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Multimodal Technol. Interact., Volume 2, Issue 1 (March 2018) – 10 articles

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25 pages, 10245 KiB  
Article
Discourse with Visual Health Data: Design of Human-Data Interaction
by Oluwakemi Ola and Kamran Sedig
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 10; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010010 - 20 Mar 2018
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4450
Abstract
Previous work has suggested that large repositories of data can revolutionize healthcare activities; however, there remains a disconnection between data collection and its effective usage. The way in which users interact with data strongly impacts their ability to not only complete tasks but [...] Read more.
Previous work has suggested that large repositories of data can revolutionize healthcare activities; however, there remains a disconnection between data collection and its effective usage. The way in which users interact with data strongly impacts their ability to not only complete tasks but also capitalize on the purported benefits of such data. Interactive visualizations can provide a means by which many data-driven tasks can be performed. Recent surveys, however, suggest that many visualizations mostly enable users to perform simple manipulations, thus limiting their ability to complete tasks. Researchers have called for tools that allow for richer discourse with data. Nonetheless, systematic design of human-data interaction for visualization tools is a non-trivial task. It requires taking into consideration a myriad of issues. Creation of visualization tools that incorporate rich human-data discourse would benefit from the use of design frameworks. In this paper, we examine and present a design process that is based on a conceptual human-data interaction framework. We discuss and describe the design of interaction for a visualization tool intended for sensemaking of public health data. We demonstrate the utility of systematic interaction design in two ways. First, we use scenarios to highlight how our design approach supports a rich and meaningful discourse with data. Second, we present results from a study that details how users were able to perform various tasks with health data and learn about global health trends. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupling Computation and Human Cognition through Interaction Design)
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21 pages, 738 KiB  
Article
Interactive Hesitation Synthesis: Modelling and Evaluation
by Simon Betz, Birte Carlmeyer, Petra Wagner and Britta Wrede
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 9; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010009 - 02 Mar 2018
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 7192
Abstract
Conversational spoken dialogue systems that interact with the user rather than merely reading the text can be equipped with hesitations to manage dialogue flow and user attention. Based on a series of empirical studies, we elaborated a hesitation synthesis strategy for dialogue systems, [...] Read more.
Conversational spoken dialogue systems that interact with the user rather than merely reading the text can be equipped with hesitations to manage dialogue flow and user attention. Based on a series of empirical studies, we elaborated a hesitation synthesis strategy for dialogue systems, which inserts hesitations of a scalable extent wherever needed in the ongoing utterance. Previously, evaluations of hesitation systems have shown that synthesis quality is affected negatively by hesitations, but that they result in improvements of interaction quality. We argue that due to its conversational nature, hesitation synthesis needs interactive evaluation rather than traditional mean opinion score (MOS)-based questionnaires. To validate this claim, we dually evaluate our system’s speech synthesis component, on the one hand, linked to the dialogue system evaluation, and on the other hand, in a traditional MOS way. We are thus able to analyze and discuss differences that arise due to the evaluation methodology. Our results suggest that MOS scales are not sufficient to assess speech synthesis quality, leading to implications for future research that are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, our results indicate that synthetic hesitations are able to increase task performance and that an elaborated hesitation strategy is necessary to avoid likability issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Situated Speech Synthesis: Beyond Text-to-Waveform Mapping)
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5 pages, 207 KiB  
Editorial
Virtual Reality and Games
by Carolina Cruz-Neira, Marcos Fernández and Cristina Portalés
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 8; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010008 - 26 Feb 2018
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 11107
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Virtual Reality and Games)
21 pages, 2902 KiB  
Article
Designing for Embodied Being-in-the-World: A Critical Analysis of the Concept of Embodiment in the Design of Hybrids
by Jelle Van Dijk
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 7; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010007 - 23 Feb 2018
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 10564
Abstract
This paper critically explores what it means to Design for Embodied Being-in-the-world (D4EB). It aims to uncover what this perspective means for designing hybrids, the new interactive physical-digital artefacts developed in wearable, tangible and ubiquitous computing and augmented reality. D4EB is contrasted with [...] Read more.
This paper critically explores what it means to Design for Embodied Being-in-the-world (D4EB). It aims to uncover what this perspective means for designing hybrids, the new interactive physical-digital artefacts developed in wearable, tangible and ubiquitous computing and augmented reality. D4EB is contrasted with the principle of embodied representation, applied for example in designing tangible interfaces between users and digital information. In contrast, D4EB starts from our phenomenological ‘being-in-the-world’. Hybrids are conceived as participating in socially situated, sensorimotor couplings that govern the way the lived body operates in the lifeworld. D4EB rejects conceptual dualisms between the (representational) mind and the (physical) body and between (inner) mind and (outside) world. To illustrate its core principles, three design cases are presented. The cases are part of ongoing design-research that formed the basis for the framework. D4EB is further discussed in relation to personal identity, the role of external representations and the role of the designer. D4EB promises to open up a theoretically informed, largely unexplored design space, which can help designers utilize the full power of hybrid technologies. Hybrids may be designed to support people in their embodied being by sustaining, enriching and generating new ways of attuning to the lifeworld. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Designing for the Body)
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22 pages, 8681 KiB  
Article
Design for Motivation: Evaluation of a Design Tool
by Dimitra Chasanidou
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 6; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010006 - 06 Feb 2018
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5462
Abstract
Design for motivation constitutes a design practice that focuses on the activation of human motives to perform an action. There is an increasing need to design motivational and engaging mechanisms for voluntary systems, such as innovation platforms, where user participation is a key [...] Read more.
Design for motivation constitutes a design practice that focuses on the activation of human motives to perform an action. There is an increasing need to design motivational and engaging mechanisms for voluntary systems, such as innovation platforms, where user participation is a key target. When designing for motivation, a challenge of the early design phases is the selection of appropriate design tool and strategy. The current work presents a design tool, namely DEMO (DEsign for MOtivation), and evaluates its design process. The tool provides multidisciplinary teams with a user-centred, structured method to ideate and ultimately develop a consistent design plan to engage the users of innovation platforms. The evaluation study analysed the tool’s contribution to the design of motivational innovation platforms, utilising three data collection methods: a protocol analysis, interviews and questionnaires. The results discuss the experiences of 32 users with the development of motivation concepts, the group and the user activities, as well as their creativity aspects. Structured processes and the use of artefacts were found to be productive practices in the early design phases. The results also highlight the importance of multidisciplinary and user-centred teams that can enhance collaboration and communication during the design processes. Full article
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17 pages, 638 KiB  
Article
Reflection through Inner Presence: A Sensitising Concept for Design
by Claudia Núñez-Pacheco
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 5; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010005 - 01 Feb 2018
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4028
Abstract
Although our embodied dimension has been recognised as a generative source of imagination through movement and gesture, the notion of the body as a generator of more symbolic and descriptive expressions of knowledge remains mostly unexplored in human-computer interaction (HCI). This theoretical paper [...] Read more.
Although our embodied dimension has been recognised as a generative source of imagination through movement and gesture, the notion of the body as a generator of more symbolic and descriptive expressions of knowledge remains mostly unexplored in human-computer interaction (HCI). This theoretical paper introduces the sensitising concept of reflection through inner presence, in contrast to reflection in action, as a way to differentiate two modes of embodied reflection generating distinct types of materials for design ideation, inspiration, and information. The relevance of this distinction, and the recognition of inner presence in somatic-oriented design, appears as a way to fill the gap of the reported elusiveness in the description of inner experience for design use. Different than design approaches that use reflection in action, reflection through inner presence generates detailed accounts of somatic and aesthetic qualities, which can be potentially incorporated into the design of artefacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Designing for the Body)
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17 pages, 1771 KiB  
Article
Designing from a Disabled Body: The Case of Architect Marta Bordas Eddy
by Natalia Pérez Liebergesell, Peter-Willem Vermeersch and Ann Heylighen
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 4; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010004 - 31 Jan 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 9540
Abstract
Studies on design, disability and phenomenology offer rich insights into how the designed environment is experienced by people with different abilities. In architectural design, this experience is only starting to become recognized as a valuable resource for designers. Considering disability as a particular [...] Read more.
Studies on design, disability and phenomenology offer rich insights into how the designed environment is experienced by people with different abilities. In architectural design, this experience is only starting to become recognized as a valuable resource for designers. Considering disability as a particular kind of experience, we report on the focused ethnography of architect Marta Bordas Eddy’s design practice. We analyze how her design practice and outcomes connect with her embodied experience of being a wheelchair user and the role of architecture therein. We interviewed Marta, her sister/co-worker and her life partner/co-habitant, gathered design documents, and analyzed the house she designed for and by herself. Our study highlights how Marta’s experience of being disabled, combined with her background, informs how she assesses design and establishes distinct architectural qualities. Being a disabled person and a designer enables Marta to detect problems in an intuitive body-based manner and think of solutions at the same time. The analysis of Marta’s house moreover raises awareness of architecture’s role in (disabled) people’s lives insofar it can support or impair human capabilities. It challenges prevailing views of what a house for a disabled person looks and is like, and how design can neutralize apparently restricted capabilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Designing for the Body)
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2 pages, 153 KiB  
Editorial
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Multimodal Technologies and Interaction in 2017
by Multimodal Technologies and Interaction Editorial Office
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 3; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010003 - 26 Jan 2018
Viewed by 2484
Abstract
Peer review is an essential part in the publication process, ensuring that Multimodal Technologies and Interaction maintains high quality standards for its published papers [...] Full article
25 pages, 5654 KiB  
Article
Designing for a Wearable Affective Interface for the NAO Robot: A Study of Emotion Conveyance by Touch
by Robert Lowe, Rebecca Andreasson, Beatrice Alenljung, Anja Lund and Erik Billing
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 2; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010002 - 20 Jan 2018
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 8685
Abstract
We here present results and analysis from a study of affective tactile communication between human and humanoid robot (the NAO robot). In the present work, participants conveyed eight emotions to the NAO via touch. In this study, we sought to understand the potential [...] Read more.
We here present results and analysis from a study of affective tactile communication between human and humanoid robot (the NAO robot). In the present work, participants conveyed eight emotions to the NAO via touch. In this study, we sought to understand the potential for using a wearable affective (tactile) interface, or WAffI. The aims of our study were to address the following: (i) how emotions and affective states can be conveyed (encoded) to such a humanoid robot, (ii) what are the effects of dressing the NAO in the WAffI on emotion conveyance and (iii) what is the potential for decoding emotion and affective states. We found that subjects conveyed touch for longer duration and over more locations on the robot when the NAO was dressed with WAffI than when it was not. Our analysis illuminates ways by which affective valence, and separate emotions, might be decoded by a humanoid robot according to the different features of touch: intensity, duration, location, type. Finally, we discuss the types of sensors and their distribution as they may be embedded within the WAffI and that would likely benefit Human-NAO (and Human-Humanoid) interaction along the affective tactile dimension. Full article
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34 pages, 13634 KiB  
Article
Eye Gaze Controlled Projected Display in Automotive and Military Aviation Environments
by Gowdham Prabhakar and Pradipta Biswas
Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2018, 2(1), 1; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mti2010001 - 17 Jan 2018
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5076
Abstract
This paper presents an eye gaze controlled projected display that can be used in aviation and automotive environment as a head up display. We have presented details of the hardware and software used in developing the display and an algorithm to improve performance [...] Read more.
This paper presents an eye gaze controlled projected display that can be used in aviation and automotive environment as a head up display. We have presented details of the hardware and software used in developing the display and an algorithm to improve performance of point and selection tasks in eye gaze controlled graphical user interface. The algorithm does not require changing layout of an interface; it rather puts a set of hotspots on clickable targets using a Simulated Annealing algorithm. Four user studies involving driving and flight simulators have found that the proposed projected display can improve driving and flying performance and significantly reduce pointing and selection times for secondary mission control tasks compared to existing interaction systems. Full article
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