| How E-Inclusion and Innovation Policy Affect Digital Access and Use for Senior Citizens in Europe | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 3-12 | |
| Stijn Bannier; Ruediger Glott; Valérie Meijs | |||
| Research on e-inclusion and innovation policy on a national and
supra-national (European Union) level not always shows to what extent
successful e-inclusion and innovation policy have been pursued. Therewithal the
aims of national e-inclusion and innovation strategies do not always coincide
with the aims of the European Commission. Policies with regard to active aging
and senior citizens' participation in the information society on the one hand
and local, regional or national initiatives and policy on the other hand might
hence be different from the European level. We discuss how e-inclusion and
digital access of and use by senior citizens became an important topic in
Europe and European policy. We propose not only to focus on a top-down (policy)
approach but also a bottom-up approach, where local, regional or national
initiatives alongside policy are included in the assessment. We will discuss
this on the basis of a literature research together with case studies of The
Netherlands and Estonia. Keywords: Digital access; e-inclusion; innovation policy; senior citizens | |||
| Elderly's Barriers and Requirements for Interactive TV | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 13-22 | |
| Mai Baunstrup; Lars Bo Larsen | |||
| This paper presents a study to identify the problems and experiences that
the elderly have using interactive TV (iTV) services. The study comprised an
in-depth qualitative interview series backed up with a questionnaire survey; a
list with the elderly's interaction problems and the reasons for wanting or not
wanting to use iTV services was developed. These findings in turn lead to the
formulation of a set of user requirements. The paper presents the studies
carried out and the resulting design recommendations for iTV services for the
elderly. The recommendations also take cognitive and as physiological
impairments into consideration. The recommendations propose on increased
ease-of-use, transparency, colour schemes, familiarity and a reduced set of iTV
services for the elderly. Ultimately, designers should aim at customizable
interface profiles for future iTV devices and services to better accommodate
the diversity of users and especially the elderly. Keywords: Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.2 Information Interfaces and
Presentation (e.g., HCI) -- User Interfaces; Evaluation/Methodology; General
Terms: Human Factors; Measurement TV; iTV; Qualitative Study; Explorative
Interview; Survey; Elderly | |||
| A Survey on Technology Exposure and Range of Abilities of Elderly and Disabled Users in India | | BIBA | Full-Text | 23-31 | |
| Pradipta Biswas; Patrick M. Langdon | |||
| This paper reports a survey on people with age-related and physical impairments in India. The survey evaluates functional parameters related to human computer interaction and reports subjective attitude and exposure of users towards technology. We found a significant cognitive decline in elderly users while their functional parameters are sufficient to use existing electronic devices. However young disabled users are found to be experienced with computer but could not have access to appropriate assistive devices, which would benefit them. Most users used desktop computers and mobile phone but none used tablet, smartphone or kiosks though they are keen to learn new technologies. Overall we hope that our results will be useful for HCI practitioners in developing countries. | |||
| Senior Patients Online: Which Functions Should a Good Patient Website Offer? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 32-41 | |
| Nadine Bol; Christin Scholz; Ellen M. A. Smets; Eugène F. Loos; Hanneke C. J. M. de Haes; Julia C. M. van Weert | |||
| This study proposes a theoretical framework for patient website functions
and provides empirical input for the framework. A pilot survey among younger
(aged 50 -- 64, M = 55.95, SD = 4.48, n = 21) and older (aged 65 -- 84, M =
72.79, SD = 6.33, n = 14) cancer patients revealed that patients' website
preferences vary across type of website functions as well as across age groups.
Whereas the majority of patients reported high preference for website functions
in general (e.g., information provision), preferences varied across preferred
delivery methods of these functions. Furthermore, differences in information
preferences indicate a trend of younger patients preferring to search
information themselves whereas older patients seem to prefer receiving disease
relevant information and practical tips. We provide first evidence for patient
preferences regarding specific website functions and thus provide practical
implications for website design. Keywords: aging; information preferences; patient website functions; cancer-related
information | |||
| Single Tap Hierarchy-Structured Zoom as Interface for Interactive Indoor Wayfinding Map for Elderly Users | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 42-50 | |
| Chun-Wen Chen; Kevin C. Tseng; Yun-Fong Kao | |||
| The aim of this research is to design a simplified and acceptable interface
for an indoor wayfinding map for elderly users. This research proposes a
single-tap, zooming user interface using a hierarchy-structured zoom that
integrates the operation of re-center zoom and a non-predefined
hierarchy-structured map. Simulated maps and interfaces were built to test user
acceptance. Keywords: wayfinding map; zoomable user interface; aging | |||
| Older Adults' Perceptions and Use of Technology: A Novel Approach | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 51-58 | |
| Cara Bailey Fausset; Linda Harley; Sarah Farmer; Brad Fain | |||
| This study investigated older adults' perceptions of technology in their
everyday lives by using the stages of change model, a behavioral change model,
as a guiding framework. Participants answered daily workbook questions about
their experiences with technology and also recorded daily interactions and
difficulties with technology for a 28-day period. Overall, participants were
positive about technology but expressed concerns such as identity theft and
loss of human contact. Participants reported using a wide range of technology
in their everyday lives and cited efficiency, making life easier, and
communication as reasons why they use technology. A recurring theme throughout
the study was that their children played a major role in influencing aspects of
technology adoption and use. Participants also reported not using technology if
the need or value was not apparent. Older adults do adopt and use technologies,
but only if the value and personal relevance is clear. Keywords: Older adults; aging; technology; behavioral change model | |||
| A Usability Study of Websites for Older Travelers | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 59-67 | |
| Kate Finn; Jeff Johnson | |||
| Older people (aged 45+) are the fastest growing segment of the population,
make up a significant percentage of overseas travelers, and often book their
travel online. Despite these trends, several studies indicate users'
frustration with online travel sites. This could indicate that travel companies
are not factoring their customers' web usability needs into the design of their
websites. Focusing on three travel websites explicitly target mature travelers,
we conducted an exploratory study to assess their usability for older adults.
The travel websites, all of which were professionally designed, represent
popular travel agencies. Nine study participants, aged 55-80, completed
usability sessions (three per site). After giving their impressions of the
website's Home page, participants were asked to perform a series of
information-seeking and trip-finding tasks using the website. Their voices were
audio-recorded and their activity on the website was recorded using
screen-capture software. All three mature traveler websites presented problems
for the test participants. Common problems included: text too small and not
easily enlargeable, difficulty returning to Home page, confusing terminology,
hard-to-operate menus, poor marking of links, changes too subtle to notice,
hard-to-navigate search results, and cluttered page layouts. Participants
exhibited several noteworthy behaviors, including: misunderstanding the scope
of information and controls, not knowing where in the site they were,
functional fixedness, change blindness, and a preference for talking to someone
on the telephone rather than using the site to get information or book a trip.
The usability problems found in the three travel websites are well-known in the
web-design community and are addressed in published guidelines for designing
for seniors and for usability in general. Many web designers ignore usability
and accessibility design guidelines, but it is somewhat surprising that
companies that target older adults would fail to follow such guidelines. The
HCI community must expand its efforts to educate web designers. Keywords: Website; usability test; older adults; seniors; design; guidelines | |||
| Designing Intrinsically Motivating User Interfaces for the Ageing Population | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 68-77 | |
| Tanya S. Goldhaber; Patrick M. Langdon; P. John Clarkson | |||
| Older people often find it difficult to learn to use new technology.
Although they may want to adopt it, they can find the learning process
challenging and frustrating and subsequently lose motivation. This paper looks
at how psychological theories of intrinsic motivation could be applied to make
the ICT learning process more engaging for older users and describes an
experiment set up to test the applicability of these theories to user interface
(UI) design. The results of the experiment confirmed that intrinsic motivation
theory is a valid lens through which to look at current ICT design and also
uncovered significant gender differences in reaction to different kinds of
learning tasks. Keywords: UI design; intrinsic motivation; ageing population; gender | |||
| Effect of Impairment on Upper Limb Performance in an Ageing Sample Population | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 78-87 | |
| Newton Howard; Ross Pollock; Joe Prinold; Joydeep Sinha; Di Newham; Jeroen Bergmann | |||
| Ageing and age-related impairments have a detrimental effect on human
performance and are likely to affect gesture based Human-Computer Interaction
(HCI). Relying on "healthy" individuals to define gestures used for interfacing
is likely to bias HCI design within the older population. To what extent
gestures are affected by a common ageing disease remains to be determined. The
aim of this study is to explore spatial and temporal changes in shoulder motion
between rotator cuff patients and "healthy" controls. Seven controls and eight
pre-operative patients participated in this study and performed several
predefined gestures. The results show that the ROM and speed of movement can be
affected by a common age-related disease. Wavelet analysis indicated that
patients have a higher level of coupling between conditions making it harder to
differentiate between different gestures. These results highlight the need to
include age-related disabilities in HCI study populations. Keywords: Human Gesture; Pattern Recognition; Ageing; Rotator Cuff Injury; Wavelet
Analysis | |||
| Demands and Needs of Elderly Chinese People for Garment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 88-95 | |
| Xiaoping Hu; Xia Feng; Delai Men; Robert C. C. Chen | |||
| The purpose of this paper is to determine the elderly people's consumer
behavior, demands and needs about the garment. The sample consists of 106 aged
people all around china. A questionnaire was prepared and given to these people
to determine their consumer behavior, demands and needs. It was found that most
elderly people would like to choose comfortable, pastel, loosely or a little
loosely casual clothing. The garment with natural material and some special
design on details will be favorable. Meanwhile, most of the interviewee
complained about there is no enough suitable size to choose. Therefore, the
height, neck circumference, shoulder width, bust, waist, abdominal
circumference, hip circumference were measured, and these data would provide
theoretical reference for apparel products to meet the needs of the elderly. Keywords: Elderly people; garment; consumer behavior; demands and needs | |||
| What Is Age's Affect in Collaborative Learning Environments? | | BIBA | Full-Text | 96-103 | |
| Kieran Jordine; Dale-Marie Wilson; Raghavi Sakpal | |||
| In educational environments, the learners' affective state is the subject of continuous research that seeks to create the most effective learning environment. This state has been shown to have a direct correlation on the learners' motivation and engagement, subsequently affecting their success or failure. This is consistent for both physical and virtual educational settings. In intelligent tutoring systems, embodied pedagogical agents have been used for the many benefits they provide including their affective influence. The agents are designed based on specific criterion including competency, gender, ethnicity or behavioural tendencies, to optimise their effect on a targeted audience. We developed a web-based collaborative learning application that supports simultaneous learner-to-virtual agent and learner-to-learner interactions. We conducted a study that investigated the influence of virtual agents' physical characteristics (attributes), specifically age, on learners' experience and its' influence on learning outcome. The results revealed that the age of virtual agents is an important factor that must be considered in virtual tutor design. | |||
| Age-Based Task Specialization for Crowdsourced Proofreading | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 104-112 | |
| Masatomo Kobayashi; Tatsuya Ishihara; Toshinari Itoko; Hironobu Takagi; Chieko Asakawa | |||
| Crowdsourcing can efficiently produce accessible digital books for people
with print disabilities. However, particularly in Japan, the proofreading step
tends to be expensive because of language-related issues. The elderly
population is a promising source of proofreaders. Our surveys found that they
have strong linguistic skills and want to contribute to society. So why do they
rarely participate in Internet-based work scenarios such as crowdsourcing? We
introduce a collaborative crowdsourcing model that aims to fully utilize the
linguistic skills of the elderly by encouraging younger people to support the
elderly in overcoming their limited technical skills. We decompose each
proofreading task into several types of sub-tasks, where some tasks require
more linguistic skills while the other tasks need more technical skills, so
that the linguistic and technical tasks can be distributed to older and younger
participants, respectively. We also discuss other scenarios that may be
suitable for such multi-generational crowdsourcing model. Keywords: Accessibility; Micro-tasks; Crowdsourcing; Collaboration; Elderly;
Intergenerational Communications | |||
| What "Digital Divide" between Generations? A Cross-National Analysis Using Data from the World Internet Project | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 113-122 | |
| Tiago Lapa; Gustavo Cardoso | |||
| Individuals who grew up in the digital age are, according to some, digital
natives, with increased expertise, compared to the rest of the population,
using digital technology as an integral part of their lives. However, this
paper aims to make a critical evaluation of approaches that naturalize the
notion of "digital native," supported by the available data of the World
Internet Project (WIP 2010) regarding the relationship of individuals of
different cohorts with new technologies. Using the concept of digital natives
without carrying out a careful and extensive comparative analysis runs the risk
of masking asymmetric social situations (social, economic, geographic, gender,
educational, cultural), both in younger and in older adults. Our proposed
analysis takes into account alternative proposals that argue that the extent of
use and experience has greater explanatory power than the simple comparison of
inter-generational use of new technologies. Keywords: new media; generations; digital natives; digital immigrants; age differences | |||
| Symbiosis: An Innovative Human-Computer Interaction Environment for Alzheimer's Support | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 123-132 | |
| Dimitris Mandiliotis; Kostas Toumpas; Katerina Kyprioti; Kiki Kaza; João Barroso; Leontios J. Hadjileontiadis | |||
| Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia diagnosed in
people over 65 years of age. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as
it progresses, and eventually leads to death. As the disease advances, symptoms
can include confusion, irritability and aggression, mood swings, trouble with
language, and long-term memory loss. As the sufferer declines they often
withdraw from family and society. Gradually, body functions are lost,
ultimately leading to death. Current treatments only help with the symptoms of
the disease. Following the vision of WHO and AD International for innovative
approaches to AD, the system proposed here, namely Symbiosis, aims at creating
a novel human-computer interaction (HCI) environment to facilitate, understand
and incorporate the needs of the whole AD community (patients, caregivers and
doctors). Keywords: Alzheimer's Disease; Alzheimer's Community; Holistic Approach; Novel
Environment; Cloud Database; Augmented Reality; Kinect Games; EEG; GPS Tracking | |||
| Interaction Science and the Aging User: Techniques to Assist in Design and Evaluation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 133-141 | |
| Sandra P. Marshall | |||
| The aging user presents unique challenges to designers of new technologies,
in part because of physical changes in the user's visual system. This paper
reviews a number of these changes and shows how eye tracking can assist
interaction science studies, both through traditional eye-movement metrics as
well as with pupil-based estimates of cognitive workload. Three studies of
older and younger participants are described. Keywords: Aging; Cognitive Workload; Eye Tracking; Interface Design | |||
| User Interfaces for Older Adults | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 142-150 | |
| Christopher Mayer; Martin Morandell; Matthias Gira; Miroslav Sili; Martin Petzold; Sascha Fagel; Christian Schüler; Jan Bobeth; Susanne Schmehl | |||
| Needs and wishes regarding the interaction with ICT solutions change over
time and vary between older adults. They depend on the user's physical and
mental capabilities and preferences. Thus the user interface, which is
considered critical to the success or failure of an ICT product or service,
should be adaptable. AALuis provides an open middleware layer to guarantee
accessible and usable user interfaces for Ambient Assisted Living services. The
general idea is to foster a detachment of the user interface from the service
and its functionality, respectively. Furthermore an input fusion and output
fission regarding I/O modalities based on the user's preferences is striven
for. At the heart of AALuis lays a dynamically adapted, personalized
interaction between an older adult and the service, with various I/O devices.
The first results of the project look promising to achieve flexibility in the
creation and usage of interfaces. The chosen approach allows further
developments expanding the functionalities and improving the generated user
interfaces. Keywords: Ambient Assisted Living Services; Human-Computer Interaction; User
Interface; Framework; Automatic Adaptation | |||
| Volunteer Website for the Older Adult | | BIBA | Full-Text | 151-155 | |
| Melissa L. McDonald | |||
| The need for volunteering has always been high, and the desire to volunteer has also been equally as significant especially for those who have retired or are nearing retirement. For those in the senior age group, volunteering is one way to give back to the community and to stay active. In this particular study, the ages of the participants ranged from 55 to 70. With this in mind, a prototype website for this particular age group was created that easily and efficiently found volunteer work around the area in which the individuals reside. | |||
| Age Differences in the Knowledge and Usage of QR Codes | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 156-161 | |
| Jonathan Mendelson; Jennifer C. Romano Bergstrom | |||
| The adoption of a new technology is often affected by its perceived utility
and ease of use, both of which could vary by age due to cognitive differences.
A recently invented technology, the quick response (QR) code, enables
smartphone users to access content on their mobile devices by scanning
two-dimensional barcodes. In this paper, we examine awareness, knowledge, and
usage of QR codes across different age groups in the United States, using a
representative survey. Controlling for demographic characteristics, we find
that older adults were only 13% as likely as younger adults to have used a QR
code. We discuss survey results and implications for future research. Keywords: age; technology usage; technology adoption; QR; quick response | |||
| Time-Mosaic Formation of Senior Workforces for Complex Irregular Work in Cooperative Farms | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 162-170 | |
| Takahiro Miura; Masato Nakayama; Atsushi Hiyama; Naomi Yatomi; Michitaka Hirose | |||
| Although the challenges posed by aging populations are great, they can be
offset to some degree by harnessing the increasing vitality and productivity of
senior citizens in developed countries. To improve work opportunities for
seniors and to make use of their abilities, we propose a mosaic-type work
system in which elderly human resources are combined to form a single "virtual
worker" based on seamless information sharing. In this study, we particularly
focus on part of the mosaic, the time-mosaic, for the stable worker generation
in the case of complex irregular work. The objective is to demonstrate the
effectiveness of the time-mosaic formation system in cooperative farms for
shift work organizations. In interviews with the workers, most of the leading
workers at the farm found the system to be useful for effective formation and
modification of the time-mosaic. Keywords: Mosaic-type work; seniors; information communication technologies (ICT);
cooperative farms | |||
| Development and Field Trial of a Social TV System for Elderly People | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 171-180 | |
| Masaru Miyazaki; Masanori Sano; Shigeaki Mitsuya; Hideki Sumiyoshi; Masahide Naemura; Arisa Fujii | |||
| As the core of an innovative business model, we seek to develop an ICT
(information and communications technology) platform called "Senior Cloud" that
will activate communication among the elderly and utilize their knowledge and
labor skills in the hyper-aged society of Japan, in which the percentage of
people aged 65+ currently exceeds 21% of the total population. As one aspect of
this effort, we studied what leads to the activation of communication among the
elderly; specifically, we extended the viewing action and social graphs of the
social TV system "teleda," which features VOD (Video on Demand) and SNS (Social
Networking Service) functions. In this paper, we describe several experiments
that verify the possibility of employing social TV systems to activate the
elderly. Keywords: Social TV; Social Networking Service; Video on Demand; Senior Cloud | |||
| Small Input Devices Used by the Elderly -- How Sensorimotor Transformation and Task Complexity Affect Interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 181-190 | |
| Michael Oehl; Luisa Dahlmanns; Christine Sutter | |||
| Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) often challenges the human motor system,
especially when small input devices have to be used. An inclusive design of
input devices for a broad user group has to be provided that assures an
efficient and effective interaction with the device. Therefore, this paper
focuses on aging effects and the usability of small input devices integrated
into computer notebooks. In two experiments we examined the most common input
devices with regard to sensorimotor transformation and with regard to task
complexity. In both experiments we compared younger and older middle-aged
adults to younger adult users. Especially for the younger and older middle-aged
user group we found a more efficient use of the motion-controlled tool
(touchpad) in comparison to the force-controlled tool (mini-joystick) to
perform a rather simple task. Keywords: Age; tool use; sensorimotor transformation; gain factor; task complexity | |||
| Conversational System Encouraging Communication of the Aged by Method of Reminiscence and Quantification of Active Participation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 191-200 | |
| Tetsuaki Okada; Misato Nihei; Takuya Narita; Minoru Kamata | |||
| We developed a conversational system encouraging aged persons to have
conversations. This system quantifies the degree of active participation (DAP)
by analyzing attitudes of the users, and selects topic based on it. The DAP was
revealed to be quantified with vertical movement of face per question for each
topic. As a result of experiments, the system succeeded in keeping or raising
the DAP in 75% (9 out of 12) of topic selection cases. In addition, the method
of reminiscence was proposed and applied to the system. The method proved to be
effective in encouraging conversations of the aged persons. Keywords: Speech and natural language interfaces; New technology and its usefulness | |||
| Age-Related Differences in Search Strategy and Performance When Using a Data-Rich Web Site | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 201-210 | |
| Erica Olmsted-Hawala; Jennifer C. Romano Bergstrom; Wendy A. Rogers | |||
| In a usability study on a portion of the Census Bureau Web site, we assess
how people of different ages search for specific information by evaluating
performance and strategy differences between age groups. We collected usability
metrics of accuracy and efficiency, including mouse click data. Eye-tracking
data were also collected including eye-movement patterns in pre-defined areas
of interest. This paper focuses on the number of fixations (whether
participants looked at the correct area of the screen) and number of unique
visits (whether participants re-checked their answers). Results show that on
the hard task only, older adults took longer to make the first click when
initially starting the task, and there was a trend for younger adults to have
higher accuracy. All age groups re-checked their answers suggesting that users
of all ages experience difficulties when reading and comprehending complex data
tables. Keywords: eye tracking; usability; age differences; search strategy; mouse clicks;
cognition | |||
| Are Internet and Social Network Usage Associated with Wellbeing and Social Inclusion of Seniors? -- The Third Age Online Survey on Digital Media Use in Three European Countries | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 211-220 | |
| Dirk Richter; Stijn Bannier; Ruediger Glott; Markus Marquard; Thomas Schwarze | |||
| Research on the psychosocial effects of Internet and social network usage in
seniors is either contradictory or sparse. As part of the Third Age Online
project, this paper reports a cross-sectional survey conducted in Germany, the
Netherlands and in Switzerland. The survey, utilizing regression analysis,
examined whether or not social inclusion and mental wellbeing were predictors
of Internet usage and social network usage. Results showed that social
inclusion variables were associated with both Internet usage and social network
usage. Internet usage was associated with respondents who were both less and
more socially included. Mental wellbeing was positively related to Internet
usage but not to social network usage. In further studies, longitudinal designs
are needed to reveal the directions of causality between Internet/social
network usage and mental wellbeing/social inclusion. Keywords: Internet; social networks; mental wellbeing; social inclusion; elderly | |||
| Age and Computer Self-Efficacy in the Use of Digital Technologies: An Investigation of Prototypes for Public Self-Service Terminals | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 221-230 | |
| Günther Schreder; Michael Smuc; Karin Siebenhandl; Eva Mayr | |||
| Previous research suggests that self-efficacy (SE), i.e. the belief 'in
one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to
produce given attainments' (Bandura), plays an important role in the usage of
self-service technologies especially for elder customers. Two experiments with
different prototypes of ticket vending machines (TVM) were conducted.
Participants were selected according to their age (half of the participants
aged 55 or older) and levels of general computer self-efficacy (CSE). The first
experiment shows that CSE contributes to both the user's performance and
ratings of task-specific SE, while age affects the performance only. The second
experiment indicates that using the novel TVM increases the user's
task-specific SE except for elder users with low CSE -- who faced critical
problems in the more complex tasks. Results indicate that future research on
digital inclusion should focus on elder users with low CSE. Keywords: ticket vending machine; self-service terminals; self-efficacy; age and
technology; older adults | |||
| A Framework of Affordance and Usability of Mobile User Interface for Older Adults | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 231-239 | |
| Chui Yin Wong | |||
| Growing ageing phenomena and prevalence of mobile technology give rise to
the unexplored 'silver surfer' group in the local market. Due to ageing, many
older adults suffer declination of cognitive, motor and physical abilities.
Many of them experience difficulties using certain features when interacting
with their mobile phones, especially technology shift from keypad-enabled to
touch-screen mobile user interfaces. However, there is still no profound
knowledge about how to design for local older adults, and which particular role
of affordance might play to ensure usability of mobile user interface for older
adults. The role of affordance is very much related to how an older adult
perceives a new mobile user interface when they first expose to it that s/he
has never seen it before, and have no clues what to do with it. This paper
formulates a conceptual research framework for affordance and usability of
mobile user interface for older adults. Keywords: affordance; usability; mobile user interface; older adults | |||
| Designing for the Wisdom of Elders: Age Related Differences in Online Search Strategies | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 240-249 | |
| Robert J. Youmans; Brooke Bellows; Christian A. Gonzalez; Brittany Sarbone; Ivonne J. Figueroa | |||
| Information search is one of the main reasons that older adults go online,
but older adults experience more difficulties than younger adults when
interacting with search engines. In this study, 15 younger and 14 older
participants completed a battery of cognitive tasks, and then searched for
information via a realistic search simulator. Older participants searched using
a more methodical strategy that entailed careful word selection and serial
processing of search results, while younger participants used a more impulsive
strategy whereby they scanned search results quickly and jumped between links
more frequently. In keeping with past studies, older adults displayed lower
cognitive flexibility, but these deficiencies were apparently offset by their
search strategy, and young and old participants ultimately found information in
similar amounts of time. We argue that, while age-related cognitive changes
certainly exist, their effect on older adults' interactions with search engines
may be due to mismatches between older adults' search strategies and the design
of current versions of popular search interfaces. Keywords: Internet Search; Age; Search Strategy; Cognitive Flexibility | |||
| Using Pupil Size Variation during Visual Emotional Stimulation in Measuring Affective States of Non Communicative Individuals | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 253-258 | |
| Dania Al-Omar; Areej Al-Wabil; Manar Fawzi | |||
| In this paper we describe an exploratory experiment conducted in the early
stages of the design and development of a screening program for
non-communicative individuals. The system incorporates eye-tracking and
biosensor technologies for objectively measuring affective states by combining
measures of ElectroDermal Activity (EDA), temperature and eye gaze metrics of
pupil dilation. The objective is to provide individuals with cognitive
disabilities who experience difficulties in expressing their feelings with an
alternate form of communicating their emotional states in clinical screening
and occupational therapy sessions. The interactive computer-based screening
program is comprised of stimuli-sets designed to elicit emotional response from
viewers with a trend analysis component designed with an interface for health
care providers. The focus of this paper is the feasibility of including pupil
dilation as a measure reflecting affective states of individuals in the overall
emotional intelligence screening system. Keywords: Multi-sensory interfaces; Autism; Eye Tracking | |||
| SERPs and Ads on Mobile Devices: An Eye Tracking Study for Generation Y | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 259-268 | |
| Soussan Djamasbi; Adrienne Hall-Phillips; Ruijiao (Rachel) Yang | |||
| We use eye tracking data to analyze the search behavior of Generation Y
users when searching for information using a mobile phone. Following previous
studies, we use Google as an example of list-based SERPs to explore the impact
of advertisements in search results and their impact on attention before the
user's first action on the page. Results provide evidence that the presence of
advertisements and location on the screen can have an impact on user experience
and search. Keywords: Fixation; Generation Y; Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs); viewing
behavior; mobile phone | |||
| Effects of Long-Time 3D Viewing on the Eye Function of Accommodation and Convergence | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 269-274 | |
| Hiromu Ishio; Takehito Kojima; Takumi Oohashi; Yuuki Okada; Hiroki Takada; Masaru Miyao | |||
| Recently we developed a device by combining a binocular autorefractometer
and an eye mark recorder. Then, using the device together with images of very
natural and high quality, we have carried out a sequence of experiments on
simultaneous measurements of both accommodation and convergence while viewing
virtual 3D objects.
The results show that there is essentially no discrepancy in the dynamical behaviors of accommodation and convergence especially for young subjects and that they are hence very close to the case of natural viewing of real 3D objects. Following our previous experiments, we now investigate effects of long-time viewing of virtual 3D objects on the eye function of accommodation and convergence. We show that the synchronous dynamical behaviors of accommodation and convergence are definitely not a temporal effect but last for a long time. Keywords: 3D; virtual image; accommodation; convergence; long-time viewing | |||
| Image Quality Assessment for the Visually Impaired | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 275-284 | |
| Tatiana Koshkina; Éric Dinet; Hubert Konik | |||
| In recent years, image enhancement methods have been developed to assist
visually impaired people in the everyday life. These methods are promising but
they currently suffer from the problem of their correct adjustment according to
the specificities of each patient. To address such a problem, an objective
quality metric could be used to quantify if enhancement schemes do not
introduce artifacts that could be perceived as troublesome by visually
deficient persons. As all existing metrics were designed to assess the image
quality for observers with normal or corrected to normal vision, they are not
appropriate in the context of low vision. Then an alternate framework is
presented in this paper. This framework combines three distinct quality
attributes that were identified as important features for the visually impaired
in image quality assessment and it has been developed to adapt to the different
types of visual pathologies. Keywords: visual aid; quality metric; image enhancement; low vision | |||
| An Evaluation of the iPod Touch as an Alternative Low-Vision Magnifier for People with Low Vision | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 285-292 | |
| Seunghyun Tina Lee; Jon A. Sanford | |||
| This study evaluated the feasibility of using the iPod Touch as an
alternative low-vision magnifier by comparing its usability issues, subjective
ratings, and preferences with those of two existing low-vision magnifiers
(SmartView Pocket and Amigo). Thirty participants (30-91 years) performed
magnification adjustment tasks and reading tasks using three devices and rated
the devices based on ease of use, ease of understanding, and satisfaction. The
results show 60% of the participants preferred the pinch zoom gesture and 66%
preferred the scrolling one-finger gesture on the iPod Touch. This high user
preference data indicate participants' acceptability of finger gestures, which
suggests new opportunities for the adoption of new technology for low-vision
video magnifiers. The gesture interfaces may be a promising method for
magnification and navigation for low-vision users. Keywords: Low vision video magnifier; gesture | |||
| Form in Potential Functions While Maintaining an Upright Posture during Exposure to Stereoscopic Video Clips | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 293-301 | |
| Yasuyuki Matsuura; Masaru Miyao; Hiroki Takada | |||
| Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a well-known phenomenon in
viewing video, playing video games and others. The VIMS is caused by sensory
conflict, the disagreement between convergence and visual accommodation while
observing stereoscopic images. The VIMS can be measured by psychological and
physiological methods. We propose a mathematical methodology to measure the
effect of 3-dimensional (3D) images on the equilibrium function. In this study,
body sway in the resting state is compared with that during exposure to 3D
video clips on a liquid crystal display and on a head mounted display. In
addition, the Simulator Sickness Questioner (SSQ) was completed immediately
afterward. Based on the statistical analysis of the SSQ sub-scores and each
index for stabilograms, we succeeded in determining the quantity of the VIMS
during exposure to the stereoscopic images. Moreover, we discuss the
metamorphism in the potential functions to control the standing posture during
the exposure to stereoscopic video clips. Keywords: Visually induced motion sickness; Stabilometry; Sparse density; Stochastic
Differential Equation (SDE); Liquid crystal displays (LCDs); Head-mounted
displays (HMDs) | |||
| Evaluating the Legibility of Streoscopic Game Consoles | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 302-308 | |
| Yuki Okada; Takehito Kojima; Takumi Oohashi; Masaru Miyao | |||
| Recently, 3D technology has been developing and spreading into many aspects
of our life; for example, in television and mobile phones. It is generally
believed that during stereoscopic vision, a person' accommodation and
convergence are mismatched when viewing 3D images and thus causing visual
fatigue. During stereoscopic vision, while accommodation is fixed on the
display showing a 3D image, convergence of the left and right eyes crosses at
the location of the stereo-image. According to the findings presented in our
previous observation, however, such explanations are mistaken. Results from our
previous research found that accommodation is not fixed on the display and
actually moved to suit convergence. We used a parallax barrier system for the
3D image in the previous study. In this experiment, we measured accommodation
and convergence simultaneously using a handheld 3D game console (parallax
barrier scheme). Keywords: Accommodation; Convergence; 3D images | |||
| Measurement of Lens Accommodation and Convergence during the Viewing of 3D Images | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 309-317 | |
| Takumi Oohashi; Hiromu Ishio; Yuki Okada; Tomohiko Yanase; Takehito Kojima; Masaru Miyao | |||
| Three-dimensional display technology has developed rapidly in recent years.
This has been accompanied by increasing problems of visual complaints such as
eye strain. There are also various types of digital signage, in which text
information moves on a screen. In this paper, we conducted two experiments for
the purpose of easy to read, dynamic characters that pop out when viewing 3D
images, and safe and comfortable 3D viewing. We conducted a survey of
accommodation and convergence of viewers when they watched a movie with a
television opaque projector for large outward projection of characters. We also
compared the results of a survey on the readability of characters that pop out
and the proportion and the perception of the amount of protrusion. We examined
the maximum distance in which subjects' eyes could recognize the 3D character
representations without any difficulty or discomfort. The distance of the
images as they popped out from the screen as a theoretical virtual target was
compared with what the subjects recognized according to each age group. There
was no significant difference between the theoretical and observed values in
any age groups. In a second experiment, we performed objective measurements of
accommodation and convergence for 3D character representation using original
instruments. We then compared the values of the measurements of the subjects
with the theoretical positions of emergence. When a subject recognized a 3D
character representation, the position of his or her accommodative and
convergent focus was closer to the theoretical position of the virtual object
that projected out from the screen. Nearly all of the subjects recognized the
3D representation at even 3.8 degrees, which was the largest parallax
condition. Cognitively, almost all of the subjects viewed the positions of the
objects correctly without much difficulty. Keywords: 3Ddisplay; ergonomics; accommodation; convergence | |||
| Multi-evaluation Method of Visual Fatigue and Motion Sickness While Viewing 2D/3D Video Clips on a Liquid Crystal Display | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 318-326 | |
| Hiroki Takada; Kazuhiro Fujikake; Yasuyuki Matsuura; Masaru Miyao | |||
| It is physiologically known that the vestibular system and the autonomic
nervous system interact with each other. The motion sickness can affect both
these systems, and severity of the motion sickness is expected to be measured
by dysfunction of the equilibrium system. We have proposed a new index, sparse
density (SPD), of stationary stabilograms for detecting the metamorphism in the
(temporally averaged) potential function of stochastic differential equations,
which occurs when a human attempts to maintain an upright posture. It is known
that a mathematical model of the body sway can be developed by a stochastic
process. The authors have succeeded in finding the nonlinearity in the
potential function. Subjects in a standing position were stimulated by a movie
scrolling from left to right on a liquid crystal display (LCD) in measurement 1
and a stereoscopic video clip on an LCD in measurement 2. As a result, the
dynamics of the body sway in the presence of the stimulus as well as in its
absence were considered to be stochastic. The metamorphism in the potential
function during exposure to blurred images and a stereoscopic video clip could
be detected by using the SPD. Keywords: Visual Fatigue; Visually Induced Motion Sickness (VIMS); Blurred Images;
Stereoscopic Images; Stabilometry | |||
| Exploring Psychophysical Factors Influencing Visibility of Virtual Image Display | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 327-335 | |
| Shys-Fan Yang-Mao; Ming-Hui Lin; Yu-Ting Lin; Wen-Jun Zeng; Yueh-Yi Lai | |||
| Mixed reality (MR) or augmented reality (AR) is a very popular displaying
technology in various applications. It allows the user to see the real world
and virtual image simultaneously, with displaying virtual objects composited
with or superimposed upon the real world. Since the usability of interactive
user interface based on MR or AR relies heavily on visibility of displaying
content, for virtual image display particularly. In this paper, we explore
several psychophysical factors that can influence visibility on our virtual
image display prototype. Factors include contrast sensitivity, transparency,
color, brightness, texture gradient and ambient light. The experiment results
reveal many interesting and fascinating features. The features can be the user
interface design guidelines for every similar see-through near-eye display
system. Keywords: augmented reality; mixed reality; see-through near-eye display; user
interface; usability; visibility | |||
| Effect of Display Size on Body Sway in Seated Posture While Viewing an Hour-Long Stereoscopic Film | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 336-341 | |
| Kazuki Yoshikawa; Hiroki Takada; Masaru Miyao | |||
| Viewing stereoscopic films may have adverse effects, such as asthenopia and
visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). The phenomenon of VIMS is not fully
understood, so the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of viewing a
long stereoscopic film on the human body. We conducted stabilometric analysis
on subjects in the Romberg posture, carried out flicker tests, and provided
subjective questionnaires to detect fatigue and eye strain every 20 min.
Symptoms of VIMS were detected during exposure to an hour-long stereoscopic
film. The display size and the engagement were analyzed for their affect on the
total locus length and the sway area, respectively. The severity of the motion
sickness induced by viewing the 3D film was measured by stabilometry, and the
analogous sway was not observed in participants after viewing the 2D film in
this study. Based on these results, guidelines can be developed to ensure
safety while viewing stereoscopic movies. Keywords: Visually induced motion sickness; Stabilometry; Liquid crystal displays
(LCDs); Hour-long stereoscopic film | |||
| GreenSense: Developing Persuasive Service Technology by Integrating Mobile Devices and Social Interaction for Sustainable and Healthy Behavior | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 345-354 | |
| Po-Chun Chen; Taysheng Jeng; Yi-Shin Deng; Sheng-Fen Chien | |||
| Energy and carbon dioxide emissions are becoming the major issue for
creating a sustainable living environment. According to ITF reports,
transportation represent 23% carbon dioxide emissions globally in 2010, and has
grown by 45% from 1990 to 2007. However, the lack of Information transparency
of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission may become the barrier for
users who are willing to perform sustainable behaviors. Moreover, the unchanged
human behavior and habits are the major obstacles toward the sustainable
living.
In this paper, we proposed a mobile persuasive service to promote "green" sense that encourages sustainable transportation by revealing both sustainable and health information to users. The service design includes: 1) A mobile App for users to monitor their own transportation behaviors; 2) A visualization interface for users better realizing their own performance and states; 3) A virtual "Green Credit" rewards concept to create social interactions and encourage behavior change. A working prototype has been implemented and tested in a university campus. We describe the design, implementation and future work of the GreenSense project in this paper. Keywords: Behavior Change; Mobile Devices; Social Interaction; Persuasive Technology | |||
| How Do We Feel When Babyloid Starts Crying Suddenly? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 355-362 | |
| Felix Jimenez; Masayoshi Kanoh; Masato Goto | |||
| We investigated whether Babyloid, which is a robot designed to act like a
human baby, induces feeling that people want to care or help it by focusing on
the distance between individuals and the robot. We evaluated how people when
Babyloid suddenly started crying by using three distances of personal spaces
(intimate (30 cm), personal (100 cm), and social (200 cm)). As a result,
participants at an intimate distance had a feeling to help Babyloid, those at a
personal distance either wanted to help it or avoided it, and those at a social
distance showed no such feeling. Keywords: Human-robot interaction; personal space; Babyloid | |||
| How Does Unintentional Eye Contact with a Robot Affect Users' Emotional Attachment to It?: Investigation on the Effects of Eye Contact and Joint Attention on Users' Emotional Attachment to a Robot | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 363-372 | |
| Takanori Komatsu; Haruka Takahashi | |||
| Eye contact behavior plays a significant role in establishing intimate
interaction between a user and a robot. In this study, more specifically, we
assumed that unintentional eye contact with a robot would make a person feel a
stronger emotional attachment to the robot, especially when the user believes
that s/he had achieved joint attention with the robot. To verify this
assumption, we developed an experimental setting to make users establish joint
attention and eye-contact with a robot. We then conducted an experiment to
investigate the above assumption; that is, independent variables were
with/without eye-contact and with/without joint attention, while the dependent
variable was a questionnaire that consisted of a love-liking scale. The results
showed that our assumption was verified. Keywords: eye contact; joint attention; emotional attachment; human-robot interaction | |||
| Interaction Design for Robotic Avatars Does Avatar's Aging Cue Affect the User's Impressions of a Robot? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 373-382 | |
| Angie Lorena Marin; Sukhan Lee | |||
| Human Computer/Robot Interaction has concerned about developing embodied
computer/robot agents effective for their use in user interaction. In
particular, the study on the dependency of the interaction design on the target
users has been of a core theme to investigate. For instance, in the case of
designing an embodied agent such as an avatar specifically to support the
performance of a robot assistant to the elderly, the aspect of social
interaction with the older adults should be of a serious concern. In this
paper, we present a study that explores the relationship between the degree of
aging cues (i.e., the visual features related to the age of embodied agents)
and the level of perceived anthropomorphism, intelligence, safety and
likeability by the older adults as customers. The study found that avatar aging
cues affect the perception of the older adults in intelligence and safety: the
older adults perceived the agent more intelligent with older avatars but safer
with younger avatars. However, the aging cue seems not affecting the sense of
anthropomorphism and likeability on users. An Interesting finding is the
difference in the likability associated with the aging cue according to the
gender of the older adults: the male participants tend to like older avatars
while the female participants the younger ones. Since how the older adults
perceive the aging cues of avatars could affect their expectation and trust on
the assistant robots, thus, the findings related to the aging cue influence in
the design of a series of attributions of the robots in terms of their roles
and capabilities. Based on the results of this work, we can approach toward
design considerations to help guide interaction designers in creating the
visual appearance of an embodied agency as the robotic avatar interfaces for
the elderly. Keywords: Robotics; avatar; embodied agent; elderly; aging cues; interfaces; user
experience | |||
| "Multicultural/Cross-Cultural Emotional Design:" The Usage of Pictographs to Design Emotional Interactive Environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 383-393 | |
| Haytham Nawar; Hala Gabr | |||
| With the advancement of technology and communication, globalization is
realized progressively as geographical barriers break. The idea of visual
communication systems started developing under the cross-culture interaction
and communication umbrella. The development of such a visual language serves as
a universal form of communication bridging linguistic and cultural gaps. The
proposed visual communication system cannot be considered a language, but
rather a supplement to languages to create better and faster understanding. In
this research, we ask two questions; 1. Would the existence of a universal
visual language bridge cultural gaps? And 2. we study the effect of having a
visual language on the emotional experience of the user, so we ask if the usage
of pictographs as a universal language would make the experience of people a
more emotional one? In this paper, we propose an augmented reality application
that translates natural languages to pictographic symbols. Keywords: multiculturalism; cross-culture; universal language; visual communication
system; pictograph; emotional design; interactive environment | |||
| Talking Ally: Toward Persuasive Communication in Everyday Life | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 394-403 | |
| Yuki Odahara; Naoki Ohshima; P. Ravindra S. De Silva; Michio Okada | |||
| Exploiting a social intelligent agent (robot) for the embodiment of
communication and interaction in a social and engaging manner is more
exceptionally challenging than developing the basic capabilities of embedded
robots (moving and acting). A robot should mainly have the capability of
executing its communication capabilities within a social manner that is
sufficient for establishing interaction with humans. The field of social
robotics is mainly concerned with exploring desirable conventions embedded in
social robots, which must contemplate and incorporate non-verbal communication.
As such, we are developing a social robot (Talking-Ally) that is capable of
liking the state of the person (addressee) through an utterance-generation
mechanism (addressivity) that refers to the hearer's resources (hearership) in
order to persuade the user through dynamic interactions. Keywords: Mutually influences; Persuasive communication; Hearership; Addressivity | |||
| Beyond Rationality: Affect as a Function of User Interfaces | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 404-413 | |
| Bernardo Santos Schorr; Rejane Spitz | |||
| The emotional part of human nature is rarely explored in design projects
that involve interaction with electronic devices. Designs are usually guided by
technical efficiency and the astonishment that derives from the speed of
information processing in digital media. Considering the contemporary context
and the concept of ubiquitous computing, this article seeks to identify
achievements and future directions for the implementation of affective
functions in interaction design projects, revealing a wide range of
possibilities for development in this area. To achieve these goals, this paper
draws parallels between computer science, neuroscience and interaction design;
discusses the definition of the term 'affect' in Spinoza and Deleuze; and
establishes categories to analyze a series of objects that are either
affectively influenced by the user, that are designed to affectively influence
the user, or that facilitate affective exchange between two or more users. Keywords: affect; affective design; interaction design; user interface | |||
| Characteristics of Robots and Virtual Agents as a Persuasive Talker | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 414-423 | |
| Kaoru Sumi; Mizue Nagata | |||
| Considering the spread of computers and the technological advances of recent
years, research on persuasive intelligent user interfaces with a fifty-fifty
relationship for communicating with humans is necessary. Recently,
anthropomorphic user interfaces have been developed, such as virtual agents and
robots. In this paper, we introduce an experiment on the effect on a human of
persuasive interaction with a virtual agent which is capable of facial and
verbal expression. Then, considering the results, we discuss an experiment on
persuasion to maintain motivation, comparing human agent interaction and human
robot interaction. Keywords: Persuasion; human agent interaction; human robot interaction | |||
| Age-Related Differences in Factors Contributing to Affective Experiences among Japanese Adults | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 424-433 | |
| Qin Tang; Wendy A. Rogers; Hiroyuki Umemuro | |||
| People's needs for products and services providing affective experiences
continue to grow. Previous studies have made initial attempts at clarifying
affective factors contributing to the generation of affects among Japanese
participants. However, those studies focused only on younger adults. Given that
most products are designed for a wide range of users, it is important to
determine whether results obtained among Japanese younger adults generalize to
broader populations including older adults. The purpose of this study was to
explore the difference in factor structures of affective factors among Japanese
older and younger adults. This study also explored how people's affective
responses toward stimuli may vary across ages. A questionnaire-based
investigation was conducted with both younger and older adults in Japan.
Results indicated that affective responses elicited by the same stimulus varied
across age groups. Younger and older adults' affects were evoked in different
ways while participants' perceptions toward the same stimulus also varied
across age groups. The result of this study would help designers to design
products or services that elicit target users' affects more effectively
according to the characteristics of younger and older adults as target users. Keywords: aging; affect; affective experiences; design; product; service | |||
| Regression Modeling of Reader's Emotions Induced by Font Based Text Signals | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 434-443 | |
| Dimitrios Tsonos; Georgios Kouroupetroglou; Despina Deligiorgi | |||
| In this work we presented a mathematical model for the readers' emotional
state responses triggered by font style, type and color. It is based on
multiple regression analysis of the repeated measures from 45 students and for
35 textual stimuli using the Self-Assessment Manikin test. Based on the
dimensional theory of emotions, we propose a model on how emotional dimensions
Pleasure, Arousal, and Dominance vary according to the typographic text
signals: font style, font type and font/background color combinations. We
observe that "Pleasure" dimension is affected negatively by font type ("Arial"
and "Times New Roman") and positively by color brightness difference of
font/background color combinations. "Arousal" and "Dominance" are affected only
by color brightness difference (negative correlation). According to the
proposed model, font type "Arial" elicits more pleasant emotional state than
"Times New Roman". The results can be applied to augment user interface
experience or to add expressivity in Text-to-Speech systems and provide
accessibility of typography induced text signals. Keywords: document accessibility; text signals; reader's emotions; Text-to-Speech;
Self-Assessment Manikin test Note: Best paper award | |||
| A Usability Study on Natural Interaction Devices with ASD Children | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 447-453 | |
| Ravi Agarwal; Harini Alagarai Sampath; Bipin Indurkhya | |||
| Intelligent agents such as social robots and avatars have been used with
Children with Autism (CWA) to help them learn social skills. Social robots
afford a natural interaction but are expensive. Interaction with avatars, on
the other hand, is through point-and-click interfaces and touch-screens. In
this paper, we explore the use of Microsoft KinectTMas an interaction modality
with children with autism. We found that while CWA could understand the concept
of interacting through gestures, though they needed explicit physical modeling
from their teachers to perform those gestures. We discuss the implications of
this to user-interface design. Keywords: Gesture Controlled User Interfaces; Natural User Interfaces; Assistive
technology; Autism | |||
| Virtual Reality-Based Facial Expressions Understanding for Teenagers with Autism | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 454-463 | |
| Esubalew Bekele; Zhi Zheng; Amy Swanson; Julie Davidson; Zachary Warren; Nilanjan Sarkar | |||
| Technology-enabled intervention has the potential to individualize and
improve outcomes of traditional intervention. Specifically, virtual reality
(VR) technology has been proposed in the virtual training of core social and
communication skills that are impaired in individuals with autism. Various
studies have demonstrated that children with autism have slow and atypical
processing of emotional faces, which could be due to their atypical underlying
neural structure. Emotional face recognition is considered among the core
building blocks of social communication and early impairment in this skill has
consequence on later complex language and communication skills. This work
proposed a VR-based facial emotion recognition mechanism in the presence of
contextual storytelling. Results from a usability study support the idea that
individuals with autism may employ different facial processing strategies. The
results are discussed in the context of the applicability of multimodal
processing to enable adaptive VR-based systems in delivering individualized
intervention. Keywords: Social interaction; virtual reality; multimodal system; adaptive
interaction; eye tracking; physiological processing; autism intervention | |||
| A Step towards Adaptive Multimodal Virtual Social Interaction Platform for Children with Autism | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 464-473 | |
| Esubalew Bekele; Mary Young; Zhi Zheng; Lian Zhang; Amy Swanson; Rebecca Johnston; Julie Davidson; Zachary Warren; Nilanjan Sarkar | |||
| Recent advances in computer and robotic technology are enabling the
application of such technology in assisting traditional intervention in
developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A number of
research studies indicate that many children with ASD prefer technology and
this preference can be explored to develop systems that may alleviate several
challenges of traditional treatment and intervention. The current work proposes
to develop an adaptive virtual reality-based social interaction platform for
children with ASD. It is hypothesized that endowing a technological system that
can detect the feeling and state of the child and adapt its interaction
accordingly is of great importance in assisting and individualization of
traditional intervention approaches. The proposed system employs sensors such
as eye trackers and physiological signal monitors and models the context
relevant psychological state of the user from combination of these sensors
together with the performance of the participant. Keywords: Social interaction; virtual reality; multimodal system; adaptive
interaction; eye tracking; physiological processing; autism intervention | |||
| A Novel Virtual Reality Driving Environment for Autism Intervention | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 474-483 | |
| Dayi Bian; Joshua W. Wade; Lian Zhang; Esubalew Bekele; Amy Swanson; Julie Ana Crittendon; Medha Sarkar; Zachary Warren; Nilanjan Sarkar | |||
| Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have difficulty
functioning independently and display impairments related to important tasks
related to adaptive independence such as driving. Ability to drive is believed
to be an important factor of quality of life for individuals with ASD. The
presented work describes a novel driving simulator based on a virtual city
environment that will be used in the future to impart driving skills to
teenagers with ASD as a part of intervention. A physiological data acquisition
system, which was used to acquire and process participant's physiological
signals, and an eye tracker, which was utilized to detect eye gaze signals,
were each integrated into the driving simulator. These physiological and eye
gaze indices were recorded and computed to infer the affective states of the
participant in real-time when he/she was driving. Based on the affective states
of the participant together with his/her performance, the driving simulator
adaptively changes the difficulty level of the task. This VR-based driving
simulator will be capable of manipulating the driving task difficulty in
response to the physiological and eye gaze indices recorded during the task.
The design of this novel driving simulator system and testing data to validate
its functionalities are presented in this paper. Keywords: Virtual Reality; Autism intervention; Adaptive task; Physiological signals;
Eye gaze | |||
| A Proposed ASD-Centric Framework: The Case of ASDAPT | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 484-493 | |
| Panagiotis Germanakos; Maria Claudia Buzzi; Marina Buzzi | |||
| As the number of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
rises, the need for providing one-to-one treatment increases significantly. ASD
is a complex lifelong disorder that has an intense impact on a person's
development predominantly demonstrating strong deficiencies in many types of
social behavior, social imagination and communication. Although people with
autism share some common characteristics, no two individuals are the same. In
this regards, computer-based treatment approaches should always be emphasizing
on the abilities, individualistic characteristics and preferences of a person
with ASD. In this paper, we propose an ASD-centric adaptation and
personalization framework, namely ASDAPT, that utilizes an extended user
profile which attempts to capture inclusively the attributes that could
formulate a strong basis for the apt identification of an individual with ASD.
Main aim of ASDAPT is to provide a unified adaptive approach to the learning
process over a computer-based environment for children with ASD, discussing
implementation considerations, taking place during the dynamic adaptation
process, supported by a real life case scenario. Keywords: Adaptation; Personalization; Autistic Spectrum Disorder; Computer-based
Education | |||
| Project Communicate | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 494-503 | |
| Ruchir Hajela; Prasanta Bhattacharya; Rahul Banerjee | |||
| The work illustrated in this paper seeks to establish the case around
children suffering from autism in developing countries. This paper proposes the
design and development of a ubiquitous computing framework (codenamed Project
Communicate) to provide a playful HCI model in order to help them learn and
communicate effectively. The key merit of this study is in the illustration of
how economical off-the-shelf technologies can be effectively integrated to
achieve two key use cases in the area of autism interventions, namely
Communication and Pedagogy. The proposed framework congregates some of the
interventions designed and implemented by the authors in each of these test
cases with a special focus on how mobile phone usage could be operationalized
and leveraged in the context of a developing country like India. Keywords: Adaptive and augmented interaction; Children with autism; Resource
constrained communities; Augmented reality | |||
| Towards an Affective Computing Feedback System to Benefit Underserved Individuals: An Example Teaching Social Media Skills | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 504-513 | |
| Mohammad Nasser Saadatzi; Karla Conn Welch; Robert Pennington; James Graham | |||
| Researchers have suggested that the use of technology may be effective
during the instruction of a variety of academic and communication skills for
individuals with disabilities [1, 2]. Also, the design of affect-sensitive
interactions between humans and technology, a research area known as affective
computing, is an increasingly important discipline in the human-computer
interaction (HCI) and human-robot interaction (HRI) communities. Physiological
signals could be used to determine which affective states are involved in HCI
and HRI for a broad section of the population but may have increased utility
for individuals with social or intellectual impairments. Therefore, employing
affect-sensitive technologies in intervention sessions may provide a means to
make strides in appropriate social interaction skills and other deficits, but
further research is necessary to understand why these methods are successful
and what applications are most useful for different individuals. Keywords: affective computing; autism; intellectual disabilities; social media | |||
| Evaluating Therapeutic Engagement and Expressive Communication in Immersive Multimedia Environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 514-523 | |
| Ceri Williams | |||
| This paper documents two case studies of pupils using the Picturing Sound
Multisensory Environment. This cause and effect environment responds to the
gestures of users by creating visuals and sounds. Two pupils, one with a severe
physical disability (stroke), and one diagnosed as on the Autistic Spectrum
(AS), are observed in the environment and comparisons are made between
interactions in the multimedia environment against interactions and behaviors
in other daily school environments. Results indicate increased periods of
physical engagement and social interaction from the case studies. The paper
comments on how the environment system has developed and how the system design
can be further refined. Keywords: Autistic Spectrum; AS; autism; physical disability; stroke; rehabilitation;
physiotherapy; engagement; motivation; multimedia; Kinect; communication; cause
and effect | |||
| Design and Evaluation of Applying Robots to Assisting and Inducing Children with Autism in Social Interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 524-533 | |
| Tzu-Chi Yin; Fang-Wu Tung | |||
| This article is a pilot study in which autistic children alternated between
playing a diverse card game, physical instructions game with two different
humanoid level robots. The purpose of the study was explores whether the
differing humanoid levels and movements regarding robot appearance influence
the responses of autistic children. The objective is to design an effective
robot at a reasonable cost. The result of this study indicated that autistic
children were happily involved in interactive scenarios. Two different humanoid
level robots were able to guide the autistic children to complete the assigned
experimental tasks, and generate basic social behavior. In other words, robots
with various levels of physical similarity to humans are capable of generating
positive effects in social interaction learning for autistic children. Keywords: Autism; robot; humanoid; social interaction; turn-taking | |||
| To Embody the N-Body: Spatial Perception Utilized in Large-Scale Visualizations | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 537-546 | |
| Julieta Aguilera-Rodríguez | |||
| This paper articulates space as a visual, proprioceptive and physical
experience that is the basis for synthetic representations created to convey
astronomically-sized dynamic structures that are beyond unaided human
perception. Astronomy visualizations based on real data as well as simulations
are presented as examples, since they are tailored to the space and time that
lie within the range of human scale, in order to show relationships that are
important for the understanding of large phenomena. The experience of space is
further characterized in relation to metaphors, image schemas and force
gestalts, emphasizing the enactive approach to embodiment, as well as the
associative and emotional connections developed in the fields of psychology,
philosophy and neuroscience that are relevant to the design of synthetic
experiences. A fluid perceptual state of mindfulness is important to notice
those relationships, and tying them through embodied interaction helps to
integrate complex relationships in a direct manner. Perceptual cues that
exploit the experiential connections of the senses to reality are used to
reinforce the vivid richness of visualizations. Sound, vision, and tracked
movement work together to build a full sensory experience by reconstructing the
missing input such as touch and smell through the senses afforded by the media
used, as well as the person experiencing it. Keywords: Visualization; space; interaction; immersion; astronomy; perception;
embodiment; enaction; mindfulness | |||
| Cognitive-Based Approach for Assessing Accessibility of e-Government Websites | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 547-554 | |
| Khulud AlJarallah; Robert C. C. Chen; Omar AlShathry | |||
| The importance of internet and other communication technologies play a vital
role in modern life. Websites are inherently designed for a targeted group of
users, normal sighted or for the whole population including those who are
visually impaired. Blind and visually impaired people often face accessibility
and usability problems while accessing websites. Related literature did not
consider the interaction mechanism and cognitive features of visually impaired
people when testing for accessibility. In this study, a novel user centered,
task oriented, and cognitive approach is proposed to evaluate the accessibility
problems faced by blind people. An e-Government website will be used as a case
study for evaluating the proposed methodology considering practical user tasks
and the WCAG guidelines. Keywords: blind and visually impaired users (BVI); Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG); accessibility; usability; e-Government; cognitive | |||
| Musically Inspired Computer Interfaces: Reaction Time and Memory Enhancements in Visuo-Spatial Timelines (ViST) for Graphic User Interfaces | | BIBA | Full-Text | 555-564 | |
| Gisela Susanne Bahr; Melissa M. Walwanis; Beth F. Wheeler Atkinson | |||
| A principal component of simulation-based training is the collaboration of distributed instructor teams. The cognitive workload of instructors during complex scenarios rapidly increases to levels that result in impaired performance. Empirical research on the investigation of cognitive performance and optimization for timeline GUI supported Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is limited. As part of the research and development of a specialized Graphic User Interface (GUI) for aviation instructors, we evaluated the differences between multi-timeline displays in a traditional, alphanumeric format and an alternative, visuo-spatial format. The current study investigated user cognitive efficiency (i.e., reactions times, memory performance) when interacting with traditional alphanumeric Timelines (AnT) and Visuo-Spatial Timelines (ViST). Stimuli complexity was controlled for density and set size. MANOVAs and ANOVAs revealed significant differences in favor of ViST conditions. For ViST users average reaction times decreased by 43.34% and 51.33% (3.78 s; 2.31 s) for last event and simultaneous events detection, respectively, and, cued recall performance increased on average by 22.5%. Inspired by musical notation, the alternative timeline design of ViST was designed to support human processing characteristics. Our findings indicate that individual users demonstrate enhanced performance compared to traditional, vertically oriented timelines. The findings presented have supported the Graphic Embedded Timeline (G.E.T.) Tools, a GUI module in use by the U.S. military. The ViST performance enhancements provoke the reevaluation of GUIs designed with list formats, such as drop-down menus, and emphasize research and design of visuo-spatial formats. | |||
| Visual Perception of Deaf Children to Inform Interaction of Tools for Literacy | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 565-574 | |
| Juliana Bueno; Cayley Guimarães; André Luiz Alencar de Mendonça; Laura Sánchez García; Rubens Massayuki Suguimoto | |||
| The Deaf community has its own culture, a term applied to the social
movement that holds Deafness to be a difference in human experience, rather
than a disability. The disability view of Deafness has deprived the Deaf of
natural language acquisition, which is crucial for intellectual development.
Human-Computer Interaction should be held accountable to better understand the
needs of the Deaf community to inform design. There is a lack of tools for
visual literacy of the Deaf (i.e. a learning process for teaching to read based
on image interpretations). This research proposes an online environment that
educators and designers could use to evaluate visual characteristics of the
Deaf. The environment contains four tests designed to assess visual perception
and subjective preference. The case study within a classroom context validated
the environment. Designers could use the results of their testing to inform
design. Keywords: Deaf culture; user-centered design; testing environment; visual perception | |||
| Back on Track: Lost and Found on Public Transportation | | BIBA | Full-Text | 575-584 | |
| Stefan Carmien; Michael Obach | |||
| Errors, in particular human errors, play an important role in many aspects
of human life, from day-to-day activities to extraordinary situations. This
paper describes the theoretical background in the context of Distributed
Cognition and the practical design process of an error trapping and mitigation
system for supporting seniors' (including disabled seniors) use of public
transportation.
Data available from the ASSISTANT project support the basic assumption that there are not many things that typically go wrong when people from this target group use buses, trams, trains etc., but that these classes of errors cover a majority of instances. An error model, being a first approximation of a rule-based error capturing and mitigation system, is proposed that is adequate for sparse data and available before the initial use of the system. Several error types, sources of information coming from a Personal Navigation Device and reasonable conclusions are presented and discussed. Furthermore, some examples of an error trapping and mitigation class tree are provided, as well as some aspects of implementing these systems in earlier projects. The on-going ASSISTANT project addresses especially mitigation types and error type classification, which can lead to easier implementation and broader acceptance in a near future. | |||
| Cognitive Factors Involved in the Ability to Manipulate a Digital Camera | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 585-593 | |
| Keisuke Ishihara; Toshihisa Doi; Sou Yanagimoto; Toshiki Yamaoka | |||
| The purpose of this study is to understand who user' property affects the
ability to manipulate a digital camera. The N-back task, the action control
scale, usability test, structural test, functional test, protocol analysis and
some questioner are used to understand user' distinction. The relationships
among each property and performance were cleared by correlation analysis. As a
result, functional models about the camera are most important to use well. Keywords: mental models; working memory; human property | |||
| A Study of Cognitive Behavior in Relation to the Elderly Visual Experiences | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 594-603 | |
| Delai Men; Xiaoping Hu; Wen Cing-Yan Nivala; Robert C. C. Chen | |||
| Makepeace in his 1998 article describes how enjoyment and pleasure also
factor into the function of an object [1]. Since visual impression is the first
occurrence of visual perception, and all human visual experiences are
determined by design, the quality of product design is closely associated with
the effect an object has on a viewer and may determine their understanding and
experience of it. Since China will have the most aged population in the world
by 2050, this study takes into consideration the rapidly growing elderly
population globally and how currently design practice ignores the changing
perceptual habits caused by physical aging. It explores the necessity of
evaluating these changes, and the relationship between the visual experience
and emotional reflection. A data collection methodology, comprised of two
analytical assessment tools, was utilized to determine results. The first
approach, Tasting Board System (TBS), was created by the author to gauge
subjective preferences. The second, Eye Tracking (ET) Device, evaluates
objective reflection. The results of the study identify the common cognitive
features of the elderly so that it may positively affect design practice and
enhance pleasurable visual experience. Keywords: The elderly; cognitive features; visual experience | |||
| An Approach to Universal Interaction on the Case of Knowledge Transfer | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 604-613 | |
| Saša Mladenovic; Andrina Granic; Goran Zaharija | |||
| This paper presents an approach to universal interaction which can be used
for robot knowledge acquisition and transfer of acquired knowledge between
different robots. There are similarities between human and machine learning
techniques so learning by demonstration and conceptual learning were used as a
basis for demonstrating our proposed type of interaction. Advantages and
limitations of proposed interaction are described and discussed. Also,
empirical study to test our approach was carried out and results are presented
and analyzed. Keywords: learning; artificial intelligence; machine learning; universal interaction;
knowledge transfer | |||
| An Error Tolerant Memory Aid for Reduced Cognitive Load in Number Copying Tasks | | BIBA | Full-Text | 614-623 | |
| Frode Eika Sandnes | |||
| Number copying tasks are still common despite increased digitalization of services. Number copying tasks are cognitively and visually demanding, errors are easily introduced and the process is often perceived as laborious. This study proposes an alternative scheme based on dictionary coding that reduces the cognitive load on the user by a factor of five. The strategy has several levels of error detection and error correction characteristics and is easy to implement. | |||
| Integrating the Image Identifiable Principle of Human Cognition and Computer Vision to Develop a New Pattern Recognition Design System for Smart Home | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 624-633 | |
| Pin-Chin Wang; Wan-Ting Tseng; Chun-Min Cheng; Yi-Hsuan Sung; Yi-Chun Chou; Fong-Gong Wu | |||
| In this study, we invented a new way which classifies objects according to
their functions and the regions of use. Then we proceeded to innovate and
design the systematic pattern on the objects. For this goal, we make the
pattern on the objects as the goal of recognition that can be captured by
camera. In this study we intend to design a new way to derive pattern
reasonably and that can be recognized by algorithms. The result of our pattern
recognition program test pattern that consisted of systematic components showed
that the identification rate of success was more than 90%. This result
indicated that our pattern design method can derive a significant pattern which
is recognized by computer algorithms and can be effective in detecting the
state of the object in using. Keywords: Pattern recognition; Smart Home; Kitchen; TUIs | |||
| Handling Structural Models Composed of Objects and Their Mutual Relations in the Spatial Cognition Experiments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 634-641 | |
| Nobuhito Yamamoto; Shoko Shiroma; Tomoyuki Nishioka | |||
| It is one of the basic approaches to use the graphical representation of
problem spaces for the spatial cognition experiments of the hard of hearing
students. Virtual items and the virtual space are thought to be used practical
both to build up questions and to assemble answers between experimenters and
subjects. Objects and their mutual relations are the basic components of
structural model that have to be managed for forming problems. The object
oriented processing is the significant and useful framework for modern
programming languages. An object is theoretically the functional abstract
closure. However, the idea of closure can be easily extended to the practical
items. In this article, object oriented representation and its applying to
constraint relation problem for interactive experiments are discussed. Keywords: object handling; structural model; spatial cognition; programming language;
interactive experiment | |||
| Using Mediating Metacommunication to Improve Accessibility to Deaf in Corporate Information Systems on the Web | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 645-654 | |
| Aline da Silva Alves; Simone Bacellar Leal Ferreira; Viviane Santos de Oliveira Veiga; Ingrid Teixeira Monteiro; Denis Silva da Silveira | |||
| In general, pre-linguistic deaf bilingual users have difficulty
understanding the textual information available in web pages. Therefore, this
paper focuses on the use of dialogs mediating the interaction of pre-linguistic
deaf in a bilingual organizational context, identify possible breakdowns in
communication between both user interface and web page system information, as
in the use of mediation dialogues. In that context, we evaluated the
interaction of users' activities navigation and data entry in the
organizational system, investigating differences in interactive communication
system with and without the use of mediation dialogues through tool Web
Navigation Helper (WNH). The survey results identified that the development of
communication strategies that meet the specific language of deaf pre-linguistic
bilingual improves the quality of metacommunication, promoting accessibility
during interaction with the system. Keywords: Accessibility; Deafness; Communicability | |||
| Network for All: A Proposal for an Accessible Social Media Aggregator Solution | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 655-663 | |
| Mário Correia; Gonçalo Cruz; Ricardo Nunes; José Martins; Ramiro Gonçalves; Hugo Paredes; Paulo Martins | |||
| This paper presents an on-going work around accessibility issues within the
use of social media. With a lack of background in this field, the purpose of
the study was to analyze the accessibility levels of different social media
websites and aggregators. Based on W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, we
have selected three automatic evaluation tools in order to realize a first set
of preliminary tests. We verified that none of the websites clearly passed in
the evaluation process and our sample didn't meet the adopted accessibility
guidelines. The errors occurrence within the social media aggregators' tests
was less than in the social media websites. Therefore, it seems to be
indisputable to propose a tool that allows users to manage their own social
media websites accounts in a more accessible way. Thus, this study presents a
list of defined requirements to implement an accessible social media aggregator
solution. Keywords: Social media websites; Social media aggregators; Accessibility; WCAG; W3C | |||
| Web Accessibility -- From the Evaluation and Analysis to the Implementation -- The anoGov/PEPPOL Case | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 664-673 | |
| Ramiro Gonçalves; José Martins; Frederico Branco; João Barroso | |||
| The XXI Century society has developed a drive for Information and the Web,
as one of the extremely important technologies of our times, represents the
main channel to access it. As a result of this, one can perceive that the Web,
and the inherent websites, must be accessible to all, in order to maintain the
imperative social equality. Despite the legal requirements to the Portuguese
Web content accessibility levels, in effect since 1999, the existent studies
that focused on assessing those same levels of accessibility reported that the
Portuguese websites, in their majority, were not compliant with the existent
standards. In mid-2007 we started, within our research group and in partnership
with both UMIC -- Knowledge Society Agency and APDSI -- Association for the
Promotion and Development of the Information Society, a Web accessibility
barometer. The goal of this barometer has been assessing the accessibility
levels of the Portuguese websites, creating recommendations -- for both the
organizations and the civil society -- towards the improvement of the referred
websites, and publicly presenting the achieved results. One of the Portuguese
enterprises that is adopting the accessibility standards into its public
procurement platform anoGov is ANO. This company established a research project
alongside UTAD University in order to achieve technical know-how and good
practices that allowed them to develop accessible and usable Web content. Keywords: Web accessibility; Barometer; Portugal; ANO; anoGov/PEPPOL | |||
| WebSight: The Use of the Grid-Based Interface to Convey Layout of Web-Pages in a Non-visual Environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 674-683 | |
| Hesham M. Kamel; Halil I. Erhan | |||
| Accessing Web content including lay out of web pages is currently limited
for sight-impaired people. In general, Internet content is designed with
sighted users in mind, requiring users without this ability to adapt (Edwards,
1994). The non-visual interaction methods presented by Screen Readers are often
serial in nature and laborious. In this paper we introduce the design and
evaluation of WebSight, a talking browser that conveys layouts of Web pages for
the blind. WebSight is a plug-in for Internet Explorer and employs a universal
3X3 grid-based interface (Kamel, 2002), to assist blind people with visualizing
Web content with respect to its absolute and relative positions. Each cell of
the grid contains a 3X3 virtual sub-grid with nine unique positions. We
conducted an experiment involving six blind and six sighted navigating a layout
of a particular webpage. The study reveals that the use of absolute and
relative position coupled with a grid-based interface enable blind users to
build mental model of page layout at least as well as sighted users. In
addition, findings of the study suggest that the grid-based interface is a
universal mechanism that enhances the process of building mental models of
layout designs. Keywords: Talking browser; Blind; Grid-based interface; Web page layout; Internet;
Absolute and relative positions; Visually impaired; Mental model | |||
| Automatically Generating Online Social Network Messages to Combat Social Isolation of People with Disabilities | | BIBA | Full-Text | 684-693 | |
| John J. Magee; Margrit Betke | |||
| We investigate the use of social networks for people with disabilities and their family and caregivers. Loneliness and isolation are problems people with limited communication abilities may experience. Online social networks may help overcome such communication barriers, but there are still many challenges. One challenge encountered by users of assistive technology is a learning curve not only of the user, but of family and caregivers. Our system automatically generates messages that would help answer the question "What did I do today?" and posts some of the user's daily activities with the software to online social networks. The users of our software would be able to post these messages to social networking websites to better enhance their communication with family and caregivers. We report qualitative feedback from a small preliminary user study. | |||
| Analyzing Barriers for People with Hearing Loss on the Web: A Semiotic Study | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 694-703 | |
| Marta Angélica Montiel Ferreira; Rodrigo Bonacin | |||
| The correct interpretation of Web content by users is a major condition for
an effective and accessible Web. However, many people with hearing loss have
difficulties interpreting long and complex texts. In this work, we investigated
barriers in the usage of Web systems by users with hearing loss. A
participatory study with 21 users with hearing loss was conducted in the city
of Macapá in Brazil. All the participants use internet frequently, but
have different profiles, and reading and writing skill levels. Artifacts and
methods from Organizational Semiotics were employed in the elicitation and
analysis of problems, barriers, as well as solutions with the participants. The
results provide alternatives that range from simple design directives to
solutions that demand further research. Keywords: Universal Usability; Accessibility; Organizational Semiotics; Universal
Design | |||
| Ibero-American Minors: How Are They Accessing and Using Information | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 704-709 | |
| Charo Sádaba | |||
| The presence of the Internet and all kind of digital devices is clear in
developed countries, especially among youngsters. But technology access and
usage is also growing in developing societies, where minors are in most cases
at the forefront of the adoption of these new services, exploring the
opportunities. The present proposal intends to analyze how and for what reasons
are minors of four Ibero-American countries (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and
Ecuador) are accessing the Internet, specially the kind of services and the
types of contents they are consuming online. Keywords: Internet access; Internet usage; young users; web content; web services | |||
| User Perception Knowledge for Socially-Aware Web Document Accessibility | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 710-717 | |
| Dimitris Spiliotopoulos; Pepi Stavropoulou; Georgios Kouroupetroglou; Dimitrios Tsonos | |||
| Social Media provide a vast amount of information identifying stories,
events, entities that play the crucial role of shaping the community in an
everyday heavy user involvement. This work involves the study of social media
information in terms of type (multimodal: text, video, sound, picture) and role
players (agents, users, opinion leaders) and the potential of using that
information for the design of accessible, usable preservation strategies. The
challenge was to analyze the social web and present ways of preserving the web
documents with social content in such way as to make them accessible for the
future. The web documents should preserve accessible data and stored in such
way as to enable intelligent retrieval. Keywords: social media; meta-information analysis; user-driven; document accessibility | |||
| The Survey of Usability Evaluation in Social Network Sites' Reply Mechanism | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 718-725 | |
| Tsung-han Tsai; Fong-gong Wu; Yu-Hsiu Hung | |||
| Social Network Sites' rapid development has attracted thousands of user, and
help user connect with people in life. For the reason of building the good
relationship with social interact, it provide a mechanism for user to keep in
touch with their friends, such as Instant Message system or post articles on
blogs, etc. Reply mechanism is the main part of Social Network Sites.
Therefore, it has become more important to let users clearly understanding the
message flow of a series of communications. In this paper, first we choose
three sites that have amount of users worldwide: Facebook, YouTube and Reddit.
After users finishing the System Usability Scale questionnaire, we will proceed
to analyze the positives and negatives of these three social network sites. In
the end, we will analyze and conclude all the questions and propose a new
mechanism, also improve the interface of this reply mechanism in the future. Keywords: Reply Mechanism; Message Flow; Social Network Sites | |||
| Early Accessibility Evaluation in Web Application Development | | BIBA | Full-Text | 726-733 | |
| Helmut Vieritz; Daniel Schilberg; Sabina Jeschke | |||
| Existing accessibility guidelines are mainly focused on runtime behavior and
do not provide recommendations and evaluation for conceptual design of Web
applications. Our approach aims to support more abstract principles for
analysis and design of accessible Web applications. Combined with a prototype
evaluation, it provides early integration of accessibility requirements into
the process of Web application development.
The approach is based on a model-driven user interface design method. Analysis of tasks and workflow is used to design a prototype which is evaluated with a simple screening technique to get fast and efficient results on selected accessibility requirements. The longtime objective of this work is a general concept for software development which bridges the gap between user requirements and developers needs in the field of accessibility. | |||