individual factors which may influence gesture choice such as expertise and exposure. Anesthesia providers’ hands have been linked to bacterial transmission; therefore, this research investigates the context of gestural technology for anesthetic task. The objective of this research is to understand how expertise and exposure influence gestural behavior and to develop Bayesian statistical models that can accurately predict how users would choose intuitive gestures in anesthesia based on expertise and exposure. Expertise and exposure may influence gesture responses for individuals; however, there is limited to no work investigating how these factors influence intuitive gesture choice and how to use this information to predict intuitive gestures to be used in system design. If researchers can capture users’ gesture variability within a particular context based on expertise and exposure, then statistical models can be developed to predict how users may gesturally respond to a computer system and use those predictions to design a gestural system which anticipates a user’s response and thus affords intuitiveness to multiple user groups. This allows designers to more completely understand the end user and implement intuitive gesture systems that are based on expected natural responses. Ultimately, this dissertation seeks to investigate the human factors challenges associated with gestural system development within a specific context and to offer statistical approaches to understanding and predicting human behavior in a gestural system. Two experimental studies and two Bayesian analyses were completed in this dissertation. The first experimental study investigated the effect of expertise within the context of anesthesiology. The main finding of this study was that domain expertise is influential when developing 3D gestural systems as novices and experts differ in terms of intuitive gesture-function mappings as well as reaction times to generate an intuitive mapping. The second study investigated the effect of exposure for controlling a computer-based presentation and found that there is a learning effect of gestural control in that participants were significantly faster at generating intuitive mappings as they gained exposure with the system. The two Bayesian analyses were in the form of Bayesian multinomial logistic regression models where intuitive gesture choice was predicted based on the contextual task and either expertise or exposure. The Bayesian analyses generated posterior predictive probabilities for all combinations of task, expertise level, and exposure level and showed that gesture choice can be predicted to some degree. This work provides further insights into how 3D gestural input systems should be designed and how Bayesian statistics can be used to model human behavior