Here we describe the design and usability evaluation of a mixed reality prototype to simulate the role of a tank platoon leader, who is an individual who not only is a tank commander, but also directs a platoon of three other tanks with their own respective tank commanders. The domain of tank commander training has relied on physical simulators of the actual Abrams tank and encapsulates the whole crew. The TALK-ON system we describe here focuses on training communication skills of the leader in a simulated tank crew. We report results from a usability evaluation and discuss how they will inform our future work for collective tank training.

There are few effective treatments for rehabilitation of severe motor impairment after stroke. We developed a novel closed-loop neurofeedback system called REINVENT to promote motor recovery in this population. REINVENT (Rehabilitation Environment using the Integration of Neuromuscular-based Virtual Enhancements for Neural Training) harnesses recent advances in neuroscience, wearable sensors, and virtual technology and integrates low-cost electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) sensors with feedback in a head-mounted virtual reality display (VR) to provide neurofeedback when an individual's neuromuscular signals indicate movement attempt, even in the absence of actual movement. Here we describe the REINVENT prototype and provide evidence of the feasibility and safety of using REINVENT with older adults.

Presentation support tools, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, pose challenges both in terms of creating linear presentations from complex data and fluidly navigating such linear structures when presenting to diverse audiences. NextSlidePlease is a slideware application that addresses these challenges using a directed graph structure approach for authoring and delivering multimedia presentations. The application combines novel approaches for searching and analyzing presentation datasets, composing meaningfully structured presentations, and efficiently delivering material under a variety of time constraints. We introduce and evaluate a presentation analysis algorithm intended to simplify the process of authoring dynamic presentations, and a time management and path selection algorithm that assists users in prioritizing content during the presentation process. Results from two comparative user studies indicate that the directed graph approach promotes the creation of hyperlinks, the consideration of connections between content items, and a richer understanding of the time management consequences of including and selecting presentation material.

Contemporary distributed enterprises present challenges in terms of demonstrating community activity awareness and coherence across individuals and teams in collaborating networks. Building with a Memory is an experiential media system that captures and represents human activity in a distributed workplace over time. The system senses and analyzes movement in two workspaces in a mixed-use building with the results rendered in an informative ambient display in the building entryway. We describe the design and development of the system, together with insights from two studies of the installation and promising future directions.

Building with a Memory is a subtle responsive intervention that aims to provide cohesion and community awareness through the use of light and color. The installation delivers thought-provoking information by capturing, analyzing and rendering real-time and archived human activity in a workplace setting. The installation senses movement in the space through an IR camera and computer vision techniques. Two custom lighting fixtures and a video monitor render the aggregated movements. The visually simple aesthetic of the piece aims to balance active engagement and passive contribution, providing a rewarding experience for both occasional passersby and regular users of the space. This paper describes the motivations and contributions of the installation, together with insights gained from an informal evaluation and directions for future explorations.

In this video presentation, we introduce NextSlidePlease, a novel slide authoring and presentation application. The video begins with a dramatization illustrating the shortcomings of existing slide-ware tools identified through our prior research. We then describe our theoretical framework for addressing these identified problems and present a dramatization of the process by which our NextSlidePlease application can be used to overcome such issues in a business context. In addition, we illustrate the novel functional aspects of our application algorithm that enable effective time management and flexible presentations. Finally, we present promising results from two user studies.

Transdisciplinary collaborations call for dynamic, responsive slide-ware presentations beyond the linear structure afforded by traditional tools. The NextSlidePlease application addresses this through a novel authoring and presentation interface. The application also features an innovative algorithm to enhance presentation time management. The cross-platform Java application is currently being evaluated in a variety of real-world presentation contexts.