Physical interaction with technology: kinesiology as a reference discipline for information systems research

In an era of constantly evolving technology, we are using more and more of our bodies to interact with our technological devices. While prior interfaces required small movement of wrists and fingers to work the keyboard and mouse, we now, for example, use multiple fingers on a tactile interface while holding the device with the other hand and walking down the street. All of this additional movement of our bodies changes the dynamics of how we interact with information systems, and consequently impacts our perceptions, motivations, and decisions in everyday tasks. In this paper we present a new reference discipline, kinesiology, that can inform the study of our physical interactions with technology. We also propose two new variables, direct and indirect physicality, that can be used to better understand how this physicality can affect the user\u27s perceptions and behaviors

When Should I Use my Active Workstation? The impact of Physical Demand and Task Difficulty on IT Users’ Perception and Performance

The seated position in our daily computer interactions has been identified as a major threat for health. Active workstations have been proposed as a healthy solution to these problems. However, research findings on the effects of such workstations on users’ productivity is not conclusive. We argue that physical demand and task difficulty play a role in influencing IT users’ performance and perceptions when using active workstations. An experiment manipulating task difficulty, direct and indirect physical demands was performed. Results suggest that task difficulty moderates the relationships between physical demand (direct and indirect) and users’ perceptions and performance. Findings will help organizations and employees determine if it is appropriate for them to use active workstations

Dynamic Threshold Selection for a Biocybernetic Loop in an Adaptive Video Game Context

Passive Brain-Computer interfaces (pBCIs) are a human-computer communication tool where the computer can detect from neurophysiological signals the current mental or emotional state of the user. The system can then adjust itself to guide the user toward a desired state. One challenge facing developers of pBCIs is that the system's parameters are generally set at the onset of the interaction and remain stable throughout, not adapting to potential changes over time such as fatigue. The goal of this paper is to investigate the improvement of pBCIs with settings adjusted according to the information provided by a second neurophysiological signal. With the use of a second signal, making the system a hybrid pBCI, those parameters can be continuously adjusted with dynamic thresholding to respond to variations such as fatigue or learning. In this experiment, we hypothesize that the adaptive system with dynamic thresholding will improve perceived game experience and objective game performance compared to two other conditions: an adaptive system with single primary signal biocybernetic loop and a control non-adaptive game. A within-subject experiment was conducted with 16 participants using three versions of the game Tetris. Each participant plays 15 min of Tetris under three experimental conditions. The control condition is the traditional game of Tetris with a progressive increase in speed. The second condition is a cognitive load only biocybernetic loop with the parameters presented in Ewing et al. (2016). The third condition is our proposed biocybernetic loop using dynamic threshold selection. Electroencephalography was used as the primary signal and automatic facial expression analysis as the secondary signal. Our results show that, contrary to our expectations, the adaptive systems did not improve the participants' experience as participants had more negative affect from the BCI conditions than in the control condition. We endeavored to develop a system that improved upon the authentic version of the Tetris game, however, our proposed adaptive system neither improved players' perceived experience, nor their objective performance. Nevertheless, this experience can inform developers of hybrid passive BCIs on a novel way to employ various neurophysiological features simultaneously

Expertise as a mediating factor in conceptual modeling.

We use eye=tracking to better understand the notion of expertise in conceptual modeling of complex systems. This research-in-progress paper describes an ongoing experiment to exploit the capacity of eye-tracking to explore the significance of expertise as a mediating factor in conceptual modeling. The proposed methodology highlights the applicability, validity, and potential of well-established eye-tracking methods to measure the effects of expertise. By identifying the differences in the strategies that novices and experts use to search, detect, and diagnose errors, we anticipate being able to help define training curricula appropriate for each level to improve performance and model result quality

Enhancing Sustained Attention

Arguably, automation is fast transforming many enterprise business processes, transforming operational jobs into monitoring tasks. Consequently, the ability to sustain attention during extended periods of monitoring is becoming a critical skill. This manuscript presents a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) prototype which seeks to combat decrements in sustained attention during monitoring tasks within an enterprise system. A brain-computer interface is a system which uses physiological signals output by the user as an input. The goal is to better understand human responses while performing tasks involving decision and monitoring cycles, finding ways to improve performance and decrease on-task error. Decision readiness and the ability to synthesize complex and abundant information in a brief period during critical events has never been more important. Closed-loop control and motivational control theory were synthesized to provide the basis from which a framework for a prototype was developed to demonstrate the feasibility and value of a BCI in critical enterprise activities. In this pilot study, the BCI was implemented and evaluated through laboratory experimentation using an ecologically valid task. The results show that the technological artifact allowed users to regulate sustained attention positively while performing the task. Levels of sustained attention were shown to be higher in the conditions assisted by the BCI. Furthermore, this increased cognitive response seems to be related to increased on-task action and a small reduction in on-task errors. The research concludes with a discussion of the future research directions and their application in the enterprise