| Past, Present, and Future of User Interface Software Tools | | BIBAK | PDF | 3-28 | |
| Brad Myers; Scott E. Hudson; Randy Pausch | |||
| A user interface software tool helps developers design and implement the
user interface. Research on past tools has had enormous impact on today's
developers -- virtually all applications today are built using some form of
user interface tool. In this article, we consider cases of both success and
failure in past user interface tools. From these cases we extract a set of
themes which can serve as lessons for future work. Using these themes, past
tools can be characterized by what aspects of the user interface they
addressed, their threshold and ceiling, what path of least resistance they
offer, how predictable they are to use, and whether they addressed a target
that became irrelevant. We believe the lessons of these past themes are
particularly important now, because increasingly rapid technological changes
are likely to significantly change user interfaces. We are at the dawn of an
era where user interfaces are about to break out of the "desktop" box where
they have been stuck for the past 15 years. The next millenium will open with
an increasing diversity of user interface on an increasing diversity of
computerized devices. These devices include hand-held personal digital
assistants (PDAs), cell phones, pages, computerized pens, computerized
notepads, and various kinds of desk and wall size-computers, as well as devices
in everyday objects (such as mounted on refridgerators, or even embedded in
truck tires). The increased connectivity of computers, initially evidenced by
the World Wide Web, but spreading also with technologies such as personal-area
networks, will also have a profound effect on the user interface to computers.
Another important force will be recognition-based user interfaces, especially
speech, and camera-based vision systems. Other changes we see are an increasing
need for 3D and end-user customization, programming, and scripting. All of
these changes will require significant support from the underlying user
interface software tools. Keywords: Software -- Software Engineering -- Design Tools and Techniques (D.2.2):
User interfaces; Information Systems -- Models and Principles -- User/Machine
Systems (H.1.2): Human factors; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces
and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): User interface management systems
(UIMS); Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Windowing systems;; event languages, interface builders, scripting languages, toolkits, user
interface development environments, user interface software | |||
| Charting Past, Present, and Future Research in Ubiquitous Computing | | BIBAK | PDF | 29-58 | |
| Gregory D. Abowd; Elizabeth D. Mynatt | |||
| The proliferation of computing into the physical world promises more than
the ubiquitous availability of computing infrastructure; it suggest new
paradigms of interaction inspired by constant access to information and
computational capabilities. For the past decade, application-driven research on
ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) has pushed three interaction themes: natural
interfaces, context-aware applications, and automated capture and access. To
chart a course for future research in ubiquitous computing, we review the
accomplishments of these efforts and point to remaining research challenges.
Research in ubiquitous computing implicitly requires addressing some notion of
scale, whether in the number and type of devices, the physical space of
distributed computing, or the number of people using a system. We posit a new
area of applications research, everyday computing, focussed on scaling
interaction with respect to time. Just as pushing the availability of computing
away from the traditional desktop fundamentally changes the relationship
between humans and computers, providing continuous interaction moves computing
from a localized tool to a constant companion. Designing for continuous
interaction requires addressing interruption and resumption of interaction,
representing passages of time and providing associative storage models.
Inherent in all of these interaction themes are difficult issues in the social
implications of ubiquitous computing and the challenges of evaluating
ubiquitous computing research. Although cumulative experience points to lessons
in privacy, security, visibility, and control, there are no simple guidelines
for steering research efforts. Akin to any efforts involving new technologies,
evaluation strategies form a spectrum from technology feasibility efforts to
long-term use studies -- but a user-centric perspective is always possible and
necessary. Keywords: Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Evaluation/methodology; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- Miscellaneous (H.5.m); Computer Applications --
Miscellaneous (J.m); Computing Milieux -- Computers and Society -- Social
Issues (K.4.2);; augmented reality, capture and access, context-aware applications,
evaluation, everyday computing, natural interfaces, social implications,
ubiquitous computing, user interfaces | |||
| Social Translucence: An Approach to Designing Systems that Support Social Processes | | BIBAK | PDF | 59-83 | |
| Thomas Erickson; Wendy A. Kellogg | |||
| We are interested in designing systems that support communication and
collaboration among large groups of people over computing networks. We begin by
asking what properties of the physical world support graceful human-human
communication in face-to-face situations, and argue that it is possible to
design digital systems that support coherent behavior by making participants
and their activities visible to one another. We call such systems "socially
translucent systems" and suggest that they have three characteristics --
visibility, awareness, and accountability -- which enable people to draw upon
their experience and expertise to structure their interactions with one
another. To motivate and focus our ideas we develop a vision of knowledge
communities, conversationally based systems that support the creation,
management and reuse of knowledge in a social context. We describe our
experience in designing and deploying one layer of functionality for knowledge
communities, embodied in a working system called "Barbie" and discuss research
issues raised by a socially translucent approach to design. Keywords: Information Systems -- Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems
(H.1.2): Human factors; Information Systems -- Models and Principles --
User/Machine Systems (H.1.2): Human information processing; Information Systems
-Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Graphical
user interfaces (GUI); Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Theory and methods; Information
Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and Organization
Interfaces (H.5.3): Asynchronous interaction; Information Systems --
Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces
(H.5.3): Collaborative computing; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces
and Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3):
Computer-supported cooperative work; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3):
Organizational design; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3): Synchronous
interaction; Information Systems -Information Interfaces and Presentation --
Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3): Theory and models; Computing Milieux
-- Computers and Society -- Organizational Impacts (K.4.3): Computer-supported
collaborative work;; Design, Human Factors, CMC, CMI, CSCW, computer-mediated communication,
social computing, social navigation, social visualization, visualization | |||
| Transcending the Individual Human Mind -- Creating Shared Understanding through Collaborative Design | | BIBAK | PDF | 84-113 | |
| Ernesto Arias; Hal Eden; Gerhard Fischer; Andrew Gorman; Eric Scharff | |||
| Complex design problems require more knowledge than any single person
possesses because the knowledge relevant to a problem is usually distributed
among stakeholders. Bringing different and often controversial points of view
together to create a shared understanding among these stakeholders can lead to
new insights, new ideas, and new artifacts. New media that allow owners of
problems to contribute to framing and resolving complex design problems can
extend the power of the individual human mind. Based on our past work and study
of other approaches, systems, and collaborative and participatory processes,
this article identifies challenges we see as the limiting factors for future
collaborative human-computer systems. The Envisionment and Discovery
Collaboratory (EDC) is introduced as an integrated physical, and computational
environment addressing some of these challenges. The vision behind the EDC
shifts future development away from the computer as the focal point, toward an
emphasis that tries to improve our understanding of the human, social, and
cultural system that creates the context for use. This work is based on new
conceptual principles that include creating shared understanding among various
stakeholders, contextualizing information to the task at hand, and creating
objects to think with in collaborative design activities. Although the EDC
framework is applicable to different domains; our initial effort has focused on
the domain of urban planning (specifically transportation planning) and
community development. Keywords: Software -- Software Engineering -- Design Tools and Techniques (D.2.2);
Information Systems -- Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems (H.1.2);
Information Systems -- Information Storage and Retrieval (H.3); Information
Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation (H.5); Information Systems
-Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Multimedia Information Systems
(H.5.1); Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2); Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3); Computing
Methodologies -- Computer Graphics -- Methodology and Techniques (I.3.6);
Computer Applications -- Social and Behavioral Sciences (J.4);; Design, Human Factors, collaborative design and knowledge construction,
design support systems, distributed cognition, integration of action and
reflection spaces, integration of physical and computational environments, open
systems, symmetry of ignorance | |||
| Creating Creativity: User Interfaces for Supporting Innovation | | BIBAK | PDF | 114-138 | |
| Ben Shneiderman | |||
| A challenge for human-computer interaction researchers and user interface
designers is to construct information technologies that support creativity.
This ambitious goal can be attained by building on an adequate understanding of
creative processes. This article offers a four-phase framework for creativity
that might assist designers in providing effective tools for users: (1)
Collect: learn from previous works stored in libraries, the Web, etc.; (2)
Relate: consult with peers and mentors at early, middle, and late stages, (3)
Create: explore, compose, evaluate possible solutions; and (4) Donate:
disseminate the results and contribute to the libraries. Within this integrated
framework, this article proposes eight activities that require human-computer
interaction research and advanced user interface design. A scenario about an
architect illustrates the process of creative work within such an environment. Keywords: Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2); Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3);; creativity support tools, direct manipulation, graphical user interfaces,
human-computer interaction, information visualization | |||
| Supporting Cognitive Models as Users | | BIBAK | PDF | 141-173 | |
| Frank E. Ritter; Gordon D. Baxter; Gary Jones; Richard M. Young | |||
| Cognitive models are computer programs that simulate human performance of
cognitive skills. They have been useful to HCI by predicting task times, by
assisting users, and by acting as surrogate users. If cognitive models could
interact with the same interfaces that users do, the models would be easier to
develop and would be easier to apply as interface testers. This approach can be
encapsulated as a cognitive model interface management system (CMIMS), which is
analogous to and based on a user interface management system (UIMS). We present
five case studies using three different UIMSes. These show how models can
interact with interfaces using an interaction mechanism that is designed to
apply to all interfaces generated within a UIMS. These interaction mechanisms
start to support and constrain performance in the same ways that human
performance is supported and constrained by interaction. Most existing UIMSes
can and should be extended to create CMIMSes, and models can and should use
CMIMSes to look at larger and more complex tasks. CMIMSes will help to further
exploit the synergy between the disciplines of cognitive modeling and HCI by
supporting cognitive models as users. Keywords: Software -- Software Engineering -- Testing and Debugging (D.2.5): Testing
tools (e.g., data generators, coverage testing); Information Systems -- Models
and Principles -- User/Machine Systems (H.1.2): Human information processing;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Evaluation/methodology; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): User interface
management systems (UIMS); Computing Methodologies -- Artificial Intelligence
-- General (I.2.0): Cognitive simulation; Computing Methodologies -- Simulation
and Modeling -- Model Development (I.6.5); Computing Methodologies --
Simulation and Modeling -- Simulation Support Systems (I.6.7);; Design, Human Factors, cognitive modeling, usability engineering | |||
| Distributed Cognition: Toward a New Foundation for Human-Computer Interaction Research | | BIBAK | PDF | 174-196 | |
| James Hollan; Edwin Hutchins; David Kirsh | |||
| We are quickly passing through the historical moment when people work in
front of a single computer, dominated by a small CRT and focused on tasks
involving only local information. Networked computers are becoming ubiquitous
and are playing increasingly significant roles in our lives and in the basic
infrastructures of science, business, and social interaction. For
human-computer interaction to advance in the new millennium we need to better
understand the emerging dynamic of interaction in which the focus task is no
longer confined to the desktop but reaches into a complex networked world of
information and computer-mediated interactions. We think the theory of
distributed cognition has a special role to play in understanding interactions
between people and technologies, for its focus has always been on whole
environments: what we really do in them and how we coordinate our activity in
them. Distributed cognition provides a radical reorientation of how to think
about designing and supporting human-computer interaction. As a theory it is
specifically tailored to understanding interactions among people and
technologies. In this article we propose distributed cognition as a new
foundation for human-computer interaction, sketch an integrated research
framework, and use selections from our earlier work to suggest how this
framework can provide new opportunities in the design of digital work
materials. Keywords: Software -- Software Engineering -- Requirements/Specifications (D.2.1):
Methodologies (e.g., object-oriented, structured); Information Systems --
Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems (H.1.2); Information Systems
-Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2):
Evaluation/methodology; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3): Theory and models;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and
Organization Interfaces (H.5.3): Evaluation/methodology;; Design, Human Factors, Theory, cognitive science, distributed cognition,
ethnography, human-computer interaction, research methodology | |||
| On the Effective Use and Reuse of HCI Knowledge | | BIBAK | PDF | 197-221 | |
| Alistair Sutcliffe | |||
| The article argues that new approaches for delivering HCI knowledge from
theory to designers will be necessary in the new millennium. First the role of
theory in HCI design to date is reviewed, including the progress made in
cognitive theories of interaction and their impact on the design process. The
role of bridging models that build on models of interaction is described, but
it is argued that direct application of cognitive theory to design is limited
by scalability problems. The alternative of representing HCI knowledge as
claims and the role of the task-artefact approach to theory-based design are
introduced. Claims are proposed as a possible bridging representation that may
enable theories to frame appropriate recommendations for designers and, vice
versa, enable designers to ask appropriate questions for theoretical research.
However, claims provide design advice grounded in specific scenarios and
examples, which limits their generality. The prospects for reuse becoming an
important mode of development and the possible directions in generalizing
claims for reuse are discussed, including generalizing claims beyond their
original context, providing a context for reuse of claims by linking them to
generic task and domain models. It is argued that generic models provide a way
forward for developing reusable libraries of interactive components. The
approach is illustrated from a case study of extracting claims from one
information retrieval application, generalizing claims for future reuse in
information-searching tasks, and reapplying claims in the Web-based Multimedia
Broker application. The article concludes by proposing that HCI knowledge
should be theory-grounded, and development of reusable "designer-digestible"
packets will be an important contribution in the future. Keywords: Information Systems -- Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems
(H.1.2): Human factors;; Design, Human Factors, Theory, HCI theory, claims, cognitive models, design
process, reuse, review | |||
| Systems, Interactions, and Macrotheory | | BIBAK | PDF | 222-262 | |
| Philip Barnard; Jon May; David Duke; David Duce | |||
| A significant proportion of early HCI research was guided by one very clear
vision: that the existing theory base in psychology and cognitive science could
be developed to yield engineering tools for use in the interdisciplinary
context of HCI design. While interface technologies and heuristic methods for
behavioral evaluation have rapidly advanced in both capability and breadth of
application, progress toward deeper theory has been modest, and some now
believe it to be unnecessary. A case is presented for developing new forms of
theory, based around generic "systems of interactors." An overlapping, layered
structure of macro- and microtheories could then serve an explanatory role, and
could also bind together contributions from the different disciplines. Novel
routes to formalizing and applying such theories provide a host of interesting
and tractable problems for future basic research in HCI. Keywords: Information Systems -- Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems
(H.1.2): Human factors; Information Systems -- Models and Principles -- Systems
and Information Theory (H.1.1): General systems theory;; Design, Human Factors, Theory, cognitive models, computing system models,
models of interaction | |||
| HCI in the Global Knowledge-Based Economy: Designing to Support Worker Adaptation | | BIBAK | PDF | 263-280 | |
| Kim J. Vicente | |||
| Increasingly, people are being required to perform open-ended intellectual
tasks that require discretionary decision making. These demands require a
relatively unique approach to the design of computer-based support tools. A
review of the characteristics associated with the global knowledge-based
economy strongly suggests that there will be an increasing need for workers,
managers, and organizations to adapt to change and novelty. This is equivalent
to a call for designing computer tools that foster continuous learning. There
are reasons to believe that the need to support adaptation and continuous
learning will only increase. Thus, in the new millennium HCI should be
concerned with explicitly designing for worker adaptation. The cognitive work
analysis framework is briefly described as a potential programmatic approach to
this practical design challenge. Keywords: Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): User interface management systems (UIMS); Information
Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and Organization
Interfaces (H.5.3);; Human Factors, adaptation, cognitive work analysis, knowledge-based economy | |||
| Exploiting Space and Location as a Design Framework for Interactive Mobile Systems | | BIBAK | PDF | 285-321 | |
| Alan Dix; Tom Rodden; Nigel Davies; Jonathan Trevor; Adrian Friday; Kevin Palfreyman | |||
| This article considers the importance of context in mobile systems. It
considers a range of context-related issues and focus on location as a key
issue for mobile systems. A design framework is described consisting of
taxonomies of location, mobility, population, and device awareness. The design
framework informs the construction of a semantic model of space for mobile
systems. The semantic model is reflected in a computational model built on a
distributed platform that allows contextual information to be shared across a
number of mobile devices. The framework support the design of interactive
mobile systems while the platform supports their rapid development. Keywords: Computer Systems Organization -- Computer-Communication Networks --
Distributed Systems (C.2.4): Distributed applications; Information Systems
-Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems (H.1.2); Information Systems
-Information Systems Applications -- Communications Applications (H.4.3);
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and
Organization Interfaces (H.5.3): Synchronous interaction; Information Systems
-Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces
(H.5.3): Theory and models;; Design, Human Factors, Theory, awareness, context information, design
framework, location-sensitive applications, mobile systems, platform support,
shared interaction, virtual space | |||
| Satchel: Providing Access to Any Document, Any Time, Anywhere | | BIBAK | PDF | 322-352 | |
| Mik Lamming; Marge Eldridge; Mike Flynn; Chris Jones; David Pendlebury | |||
| Current solutions for providing access to electronic documents while away
from the office do not meet the special needs of mobile document workers. We
describe "Satchel," a system that is designed specifically to support the
distinctive features of mobile document work. Satchel is designed to meet the
following five high-level design goals (1) easy access to document services;
(2) timely document access; (3) streamlined user interface; (4) ubiquity; and
(5) compliance with security policies. Our current prototype uses a Nokia 9000
Communicator as the mobile device; it communicates to the rest of the Satchel
system using wireless communications, both infrared and radio. A fundamental
Satchel concept is the use of tokens, or small secure references, to represent
documents on the mobile device. The mobile client only transmits small tokens
over the wireless channels, leaving the wired network to transmit the contents
of documents when, and only when, they are required. Another fundamental
Satchel concept is the highly specialized and context-sensitive user interface
on the mobile device. The user's interactions are streamlined because of this
specialization and though the use of contextual information gained by using
infrared communications. We report the results of a trial of Satchel that was
carried out within our own company, and discuss how well Satchel met our design
goals. We call Satchel a "document appliance" because it provides a streamlined
solution to the problem of remote document access -- it aims to support only a
limited set of activities, but supports them very well. Keywords: Computer Systems Organization -- Computer-Communication Networks --
Distributed Systems (C.2.4): Distributed applications; Information Systems
-Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems (H.1.2): Human factors;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Evaluation/methodology; Computing Methodologies -- Computer
Graphics -- Methodology and Techniques (I.3.6): Interaction techniques;; Human Factors, document access, document appliance, document processing,
information appliance, mobile computing, mobile work | |||
| Nomadic Radio: Speech and Audio Interaction for Contextual Messaging in Nomadic Environments | | BIBAK | PDF | 353-383 | |
| Nitin Sawhney; Chris Schmandt | |||
| Mobile workers need seamless access to communication and information
services while on the move. However, current solutions overwhelm users with
intrusive interfaces and ambiguous notifications. This article discusses the
interaction techniques developed for Nomadic Radio, a wearable computing
platform for managing voice and text-based messages in a nomadic environment.
Nomadic Radio employs an auditory user interface, which synchronizes speech
recognition, speech synthesis, nonspeech audio, and spatial presentation of
digital audio, for navigating among messages as well as asynchronous
notification of newly arrived messages. Emphasis is placed on an auditory
modality as Nomadic Radio is designed to be used while performing other tasks
in a user's everyday environment; a range of auditory cues provides peripheral
awareness of incoming messages. Notification is adaptive and context sensitive;
messages are presented as more or less obtrusive based on importance inferred
from content filtering, whether the user is engaged in conversation and his or
her own recent responses to prior messages. Auditory notifications are
dynamically scaled from ambient sound through recorded voice cues up to message
summaries. Iterative design and a preliminary user evaluation suggest that
audio is an appropriate medium for mobile messaging, but that care must be
taken to minimally intrude on the wearer's social and physical environment. Keywords: Hardware -- Input/Output and Data Communications -- Input/Output Devices
(B.4.2): Voice; Software -- Software Engineering -- Design Tools and Techniques
(D.2.2): Modules and interfaces; Software -- Software Engineering -- Design
Tools and Techniques (D.2.2): User interfaces; Information Systems -- Models
and Principles -- User/Machine Systems (H.1.2): Human factors; Information
Systems -Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems (H.1.2): Human
information processing; Information Systems -- Information Systems Applications
-- Communications Applications (H.4.3): Electronic mail; Information Systems
-Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Multimedia Information Systems
(H.5.1): Audio input/output; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Multimedia Information Systems (H.5.1): Evaluation/methodology;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Evaluation/methodology; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Input devices and
strategies; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation --
User Interfaces (H.5.2): Interaction styles; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Theory and methods;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and
Organization Interfaces (H.5.3): Asynchronous interaction;; Design, Human Factors, adaptive interfaces, contextual interfaces,
interruptions, nonspeech audio, notifications, passive awareness, spatial
listening, speech interaction, wearable computing | |||
| Improving Selection Performance on Pen-Based Systems: A Study of Pen-Based Interaction for Selection Tasks | | BIBAK | PDF | 384-416 | |
| Xiangshi Ren; Shinji Moriya | |||
| Two experiments were conducted to compare pen-based selection strategies and
their characteristics. Two state transition models were also formulated which
provide new vocabulary that will help in investigating interactions related to
target selection issues. Six strategies, which can be described by the state
transition models, were used in the experiments. We determined the best
strategy of the six to be the "Slide Touch" strategy, where the target is
selected at the moment the pen-tip touches the target for the first time after
landing on the screen surface. The six strategies were also classified into
strategy groups according to their characteristics. We determined the best
strategy group to be the "In-Out' strategy group, where the target is selected
by contact either inside or outside the target. Analyses show that differences
between strategies are influenced by variations in target size; however, the
differences between strategies are not affected by the distance to the target
(i.e., pen-movement-distance) or the direction of pen movement (i.e.,
pen-movement-direction). We also found "the smallest maximum size" of five
pixels, i.e., the boundary value for the target size below which there are
significant differences, and above which there are no significant differences
between the strategies in error rate. Relationships between interaction states,
routes, and strategy efficiency were also investigated. Keywords: Categories and Subject Descriptors: Software -- Software Engineering --
Requirements/Specifications (D.2.1): Methodologies (e.g., object-oriented,
structured); Software -- Software Engineering -- Design Tools and Techniques
(D.2.2): User interfaces; Information Systems -- Models and Principles --
User/Machine Systems (H.1.2): Human factors; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Evaluation/methodology;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Input devices and strategies; Information Systems --
Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Interaction
styles; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Screen design; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Theory and methods;
Computing Methodologies -- Computer Graphics -- Methodology and Techniques
(I.3.6): Interaction techniques;; Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, Measurement, Theory, classifications
of selection strategies, mobile computing, pen-based input interfaces,
pen-based systems, small targets, state-transition models, target selection
strategies | |||
| Using while Moving: HCI Issues in Fieldwork Environments | | BIBAK | PDF | 417-437 | |
| Jason Pascoe; Nick Ryan; David Morse | |||
| "Using while moving" is the basic ability fieldwork users require of a
mobile computer system. These users come from a wide range of backgrounds but
have in common an extremely mobile and dynamic workplace. We identify four
specific characteristics of this class of users: dynamic user configuration,
limited attention capacity, high-speed interaction, and context dependency. A
prototype is then presented that was designed to assist fieldworkers in data
collection tasks and to explore the HCI design issues involved. The prototype
was used in an extensive field trial by a group of ecologists observing giraffe
behavior in Kenya. Following this trial, improvements were made to the
prototype interface which in turn was tested in a subsequent field trial with
another group of ecologists. From this experience, we have formulated our
resulting ideas about interface design for fieldworkers into two general
principles: Minimal Attention User Interfaces (MAUIs) and context awareness.
The MAUI seeks to minimize the attention, though not necessarily the number of
interactions, required from the user in operating a device. Context awareness
enables the mobile device to provide assistance based on a knowledge of its
environment. Keywords: Information Systems -- Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems
(H.1.2): Human factors; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Ergonomics; Information Systems --
Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Graphical
user interfaces (GUI); Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Haptic I/O; Information Systems --
Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Input
devices and strategies; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Interaction styles; Information
Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2):
Style guides; Computer Applications -- Life and Medical Sciences (J.3);; Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, MAUI, PDA, archaeology, context,
context awareness, ecology, fieldwork, giraffe, minimal attention user
interface, palmtop, small screen | |||
| Introduction to the Special Issue on Human-Computer Interaction and Collaborative Virtual Environments | | BIB | PDF | 439-441 | |
| Steve Benford; Paul Dourish; Tom Rodden | |||
| An Experimental Study on the Role of Touch in Shared Virtual Environments | | BIBAK | PDF | 443-460 | |
| Cagatay Basdogan; Chih-hao Ho; Mandayam A. Srinivasan; Mel Slater | |||
| Investigating virtual environments has become an increasingly interesting
research topic for engineers, computer and cognitive scientists, and
psychologists. Although there have been several recent studies focused on the
development of multimodal virtual environments (VEs) to study human-machine
interactions, less attention has been paid to human-human and human-machine
interactions in shared virtual environments (SVEs), and to our knowledge, no
attention paid at all to what extent the addition of haptic communication
between people would contribute to the shared experience. We have developed a
multimodal shared virtual environment and performed a set of experiments with
human subjects to study the role of haptic feedback in collaborative tasks and
whether haptic communication through force feedback can facilitate a sense of
being and collaborating with a remote partner. The study concerns a scenario
where two participants at remote sites must cooperate to perform a joint task
in an SVE. The goals of the study are (1) to assess the impact of force
feedback on task performance, (2) to better understand the role of haptic
communication in human-human interactions, (3) to study the impact of touch on
the subjective sense of collaborating with a human as reported by the
participants based on what they could see and feel, and (4) to investigate if
gender, personality, or emotional experiences of users can affect haptic
communication in SVEs. The outcomes of this research can have a powerful impact
on the development of next-generation human-computer interfaces and network
protocols that integrate touch and force feedback technology into the internet,
development of protocols and techniques for collaborative teleoperation such as
hazardous material removal, space station. Keywords: Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Interaction styles; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Haptic I/O; Computing
Methodologies -- Computer Graphics -- Methodology and Techniques (I.3.6):
Interaction techniques; Computing Methodologies -- Computer Graphics --
Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism (I.3.7): Virtual reality; Computing
Methodologies -- Artificial Intelligence -- Robotics (I.2.9): Manipulators;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Input devices and strategies;; Design, Human Factors, Management, Performance, Theory, copresence, force
feedback devices, haptic interaction, shared virtual environments | |||
| Supporting Presence in Collaborative Environments by Haptic Force Feedback | | BIBAK | PDF | 461-476 | |
| Eva-Lotta Sallnas; Kirsten Rassmus-Grohn; Calle Sjostrom | |||
| An experimental study of interaction in a collaborative desktop virtual
environment is described. The aim of the experiment was to investigate if added
haptic force feedback in such an environment affects perceived virtual
presence, perceived social presence, perceived task performance, and task
performance. A between-group design was employed, where seven pairs of subjects
used an interface with graphic representation of the environment, audio
connection, and haptic force feedback. Seven other pairs of subjects used an
interface without haptic force feedback, but with identical features otherwise.
The PHANToM, a one-point haptic device, was used for the haptic force feedback,
and a program especially developed for the purpose provided the virtual
environment. The program enables for two individuals placed in different
locations to simultaneously feel and manipulate dynamic objects in a shared
desktop virtual environment. Results show that haptic force feedback
significantly improves task performance, perceived task performance, and
perceived virtual presence in the collaborative distributed environment. The
results suggest that haptic force feedback increases perceived social presence,
but the difference is not significant. Keywords: Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- User
Interfaces (H.5.2): Theory and methods; Information Systems -- Information
Interfaces and Presentation -- User Interfaces (H.5.2): Input devices and
strategies; Information Systems -- Information Systems Applications --
Communications Applications (H.4.3): Computer conferencing, teleconferencing,
and videoconferencing; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3):
Evaluation/methodology; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3): Synchronous
interaction; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation --
User Interfaces (H.5.2): Haptic I/O;; Human Factors, Measurement, Performance, distributed collaboration, haptic
force feedback, presence | |||
| Object-Focused Interaction in Collaborative Virtual Environments | | BIBAK | PDF | 477-509 | |
| Jon Hindmarsh; Mike Fraser; Christian Heath; Steve Benford; Chris Greenhalgh | |||
| This paper explores and evaluates the support for object-focused interaction
provided by a desktop Collaborative Virtual Environment. An experimental
"design" task was conducted, and video recordings of the participants'
activities facilitated an observational analysis of interaction in, and
through, the virtual world. Observations include: problems due to "fragmented"
views of embodiments in relation to shared objects; participants compensating
with spoken accounts of their actions; and difficulties in understanding
others' perspectives. Implications and proposals for the design of CVEs drawn
from these observations are: the use of semidistorted views to support
peripheral awareness; more explicit or exaggerated representations of actions
than are provided by pseudohumanoid avatars; and navigation techniques that are
sensitive to the actions of others. The paper also presents some examples of
the ways in which these proposals might be realized. Keywords: Information Systems -- Information Systems Applications -- Communications
Applications (H.4.3): Computer conferencing, teleconferencing, and
videoconferencing; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Multimedia Information Systems (H.5.1): Artificial, augmented,
and virtual realities; Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and
Presentation -- Group and Organization Interfaces (H.5.3):
Evaluation/methodology;; Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, CSCW, embodiment, objects, shared
spaces, social interaction, user interface design, virtual reality | |||
| Inhabited Television: Broadcasting Interaction from Within Collaborative Virtual Environments | | BIBAK | PDF | 510-547 | |
| Steve Benford; Chris Greenhalgh; Mike Craven; Graham Walker; Tim Regan; Jason Morphett; John Wyver | |||
| Inhabited television combines collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) with
broadcast television so that on-line audiences can participate in television
shows within shared virtual worlds. We describe a series of experiments with
inhabited television, beginning with the NOWninety6 poetry performance, The
Mirror, and Heaven & Hell -- Live. These early experiments raised fundamental
questions for inhabited television concerning the extent to which it is
possible to establish fast-paced social interaction within a CVE, and to which
it is possible to produce a coherent and engaging broadcast of this action. We
then present a fourth more recent experiment, Out of This World, that directly
addressed these questions. We describe how the formulation of inhabited
television design principles, combined with the use of dedicated production
software for scripting and directing a show and for controlling virtual
cameras, enabled us to create a fast-moving and more coherent experience. Keywords: Computer Systems Organization -- Computer-Communication Networks --
Distributed Systems (C.2.4): Distributed applications; Information Systems
-Models and Principles -- User/Machine Systems (H.1.2): Human factors;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Multimedia
Information Systems (H.5.1): Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities;
Information Systems -- Information Interfaces and Presentation -- Group and
Organization Interfaces (H.5.3): Theory and models; Computing Methodologies
-Computer Graphics -- Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism (I.3.7): Virtual
reality; Computer Applications -- Arts and Humanities (J.5): Arts, fine and
performing**;; Design, Human Factors, computer-supported cooperative work, entertainment,
media spaces, social interaction | |||