Digital art-making can be transformative for people living with disabilities. However, accessibility challenges force artists to use lengthy workarounds and interrupt their creative processes. We employed a Research-through-Design approach with six digital artists with upper limb motor impairments. First, we co-designed a stylus sleeve artifact capable of detecting pen-based gestures. In a second phase, we deployed this artifact as a design probe to gain insights into how artists adapt their workflows. We found that artists rely on resilient processes that took long time to form, and they manage to keep a balance between their creative immersion and physical discomfort. The probe revealed that artists prioritized authorship and control, rejecting automated "fixes" that, in one participant’s words, "don’t feel like mine." We use this finding, along with the concepts of "crip time" and "flow," to interpret our results. We discuss how layered customization can support agency and embodiment, and conclude with design recommendations.

Virtual reality (VR) promises immersive gaming experiences, yet remains inaccessible for many gamers with upper limb motor impairments (ULMI) by relying on hand- and arm-based interactions. We investigate these accessibility challenges by first surveying gamers with ULMI on their experiences in VR gaming, then used the survey results to support a series of co-design workshops that connected gamers with professional VR designers to collaboratively address the limitations of current VR game controls. Our findings not only present actionable design considerations for more accessible VR interactions, but also motivate further accessibility research that facilitates direct collaboration between end users and designers to fully realize the immersive, inclusive potential of VR.

Digital artists with motor impairments in their upper limbs face considerable barriers to accessibility when using drawing tools. Our work aims to investigate the complex relationship between digital artists’ creative processes and their accessibility challenges. We conducted 15 interviews with artists who use input devices to make digital art, analyzing their accessibility challenges for producing digital artwork. We reviewed how effective the solutions are in diminishing the impact on their creative processes and identifying design opportunities for the research community. Using thematic analysis, we look at the challenges participants reported in their artistic production, including managing pain, discomfort, and injuries alongside workarounds. Secondly, the artists reported the complexities of managing internal and external perceptions. Lastly, the ways creative processes are impacted by the accessibility challenges and solutions related to their upper limb motor impairments. We discuss research directions which can better address the impact of accessibility challenges on creative processes, the balance of creative agency over tools, and design insights for more accessible artistic technologies.

Despite the potential of multimodal assistive technologies (MATs) to convey visual information, such as music notation, to blind or low-vision (BLV) individuals, we do not fully understand how MATs can be used to improve music reading and memorization. Through ideation and co-design workshops, we explored how modalities, such as sound and vibration, can improve music reading and memorization through hands-free timely interactions and reminders. Our design workshops presented a unique opportunity for BLV musicians and learners to collaborate and actively engage in the research and design process informed by their individual perspectives and lived experiences. We classified the complex challenges of reading and memorizing music into intrinsic (related to the cognitive aspects of music understanding) and extraneous (pertaining to external factors such as interaction and access) complexities and found that specific modalities are well suited to tackle particular problems. We conclude by outlining design implications and future research directions aimed at developing MATs that holistically improve music learning for BLV people.

Direct manipulation has been established as the main interaction paradigm for Computer-Aided Design (CAD) for decades. It provides fast, incremental, and reversible actions that allow for an iterative process on a visual representation of the result. Despite its numerous advantages, some users prefer a programming-based approach where they describe the 3D model they design with a specific programming language, such as OpenSCAD. It allows users to create complex structured geometries and facilitates abstraction. Unfortunately, most current knowledge about CAD practices only focuses on direct manipulation programs. In this study, we interviewed 20 programming-based CAD users to understand their motivations and challenges. Our findings reveal that this programming-oriented population presents difficulties in the design process in tasks such as 3D spatial understanding, validation and code debugging, creation of organic shapes, and code-view navigation.

We present vARitouch, a back-of-the-finger wearable that can modify the perceived tactile material properties of the uninstrumented world around us: vARitouch can modulate the perceived softness of a rigid object through a vibrotactile compliance illusion. As vARitouch does not cover the fingertip, all-natural tactile properties are preserved. We provide three contributions: (1) We demonstrate the feasibility of the concept through a psychophysics study, showing that virtual compliance can be continuously modulated, and perceived softness can be increased by approximately 30 Shore A levels. (2) A qualitative study indicates the desirability of such a device, showing that a back-of-the-finger haptic device has many attractive qualities. (3) To implement vARitouch, we identify a novel way to measure pressure from the back of the finger by repurposing a pulse oximetry sensor. Based on these contributions, we present the finalized vARitouch system, accompanied by a series of application scenarios.

The uses of handheld mobile devices are diverse, yet interaction is not; touchscreens are the singular primary interface on most mobiles. Touch interaction has usability issues (e.g., the “fat fingers problem”) which impair the fine control of small interface elements, such as when working with text. Beyond text entry, this includes tasks like placing the in-text cursor (caret), text selection, and copy/paste. Current solutions for touch usability issues do not address complex uses like working with text. We propose deformable interaction, specifically bend, added alongside touch to support working with text on mobile. We explore this through a study of BendAide, a novel deformable 3D printed case for mobiles that adds bend interaction to the device. We found that people perceive different advantages between bend and touch and that they will alternate between these inputs based on task demands and their personal abilities. Adding alternate input options to mobile could reduce the complexity of on-display interfaces and interactions and give people more choice in how they use their devices.

In Human-Computer Interaction, body maps are a standard tool to understand an individual's bodily phenomenon. Body maps often use abstract drawings and text annotations on an outline of a body. However, little research has explored alternate ways we can collect similar data. In this pictorial, we present tactile body maps, which use an array of textured fabric circles attached to a felt-shaped body instead of a more traditional approach to drawing body maps. We first present an illustration of how researchers can use tactile body maps and show an example of the type of data collected in the method. We then tested the augmented body map method alongside drawing body maps and verbal-only body descriptions with eight participants to explore the benefits and disadvantages of each technique. Through the data, we present a set of considerations that a researcher can use to decide which way would be most appropriate for their soma design process.

Parametric Computer-aided design (CAD) enables the creation of reusable models by integrating variables into geometric properties, facilitating customization without a complete redesign. However, creating parametric designs in programming-based CAD presents significant challenges. Users define models in a code editor using a programming language, with the application generating a visual representation in a viewport. This process involves complex programming and arithmetic expressions to describe geometric properties, linking various object properties to create parametric designs. Unfortunately, these applications lack assistance, making the process unnecessarily demanding. We propose a solution that allows users to retrieve parametric expressions from the visual representation for reuse in the code, streamlining the design process. We demonstrated this concept through a proof-of-concept implemented in the programming-based CAD application, OpenSCAD, and conducted an experiment with 11 users. Our findings suggest that this solution could significantly reduce design errors, improve interactivity and engagement in the design process, and lower the entry barrier for newcomers by reducing the mathematical skills typically required in programming-based CAD applications.

The interest in enhancing video game interactions through wearable technology has grown, yet accessible gaming with wearables remains underexplored. This study employs participatory design fiction, enabling disabled gamers to envision a future with tailored gaming wearables while critiquing technology. We conducted a two-phase study. Phase one involved in-depth interviews with upper limb motor disability participants; we developed a fictitious gaming wearable by analyzing the data using reflexive thematic analysis. A smaller group iterated on the wearable in phase two to ideate on ideal futures with accessible gaming wearables. Using data and dialogic/performance analysis, we crafted a design fiction diegetic prototype as a tech review video. This research highlights disabled gamers' unique needs and experiences around gaming wearables. It offers an innovative diegetic prototype for accessible gaming tech. Our methodological contribution merges narrative inquiry and dialogic/performance analysis in participatory design fiction research, providing a valuable approach for future studies.

The inaccessibility of rulebooks hinders the rule learning experience of board game players who are blind or have low vision (BLV). We conducted two qualitative studies to explore the design of conversational agents (CAs) that can support BLV players’ learning and provide companionship. In Study 1, we recruited 14 BLV participants and identified their rule learning challenges, with emphasis on cognitive load, and co-designed functional and social characteristics in Amazon Alexa that can support rule learning and offer companionship. We then developed a new Alexa skill and had 9 BLV participants evaluate our skill against the Alexa skill for the game Ticket to Ride (Study 2). We generated four design principles for CAs to support board game rule learning for BLV people: conciseness, pausing capacity, customization, and companionship.

In this report we share a co-design process for developing more accessible alternatives to traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces, involving individuals with motor impairments. We describe our methodology, including initial discovery phases that inspired three subsequent co-design workshops with three individuals with motor impairments and 26 designers. Based on our experience, we highlight the importance of creating an equitable and effective dialogue between designers and individuals with motor impairments, emphasizing the personal nature of each participant’s experiences and the potential of technology as an enabler rather than a generic solution. Guided simulations and hands-on prototyping were employed to trigger meaningful conversations. We underscore the significance of “being with” during the co-design process and the importance of a transparent prototyping and development process for creating genuinely accessible and inclusive interactive systems. By sharing our findings and recommendations, we aim to assist researchers running future co-design workshops that involve prototyping with technology and people of diverse backgrounds.

Musical haptic wearables (MHWs) that convey information through vibrotactile feedback holds the potential to support the music learning of a blind or low vision (BLV) music learner. Yet, it is unclear how these technologies can give functional support to a BLV person. We also investigated material preferences in such technologies to understand the role of non-functional aesthetic experiences in shaping their music learning. We conducted 5 co-design workshops with 10 BLV participants. Participants explored eleven materials common in a music learning environment and engaged in bodystorming with a prototype that communicated six vibrotactile patterns. Through thematic analysis, we found that MHWs with vibrotactile alerts and variations in vibration are suited to communicate instructional information, aid music reading and support technical guidance and practice. We categorized the participants’ material experiences into sensorial, interpretive, and affective levels. Based on our findings, we discuss considerations when designing vibrotactile interactions to support music learning for BLV people and highlight material experiences that should be emphasized to make the music learning experience wholesome for BLV music learners.

Queer identity research largely overlooks wearable technology. Most work exploring sociocultural considerations of wearable technology determines what is “socially acceptable” based on privileged bodies, excluding queer perspectives. We address this by establishing the foundations of a knowledge base for wearables that support queer expression. We conducted a two-phase qualitative study exploring queer expressive practices and wearable technologies through 16 semi-structured interviews and 15 body mapping workshops with the queer community. We observed themes framing the queer community’s understanding of queer expression, wearable technology, and wearable technology for queer users. Providing design considerations and discussions on the potential of our methods, our work enables the creation of wearable technologies that offer meaningful user experiences for the queer community. CAUTION: This paper discusses topics that could trigger those with histories of homophobia, transphobia, gender dysphoria, racism or eating disorders. Please use caution when engaging with this work.

Acquired brain injuries have many complexities, largely affecting motor and cognitive functioning. Occupational therapists often use switches attached to electronics that activate the devices to give people with disabilities the ability to interact with toys and electronics. However, current switches on the market are expensive, break easily and are unable to customize. We ran two co-design workshops and follow-up interviews with 14 occupational therapists specializing in students with acquired brain injuries. In phase one, the occupation therapists built three soft switches and brainstormed iterations. In phase two, we gained valuable insights into the iterations from occupational therapists. This paper contributes to Human-Computer Interaction as a case study, designs guidelines to support co-design with occupational therapists, and discusses the potential of adaptive soft switches. This work contributes to the growing literature around supporting occupational therapists as makers and how researchers can support them during the co-design process.

The field of textile fabrication has a strong pattern-making culture that enables individuals to reproduce items at home. Electronic textile (e-textile) researchers within HCI are increasingly exploring how computing can leverage these textile pattern-making practices, accessible fabrication tools, and do-it-yourself (DIY) maker cultures to enable individuals to make technologies for themselves with soft form factors that further blend computing into our everyday environments. In this paper we focus on the pattern-sharing artifact of stitch samplers, which are used for sharing, teaching, and learning stitching techniques, and explore how the design decisions around them should be adapted for practicing e-textile exercises. To do so, we conducted three studies: (1) preliminary interviews with five modern stitch sampler designers to understand what stitch samplers are used for, (2) a think-aloud user study of our initial e-textile sampler with ten beginners, and (3) interviews with five e-textile educators to reflect on applications and to better understand the opportunities and limitations of using samplers for distance learning. This paper contributes a better understanding of how HCI researchers can incorporate craft pattern practices for learning hybrid craft techniques.

Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the popularity of online gaming; people used gaming as a coping mechanism to help relieve psychological distress while self-isolating. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) in particular saw an increase in users through 2020. We present a study of the impact of established communities on social well-being within one MMORPG. We conducted an online survey (402 participants) in World of Warcraft-specific Discord and Reddit communities in March 2021. Our survey consisted of multiple choice and short answer questions to gauge how players’ perceived well-being was impacted by in-game relationships and interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our qualitative thematic analysis indicated that World of Warcraft helped participants form valued, meaningful relationships with other players, gave them a sense of purpose, and alleviated negative feelings brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on these results, we describe the unique affordances of MMORPG platforms that support social connection, and provide design recommendations to MMORPG developers for facilitating positive social interactions.

Gaming accessibility research for blind or low vision (BLV) communities largely focuses on digital games. There is a need for designers to understand BLV's experience with tabletop games that involve the player's physical interaction. In this study, we investigate BLV individuals’ experience with the accessibility of tabletop games. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 BLV participants and found four themes that uncovered participants’ tabletop gaming experiences: (1) properties of inaccessible games, (2) outcomes of inaccessible games, (3) properties of accessible games, and (4) outcomes of accessible games. Our findings demonstrate a richness and variety in BLV individuals’ tabletop gaming experiences. By providing discussions on the state of tabletop game interactivity and design recommendations, our work assists the creation of accessible tangible games that make use of digital information and physical forms by affording designers the opportunity to understand how inaccessible interactions in tabletop games affect BLV populations.

The cognitive complexities of emotions and individualized coping strategies make it a difficult space for design. Collecting first-person data can provide nuanced understanding of the lived experience of emotional life, to better inform the design of wearable technologies for emotional self-regulation. We present a preliminary study of our first-person phenomenological approach to autobiographical design. The methodology is unique for the intertwining of emotional activities and mindfulness exercises, as a strategy for controlling emotional repercussions. Self-observation and documentation included journaling and sketching using the Inside-Out Probe workbook, followed by material prototyping and testing in-the-wild. The Breathing Scarf prototype embodies the design considerations. In designing for one to support personalized self-regulation strategies, key considerations include designing for personal comfort, ownership, and individual-over-social meaning-making. Of equal importance in the design research process are the well-being of the designer/researcher, the ability to self-regulate emotions, and the ethics of care and emotion work.

Objectives. Internships can bring a host of professional and academic benefits to students. Then, how do User Experience (UX) internships influence Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) graduate students’ professional and academic growth? What are the challenges experienced by HCI graduate students during internships? We explored these two research questions. Participants. Our study participants were 42 HCI graduate students who completed UX internships. They came from computing and related disciplines, including computer science, information technology, psychology, and design. Some of the participants’ internship titles were Interaction Designer, Design Researcher, UX Programmer, and Business Intelligence Analyst. Study Method. We conducted a thematic analysis on 42 graduate students’ UX internship reports that were collected over 6 years to uncover themes in relation to our two research questions. Findings. As for UX internship benefits, we found that students learned about the workplace culture (e.g., academia vs. industry/government on research design processes) and core UX technical (e.g., research, design, programming) and people skills (e.g., teamwork, empathy toward end-users); they also realized what they wanted in future careers after completing their internships. We also found internship challenges that were related to the internship program (e.g., the availability of internship opportunities), the host organizations (e.g., the quality of mentorship received), and remote working (e.g., difficulty over conducting remote usability testing). Conclusions. We make practical recommendations for HCI educators, UX practitioners, and HCI graduate students on how they can work collaboratively to create a meaningful UX internship experience. These recommendations include researching the host organization prior to internships, providing comprehensive onboarding, and being transparent with internship constraints.

Textiles have several characteristics that make them well suited for updates, sometimes called patching or mending, but textile repair is underexplored in the context of personal fabrication. This exploration is an urgent sustainability issue so we can extend the life of textiles and avoid producing more materials. In this paper we take a craft ethnography approach by interviewing 15 visible mending educators for insights into how they teach the techniques of repair and re-use so individuals can upcycle the textiles they already own. We discuss the values that menders bring to the practice, the teaching strategies they employ, the tangible teaching materials and tools of the practice, and introduce three types of teaching samplers: wearable samplers, sampler swatches, and practice samplers. Overall, these interviews provide insights for textile maker toolkits, textile personal fabrication, and how we can teach tangible hybrid crafts and sustainable making practices.

Deformable surfaces with interactive capabilities provide opportunities for new mobile interfaces such as wearables. Yet current fabrication and prototyping techniques for deformable surfaces, that are both flexible and stretchable, are still limited by complex structural design and mechanical surface rigidity. We propose a simplified rapid fabrication technique that utilizes multi-material 3D printing for developing customizable and stretchable surfaces for mobile wearables with interactive capabilities embedded during the 3D printing process. Our prototype, FlexiWear, is a dynamic surface with embedded electronic components that can adapt to mobile body shape/movement and applied to contexts such as healthcare and sports wearables. We describe our design and fabrication approach using a commercial desktop 3D printer, the interaction techniques supported, and possible application scenarios for wearables and deformable mobile interfaces. Our approach aims to support rapid development and exploration of deformable surfaces that can adapt to body shape/movement.

Participatory design with wearable users entails engaging people in the design process from the early ideation phases. However, user-generated wearable concepts are often limited by the narrow design space of commercially available wearables. This paper presents an ideation scaffolding method we developed for eliciting wearable concepts, called Wearable Crazy Eights, where participants used an ideation deck and sketched up to 8 concepts in 8 minutes. Herein, we discuss the artifacts produced from our ideation method in a study with 46 participants comparing 3 groups. By comparing the 3 groups we were able to parse the effects of each activity on the resulting ideas. Our contribution is a replicable and customizable ideation method for encouraging outside-the-box thinking in wearable studies.

Tangible toolkits enable individuals to explore concepts through combining components together and taking them apart. The strength and limitation of many e-textile toolkits is that threads hold them in place, and once put together they need destructive methods to take them apart. In this paper, we propose Punch-Sketching e-textiles, a drawing technique that uses a punch needle to iteratively prototype soft circuits. The benefits of this approach is sustainability and reusability where users can easily pull out circuits without damaging the materials or creating waste, while also testing out concepts using the actual threads that will be used in the final prototype. To validate our technique, we ran three studies comparing sewing and punching e-textiles through: 1) Understanding the process with two fiber artists; 2) Exploring the potential with four beginner users; and 3) Utilizing our methods further with 10 occupational therapists. Insights from these three studies include when and how to use each method, toolkit recommendations, considerations for iterative physical prototyping, sustainability, and accessibility.

We introduce Soft Speakers, a systematic approach for designing custom fabric actuators that can be used as audio speakers and vibro-haptic actuators. Digitally-embroidered with e-textiles, we implement Soft Speakers as tactile, malleable and aesthetic designs to be part of wearables, soft furnishing and fabric objects. We present a rapid technique for the DIY fabrication of audio feedback into soft interfaces. We also discuss and evaluate 7 factors for their parametric design in additive and constructive methods. To demonstrate the feasibility of our approach and the breadth of new designs that it enables, we developed 5 prototypes: 3 wearables, a piece of furniture and a soft toy. Studying Soft Speakers with maker-users expanded the design space, empowering users and supporting inclusive design. Our study includes insights on user experience of real-world interactive applications for remote communication, e-learning, entertainment, navigation and gaming, enabled by Soft Speakers’ customizable and scalable form factor.

As technology is integrated into all aspects of our lives, researchers are exploring emerging technologies in the field of fashion design. The substantial growth in the field of functional apparel design, such as the use of smart textiles, encourages researchers and fashion designers to incorporate technology within their designs. In much previous work, e-textiles have required interdisciplinary knowledge such as electrical engineering and computer science to be successful. To help with this we created ready-to-use shape changing fabric samples for fashion designers. We explored this research gap through a preliminary user case study with seven experienced designers. Our results suggest design approaches for shape changing fabric samples that would assist non-technically skilled designers incorporating technology in their designs.

People living with vision impairment can be vulnerable to attackers when entering passwords on their smartphones, as their technology is more 'observable'. While researchers have proposed tangible interactions such as bend input as an alternative authentication method, limited work have evaluated this method with people with vision impairment. This paper extends previous work by presenting our user study of bend passwords with 16 participants who live with varying levels of vision impairment or blindness. Each participant created their own passwords using both PIN codes and BendyPass, a combination of bend gestures performed on a flexible device. We explored whether BendyPass does indeed offer greater opportunity over PINs and evaluated the usability of both. Our findings show bend passwords have learnability and memorability potential as a tactile authentication method for people with vision impairment, and could be faster to enter than PINs. However, BendyPass still has limitations relating to security and usability.

The creation of e-textile swatches is a common practice for documenting material experiments, sharing techniques with other practitioners, and for concept ideation. The Creative Interactions Lab has developed a system that turns e-textile swatches into easily connectable "bits" so that swatches can move between being an ideation tool into a prototyping tool(kit). The benefit of this approach is that experimental swatches and ideas for their use can be easily tested in context. In this studio, participants will be invited to bring their own swatches and/or prototypes, will learn how to create modular e-textile swatch-bits, and then we will spend the afternoon making prototypes and will engage in hands-on activities with the modular swatches. The goal of the studio will be to share e-textile prototyping techniques, and to discuss the potential for modular swatches to be incorporated into e-textile prototyping processes.

Smart garment and wearable e-textile prototypes are difficult to co-design because of the variety of expertise needed (garment design, sewing skills, hardware prototyping, and software programming). To help with this, we developed a toolkit for prototyping wearable e-textiles, named Wearable Bits, which enables co-design with non-expert users without demanding sewing, hardware or software skills. We developed a low-fidelity and medium-fidelity experience prototype of the toolkit and ran a series of workshops where non-expert users designed their own e-textile wearables using Wearable Bits. In this paper, we discuss the ideas they developed, their construction techniques, the roles individuals took on while building, and suggestions for future toolkits.

The majority of mobile applications use built-in touchscreens and/or accelerometers to provide direct ways for user inputs. Yet, the need to manipulate the device itself (e.g. touch, tilt) poses usability issues such as occlusion and inaccuracy. To address these issues, research proposed using the built-in magnetometer and magnets to facilitate around-device interactions. However, there is little evaluation in how this technique impacts performance and user experience beyond simple docking tasks. To fill this gap, we explored the mobile gameplay context by implementing an interface that uses rotatory gestures from a magnetic ring as input, and compared two control mappings (angular and linear) with touch and tilt in a usability study using a mobile game. We found that rotatory gestures with the ring, when mapped to angular controls, were on par with touch and superior over tilt, and engendered greater gameplay experience and sense of mapping. Based on our findings, we discuss implications of using this technique for gameplay, as well as other applications.

One-handed mobile use, which is predominantly thumb-driven, presents interaction challenges like screen occlusion, reachability of far and inside corners, and an increased chance of dropping the device. We adopt a Research through Design approach around single-hand mobile interaction by exploring a variety of back-of-device tangibles (including a touchpad, scroller, magnetic button, push button, slider, stretchable spiral and a ring joystick). The latter 'joy'-stick was inspired from the recent popular but passive ring phone 'holders', which we combined into ?JoyHolder' - a joystick-based interactive phone holder for tangible back-of-device input interactions. We demonstrate our low-fidelity and medium-fidelity prototypes (using crafting and digital fabrication methods) and our interactive JoyHolder to encourage discussion on tangible back-of-device interactions. Preliminary insights from a pilot-study we ran reflects the hesitation for adopting some of these tangibles, the potential of others and the importance of physical feedback while using back-of-device input modalities.

Frameworks such as Direct Manipulation or Instrumental Interaction have been an important force in HCI research. Evaluating the impact of frameworks can identify whether and how a framework was used, how it has evolved, and what trends have developed over time. However, studying the impact of such theoretical contributions requires consideration of various perspectives and level of impact. As a case study for investigating the impact of theoretical work in HCI, we present our evaluation of the impact of the Reality Based Interaction (RBI) framework, introduced by the authors in 2008. We provide our findings about the impact of the framework both on contemporary research, through content-based citation analysis, and in HCI education, through a survey we conducted on emerging interaction frameworks. The article contributes a comprehensive methodology for evaluating the impact of frameworks through our twofold approach: content-based citation analysis, including the design of a new citation typology; and a survey on the use of frameworks in education using a taxonomy of learning goals. We also consider the role of frameworks in HCI as well as the future of the RBI framework.

Passwords help people avoid unauthorized access to their personal devices but are not without challenges, like memorability and shoulder surfing attacks. Little is known about how people with vision impairment assure their digital security in mobile contexts. We conducted an online survey to understand their strategies to remember passwords, their perceptions of authentication methods and their self-assessed ability to keep their digital information safe. We collected answers from 325 people who are blind or have low vision from 12 countries and found: most use familiar names and numbers to create memorable passwords, the majority consider fingerprint to be the most secure and accessible user authentication method and PINs the least secure user authentication method. This paper presents our survey results and provides insights for designing better authentication methods for people with vision impairment.

People with vision impairment are concerned about entering passwords in public as accessibility features (e.g. screen readers and screen magnifiers) make their passwords more vulnerable to attackers. This project aims to use bend passwords to solve this accessibility issue, as they are harder to observe than PINs. Bend passwords are a recently proposed method for user authentication that uses a combination of predefined bend and fold gestures performed on a flexible device. Our inexpensive prototype called BendyPass is made of silicone, with flex sensors able to capture and verify bend passwords, a vibration motor for gesture input haptic feedback, and a button to delete the last gesture or confirm the password. Bend passwords entered on BendyPass provide a tactile method for user authentication, designed to reduce the vulnerability to attackers and help people with vision impairment to better protect their personal information.

When compared to mainstream touch/button-centric devices, deformable devices enable a more organic and tangible way for human-computer interaction. This studio provides participants an opportunity to have hands-on experience in fabricating controllers that use various deformation inputs (e.g., bending, stretching), and promote novel interaction mechanisms using hand gestures. Participants will learn different types of deformation inputs and create their own sensors. They will work in groups to design deformable controllers using both the sensors they make in-session and/or pre-built ones, to afford novel hand gestural inputs beyond conventional touches and clicks. The main objectives of this studio are to facilitate exchange of experience in fabricating deformable sensors/materials, and to foster creativity in using such controllers as inputs with hand gestures.

We present our initial work on using a magnetic ring as a tangible input control to support around-device interactions for mobile devices, aiming to address touchscreen issues such as occlusion and imprecision, at the same time provides tangibility to interaction. This input mechanism allows users to use the surface on which the mobile device is placed as an extended input space, with a rotatory motion as the main form of interaction. Our technique requires no calibration, no modifications to the mobile device, and no external power for the ring, which also functions as an accessory item (a finger ring) when not in use. We discuss our design criteria, prototype implementation and illustrative applications, and directions for future work.

We explore controller input mappings for games using a deformable prototype that combines deformation gestures with standard button input. In study one, we tested discrete gestures using three simple games. We categorized the control schemes as binary (button only), action, and navigation, the latter two named based on the game mechanics mapped to the gestures. We found that the binary scheme performed the best, but gesture-based control schemes are stimulating and appealing. Results also suggest that the deformation gestures are best mapped to simple and natural tasks. In study two, we tested continuous gestures in a 3D racing game using the same control scheme categorization. Results were mostly consistent with study one but showed an improvement in performance and preference for the action control scheme.

Bend gestures can be used as a form of Around Device Interaction to address usability issues in touchscreen mobile devices. Yet, it is unclear whether bend gestures can be easily learned and memorized as control schema for games. To answer this, we built a novel deformable smartphone case that detects bend gestures at its corners and sides, and created PaperNinja, a mobile game that uses bends as input. We conducted a study comparing the effect of three pre-game training levels on learnability and memorability: no training, training of the bend gestures only, and training of both the bend gestures and their in-game action mapping. We found that including gesture-mapping positively impacted the initial learning (faster completion time and fewer gestures performed), but had a similar outcome as no training on memorability, while the gestures-without-mapping led to a negative outcome. Our findings suggest that players can learn bend gestures by discovery and training is not essential.

Typically, visits to modern art galleries or museums are characterized as visual experiences supported by text-based information describing the works of art. Our goal was to investigate the potential of providing a fuller and richer experience while viewing visual art by appealing to the senses beyond sight. We designed SensArt, a multisensory experience whereby someone viewing a painting received a translation of the art through a headset with music and a belt programmed with vibration patterns and changes in temperature.

Calm technologies help us avoid distraction by embedding notifications in our surroundings with peripheral updates. However, users also lose out on the passive awareness that comes from more overt notifications. In our paper, we present an initial study setup on shape changing circuits as notifications. We compare near and far peripheral locations to determine the optimal location for these notifications by assigning a primary task of arithmetic questions, and a secondary task of responding to bend notifications. Our demonstration will show the set-up of our study to encourage discussion on possible applications of shape changing notifications in peripheral locations.

Recent work has explored how on-the-wrist devices can be augmented with displays, sensors, and aesthetics to produce a new genre of wearable, digital jewelry. Most often, these devices are augmented with hardware (e.g., touch-screens, gyroscopes) to receive wearer input. Breakthroughs in sensing materials allow novel inputs such as squeeze, bend, and stretch, which may be more suited to interaction with a discreet wearable.

We explore the use of bend gestures in gaming with flexible devices and investigate the size differences between smartphones and tablets. We conducted a study asking users to select bend gestures for nine tasks derived from gaming, grouped by navigation, action, and deformation. Our results suggest pairing opposing tasks, such as navigating left and right, by gesture location. We saw low consensus for action tasks, and strong association between the location of the gestures and the location of the visual, relating to the Simon Effect. We suggest guidelines for the design of game controls for flexible devices. We implemented the proposed gestures into six games using an interactive flexible prototype in our second study. Our results are similar between sizes, yet with an overall user preference for the smaller prototype. We observed that hand positioning is an important usability issue to consider when designing flexible devices.

FlexStylus, a flexible stylus, detects deformation of the barrel as a vector with both a rotational and an absolute value, providing two degrees of freedom with the goal of improving the expressivity of digital art using a stylus device. We outline the construction of the prototype and the principles behind the sensing method, which uses a cluster of four fibre-optic based deformation sensors. We propose interaction techniques using the FlexStylus to improve menu navigation and tool selection. Finally, we describe a study comparing users' ability to match a changing target value using a commercial pressure stylus and the FlexStylus' absolute deformation. When using the FlexStylus, users had a significantly higher accuracy overall. This suggests that deformation may be a useful input method for future work considering stylus augmentation.

Smartphones are becoming larger, mainly because bigger screens offer a better experience for viewing content. One drawback of larger screens is that they make single-hand interactions difficult because of hard to reach touch targets and of the need to re-grip the device, both factors significantly reducing their usability. Flexible smartphones offer an opportunity for addressing this issue. We first set out to determine the use of common single-hand mobile interactions through an online survey. Then, we designed and evaluated one-handed deformable gestures that offer the potential for addressing the finger reach limitation on large smartphones. We identified that the top right up bend and the center squeeze up gestures are the fastest and preferred gestures. We found no hand preference, which indicates that the gestures could be implemented to fit the needs of a wider range of the population, instead of favoring right-handed users. Finally, we discuss the impact on deformable gestures on one-handed interactions issues.

Caret movement is difficult with touch input because of finger occlusion and the imprecision of interacting with a small display using fingers. We hypothesize that bend might provide a better text manipulation solution. We propose bend gestures to move a single caret or dual carets without requiring hand repositioning. We create a deformable prototype and implement the gestures. We present our bend interactions for caret manipulation and discuss our prototype.

Flexible displays have paved the road for a new generation of interaction styles that allow users to bend and twist their devices. We hypothesize that bend gestures can be augmented with "hot-key" like pressure areas. This would allow single corner bends to have multiple functions. We created three pressure and bend interaction styles and compared them to bend-only gestures on two deformable prototypes. Users preferred the bend only prototype but still appreciated the pressure & bend prototype, particularly when it came to the lock/unlock application. We found that pressure interaction is a poor replacement for touch interaction, and present design suggestions to improve its performance.

While wearable technologies are suitable for remotely controlling mobile devices, few studies have examined user preferences for one- or two-handed touch interaction with these wearables, especially when worn on the wrist and hand area. As these locations are recognized as socially acceptable and preferred by users, we ran a study of touch interaction to remotely control mobile devices. Our results suggest users prefer swipe gestures over touch gestures when interacting with wearables on the wrist or hand, and that users find both one- and two-handed interactions suitable for wearable remote controls.

Flexible display devices allow users to interact with the device by deforming the surface of the display to trigger a command. When these devices become mainstream, for example as smart phones, e-readers, or tablets, they will require a means of authenticating legitimate users. In this poster, we present an authentication scheme for flexible display devices, its implementation on a flexible display prototype and an ongoing user study evaluating the usability and security of our system.

Bend gestures have a large number of degrees of freedom and therefore offer a rich interaction language. We propose a classification scheme for bend gestures, and explore how users perform these bend gestures along four classification criterion: location, direction, size, and angle. We collected 36 unique bend gestures performed three times by each participant. The results suggest a strong agreement among participants for preferences of location and direction. Size and angle were difficult for users to differentiate. Finally, users performed and perceived two distinct levels of magnitude. We propose recommendations for designing bend gestures with flexible displays.

Until recently, the ways in which we interacted with computers were limited by the flat, rigid and rectangular form factors of cathode-ray tubes and liquid crystal displays. Technical limitations forced user interfaces into boxes, limiting interactions to 2D pointing and keyboard input. With technological advances in flexible sensor and display technologies, we are experiencing a new revolution in human–computer interaction (HCI): one in which user interfaces can be worn on the body as if they were cloth, used in the office as if they were paper and used in architecture as if they were wallpapers (Co and Pashenkov, 2008; Buechley and Mellis, 2010; Lahey et al., 2011). Rather than being rigid and static, the user interfaces of tomorrow will be able to have a shape that accommodates the user’s context and fits the data on display. For instance, if a user wants to explore geographic information, they can use a spherical display that does not require distortion of the earth projection (Stevenson, 2010). When reading an interactive map, users can extend their mobile’s screen real estate by unfolding their pocket-size flexible e-paper display.

With the emergence of flexible display technologies, it will be necessary for interface designers to move beyond flat interfaces and to contextualize interaction in an object's physical shape. Grounded in early explorations of organic user interfaces (OUIs), this paper examines the evolving relationship between industrial and interaction designs and examines how not only what we design is changing, but how we design too. First, we discuss how (and why) to better support the design of OUIs: how supporting sketching, a fundamental activity of many design fields, is increasingly critical and why a ‘hypercontextualized’ approach to their design can reduce the drawbacks met when everyday objects become interactive. Finally, underlying both these points is the maturation of technology to that of a computational material; when interactive hardware is seamlessly melded into an object's shape, the ‘computer’ disappears and is better seen as a basic design material that, incidentally, happens to have interactive behavior.

Stacking physical documents is one of the main forms of spatio-temporal organization of information. We present DisplayStacks, a system that enables physical stacking of digital documents via piles of flexible E Ink displays. With a conductive dot pattern sensor attached to the flexible display, we dynamically track the position and orientation of these displays in relation to one another. We introduce mechanisms for interacting with these physical stacks for access and manipulation of information using asymmetric bi-manual interactions, such as providing contextual overviews. Initial user experiences indicate a preference for linear overlaps as a stacking configuration.

In this paper, we present TeleHuman, a cylindrical 3D display portal for life-size human telepresence. The TeleHuman 3D videoconferencing system supports 360 degree motion parallax as the viewer moves around the cylinder and optionally, stereoscopic 3D display of the remote person. We evaluated the effect of perspective cues on the conveyance of nonverbal cues in two experiments using a one-way telecommunication version of the system. The first experiment focused on how well the system preserves gaze and hand pointing cues. The second experiment evaluated how well the system conveys 3D body postural information. We compared 3 perspective conditions: a conventional 2D view, a 2D view with 360 degree motion parallax, and a stereoscopic view with 360 degree motion parallax. Results suggest the combined presence of motion parallax and stereoscopic cues significantly improved the accuracy with which participants were able to assess gaze and hand pointing cues, and to instruct others on 3D body poses. The inclusion of motion parallax and stereoscopic cues also led to significant increases in the sense of social presence and telepresence reported by participants.

The Hum is an immersive art installation filled with hundreds of suspended furred catkins surrounding a cocoon. As visitors enter the space, catkins twitch, shiver and hum. In The Hum, we explore the idea of computers that communicate ephemerally through alterations of room and space.

In this paper we describe A Flock of Birds, an interactive, robotic origami art installation. The art installation explores folding paper as a fusion of input, output and computation while simultaneously providing its audience with a fun and exciting experience.

With WristFlicker, we detect wrist movement through sets of stretch sensors embedded in clothing. Our system supports wrist rotation (pronation/supination), and both wrist tilts (flexion/extension and ulnar/radial deviation). Each wrist movement is measured by two opposing stretch sensors, mimicking the counteracting movement of muscles. We discuss interaction techniques that allow a user to control a music player through this lightweight input.

Flexible displays potentially allow for interaction styles that resemble those used in paper documents. Bending the display, e.g., to page forward, shows particular promise as an interaction technique. In this paper, we present an evaluation of the effectiveness of various bend gestures in executing a set of tasks with a flexible display. We discuss a study in which users designed bend gestures for common computing actions deployed on a smartphone-inspired flexible E Ink prototype called PaperPhone. We collected a total of 87 bend gesture pairs from ten participants and their appropriateness over twenty actions in five applications. We identified six most frequently used bend gesture pairs out of 24 unique pairs. Results show users preferred bend gestures and bend gesture pairs that were conceptually simpler, e.g., along one axis, and less physically demanding. There was a strong agreement among participants to use the same three pairs in applications: (1) side of display, up/down (2) top corner, up/down (3) bottom corner, up/down. For actions with a strong directional cue, we found strong consensus on the polarity of the bend gestures (e.g., navigating left is performed with an upwards bend gesture, navigating right, downwards). This implies that bend gestures that take directional cues into account are likely more natural to users.

Multitasking has become an integral part of work environments, even though people are not well-equipped cognitively to handle numerous concurrent tasks effectively. Systems that support such multitasking may produce better performance and less frustration. However, without understanding the user's internal processes, it is difficult to determine optimal strategies for adapting interfaces, since all multitasking activity is not identical. We describe two experiments leading toward a system that detects cognitive multitasking processes and uses this information as input to an adaptive interface. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy sensors, we differentiate four cognitive multitasking processes. These states cannot readily be distinguished using behavioral measures such as response time, accuracy, keystrokes or screen contents. We then present our human-robot system as a proof-of-concept that uses real-time cognitive state information as input and adapts in response. This prototype system serves as a platform to study interfaces that enable better task switching, interruption management, and multitasking.

Advances in display, sensor and actuator technology are changing the field of TEI, and opening new research areas. While modern interfaces have been designed for traditional planar and static display devices, next-generation UI allow digital objects to change their shape and embed displays anywhere. Fitting into the paradigm of Organic User Interfaces, these developments require us to reexamine and reevaluate some of the basic design principles and interaction styles currently used. This Second International Workshop on Organic User Interfaces will bring together experts to discuss, brainstorm and prototype next generation of user interfaces.

A well designed user interface (UI) should be transparent, allowing users to focus their mental workload on the task at hand. We hypothesize that the overall mental workload required to perform a task using a computer system is composed of a portion attributable to the difficulty of the underlying task plus a portion attributable to the complexity of operating the user interface. In this regard, we follow Shneiderman's theory of syntactic and semantic components of a UI. We present an experiment protocol that can be used to measure the workload experienced by users in their various cognitive resources while working with a computer. We then describe an experiment where we used the protocol to quantify the syntactic workload of two user interfaces. We use functional near infrared spectroscopy, a new brain imaging technology that is beginning to be used in HCI. We also discuss extensions of our techniques to adaptive interfaces.

Because functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) eases many of the restrictions of other brain sensors, it has potential to open up new possibilities for HCI research. From our experience using fNIRS technology for HCI, we identify several considerations and provide guidelines for using fNIRS in realistic HCI laboratory settings. We empirically examine whether typical human behavior (e.g. head and facial movement) or computer interaction (e.g. keyboard and mouse usage) interfere with brain measurement using fNIRS. Based on the results of our study, we establish which physical behaviors inherent in computer usage interfere with accurate fNIRS sensing of cognitive state information, which can be corrected in data analysis, and which are acceptable. With these findings, we hope to facilitate further adoption of fNIRS brain sensing technology in HCI research.

We are in the midst of an explosion of emerging human-computer interaction techniques that redefine our understanding of both computers and interaction. We propose the notion of Reality-Based Interaction (RBI) as a unifying concept that ties together a large subset of these emerging interaction styles. Based on this concept of RBI, we provide a framework that can be used to understand, compare, and relate current paths of recent HCI research as well as to analyze specific interaction designs. We believe that viewing interaction through the lens of RBI provides insights for design and uncovers gaps or opportunities for future research.

We created Smart Blocks, an augmented mathematical manipulative that allows users to explore the concepts of volume and surface area of 3-dimensional (3D) objects. This interface supports physical manipulation for exploring spatial relationships and it provides continuous feedback for reinforcing learning. By leveraging the benefits of physicality with the advantages of digital information, this tangible interface provides an engaging environment for learning about surface area and volume of 3D objects.

We propose a new method for collecting information on regulatory elements found by any motif discovery program. We suggest that combining the results of n leave-one-out motif discovery runs provides additional information. By examining motifs found in n - 1 of the sequences and scoring them on the remaining sequence, we overcome some of the issues arising from noisy data to identify more high-quality motifs. We describe preliminary investigations of this approach, using MEME for motif discovery. We show that the leave-one-out method highlights different motifs than a single MEME run would. We demonstrate that our method increases the power of small datasets. We also explore how the information gain of the method changes as the number of sequences increases. Our approach may be generalized to any number of sequences, and may be applied with any motif-inference package that generates a final population of solutions and scores