Augmented reality face recognition for musical interaction

This paper reports on early work in a project devoted to the exploration of music, musical quality, interaction design and sensory stimulation for persons with multiple and/or severe impairments. The text focuses on the explorative work done on using face tracking and face recognition for musical interaction. The current design and the design process so far is described. Further developments are outlined

Enhancing Accessibility in Mobile Navigational Services

Abstract in UndeterminedThe success of the Wii and of the iPhone together with the persisting problem of displaying information on the small screens of mobile devices is currently pushing the development of non-visual interaction channels such as gestures, tactile/haptic interaction and sound. This development presents both potential and risk, since new channels of interaction may result either in improved or reduced accessibility.The HaptiMap project [1] is targeted on introducing accessibility as a key component in the development of mobile interfaces to reduce the risk of introducing new technologies that are unavailable to significant parts of the population. We have chosen to focus on geospatial information since this is an area which traditionally makes heavy use of the visual channel. We make use of “Inclusive Design/Design for All” [2] - an approach where we put as our goal to increase the number of persons who are able to use mainstream mobile map services by making the applications easier to use also for persons with visual impairments.We have identified three particular challenges for more accessible and useable geospatial applications:1. We need to maximize the haptic and auditory channel themselves. To design the non-visual channels as purely enhancements of the visual information will reduce the application areas – while non-visual feedback that can stand on its own will widen the range of possible usages.2. We need to find out what the users want and when they want it. The amount of information potentially available is huge, and systems need to be good at giving users relevant information at the right point in time.3. We need to communicate that accessibility is for “us” not for “them”. Depending on the situation everyone may experience problems associated with e.g. not being able to see things on the screen, or not being able to cognitively attend to complex information.

Designing activity games for stroke survivors

International audienceIn this paper we present work carried out in the EU project STARR and the NordForsk project ActivAbles. We report on the design and iterative development of an outdoor activity game for stroke survivors, and discuss design choices, experiences from the iterative testing and outline potential future developments

Auditory feedback in VR and HCI

International audienceWe call auditory feedback the feedback generated in response to a subject gesture when performing an action, and perceived by the subject's or the auditor's auditory perceptio

Soundcrumbs – Hansel and Gretel in the 21st century

This paper presents a novel application which implements a way of adding sound breadcrumbs to the environment. We report results from initial user tests which suggest that this type of design could be useful for a wide range of mobile location based applications

The ENABLED Editor and Viewer – simple tools for more accessible on line 3D models

This paper reports on the ENABLED 3DEditor and 3DViewer. The software design is described, and results from user tests with end users are reported. Both the Editor and Viewer are seen to work quite well. It is possible for a developer to quickly start working with the editor. The Viewer was well received by the users who are able to use it to understand an environment, get an overview and locate a specific place on the 3D map

Design for me?

In this paper, as a generative contrast to the notion of design “for all”, we present and discuss the potential benefits of a design “for me” approach, where the design process from the starts from, and initially is targeted at, just one person. Given many things developed for a user group or a constructed average user, in this text we describe starting from design for a single user as an alternative approach for achieving useful and useworthy designs. We provide an example from the development of an assistive device as the starting point and discuss how and why this alternative approach should be of interest for everyone interested in usability