VAST: A Human-Centered, Domain-Independent Video Analysis Support Tool

Providing computer-aided support for human analysis of videos has been a battle of extremes. Powerful solutions exist, but they tend to be domain-specific and complex. The user-friendly, simple systems provide little analysis support beyond basic media player functionality. We propose a human-centered, domain-independent solution between these two points. Our proposed model and system, VAST, is based on our experience in two diverse video analysis domains: science and athletics. Multiple-perspective location metadata is used to group related video clips together. Users interact with these clip groups through a novel interaction paradigm ? views. Each view provides a different context by which users can judge and evaluate the events that are captured by the video. Easy conversion between views allows the user to quickly switch between contexts. The model is designed to support a variety of user goals and expertise with minimal producer overhead. To evaluate our model, we developed a system prototype and conducted several rounds of user testing requiring the analysis of volleyball practice videos. The user tasks included: foreground analysis, ambiguous identification, background analysis, and planning. Both domain novices and experts participated in the study. User feedback, participant performance, and system logs were used to evaluate the system. VAST successfully supported a variety of problem solving strategies employed by participants during the course of the study. Participants had no difficulty handling multiple views (and resulting multiple video clips) simultaneously opened in the workspace. The capability to view multiple related clips at one time was highly regarded. In all tasks, except the open-ended portion of the background analysis, participants performed well. However, performance was not significantly influenced by domain expertise. Participants had a favorable opinion of the system?s intuitiveness, ease of use, enjoyability, and aesthetics. The majority of participants stated a desire to use VAST outside of the study, given the opportunity

eBat: A Technology-enriched Life Sciences Research Community

We are leveraging Web-based technology to create an online community for Life Science research. Our prototype community for cardiovascular research with live bats, called eBat, consists of local researchers as well as remote collaborators. The eBat project offers scientists and students a remote-controlled microscope for conducting experiments, a message board and a chat system for scheduled as well as spontaneous communication, and an online peer-reviewed manuscript repository. In this paper, we report our observations of the use of the eBat infrastructure by local researchers over a period of six months. Resident researchers quickly adopted the eBat infrastructure. eBat technology has now become an indispensable part of the local research group and is used extensively for coordination, communication, and awareness. eBat complements face-to-face interactions well and has resulted in improved communication amongst lab members. We are currently exploring the extension of eBat technology to include distant researchers in live cardiovascular research experiments. We discuss our initial experiences with adapting the eBat infrastructure for research-at-a-distance and the lessons learned from these initial interactions

An exploration of space-time constraints on contextual information in image-based testing interfaces

Abstract. Digital image collection interface layouts vary in the nature and degree of contextual information they provide to their users, thus enabling or impeding specific tasks. We are exploring image presentation techniques to support image-centric cognitive tasks in the context of cardiovascular systems research and education. To investigate the effect of image layout on user performance, we conducted an experimental evaluation of three image layouts for three representative tasks in this domain. The layouts varied the spatial and temporal presentation of images, thus providing different contextual information to the test subjects. Our results indicate that the degree of contextual information provided by the image layouts affected user performance, as did their research expertise. These results will inform the design of user interfaces for performing image-focused cognitive tasks as well as the development of interfaces for training novice researchers.

eBat: A Technology-enriched Life Sciences Research Community

We are leveraging Web-based technology to create an online community for Life Science research. Our prototype community for cardiovascular research with live bats, called eBat, consists of local researchers as well as remote collaborators. The eBat project offers scientists and students a remote-controlled microscope for conducting experiments, a message board and a chat system for scheduled as well as spontaneous communication, and an online peerreviewed manuscript repository. In this paper, we report our observations of the use of the eBat infrastructure by local researchers over a period of six months. Resident researchers quickly adopted the eBat infrastructure. eBat technology has now become an indispensable part of the local research group and is used extensively for co-ordination, communication, and awareness. eBat complements face-to-face interactions well and has resulted in improved communication amongst lab members. We are currently exploring the extension of eBat technology to include distant researchers in live cardiovascular research experiments. We discuss our initial experiences with adapting the eBat infrastructure for research-at-a-distance and the lessons learned from these initial interactions