Museums aim at personalizing visits to offer tailored content and encourage visitors to come back. Unfortunately, museum professionals find it difficult to reflect on the vast number of visitor profiles when creating personalized visits. We propose Museo* a new concept to support their creation strategy by allowing the selection of visitor characteristics. Through an interactive design process, we instantiated this concept with MuseoTUI, that displays the progress of visit creation by illuminating physical tokens, and MuseoGUI that displays on a standard touchscreen. In an in-situ comparative structured observation, we evaluated both prototypes. The concept Museo* is well understood and accepted with both interaction styles. MuseoGUI was perceived as more efficient, while MuseoTUI provided better stimulation, higher user experience and the physical manipulation was described as a valuable support for empathy, reflection, and creation. Based on these findings, we present design implications for future systems supporting the creation of personalized visits.

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There is a rising interest in animating realistic virtual agents for multiple purposes in different domains. Such a task requires systems capable of generating complex mental states on par with human emotional complexity. Considering the high representational capacity of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), it is only natural to consider them in such applications. In this work, we propose a conditional GAN model for generating sequences of facial expressions of categorical complex emotions. Trained on a scarce and highly imbalanced dataset, the proposed model is able to generate realistic variable-length sequences in a single inference step. These expressions of emotional states, of which there are 24 in total, follow the Facial Actions Coding System (FACS) formatting. In the absence of meaningful objective evaluation methods, we propose a deep-learning-based metric to assess the realism of generated Action Unit (AU) sequences: the Action Unit Fréchet Inception Distance (AUFID). Objective and subjective results validate the realism of our generated samples.

Creativity Support Tools (CSTs), like sketching tools, enable designers in their creative activities. As designers may have different needs during different thinking phases, accessing physiological responses in real-time would enable CSTs to better adapt to these different phases. Several studies have focused on either different phases on the same tool or the same phase on different tools. We investigate ways to discriminate divergent and convergent thinking phases using physiological response. We replicated the same experiment with thirty participants each on two different CSTs: in immersive virtual reality and on an interactive whiteboard (2D). We analyzed Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) during a divergent thinking task followed by a convergent thinking task. Our results revealed significant changes in arousal, measured through HRV and GSR, which seem specific to each creative thinking phase. We discuss how each phase can be linked with specific reactions independently of the CST. We suggest that it may be possible to detect a favorable creative state depending on the task being performed.

Smart environments are currently overpowering traditional Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) approaches for people's everyday life applications. Proxemic interaction is an emerging area for improving HCI experiences in such environments, causing the so-called proxemic environments to emerge. Proxemic interaction describes how the five dimensions (i.e., Distance, Identity, Location, Movement, and Orientation - DILMO) can be used to define interactions among people and digital devices. Current studies in this area are focused on developing proxemic applications with specific functionalities, based on a toolkit that allows developers to obtain DILMO information from sensors. However, there exists a notable lack of general approaches able to support the whole implementation process, starting from the modelling of proxemic environments to represent general proxemics behaviours, and finalizing with the development of specific applications. In order to facilitate the integration of proxemic capabilities in HCI, we propose an approach for modelling proxemic environments based on a graphical Domain-Specific Language (DSL). The DSL allows non-specialist designers to express proxemic interactions for modelling proxemic environments and supports the development process. In order to show its suitability and functionality, we have implemented a prototype to design proxemic behaviours in different proxemic environments.

The widespread diffusion of smart and mobile devices continuously connected to the Internet has facilitated the users' contact and interaction with other people, devices, and with their physical surroundings.Proxemic interaction, derived from proxemics theory, focuses on how Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) works with smart devices, using the five proxemic dimensions: Distance, Identity, Location, Movement, and Orientation (DILMO).The current tools for developing proxemic applications require fixed devices that make it difficult to build proxemic mobile apps.In this work, we propose a framework to manage all components in a proxemic environment (i.e., interaction objects and DILMO dimensions that govern the HCI).We demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of our framework, through the development of two proxemic mobile applications, as proof-of-concept.

Currently, mobile technologies are present in our daily day in different activities and their use keeps increasing. In this context, proxemic interaction, derived from proxemic theory, is becoming an influential approach to implement Mobile Human-Computer Interaction (MobileHCI) in smart environments, based on five proxemic dimensions: Distance, Identity, Location, Movement, and Orientation (DILMO). The existing tools for implementing proxemic applications require fixed devices that make it difficult to built mobile proxemic apps. This work aims to propose a framework for the development of proxemic applications for smart environments comprised by entities, whose interactions are supported by MobileHCI defined in terms of DILMO dimensions. Our proposed framework allows defining and managing all components in a smart proxemic environment. The framework also provides an API, that allows developers to simplify the process of proxemic information sensing (i.e., detection of DILMO dimensions) from mobile phones and wearable sensors. We demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of our framework, through the proof-of-concept which describes the implementation of two proxemic mobile applications built in a context-based infrastructure for smart proxemic environments based on mobile devices.

Museums aim at offering personalized visits to encourage visitors to visit more than once. Few approaches consider the specific skills of museum professionals when designing tools for this purpose. We conducted a three-step iterative and user-centered design process with 13 museum professionals from six museums. This analysis led us to a main finding: the most complicated task for museum professionals is to explore their design space, composed of all possible visitor profiles for which to create visits. We propose a visualization for this multidimensional design space and six potential interactions on this representation. In an exploration space, we classify them on two axes: the selection approach and the type of interface (GUI versus TUI). We analyze their benefits and limits and, based on a pilot study, we propose insights and questions for future design.

Museums compete with the entertainment industry to attract a large audience. One solution to make them more attractive is to personalize the visits according to visitors' preferences. Following a user centered design approach with visitors and museum professionals, we designed and implemented Build Your Own Hercules. This tangible prototype helps groups of visitors or individuals choose a visit based on their characteristics and desires. A pilot study in the museum provided first insights about the ease of use, satisfaction and interest within visitor groups.

We present CairnFORM, a shape-changing cylindrical display that physicalizes forecasts of renewable energy availability. CairnFORM aims at creating and encouraging new socially-shared practices by displaying energy data in collective and public spaces, such as public places and workplaces. It is 360°-readable, and as a dynamic physical ring chart, it can change its cylindrical symmetry with quiet motion. We conducted two user studies. The first study clearly revealed the attractiveness of CairnFORM in a public place and its usability for a range task and for a compare task. Consequently, this makes CairnFORM useful to analyze renewable energy availability. The second study revealed that a non-constant motion speed is the better visualization stimulus at a workplace.

Current interactions for the Internet of Things are often constrained behind a screen. With the Internet of Tangible Things (IoTT) we aim at promoting the design of richer interactions, embodied in physical IoT objects. To this purpose, we propose a card set for the design of tangible interaction with IoT objects, which contains 8 cards for tangible interaction properties and 8 for IoT properties, in order to explore how tangible properties can be exploited for enhancing the interaction with IoT objects. We tested the card set in a dedicated workshop, observing that participants were able to explore most of the tangible and IoT properties. To complement the IoT card set, a hardware prototyping toolkit with examples for each of the 8 tangible properties is currently under development.

There is an increasing interest in the HCI research community to design richer user interactions with the Internet of Things (IoT). This studio will allow exploring the design of tangible interaction with the IoT, what we call Internet of Tangibles. In particular, we aim at investigating the full interaction-attention continuum, with the purpose of designing IoT tangible interfaces that can switch between peripheral interactions that do not disrupt everyday routines, and focused interactions that support user's reflections. This investigation will be conducted through hands-on activities where participants will prototype tangible IoT objects, starting by a paper prototyping phase, supported by design cards, and followed by an Arduino prototype phase. The purpose of the studio is also establishing a community of researchers and practitioners, from both academy and industry, interested in the field of tangible interaction with the Internet of Things.

Data physicalizations are growing popular in many societal domains which indicates a strong potential for fostering public engagement thanks to public exhibition (e.g. in train stations, in airports, on roundabouts, and in enterprises). We focus on dynamic physical charts for visualizing renewable energy forecasts in public spaces. To get charts readable from any point of view around, we propose a physical ring chart inspired by stone cairns. To build this physical chart, we designed an expandable and stackable illuminated ring. In this paper, we describe the design process and the limitations of the first prototype of such a ring.

Model-Driven Testing (MDT) is a relevant approach for the automation of software testing. This approach uses models to express and execute tests. These models are instances of metamodels describing a dedicated Domain-Specific Modeling Language (DSML). In this paper, the targeted domain is mobile phone applications. In fact, mobile devices have various hardware and software features like operating systems, screen parameters (size, touch screen or not...), keyboards (QWERTY, AZERTY...), presence of additional hardware (camera, voice recorder, accelerometers...), etc. In this paper, we describe an industrial platform (test bed) that includes an Eclipse-based DSML. A key characteristic of this DSML is its ability to cope with variability in the spirit of software product lines. We discuss this DSML as a component of a tool suite enabling the test of different devices having variable features.

GeoTUI is a system designed for geophysicists that provides props as tangible user interface on a tabletop vision-projection system for the selection of cutting planes on a geographical map of a subsoil model. Our GeoTUI system allows the geophysicists to manipulate in the same action and perception space since the movement of the physical artifacts is done on the tabletop and thus constrained to two dimensions. Consequently, it combines the advantages of the spontaneous conditions of user interaction that the geophysicists are commonly used to in their classical paper/pen/ruler environment with the advantages of the use of powerful geological simulation software. We conducted an extensive user study in the workplace of the geophysicists that clearly revealed that using a tangible interaction performs better than using the standard mouse/keyboard GUI for the cutting line selection task on a geographical subsoil map. Consequently, it increases the efficiency for the real-world trade task of hypothesis validation on a subsoil model. Moreover, this geological user case is complex enough to confirm the hypothesis that in space-multiplex conditions, specialized devices perform better than generic ones.

In this demonstration, we present ArcheoTUI, a new tangible user interface for the efficient assembly of the 3D scanned fragments of fractured archeological objects. The key idea is to use tangible props for the manipulation of the virtual fragments. In each hand, the user manipulates an electromagnetically tracked prop, and the translations and rotations are directly mapped to the corresponding virtual fragments on the display. For each hand, a corresponding foot pedal is used to clutch the movements of the hands. Hence, the hands of the user can be repositioned, or the user can be switched. The software of ArcheoTUI is designed to easily change assembly hypotheses, beyond classical undo/redo, by using a scene graph.