Interactions between emergency first responders (EFRs) and Generative Voice Agents (GVAs) are shaping the future of communication in crisis management operations and training. Key issues are the associated security, privacy and ethical concerns of centralized, proprietary, remote GVAs especially in critical tasks. Remote GVAs also impact response times and require high power consumption infrastructure. These characteristics hinder the usability of GVAs since earlier voice assistants. However, open-source, local GVAs provide secure and efficient alternatives, but no standardized process exists to build GVAs in line with EFR’s requirements. This study proposes a unified evaluation framework, EFR-GVA EvalKit, with metrics of regulatory compliance, technical specifications and performance tests inline with EFRs’ applications requirements that prioritize transparency, data sovereignty and usability. We then used the EFR-GVA EvalKit framework to assess and compare the design and development of local GVAs on consumer grade devices with a frontier remote conversational agent in a triage training 3D scenario. A user study (N=19) with EFRs showed the capacity of local GVAs to meet EFRs’ expectations. Compared to existing approaches, our contribution is more comprehensive and engineered for reuse. EFR–GVA EvalKit is introduced in this paper as a new, compliance-gated evaluation method and the triage scenario is its first instantiation and validation, demonstrating how the framework can be replicated across devices and tasks.

Recent research has demonstrated the potential for representing intelligent guidance using multi-modal cues, yet few guidelines or processes exist to guide the design of such a system. In this article, we seek to address this gap by investigating the design of multi-modal assistant systems for setting the optimal parameters in industrial plants. We present the results of two user studies conducted with a total of 37 participants to evaluate the effectiveness and experience of different combinations of visual ( Highlights and Ambient lights) and haptic ( Clicks and Vibration ) modalities for providing intelligent dynamic guidance. Our findings demonstrate that providing the intelligent guidance with the multi-modality of Highlights+Ambient resulted in shorter task duration and higher practicality than Ambient lights alone. Regarding task accuracy, the Highlights and Vibration outside-zone guidance resulted in no failed attempts. Moreover, Highlights+Ambient+Vibration guidance was rated as having lower usability than Highlights+Ambient , and higher mental demand than merely Highlights .

Transportation significantly contributes to CO2 emissions and thus plays a crucial role in sustainability initiatives. Promoting sustainable mobility behaviors requires innovative approaches, including the use of persuasive technologies. While such strategies have shown potential, their effectiveness across different stages of the travel booking process remains underexplored. In this work, we aimed to explore how integrating persuasive strategies into the booking application of an on-demand mobility service promotes sustainable transportation choice and behavior. To accomplish this, we conducted a between-subjects user study (N=30) which encompassed a booking simulation experiment which visualized CO2 emissions feedback at two different stages of the booking process. Our results show higher persuasion score in post-booking compared to pre-booking group while no significant differences were observed in persuasive potential or engagement.

We compare four human–robot interaction configurations for semi-autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) support in a simulated search-and-rescue task, organised along two orthogonal dimensions: Immersion (screen vs head-mounted display) and Viewpoint (exocentric/top-down vs egocentric/first-person). Thirty-six professional first responders and CBRN specialists completed the task using a 2D screen, a 3D screen, VR, or XR. 2D yielded the highest perceived explainability and self-rated performance; XR showed the lowest mean workload and a trend toward lower perceived difficulty (non-significant); VR increased negative effects (e.g., discomfort). Transparency significantly predicted trust, but with a counterintuitive negative coefficient, suggesting that uncalibrated disclosures can undermine perceived reliability. We report effect sizes and methodological details, discuss design implications for calibrating immersion and viewpoint to balance situational awareness, comfort, and trust in safety-critical operations.

Effective communication is essential in high-stress environments but stress often disrupts the flow of information and leads to miscommunication. While scenario-based training exercises are widely used, post-hoc reflection and analysis of verbal interactions remain challenging due to overlapping speech, limited analysis time, and the dynamic nature of these situations. This paper introduces ROGER, a novel visual analytics interface designed to support after-action reviews of communication during high-stress training scenarios. Developed in collaboration with police trainers through an iterative design study, ROGER integrates emotional voice metrics, heart rate variability, and spoken language content to provide a comprehensive analysis of team communication. The system enables a flexible in-depth exploration of communication patterns through motifs—repeated sequences or content elements—including those generated by a large language model (LLM) as well as predefined ones. Our approach addresses the limitations of existing tools, which focus primarily on content summarization or voice replays without incorporating emotional and stress-related voice data. We validated the utility through interviews with police trainers and conducted a workshop with medical first responders to investigate the potential for cross-domain applicability. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that ROGER supports effective team performance analysis in diverse high-stress environments. See also supplemental material at https://osf.io/pc6un

Creating Virtual Reality (VR) systems with high scenario fidelity is crucial, especially for scenario-based VR training. However, participatory VR design processes often require participants to have design knowledge, technical skills, or access to high-fidelity prototyping tools. Here, we present the development and evaluation of the co-design method CoLEBricks which uses building blocks for the co-creation of VR training scenarios for first responders. From the exploratory findings, we conclude that CoLEBricks supports end users in sharing needs and wishes regarding complex VR training scenarios, thereby ensuring the integration of relevant and realistic scenarios.

In the field of medical first responder training, the choice of training modality is crucial for skill retention and real-world application. This study introduces the Green Manikin, an advanced Mixed Reality (MR) tool, conceptually combining the immersiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) with the tangibility of real-world training, and compares it against traditional real-world simulations and VR training. Our findings indicate that MR and real-world settings excel in Self and Social Presence, and in intention to use, offering heightened psychological presence suitable for complex training scenarios. Effort expectancy was highest in real-world environments, suggesting their ease of use for basic skill acquisition. This nuanced understanding allows for better tailoring of training modalities to specific educational objectives. Our research validates the utility of MR and offers a framework for selecting the most effective training environment for different learning outcomes in medical first responder training.

Leveraging gesture-based controls within a remote interface for automated material handling operations presents a promising avenue to optimize experience in outdoor environments. We present a gesture-based interactive system designed to facilitate collaboration between a human operator and a semi-autonomous forklift in material handling processes. Our interface supports commands that include starting the forklift, defining the loading/unloading area and the amount of pallets that need to be transported. We tested and compared the proposed solution to a touch-based User Interface in a field study to explore its effectiveness and identify potential challenges for implementation and adoption in industrial real-world settings.

Recent research has demonstrated the potential for representing intelligent guidance using multi-modal cues, yet few guidelines or processes exist to guide the design of such a system. In this paper, we seek to address this gap by investigating the design of multi-modality assistant systems for setting the optimal parameters in industrial plants. We present the results of our study conducted with 22 participants to evaluate the effectiveness and experience of different combinations of visual (Highlights and Ambient lights) and haptic (Clicks and Vibration) modalities for providing intelligent dynamic guidance. Our findings demonstrate that providing the intelligent guidance with the multi modality of Highlights+Ambient resulted in shorter task duration and higher practicality than Ambient lights alone. Moreover, Highlights+Ambient+Vibration guidance was rated with lower usability than Highlights+Ambient as well as higher mental demand than merely Highlights.

Abstract This paper presents the results of a 5-month diary study into the practices and routines that develop around technological making in the home, particularly focused on the experiences of women, as they continue to be an underrepresented group in the maker community. In this study, we provided participants with an entry-level electronics making kit. Over the course of twenty weeks, the participants documented their making activities via photos, videos, text messages and taking part in interviews. By means of interpretative phenomenological analysis, we identified six core themes related to women’s experiences with technological making in the home. These experiences ranged from positive—feeling challenged, proud of accomplishments, inspired; to negative—feeling frustrated, guilty due to lack of progress or confused and overwhelmed. These experiences are discussed and contextualized by aspects related to hurdles experienced by the participants, and success factors that contribute to proactive engagement with making in the home. Research Highlights Twenty-week photo diary study and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Identification of six core themes based on empirical data on experiences with technological making in the home context. Discourse around thresholds to engage women in technological making and the maker community. Design and research directions to reduce barriers in technological making.

In medical simulation training two approaches are currently rather disjunct: realistic manikins are used to teach physical skills and procedures and VR systems are used to train situation assessment and decision making. We propose a mixed reality approach, which allows trainees to use real tools and their hands when interacting with a physical manikin overlaid with a responsive virtual avatar. In close exchange with first responder organizations, we developed and evaluated an MR training scenario. In the scenario, users can talk to injured people in a car accident, assess the threat of the environment, and utilize real medical equipment. Participants experienced high levels of physical- and self-presence, increased stress levels, and reported a high technology acceptance. The proposed main requirements of first responders regarding haptic multi-sensory skill training in MR and the lessons learned from the workshop aim to guide the design of training solutions for medical training in MR.

Investigating application areas for utilizing robots to support human workers is a continuing concern within human robot collaboration. In this paper, we focus on surface repair and finishing processes in which robots support skilled workers in task execution. We conducted a user study which investigates novel, pen-based human robot interaction modalities for collaborative spot repair processes in a Virtual Reality (VR) setting. Our findings show that participants preferred a test condition in which all interaction with the robot took place directly on the work piece. Furthermore, the interaction modality had an impact on objective performance indicators. These findings are discussed in the context of designing intuitive interfaces for collaborative robots in industrial settings.

Tangible devices and interaction in Extended Reality (XR) increase immersion and enable users to perform tasks more intuitively, accurately and joyfully across the reality-virtuality continuum. Upon reviewing the literature, we noticed no clear trend for a publication venue, as well as no standard in evaluating the effects of tangible XR. To position the topic of tangible XR in the TEI community, we propose a hands-on studio, where participants will bring in their own ideas for tangible XR from their application fields, and develop prototypes with the cutting-edge technology and a selection of virtual assets provided. Additionally, we will collectively reflect upon evaluation methods on tangible XR, and aim to find a consensus of a core evaluation suite. With this, we aim to foster a practical understanding and spark new developments in tangible XR and its use cases within the TEI community.

Meaningfulness is a profound aspect of our lives. So far, a concrete reflection of what meaning means in HCI is still rare. To understand users as humans, and thus, the humanity in being a user, we adopt Viktor Frankl’s understanding of users as meaning-seeking subjects. To make the concept of meaningfulness more graspable, we refer to what Frankl calls the three existentials of life: freedom, responsibility, and noos. We elaborate four dimensions, namely the existentials as an outcome, as their embeddedness in technology, their role in interaction, and their (non-)usage. This is followed by a discussion on the interwovenness of the three existentials as well as their potential impact on HCI research. By that, we aim to contribute to a profound understanding of meaning for HCI, from the epistemological to the methodological perspective, to enable meaning-centered design.

The impact of COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of sports and physical activity for maintaining people’s mental well-being. In this domain, promising use cases for social robots have been identified. However, current research lacks a systematic approach for implementing, analyzing and understanding the contribution of robotic embodiment and proximity for persuasive and motivation technologies. In this work, we investigate how social robots could be used, in real-world training scenarios, to support trainers in conducting exercises while positively motivating trainees. Two use cases were designed to meet the needs of health and competitive oriented trainees. Qualitative and quantitative results from a field study show positive effects of the robot on trainees in terms of acceptance and intrinsic motivation. In addition, our findings highlight directions for further improvement of the design of social robots in sports and physical scenarios.

In design, we often deal with complex problems that require participatory, embodied sensemaking to solve. There are abundant design tools available – both physical and digital – to support these activities. While digital tools have continued to gain presence in the design processes over the last decades, due to, e.g., widened availability, improved flexibility, and the potential to increase productivity, physical tools and analogue practices still hold a solid place in the design process for many designers. To bridge the gap between the physical and digital, and to benefit from the best of both worlds in tools for design, hybrid tools are being developed. This paper aims to identify design opportunities for future hybrid design tools, by exploring the characteristics of designing for participatory, embodied sensemaking, in the context of physical, digital, and hybrid tools.

Immersive virtual training environments are used in various domains. In this work we focus on role-play training in virtual reality. In virtual role-play training conversations and interactions with virtual agents are often fundamental to the training. Therefore, the appearance and behavior of the agents plays an important role when designing role-play training. We focus on the gender appearance of agents, as gender is an important aspect for differentiation between characters. We conducted a study with 40 participants in which we investigated how agents gender appearance influences the perception of the agents´ personality traits and the self-perception of a participants’ assumed role in a training for social skills. This work contributes towards understanding the design-space of virtual agent design, virtual agent gender identity, and the design and development of immersive virtual reality role-play training.

Audio-frequency induction loops (AFILs) are commonly used as an assistive listening technology for hard-of-hearing individuals. They generate an electromagnetic field proportional to a sound source receivable by hearing aids. Our interactive system, the Sound of Space, is based on AFILs that generate a multi-dimensional soundscape in space. Cochlear implant (CI) listeners and hearing-aids wearers can experience the soundscape through bodily movement, whereas hearing individuals can experience it via a corresponding tangible device. While typical AFIL installations transmit a single sound source, in our interactive system we implement overlapping loops and their interference to locate multiple synchronised audio sources (i.e., corresponding electromagnetic fields) in space. The designed system is installed permanently in an integrative school for deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing students and teachers. In this pictorial, we illustrate our design and implementation process and contribute our learnings of using AFILs as a design material for architectural interactivity.

In mixed traffic environments, highly automated vehicles (HAV) can potentially be disruptive and a source of hazards due to their non-human driving behavior and a lack of “traditional” communication means (gestures, eye contact, and similar) to resolve issues or otherwise unclear situations. As a result, additional external human-machine interfaces (eHMI) for automated vehicles that replace the now absent human element in communication have been proposed. In this paper, we present the results from a study, in which two versions of a light band eHMI to communicate driving intend of an automated shuttle were evaluated in a real driving environment. We found that the green-red traffic light metaphor and simple animations could improve interaction success in certain aspects. We also found and discuss that the effect of using vs. not using the visual eHMIs was overall lower than expected and that the shuttle’s position and observable driving behavior seemed to play a larger role than anticipated.

With increasing automation capabilities and a push towards full automation in vehicles, mode awareness, i.e., the driver’s awareness of the vehicle’s current automation mode, becomes an important factor. While issues surrounding mode awareness are known, research concerning and design towards mode awareness appears to not yet be a focal point in the automated driving domain. In this paper, we provide a state-of-the art on mode awareness from the related domains of automated driving, aviation, and Human-Robot Interaction. We present a summary of existing mode awareness interface solutions as well as existing techniques and recognized gaps concerning mode awareness. We found that existing interfaces are often simple, sometimes outdated, yet are difficult to meaningfully expand without overloading the user. We also found predictive approaches as a promising strategy to lessen the need for mode awareness via separate indicators.

Grandparents and grandchildren, who cannot meet face-to-face (e.g., due to dislocation or physical distancing induced by a pandemic), often use audio-visual communication tools in order to maintain their relationship online. In a qualitative online survey (n = 85), we inquired into the various ways that grandparents and grandchildren came up with when being physically distant; many of them are tangible in nature as they include “things” or incorporate “spaces”. In this paper, we illustrate related temporal and spatial trajectories and unpack how online meetings are characterized by constant negotiations of agency. We discuss how online meetings could complement face-to-face meetings, instead of mimicking or replacing them. We finally articulate a collection of design sensitivities with the aim to both inspire and question designing for intergenerational online meetings.

Humans frequently discontinue to use certain technologies, services, or platforms: they deactivate accounts, block content, or find workarounds for un-using functionalities or devices. This is noticeable in contemporary trends, such as digital detox, where an entire market emerged to support users in discontinuing their use. In this essayistic paper, we reflect on a collection of examples where humans disengage with technology by applying Vardouli’s concept of ‘making use’ to the context of discontinued use. We propose making un-use as an epistemological perspective to ‘human-artefact engagements’; one that emphasises un-users as enactors of open-ended, temporarily evolving, and creative activities. We depict making un-use as transformational acts, and discuss epistemological and designerly consequences of making un-use to shed light on a not yet explored site of inquiry and a design space that is about to evolve: a design space for making and makers of un-use.

Abstract Virtual Reality (VR) training has become increasingly important for police first responders in recent years. Improving the training experience in such complex contexts requires ecological validity of virtual training. To achieve this, VR systems need to be capable of simulating the complex experiences of police officers ‘in the field.’ One way to do this is to add stressors into training simulations to induce stress similar to the stress experienced in real-life situations, particularly in situations where this is difficult (e.g., dangerous or resource-intensive) to achieve with traditional training. To include stressors in VR, this paper thus presents the concept of so-called ‘stress cues’ for operationalizing stressors to augment training in VR simulations for the context of police work. Considering the level of complexity of police work and training, a co-creation process that allows for creative collaboration and mitigation of power imbalances was chosen to access the police officers’ knowledge and experience. We assert that stress cues can improve the training experience from the trainer’s perspective as they provide novel interaction design possibilities for trainers to control the training experience. E.g., by actively intervening in training and dynamically changing the interaction space for trainees which also improves the trainee’s experience. Stress cues can also improve the trainee’s experience by enabling personalizable and customizable training based on real-time stress measurements and supplementing information for improved training feedback.

Haptic qualities of surfaces play an important role for the user's experience with a system. In that context, soft touch surfaces are important as they are often used for surfaces of industrial products. For assessing related experiences, research is often focusing on physical properties of the surfaces rather than the (quality of) experience of the user. Therefore, we set out to analyze how people describe their experience of surface properties in a bottom-up approach. In an Open Profiling study we let people self-describe, cluster and rate surface properties. Based on these ratings we applied a Principal Component Analysis to identify characteristics and related perception dimensions of soft touch surfaces. Furthermore, we complement this with an expert clustering of user self-descriptions. Our analysis shows that descriptions can be categorized in pragmatic and hedonic (and/or affective) dimensions. With this research we contribute to better understanding the quality of material related experiences.

Living dislocated from family, friends or partners can result in negative emotions and a lack of physical, bodily closeness. We focus on materialising the negative consequences associated with living far apart in a textile form, and manifest those in two pairs of wearable artefacts: first, WARMTH, which simulates the bodily distance between remote people through a decrease in felt temperature, and second, BREATH, which embodies the bodily absence of a remote other through a decline in mechanical movement of textiles. The wearables are ‘discussion artefacts’ that enable conversation about, reflection on and exchange of personal, negative, vulnerable and challenging emotions connected to living far apart. The stance taken in this pictorial emphasises the necessity to focus not only on overcoming and bridging the distance between remote people through interactive artefacts; but also, to consider and manifest melancholic and possibly negative personal experiences.

Large-scale kinetic displays have been present for decades, both as mesmerising art installations and as information displays. In this paper we present KINEIN, a kinetic display whose large-scale and indefinite deployment time distinguish it from the prototypical level of HCI research artefacts. It consists of 625 “tiles” or “pixels” mounted on a 25 x 25 matrix and operates through mechanical movement. Instead of a motor rotating each tile individually, KINEIN has a vertical column system that moves tiles sequentially. Situated at the entrance of a learning environment, KINEIN is not only a playful artefact for children to physically interact with, but also the first encounter for the school's visitors.

Although software products are becoming increasingly accessible and assistive tools like screen readers becoming widely available, people with low vision still face insufficient support when it comes to consumption of digital video content. In this paper, we present an accessible desktop video player software, which allows people with low vision to adapt the presentation of digital videos according to their specific needs. For visual enhancement, we implemented a broad range of image manipulation techniques, like adaptation of contrast, color manipulation (e.g. inverting, grey scale transformations) and edge detection algorithms for sharpness optimization. Based on the feedback from low vision users, we discuss how to implement enhancement filter configuration and how to consider several input modalities.

Driverless shuttles bear different and novel challenges for passengers. One of these is related to capacity management, as such shuttles are often smaller (usually from 6 to 12 seats) with limited capacities to (re-)assign seating, control reservations, or arrange travels for groups that exceed a shuttle’s capacity. Since a bus driver is missing, passengers need to resolve conflicts or uncertainties on their own, unless additional systems provide such support. In this paper, we present the results from a laboratory study, in which we investigated passenger needs in relation to booking and reserving spots (seats, standing spots, and strollers) in an automated shuttle. We found that such functionalities have a low-to-medium impact on an overall scale but could constitute exclusion criteria for more vulnerable parts of the population, such as older adults, families with small children, or physically impaired individuals.

LEDs on a strip, when turned on and off in a specific order, result in the perception of apparent motion (i.e. beta movement). In the automotive domain such chase lights have been used to alter drivers' perception of driving speed by manipulating the pixel speed of LEDs. We argue that the perceived velocity of beta movement in the peripheral view is not only based on the actual pixel speed but can be influenced by other factors such as frequency, width and brightness of lit LED segments. We conducted a velocity matching experiment (N=25) by systematically varying these three properties, in order to determine their influence on a participant's perceived velocity in a vehicle mock-up. Results show that a higher frequency and stronger brightness increased perceived velocity, whereas segment width had no influence. We discuss how findings may be applied when designing systems that use beta movement to influence the perception of ambient light velocity.

Regular physical exercise is an essential factor for preventing chronic diseases. Activities to support physical education in schools have been increasingly used in recent years as a target to get young people interested in sports. However, for visually impaired students it is difficult to participate in traditional team sports which are widely played in physical education. To overcome this issue, we developed a design toolkit consisting of building blocks that enable visually impaired students to create and play their own movement-based games. To investigate different types of building blocks and their potential to create accessible movement-based games, we conducted two game design workshops with visually impaired students. The results show that our building blocks can successfully be used by visually impaired students to empower them to become creators of movement-based games that are both accessible and engaging. By making our design-process transparent, we further provide insights on how to implement a co-creation process in a school for visually impaired students.

Automation is finding its way into many parts of everyday life. This is manifested by the increasing opportunities for end users to offload decisions to their home appliances, to hand over control to their cars, to step into automated trains, or to go for shopping at self-checkout stores. Supported by artificial intelligence, emerging automated services are getting closer towards human cognitive functions, as they are integrating analysis and decision based on the processing of large information sets [ 48 ]. In anticipation of the broad impact that these emerging technologies will have on our sphere of life, a reflective and systematic consideration is necessary that leverages their full potential in terms of user experience. While there is a long human factors research tradition on automation, scholars have for long concentrated on highly specialized professional work tasks for trained personnel, such as control center operators or pilots. With technological innovations and new use cases in domains such as transport, home automation, and retail, the goal of designing automation for a broader population has become more important. This transition of automation technology towards the everyday life thus has put the experience of “naïve users” into the center of attention.

Abstract The absence of a human driver creates novel challenges for fully automated public transport. Passengers are likely to have different expectations, needs, or even fears when traveling without a driver in potentially dangerous situations. We present the results from two field studies in which we explored incident management in a driverless shuttle bus. We explored participant’s behavior and willingness to assist in solving problems in a variety of scenarios where the bus suddenly stops for technical reasons or a hypothesized situation of harassment. In a follow-up study, we focused on auditory remote assistance and investigated problem solving through the passengers. We found that diffusion of responsibility is an existent barrier, when passengers are involved in the resolving of potentially dangerous situations. It can be overcome, when incident-relevant instructions are designed explicitly, briefly, timely, distinguishable from regular on-trip information, and address auditory and visual sensory channels alike.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) aim to increase safety by supporting drivers in the driving task. Especially older drivers (65+ years), given the nature of aging, could benefit from these systems. However, little is known about older drivers' acceptance of ADAS in general and how particular acceptance aspects influence their intention to use such systems. To address this research gap, we present results from a large-scale online survey (n=1328) with aging drivers, which was conducted in three European countries in 2019. We identified several demographic and driving-related variables, which are significantly related to acceptance. Furthermore, we found that older drivers' intention to use ADAS is most strongly predicted by favorable acceptance aspects (i.e., usefulness, reassurance, and trust), while unfavorable aspects (i.e., annoyance, irritation, and stress) were found to have less to none predictive power. The findings are discussed considering future research directions in this area.

Riding a highly automated bus has the potential to bring about a set of novel challenges for the passenger. As there is no human driver present, there is no one to talk to regarding driving direction, stops, or delays. This lack of a human element is likely to cause a stronger reliance on the in-vehicle means of communication, such as displays. In this paper, we present the results from a qualitative study, in which we tested three different on-screen visualizations for passenger information during an automated bus trip. The designs focused primarily on signaling the next stop and proper time to request the bus to stop in absence of a human driver. We found that adding geo-spatial details can easily confuse more than help and that the absence of a human driver makes passengers feel more insecure about being able to exit at the right stop. Thus, passengers are less receptive for visual cues signaling upcoming stops and more likely to input stop requests immediately upon leaving the station.

In light of recent incidents, it has become increasingly relevant to determine who is responsible in case of accidents involving automated vehicles. In this paper, we investigate the question of liability in automated vehicles of SAE levels 3 and above. We claim that there is a mismatch between current liability practices, where a designated driver is usually held responsible, and future perspectives, where the human assumes more and more a passive passenger-like role. Our claims are supported by the results from an interview study with insurance companies from two European countries. We show that insurers lack sufficient data to make informed decisions on how to apportion liability in SAE level 3+ scenarios. We discuss how these considerations have to be reflected in interfaces for the driver in order to make the legal status transparent for the driver.

In Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research, awareness for the relevance of diversity of users is increasing. In this work, we analyze whether the articulated need for more diversity-sensitive research led indeed to a higher consideration of diversity in HCI research. Based on a comprehensive collection of diversity dimensions, we present results of a quantitative content analysis of articles accepted in the Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2006, 2011, and 2016. Results demonstrate how many and how intensively diversity dimensions were considered, and moreover highlight those dimensions that have so far received less attention. Uncovering continuous and discontinuous trends across time and differences between subfields of research, we identify research gaps and aim at contributing to a comprehensive understanding of diversity supporting diversity-sensitive research in HCI.

In this paper, we investigate the impact of real-time video enhancement techniques on video Quality of Experience (QoE) for users with low vision. To this end, we present the results of a lab-based user study, in which participants with low vision utilize a web-based media player to configure individual video quality enhancement filters (e.g. increased contrast, strong edge enhancement and lowered brightness) depending on types of content. Additionally, for each test participant we measured the visual performance to describe how low vision impacts video QoE. Our results show, that individual video quality filters positively impact the experience of the quality dimensions detail, text and content. Furthermore, we discuss insights from qualitative feedback from participants regarding overall utility and User Experience (UX) aspects of real-time video enhancements.

Once highly automated vehicles become available, drivers will be freed to perform activities other than driving when automated driving mode is activated. Such activities could include relaxing, reading, exercising, or working. The work of professional drivers such as truck drivers can be expected to be especially affected by this technology and to change accordingly as highly automated trucks enable the completion of other working related tasks during automated driving. But will such mobile working places be accepted by truck drivers? In this paper, we report on a survey (N=23) assessing technology acceptance towards Future Workplaces in highly Automated Trucks (FWAT). Results show that a majority of drivers is rather skeptical about FWAT, but that acceptance can be expected to strongly vary. Our paper provides some guidance on how to explain this variance and presents relevant acceptance factors for future FWAT usage.

Current research on Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication aims at improving interaction between different vehicles by communication technologies and is mainly focused on driver-to-driver interaction. But how do drivers and passengers of two vehicles that have the same destination communicate with each other? In such a collaborative driving scenario, several factors such as the environmental context or the behavior of the vehicle occupants may influence the communication. In order to explore how information is exchanged in collaborative driving, we conducted an exploratory in-situ study with seven groups of two driver/co-driver pairs each, located in two separate vehicles. During the ride, the participants had to drive collaboratively on a predefined route solving different subtasks. We found that different social (e.g., driving habits, unpredicted intentions) and contextual factors (e.g., night/rain conditions, size or color of the vehicle) influenced collaboration. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of collaborative driving and inform future V2V communication designs.

In production environments, the number of distributed, networked, and automated systems has grown rapidly and is expected to continue to grow in the future. This affects humans' work fundamentally, in terms of their tasks and routines. Increasing automation and digitalization leads to a substantial change of human-machine interactions on the shop floor, raising the question about humans' role in highly automated environments. In this paper, we shed light on how work in increasingly automated and digitalized factories is experienced, drawing on interviews with operators and maintenance engineers from three different industrial contexts. By reflecting on actual and anticipated developments in smart production environments, we point out how workers will experience those contexts. We finally discuss resulting challenges and leverage points for smart factories, i.e., areas where HCI and CSCW can contribute to positively influence workers' experiences in times of increasing automation and digitalization.

Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training is an important aspect in the education of visually impaired students. In this work we present a scavenger hunt-like location-based game to support O&M training. In two comparative studies with blind and partially sighted students and interviews with teachers we investigate if a mobile game played in the real world is a suitable approach to support O&M training and if a mobile location-based O&M training game is preferred over a game played in a virtual world. Our results show that a mobile location-based game is a fruitful approach to support O&M training for visually impaired students, and that a mobile location based game is preferred over playing in a virtual world. Based on the gathered insights we discuss implications for using mobile location-based games in O&M training.

Traditionally, architects and designers have used scale models to explore, communicate, and evaluate concepts and ideas in large-scale, spatial projects. These scale models offer the user a bird's eye perspective and often tangible ways of interacting with the model. Nevertheless, they lack a realistic, first-person view on the effects that the design solutions have in the space. In this paper, we explore MacroScope, a tool that aims to support collaborative spatial design by providing a real time, 360o first-person perspective in a physical scale model, by means of a virtual reality head-mounted display. We reflect on the usage potentials in collaborative creative processes, before describing next steps for the development of MacroScope.

Design fiction provides us with a variety of ways to explore potential interactive futures. In order to reflect on the future of workplaces, we created fictional job postings for the context of production facilities. This context is characterized by many constraints, which are often hard to overcome when envisioning the future of interactive practices in such environments. With the fictional job postings, we triggered discussions with stakeholders from a production site and with the public -- which both resulted in highly controversial debates. In this note, we present the evolution of an exemplary job posting and the reactions it evoked. We then discuss our learnings (e.g., that the degree of fiction is essential) and conclude by reflecting on how this instrument facilitates the exploration of prospective interactive practices at work.

The use of generative design tools for collaborative design tasks has been common practice in the fields of HCI and Design. In this pictorial, we present the evolution of an open-ended design tool: a scale model of a car showroom, used to investigate collaborative interactions in spatial environments. The features of the scale model evolved through several impromptu usage scenarios. With this contribution, we share our observations about the use of the prototype as a means of communication, as well as a means of inspiration, and argue for the use of non-prescriptive design tools in collaborative design projects.

In modern traffic, measures are implemented to regulate speeding, which may annoy drivers who pursue an exciting driving experience and make them exceed speed limits. Others prefer a more relaxing experience resulting in socially desired driving behavior. This paper presents a study investigating the capacity of ambient light to alter the perception of speed and therefore influence the driving experience. The aim of this study was to determine how different drivers experience the concept of an ambient light moving along the a-pillar inside the vehicle. In different conditions, the light moved at different speeds. The outcomes of the study show that overall the ambient light used in this study had a positive effect on the driving experience but that the attitude towards the ambient light was highly individual. The majority indicated a preference towards the ambient light while some saw it more as a distraction or even inducing more stress.

Designing safe and effective systems for control transitions between human and vehicle is a difficult task, due to increased reaction times and potentially inattentive drivers. In order to respond to these difficulties, this paper presents an overview of interaction solutions for control transitions between manual and autonomous driving modes. The paper examines technology patents, as well as academic publications. The paper's first contribution is an examination of the current state of the art of control transition interfaces in automated vehicles. The paper's second contribution is the reusable categorization framework developed for this overview. The results are used to identify holes and potentials regarding control transition design, including strong focus on the system over the human, lacking fallback performance, and the potentials of effective driving mode communication. These aspects point the way towards the challenges to be solved -- together with how they might be solved -- for safe and effective control transitions.

LED visualizations in the car are primarily used to direct the driver's attention to obstacles or hazards in the environment. An ambient LED arrangement can indicate the horizontal position of outside objects without obstructing the driver's field of view. How accurately the LEDs represent the spatial position of an outside object and how well it can be distinguished from other nearby objects is influenced by several factors. Our aim is to increase the spatial accuracy of a windshield-mounted horizontal LED visualization. Our approach is to use a calibration procedure to increase this accuracy. In an experimental study in our driving simulator, we found that calibration increased the spatial accuracy and, as a result, the recognition reliability (in our setup from 67% to 95%) and that a 3-point calibration is sufficient in comparison to more calibration points.

In aviation, pilots interact with autopilots almost on a daily basis. With semi-autonomous vehicles, this is not yet the case. In our work, we aimed at finding out what we can learn from pilots' current experiences for the domain of autonomous driving and what implications can be derived. We conducted three in-depth interviews with pilots to investigate how pilots currently handle handover situations to and from the autopilot, which information is relevant for this transition to be successful, how pilots react in critical situations, how handovers are trained, and how flying and handover skills are maintained. We compare the gained insights with the domain of autonomous driving and reflect on implications for handovers and (de)skilling. Our findings suggest that the AUI community can learn from aviation in areas such as situation awareness, transparency of system status, the need for a primary drive display, calibrated (dis)trust, and driver training.

We describe a novel method for automatic detection of errors in human-robot interactions. Our approach is to detect errors based on the classification of head and shoulder movements of humans who are interacting with erroneous robots. We conducted a user study in which participants interacted with a robot that we programmed to make two types of errors: social norm violations and technical failures. During the interaction, we recorded the behavior of the participants with a Kinect v1 RGB-D camera. Overall, we recorded a data corpus of 237,998 frames at 25 frames per second; 83.48% frames showed no error situation; 16.52% showed an error situation. Furthermore, we computed six different feature sets to represent the movements of the participants and temporal aspects of their movements. Using this data we trained a rule learner, a Naive Bayes classifier, and a k-nearest neighbor classifier and evaluated the classifiers with 10-fold cross validation and leave-one-out cross validation. The results of this evaluation suggest the following: (1) The detection of an error situation works well, when the robot has seen the human before; (2) Rule learner and k-nearest neighbor classifiers work well for automated error detection when the robot is interacting with a known human; (3) For unknown humans, the Naive Bayes classifier performed the best; (4) The classification of social norm violations does perform the worst; (5) There was no big performance difference between using the original data and normalized feature sets that represent the relative position of the participants.

Location cloaking methods enable the protection of private location data. Different temporal and spatial approaches to cloak a specific user location (e.g., k-anonymity) have been suggested. Besides the research focusing on functionality, little work has been done on how cloaking methods should be presented to the user. In practice common location referencing services force the user to either accept or deny exact positioning. Therefore, users are not enabled to regulate private location information on a granular level. To improve the usage of location cloaking methods and foster location privacy protection, we conducted a user study (N = 24) comparing different visualized cloaking methods. The results of our lab study revealed a preference for visualizations using already known and well understood real world entities. Thus, the usage of simple and real world concepts can contribute to the application of cloaking methods and subsequently to location privacy protection.

The rise of autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles requires a closer examination of how people will interact with them. In this workshop, we especially address two areas: (1) What can we learn from mobile HCI for the interaction design between human drivers and the autonomous vehicle? (2) What opportunities for mobile HCI arise due to new freedoms for drivers, when they also take on the role of passengers in autonomous vehicles? The workshop will seek to further develop the challenges involved and/or to suggest early solutions through the use of a highly participative format.

Current apps for cyclists follow the "stop-to-interact" paradigm, neglecting that people interact with their smartphones in motion. We conducted two studies to explore paradigms for interaction that can be applied while cycling. In an enactment study, participants freely explored movements suitable for interaction while using a bicycle trainer and discussed respective requirements and constraints. The analysis of the interaction movements and the group discussion showed that users preferred to keep their hands on the handlebars while performing subtle gestures with their fingers. Based on this we performed an outdoor study focused on interacting with a smartphone game while riding a bicycle, using three interaction options: buttons on the handlebars, the phone's touchscreen, and a wristband activated by flipping the wrist. Using buttons resulted in a significantly lower physical demand and significantly lower frustration compared to the other alternatives, as well as better task performance compared to interacting using the wristband.

Crafting interactive artifacts is typically associated with synthesizing, making, constructing, putting things together. In this paper, we discuss how these activities can be contrasted with de-synthesizing activities that revolve around decomposition, dissection, and taking things apart. Based on framings that emphasize how related practices are valuable in engineering processes, we aim to unlock the potential of de-constructive engagements with interactive technologies as a material driven (design) practice. We propose un-crafting as a framework of four modes of taking interactive artifacts apart (i.e., un-crafting for material exposition, material inspiration, material inquiry, and material exploration) aiming to pinpoint de-constructive episodes inherent to design processes, as well as to encourage the refinement of respective techniques and methods.

Gaze is an important aspect in social communication. In this paper we present a first exploration of visualizing gaze in the co-located physical world. LaserViz augments gaze in the physical world by means of an eye-tracking enabled wearable device that laser beams the gaze position to real world objects. Based on an initial prototype, we explored the effects of shared gaze through a collaborative as well as a competitive scenario in a co-located setting. This paper discusses the insights and implications following these explorations for the concept of shared gaze in the co-located physical world.

A variety of concepts in contemporary Human-Computer Interaction and Interaction Design (research) are labeled by adding attributes, such as "slow", "unaware" or "counterfunctional", to "technology", "object" or "thing". However, what do these labels disclose about a technology or an interaction? What are they supposed to express, what do they conceal? In order to identify labelling mechanisms in our (research) community, we describe five cases and analyze their labels, concepts, and intentions. Among others, we argue that the labels and the expressed aims or intentions do not always correspond and explore alternative ways to articulate and label design concepts or philosophies. We conclude by calling for Interaction Design labels that are based on careful reflections of conceptual histories, inscriptions, and intentions.

We present active corners, a novel interaction approach for in-car collaboration that maps the spatial arrangement of a car with up to four people (i.e., driver, front seat passenger, and two rear seat passengers) to the form factor of a tablet (i.e., having 4 corners). We use this mental model to allow the driver and passengers to collaborate with each other. Interaction is done by dragging-and-dropping items into the according corners of individual tablets. We present the basic interaction design concept along with three application scenarios. In order to evaluate active corners, we have implemented a multiplayer card game that exploits the proposed interaction concept and fosters collaboration. We report on four field studies in which we evaluated different aspects of the active corners concept. Results show that the interaction approach is intuitive and provides a high usability even in driving conditions.

The distraction potential of communication systems in the automotive context necessitates hands-free and attention undemanding systems. Today's hands-free car kits are of increasingly high quality, since bad audio quality can negatively impact the overall communication quality. Most solutions use built-in speakers for output and a microphone near the driver (e.g. on the ceiling). Thereby, audio quality can suffer e.g. from the long distance between the speaker and the listener. In a recent study, we compared perceived voice quality and social presence of a prototype with speakers installed in the headrest of a vehicle, to a high-end on-board audio system in a communication situation between a person sitting in the driver's seat and a person outside the vehicle. We found that Personal Audio received generally better results while also introducing its own set of issues, e.g., causing spatial disorientation in communication situations, in which other individuals are present in the car.

In the scope of autonomous driving, the question arises if the increased use of automated systems will have an impact on driver's skills in handling the car in the long term. In order to gain more insights on the issue of driver deskilling and how it relates to driving experience and time intervals of non-driving, we conducted an online survey (n=703) considering three driver groups. We found that initial skilling is more of an issue than deskilling after long periods of driving inactivity, i.e., while once learned driving skills seem to remain stable after longer periods of non-driving, they are much more influenced by driving experience in terms of annual mileage and frequency of use. Applied to the autonomous context, this means that drivers must be trained to a high enough skill level or require sufficient manual driving experience, in order to be able to react properly when driving themselves.

Interaction environments are characterized by their spatial properties, which guide, direct, and provide an opportunity to become a place for social encounters. For example, the car cabin comprises properties such as a special seating arrangement and hence physical barriers between the back and front row. In emphasizing notions of "space" and "place", we present an initial study on how such spatial properties of the car cabin shape passenger collaboration. With this, we contribute to a better understanding of the automotive design space beyond driver and co-driver positions. In an exploratory lab study with 56 participants we observed collaborative practices in a hardware mock-up of an actual car. We found that social practices in cars need to be understood as connected to their inherent spatial manifestations, which are constraining and concurrently constituting them. We reflect upon the driver position as "the crux of the matter", the meanings people ascribe to particular positions, and how we can use this knowledge to inform automotive interaction design.

In this article we discuss movement control of a ReMeDi medical mobile robot from the user perspective. The control is essentially limited to the level of operator actions where the operator is a member of a nursing staff. Two working modes are the base of considerations: long distance (LD) and short distance (SD) movement. In this context two robot control techniques are the subject of study: manual with use of a gamepad and “point and click” on a map that is related to autonomous motion with use of an onboard navigation system. In the SD mode the user manually operates the robot, that is close to a laying down patient on a settee. In the LD mode the mobile base moves autonomously in a space shared with people to the desired position. Two user studies were conducted. The results show that from the perspective of LD mode the autonomous navigation is efficient and reduces the burden of the medical personnel. In the SD case, the results show that the users were able to precisely position the robot. Besides, the users perceived the manual control with the gamepad as intuitive. In all cases the medical personnel consider this technology as safe and useful. Safety is also confirmed by patients.

Humor in robotics is a promising, though not yet significantly researched topic. We performed a user study exploring two different kinds of laughter. In our study, participants observed a robot-robot interaction where an iCat and a NAO robot exhibited different laughing behavior. While NAO laughed at itself (self-irony), the iCat laughed at NAO (Schadenfreude1). Our participants watched four turns of the same robot-robot interaction, with either NAO or the iCat laughing, both robots laughing, or no robot laughing (baseline). After each turn we asked the participants to rate both robots' likability individually. Our results show that the participants liked a robot with a positively attributed form of humor significantly more than its gloating robotic interaction partner. However, likability ratings showed a trend to approach each other when either robot laughed or when both robots laughed together. Both, the higher likability ratings for a robot showing positively attributed humor and the decreasing difference in likability ratings when both robots laugh together, provide proof of the positive effect of humor. While participants' age did not affect likability ratings, there was a significant interaction effect between participants' gender and robot type. Female participants rated the iCat more likable, while male participants liked NAO better. In addition, more neurotic people liked the self-ironic robot more when no robot laughed and more open people like the robot showing Schadenfreude more when both robots laughed.

Augmented reality (AR) can serve as a tool to provide helpful information in a direct way to industrial robot programmers throughout the teaching process. It seems obvious that AR support eases the programming process and increases the programmer's productivity and programming accuracy. However, additional information can also potentially increase the programmer's perceived workload. To explore the impact of augmented reality on robot teaching, as a first step we have chosen a Sphero robot control scenario and conducted a within-subject user study with 19 professional industrial robot programmers, including novices and experts. We focused on the perceived workload of industrial robot programmers and their task completion time when using a tablet-based AR approach with visualization of task-based information for controlling a robot. Each participant had to execute three typical robot programming tasks: tool center point teaching, trajectory teaching, and overlap teaching. We measured the programmers' workload in the dimensions of mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, frustration, effort, and performance. The study results show that the presentation of task-based information in the tablet-based AR interface decreases the mental demand of the industrial robot programmers during the robot control process. At the same time, however, the programmers' task completion time increases.

We present the design for a three-way medical teleconference system for communication between a doctor, a patient, and an assistant. The system includes individual doctor-patient and doctor-assistant communication channels, as well as the capability of starting and stopping communication channels separately. The initial system design is based on results of a user requirement analysis. To evaluate the design, we conducted two user studies in which doctors, assistants, and patients used our teleconference system in a simulated examination scenario. The study results show that the general usability of our system was rated as good. However, doctors, patients, and assistants reported that they would like to receive better visualisation of the connection status for the communication channels and the system status of the robot in general. Based on these results, we present an updated design for the teleconference system. We also provide best practices which can help designers of medical teleconference systems.

We report the results of a user requirements analysis for a medical robotic system that enables doctors to remotely conduct ultrasonography and physical examination on patients. As there are three different user groups in this scenario - doctors, patients, and assistants - we collected user requirements for all of these groups. This analysis forms a basis for the technical specification of the medical robotic system. To gather the user requirements, we conducted a literature review, observed two examinations of a patient conducted by a doctor, organised four workshops with doctors and patients, and quantified the qualitative data in two online surveys. The most important findings of the requirements analysis are that doctors need accurate kinesthetic, tactile, and audiovisual feedback for a proper diagnosis. They need additional patient data apart from the ultrasonography and physical examination (e.g., olfactory information and skin wetness). Doctors, patients, and assistants all want to have a secure audiovisual communication channel during the whole examination and especially patients have concerns regarding safety of the robot arm and data privacy. We present a list of requirements for doctors, patients, and assistants, and discuss their implications for the technical specifications of the system.

Physics-based games, like Cut the Rope, have become very popular and are now available on different operating systems with different input modalities. In a user study with 20 children aged 11 to 14 years, we investigated the differences in player experience when playing Cut the Rope on the tablet with touch gestures and on the computer with mid-air gestures using a Leap Motion. The quantitative data from the questionnaire revealed no substantial differences regarding the player experience, which might be due to the novelty effect of the Leap Motion mid-air gestures. However, the observations indicated several problems of accuracy and orientation when playing the game with mid-air gestures. This is due to the lack of hardware-based physical feedback when interacting with the Leap Motion and results in a different affordance that has to be considered in future physics-based game design using mid-air gestures.

Combining touch screen technology with mid-air gestures into a unified input modality has potential to improve interaction with touch interfaces in cars. Moreover, target objects on a touch screen can be adapted to the proximity of a users' finger in mid-air. In this paper, we present an exploration of this design space based on two studies and various prototypical systems. First, results of a driving simulator study are reported, indicating that a driver's performance in acquiring a target object on a touch screen in a central console position increases with expanding targets, while altering the position of a target object on the screen leads to a decrease of performance. In a follow-up workshop with automotive experts, prototypes with multiple expanding targets were utilized to foster in-depth discussions on potential challenges and benefits with expanding targets in cars. Results of both studies indicate a high potential of expanding targets for in-car interaction scenarios.

For the automotive domain shape-changing interfaces hold potential as an interaction modality since they offer modalities that do not rely on the driver's vision such as traditional screen-based interfaces. In this paper we present a shape-changing car-seat backrest that lets the driver haptically sense obstacles in the rear periphery. We implemented a prototype with a 4 × 4 array of servomotors that changes the shape of the car-seat backrest. In comparison to other approaches that often use the seat for vibro-cues or warnings signals, our approach delivers a continuous dorsal sensory augmentation of the rear periphery. The prototype was studied for its capability on transporting spatial information haptically in a pilot study with 10 participants. The lab study revealed that the interface is able to induce sensory augmentation. Most of the participants were able to spatially locate the stimuli.

In order to support drivers to maintain a predefined driving speed, we introduce ChaseLight, an in-car system that uses a programmable LED stripe mounted along the A-pillar of a car. The chase light (i.e., stripes of adjacent LEDs that are turned on and off frequently to give the illusion of lights moving along the stripe) provides ambient feedback to the driver about speed. We present a simulator based user study that uses three different types of feedback: (1) chase light with constant speed, (2) with proportional speed (i.e., chase light speed correlates with vehicle speed), and (3) with adaptive speed (i.e., chase light speed adapts to a target speed of the vehicle). Our results show that the adaptive condition is suited best to help a driver to control driving speed. The proportional speed condition resulted in a significantly slower mean speed than the baseline condition (no chase light).

In-car navigation systems typically have the purpose to support the driver in a navigation task. While the field of automotive HCI research abounds in driver-focused navigation design relatively little attention has been directed to the front-seat passengers as a support to the driver for e.g., navigation. Based on our ethnographic research, we have designed and prototyped a system called Co-Navigator. It was devised to be operated by the front-seat passenger, in order to support the driver in navigation and driving related tasks. The Co-Navigator is an interactive, tablet based navigation app that provides different kinds of information such as landmarks and upcoming hazard warnings (e.g., construction sites or potholes). In this paper, we describe the prototype, its elements, and an explorative in-situ evaluation. Results show that the Co-Navigator is a valuable in-car navigation device for the front-seat passenger. Especially the map overview and hazard warnings were appreciated.

In demanding driving situations, the front-seat passenger can become a supporter of the driver by, e.g., monitoring the scene or providing hints about upcoming hazards or turning points. A fast and efficient communication of such spatial information can help the driver to react properly, with more foresight. As shown in previous research, this spatial referencing can be facilitated by providing the driver a visualization of the front-seat passenger's gaze. In this paper, we focus on the question how the gaze should be visualized for the driver, taking into account the feasibility of implementation in a real car. We present the results from a driving simulator study, where we compared an LED visualization (glowing LEDs on an LED stripe mounted at the bottom of the windshield, indicating the horizontal position of the gaze) with a visualization of the gaze as a dot in the simulated environment. Our results show that LED visualization comes with benefits with regard to driver distraction but also bears disadvantages with regard to accuracy and control for the front-seat passenger.

This paper presents insights on driver's User Experience (UX) in terms of systematically investigating predicted experience, actual experience, and recalled experience. By conducting a three-week field study with car commuters in two countries, we studied how frustration and anger differentiate in prediction, actual experience, and recall. Our results show that commuters accurately predict their upcoming anger or frustration in a traffic congestion, however, lower their experienced frustration when being recalled. Moreover, unexpected traffic congestions (in contrast to expected ones) are prone to higher levels of anger. We further found that time of day is related to the prediction of anger, and mood is related to the prediction of frustration. With our study we provide a holistic view on commuters' everyday emotions and experiences -- not only when being on the road, but also before and after the trip.

This paper presents a novel application of participatory design fiction for sustainable domestic energy consumption. In our study we examine how social practices relate to a newly developed energy management system introduced to households. We explore how design fiction can be used to identify current design limitations and to showcase future design directions to overcome these limitations. In particular, we investigated how energy consumption feedback is leaving users in a state of "helplessness" despite raising awareness of their environmental impact. Through participatory fictional future story-writing workshops we identified five levels of empowerment that design for sustainability practitioners can engage with. Our proposal is to use those levels of empowerment to reframe sustainable design by shifting from behaviour to social practices and from awareness to empowerment.

During conversational practices, such as a tablet-mediated sales conversation between a salesperson and a customer, tablets are often used by two users who prefer specific bodily formations in order to easily face each other and the surface of the touchscreen. In a series of studies, we investigated bodily formations that are preferred during tablet-mediated sales conversations, and explored the effect of these formations on performance in acquiring touch targets (e.g., buttons) on a tablet device. We found that bodily formations cause decreased viewing angles to the shared screen, which results in a decreased performance in target acquisition. In order to address this issue, a multi-modal design consideration is presented, which combines mid-air finger movement and touch into a unified input modality, allowing the design of proximity sensitive touch targets. We conclude that the proposed embodied interaction design not only has potential to improve targeting performance, but also adapts the ``agency' of touch targets for multi-user settings.

In this work, we identify influencing factors on modality choices of older adults. In detail, we investigated when and why older adults prefer speech over touch interaction and vice versa when interacting with a mobile multimodal health and wellbeing service. We conducted a study with 19 older adults using a mobile application with a duration of three to six weeks. Due to this long duration of the study we were able to gain highly external valid insights as our results are based on real world experiences. We identify additional influencing factors within the areas of user characteristics, contextual factors and perceived system characteristics. We outline the impact of the factors and highlight the importance of several of these factors to enable accessible user interfaces. Our results provide first steps towards a more holistic model of modality choices taking into account interdependencies of different factors.

Help Radar consists of a ubiquitous assistance service which enables immigrants to connect with volunteers, who in turn provide information on a variety of topics, guidance and practical assistance. The system was developed to foster the early integration of immigrants in the host country. In this paper, we present the methodological approach and results obtained from the field evaluation of Help Radar which involved Turkish immigrants in Graz, Austria, as well as immigrants from Latin-American and Arabic speaking countries in London, United Kingdom. During and after the field phase, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered to determine the usage activity, satisfaction, privacy concerns and trust towards the system. Based on results differences in usage among the involved user groups, types of assistance received and potentials of Help Radar toward immigrants' integration are discussed.

This paper illustrates how workers in a semiconductor factory experience working together with industrial robots. Applying a narrative interview approach, we evoked reports on workers' personal experiences of working together with these robots. This specific approach enabled us to gain knowledge of how daily work with these robots is experienced, including workers' attitudes and inherent meanings regarding the robots. Following a thematic analysis approach, we analyzed the collected interview data and identified rivalry with the robots, adaption towards the robot's behavior, perceived reasonability and knowledge acquisition as salient aspects regarding human-robot interaction in the factory. Our findings indicate how human-robot cooperation can be improved in terms of enhancing workers' everyday experiences with robots, for example, by providing a feeling of control or emphasizing human competences.

Theories of how the human mind works have inspired but also constrained negatively and positively - interaction design. Today's interfaces can potentially take any (physical and digital) form. Therefore, there is a need to prevent users from learning necessities for every single interface. To address the issue, interaction designers increasingly constrain their design decisions based on their conceptions of users' capacities and skills that already exist and are based on prior interactions with the real world. These skills, such as hand-eye coordination, are essential for tangible interfaces, and directly relate to cognition. In this one-day workshop, we will discuss the role of theories of mind in contemporary human-computer interaction research, as those might provide us with a substantial understanding of cognition and human skills. The focus will be on embodied and situated theories and possible consequences of adopting an embodied and situated perspective on the design and analysis of tangible and embedded interaction.

In this work in progress, we present a set of seven design sensitivities, which address time in interaction design. We exemplarily illustrate how time affects and is affected by tangible, embodied, or embedded artifacts. Thereby, we discuss slow versus fast technology, time as context of use, time as theme, time as content, ephemerality, historicality, and chronology. Those design sensitivities are an initial step towards a framing of the different notions and aspects in regards to time in interaction design.

Handheld touch screen based devices, such as smartphones or tablets, typically provide limited haptic feedback. On cur- rent devices, what is visually perceived and what is tactile and kinesthetically felt is semantically uncoupled. In order to improve embodied interaction on handheld screen based devices, new ways to provide richer haptic feedback are re- quired. In this paper, we present TorqueScreen, a prototypi- cal system combining a handheld touch screen device (i.e., a tablet) with an actuated flywheel capable of imposing angular momentum onto the tablet. The TorqueScreen design allows interlinking the movement and physics of virtual objects on the screen with the torque as haptic output imposed on the tablet. We describe the design and implementation of the de- vice, illustrate the resulting design space, and discuss future improvements and potential applications.

With this studio-workshop we aim to explore and debate how disassembling computational things can yield a potential for design practices. We believe there are significant qualities to be found in extending the mundane 'taking things apart' into an elaborate practice of un-crafting. The studio workshop comprises a series of collaborative disassembly activities with the aim of beginning to identify the key qualities and issues at stake. We also hope to have a diverse crowd, whose interdisciplinary viewpoints will enable us to ground an un-crafting practice in a diverse set of contexts.

For various VR/MR/AR applications, such as virtual usability studies, it is very important that the participants have the feeling that they are really in the environment. This feeling of “being” in a mediated environment is described as presence. Two important factors that influence presence are the level of immersion and the navigation method. We developed two navigation methods to simulate natural walking using a Wii Balance Board and a Kinect Sensor. In this preliminary study we examined the effects of these navigation methods and the level of immersion on the participants' perceived presence in a 2×2 factorial between-subjects study with 32 participants in two different VEs (Powerwall and Mixed-Reality-See-Through-Glasses). The results indicate that reported presence is higher for the Kinect navigation and Powerwall for some facets of presence.

In a child-centered game design process, game ideas collected from players are a valuable source for designers to inspire the creation of game concepts. A question that often arises is how to deal with large amounts of collected information, or more specifically, game ideas generated by children and offered via video snippets as inspirational source for game ideation. The challenge lies in not only working with the 'obvious' observations in the videos, but also thinking about underlying issues (such as cultural issues) or processing them in a more structured way. In a study with multimedia design and technology students (future game designers), we explored the application of and experiences with two approaches, i.e., memoing and lenses, for handling player-generated game ideas within a 2-hour game idea jam. The findings show that the two proposed approaches hold potential for different scopes of ideation (e.g., broadening or narrowing the scope of ideas).

This paper presents a design exploration of full-body interaction games played in cars. It describes how we have designed, implemented, and evaluated the core experiences of three different games, which were all aimed at making sitting properly more fun for players/children while travelling by car. By making the restricted body an integral part of gameplay, we hope to, as a side product of gameplay, bring about the best and also most safe body posture for young players/children travelling by car, i.e., sitting reasonably upright and still in their child seat with their head leaning back on the neck rest. Another outcome of this could also be an overall safer situation in the car, in that children not sitting still in their child seats while being driven might be stressful for the driver. By presenting the details of our design efforts in this particular design context, we hope to add also to the knowledge we, in HCI, have for how to design bodily experiences with technology at large.

In order to envision novel in-car user interfaces, it is important to investigate driver and passenger behavior as well as to identify relevant context factors that influence this behavior. Automotive user interfaces are often concentrated on drivers and their needs, whereas passengers and their needs are paid little attention to. In this paper we report on a probing study, which aimed at revealing novel design ideas for interfaces for both, car drivers and passengers. The overall goal of the study was to get inspired by actual driver and passenger behavior. In particular, we investigated past behaviors and what we can learn from these episodes for automotive interface design. We illustrate the user-centered process of generating innovative design concepts for the automotive domain based on the results of the probing study. Additionally, we introduce three resulting design concepts by means of design sketches and textual descriptions to provide insights on the concrete results of our efforts. We discuss probing as a method to generate novel design ideas for the automotive UI community and reflect on the three emerged design concepts which focus on collaboration, behavior change, and entertainment in the car.

Surveys [8] show that people generally have a positive attitude towards autonomous cars. However, these studies neglect that cars have different levels of autonomy and that User Acceptance (UA) and User Experience (UX) with autonomous systems differ with regard to the degree of system autonomy. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines five degrees of car autonomy which vary in the penetration of cars with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and the extent to which a car is taken over by autonomous systems. Based on these levels, we conducted an online-questionnaire study (N = 336), in which we investigated how UA and UX factors, such as Perceived Ease of Use, Attitude Towards using the system, Perceived Behavioral Control, Behavioral Intention to use a system, Trust and Fun, differ with regard to the degree of autonomy in cars. We show that UA and UX are highest in levels of autonomy that already have been deployed in modern cars. More specifically, perceived control and fun decrease continuously with higher autonomy. Furthermore, our results indicate that pre-experience with ADAS and demographics, such as age and gender, have an influence on UA and UX.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, such as parking assist systems, are designed to support the driver in his/her driving task. To date, only a few studies exist that investigate the driver's experiences and acceptance while using such systems over time. In this paper, we present the results from a long-term study regarding drivers' experiences with and acceptance of a parking assist system in a newly bought car. We found that there is a change of the drivers' experiences in terms of trust and of certain acceptance factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, attitude towards technology, and social influence over time, highly depending on how certain characteristics of the system (e.g., the auditive signals) are perceived by the driver. Our study confirms the need to take expectations of the drivers, concerning the usefulness of the system, into account when designing parking assist systems. We further conclude that assistance should be given only in situations that really need assistance. Therefore, the situational context (e.g., the size of the parking slot), but also the capabilities of the driver (e.g., his parking skills), should be taken into account.

This paper addresses the phenomenon of emotional attachments to mobile phones. We introduce the term "mobile attachment" and define it as a bond between a person's self and a mobile phone that varies in strength. Based on a critical reflection of interdisciplinary literature, a conceptual mobile attachment model is developed. Within this model causes, consequences and influencing factors of mobile attachment are exposed and elaborated. We argue that mobile attachment emerges when the mobile phone becomes part of the user's self concept. The link between the user and their mobile phone may be fostered when it empowers, enriches, or gratifies the user's self. Attachment causes lead to "design space determinants" that enable user experience designers to design for mobile attachment. Attachment consequences may be operationalized for user experience evaluation.

In a multi-step assessment of a corporate social media platform, which has been implemented in a large company for internal collaboration, we identified three major challenges regarding acceptance and adoption of the platform: (1) diverging perspectives & uncertain top-down communication, (2) functionality jungle & high usage complexity, and (3) lacking collaboration & customization. Based on these challenges, we discuss potential implications for design and implementation of corporate social media. The challenges and implications were derived from data gathered in two rounds of polling employees of the company, where we found that the surveyed employees tended to initially accept the internally implemented social media platform. Nevertheless, by assessing their attitude one and a half years later, we came to understand that the employees have rarely adopted the platform into their daily work practices. This finding led us to analyze in detail the qualitative data gathered along with the survey, as it holds valuable examples and explanations to better understand this phenomenon. Besides presenting the results of the surveys, this paper focuses on the discussion of challenges and implications for enhancing collaboration and supporting adoption processes of social media in workplaces.

Whether in private or professional life, individuals frequently adapt the technology around them and work with what they have at hand to accomplish a certain task. In this one-day workshop, we will discuss how this form of technology appropriation is used to satisfy communication needs. Thereby, we specifically focus on technology that was not intended to facilitate communication, but which led to appropriation driven by individuals' communication needs. Our aim is to identify "unexpected" communication needs, to better address these in the design of interactive systems. We focus on a variety of different contexts, ranging from not restricted contexts to environments that are characterized by strict regulations (e.g., production lines with 24/7 shift production cycles). Consequently, this workshop aims at better understanding how users adapt technology to match their individual communication purposes and how these appropriation practices interrelate with and support organizational cooperation.

This paper reflects on a novel concept of robotization in the health care sector. The idea is to design a robotic system capable of performing remote physical examination with palpation (i.e., pressing a patient's stomach to identify pain regions and stiffness of organs) and ultrasonography. The medical robotic system will consist of a remote haptic interface for the doctor and a robot located at the patient's side supported by an assistant. In two countries (Austria and Poland), we conducted first focus groups with doctors in order to identify how the remote medical diagnostician system is assessed and conceptualized regarding the examination procedures (activities), communication issues, and the visualization of needed information. Based on the findings, we will reflect on the technology assessment, i.e., if remote medical services can be a suitable possibility for rural areas where the availability of doctors with various specializations is often a problem, as well as necessities for this novel type of medical treatment from a doctor's point of view (i.e., identified aspects increasing acceptance and adoption by users of the system).

Research in the context of a semiconductor factory is a challenging but important endeavor. In our studies we investigated experiences of two different working groups: operators and shift leads. By means of a creative card approach we asked participants to express themselves and explain their viewpoints concerning work in the semiconductor factory. To complement the qualitative results with quantitative data, the results were transferred into follow-up questionnaires. Based on our results, we describe operators' and shift leads' everyday experiences in the semiconductor factory as well as contextual influences on it. Our work contributes towards a better understanding of the semiconductor factory from a worker's point of view, providing a basis to improve workers' daily experiences and foster work performance.

Authentication based on touch-less mid-air gestures would benefit a multitude of ubicomp applications, which are used in clean environments (e.g., medical environments or clean rooms). In order to explore the potential of mid-air gestures for novel authentication approaches, we performed a series of studies and design experiments. First, we collected data from more then 200 users during a three-day science event organised within a shopping mall. This data was used to investigate capabilities of the Leap Motion sensor and to formulate an initial design problem. The design problem, as well as the design of mid-air gestures for authentication purposes, were iterated in subsequent design activities. In a final study with 13 participants, we evaluated two mid-air gestures for authentication purposes in different situations, including different body positions. Our results highlight a need for different mid-air gestures for differing situations and carefully chosen constraints for mid-air gestures.

The feedback of a robot is a powerful means to establish smooth human-robot interaction (HRI). We report on a user study to assess the applicability of a screen in a human-robot game-playing scenario. The screen was deployed to compensate for expressive shortcomings of a social robot due to its mechanical limitations of non-movable facial features. The participants played Rock-Paper-Scissors with the robot for which we programmed the right hand to show gestures. Half of the participants received facial expressions via a screen during the game, whereas the other half did not get screen feedback. We annotated the video-recorded interactions and collected questionnaire and interview data to assess the applicability of the screen. With our data we could show noteworthy results: First, the robot which provided facial expressions was rated more intelligent. Second, the participants who had interacted with the robot showing facial expressions, rated the task as more attractive than participants who did not receive facial expressions from the robot. The fact that we could not detect a negative influence of the screen, underlines the applicability of a screen in an HRI game-playing scenario to display facial expressions and contribute to an enhanced interaction.

The teacher-learner constellation is a special one in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), as it can essentially improve intuitive interaction with robots. In a 2 (background: programmer vs. non-programmer) × 3 (teacher: self vs. believed other vs. other) between participants experiment (n=48, counter-balanced in gender), participants kinesthetically taught a humanoid NAO robot a specific behavior, which the robot had to execute afterwards. Next, participants downloaded a taught behavior to the NAO and were told that the executed behavior either is (1) the one they previously taught (self), (2) the one someone else taught, but actually it was their own (believed other), or (3) the one someone else taught (other). We were interested in two main aspects: (1) whether programmers and non-programmers show differences in their teaching behavior and the perception of the teaching workload and (2) whether participants show a greater self-extension and trust into a robot they taught themselves over a robot they believed someone else taught. The study revealed that the teaching style independently of the background extends in the behavior execution time. Programmers showed a higher perceived workload than non-programmers. Differences in trust could not be found, but a self-extension effect was observed that people showed greater self-extension into a robot they taught themselves. Implications for Human-Robot Interaction are discussed.

Human-food interaction is an emerging research area, dealing with problems people can have related to food, such as a lack of nutrition knowledge. Recently, more attention has been put on investigating pseudo-gustatory interfaces. As food is a central part of our life and brings people together, it inspired us to think about possible playful taste interactions. The recently developed LOLLio prototype enabled us to investigate how children experience the interaction with a gustatory interface. It provides a long lasting sweet taste through a lollipop, a taste-based output using citric acid and allows some degree of tangible input through moving around its handle equipped with accelerometers. Within a user study in a laboratory with 10 children, we investigated users' game experiences and the perceived taste while playing a gustatory game. The results revealed that the interaction with the LOLLio provided fun, mainly positive game experiences and raised curiosity. Additionally, the chosen taste-based output seemed to be appropriate for the interaction with a game, as the taste was rated to be delicious and never disgusting.

User Experience (UX) studies in the automotive context are essential for a good interaction design in the car. But there is a lack of appropriate methods to investigate the user's experience in-situ in a natural setting. In this paper we introduce computerized experience sampling in the car. We present an ESM tool based on the OBD-II interface of a car in combination with an android smartphone and describe issues and challenges we experienced while applying our tool in an initial UX study.

Automobiles are environments rich of data that have a high potential to be used as input for research and design. Various difficulties accessing car data exclude HCI experts from making use of this data in novel interfaces and research projects. We present the CarDaT (Car Data Toolkit) that uses Android smartphones to provide multidimensional sensor data in a minimal invasive way. CarDaT combines smartphone sensor data with data sources like OBD-II as well as other easily available remote data (e.g., weather). This data and the provided connectivity enable researchers to gather data on human behavior and designers to create novel context-aware interface solutions. Thus, CarDaT offers a low-cost, manufacturer independent and scalable in-car agile prototyping and research environment. In this paper we describe how we used smartphones in the CarDaT as tools for automotive research and design. We demonstrate potentials of CarDaT by describing three applications that we developed with the toolkit, namely rear seat games, an experience sampling study, as well as an experiment using car data in a driver distraction study to inform design.

In HCI, and especially in interaction design, the material aspect of interactions is currently emphasized. Nevertheless, it is challenging to theoretically frame the variety of digital or immaterial, and physical materials. In order to contribute to this materiality discourse, we reflect on McLuhan's work on media analysis and on Latour's Actor-Network Theory in this paper. Both emphasize the active role of the material - be it media or any other kind of non-human actors - in the interplay with the human. Thus, we establish junctures between their findings and materials, as used in interaction design in HCI. We discuss McLuhan's claim to focus on new sensory effects and ways of interaction brought forth by new media. Furthermore, we illustrate how describing the connections between materials, designers, and users in terms of Latour's Actor-Networks can be beneficial for interaction design. Finally, we discuss the respective methodology and its relation to research through design.

The steering wheel is a promising space for the integration of displays since in the car there is very limited space for integrating interactive modalities for the driver that are close to the preferred field of view as well as in an easy to reach position. When the wheel is turned, the screen content could change its orientation to increase the readability and therefore reduce the distraction from the road. Thus, this paper describes three different content rotation behaviors for steering wheel displays. To investigate what effect these behaviors have on the driver in terms of visual distraction from the road we conducted a user study with eye tracking asking participants to read the current speed. We found no differences in terms of distraction and response time between the different rotation behaviors. Compared to a similar display in a dashboard position the visual distraction was reduced.

There is today a large number of ADAS used while driving. These systems are mainly technology driven and most often fail to make use of the social nature and the collaborative mechanisms between driver-passenger pairs. To inform the development of future automotive user interface designs we need to develop a deeper understanding of collaboration in general. In addition, we need to develop an understanding of how, and in what way, other platforms (e.g., the mobile phones) are and will be used in combination with these systems while driving. This paper presents the results of a participative ethnographic study with nine driver-passenger pairs recruited from two online car-sharing portals. Results are categorized in three areas: common ground as a base for successful in-car communication, types and strategies of front-seat passenger assistance, and lastly the impact of technology on collaboration.

This paper addresses the field of mobile payment through Near Field Communication (NFC) and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). We report how we used the Inspirational Bits method to inspire the design of novel NFC usage scenarios and application ideas for ATMs in a joint industry and academia project. We describe a set of small applications exposing different properties of NFC (henceforth, referred to as NFC-Bits) and how they informed and inspired collaborative design ideas for different use cases. The NFC-Bits reveal a broad range of NFC characteristics in a playful manner. We outline some of the developed use cases and describe features of MyPocketATM, an application stemmed from these ideas.

This paper presents a context-aware, personalised, persuasive (CPP) system design framework applicable to the sustainable transport field and other behaviour change support system domains. It operates on a situational, a user, and a target behaviour layer. Emphasis is placed on interlinking each layer's behaviour change factors for greater effectiveness. A prototype CPP system for more sustainable travel behaviour is introduced to demonstrate how the framework can be applied in practice.

In this paper we compare one single-screen touch interaction with an automated teller machine (ATM) against two alternative second-screen ATM interactions using a smartphone. In an experimental laboratory study, those three ATM interactions were compared by means of workload (NASA-TLX), usability (SEQ, UMUX) and technology acceptance (selected TAM3-scales and additional scales for trust and security) in a randomized, controlled within-subjects design (n=24). In one smartphone ATM interaction the Personal Identification Number (PIN) was entered on the mobile phone, in the other smartphone ATM interaction the PIN was entered on the PIN-pad of the ATM. The results indicate that overall second-screen ATM interaction all interaction done on the mobile phone -- performed best.

This workshop addresses two strong fields within the Mobile HCI community: games & entertainment and transportation user interfaces. Using transportation technology (e.g., a car, plane, or traveling in public transportation) can be frustrating due to crowded streets, delays, and other travelers. Frustration may lead to aggression and negative experiences of other road members and passengers [4] leading to irrational behaviors [6]. Games & entertainment technology offer potential to resolve these negative user experiences. This workshop brings together entertainment and transportation user interface experts, who are willing to understand mobile entertainment technology as a potential solution to improve the experience of all travelers, drivers, and workers within the transportation field. The overall aim of the workshop is to create a common understanding of the challenges of entertainment in transportation, as well as further extend the research agenda for entertainment in this context from both from a scientific and an industrial perspective.

Maintaining machines in semiconductor factories is a challenging task that, so far, is not sufficiently supported by mobile interactive technology. This paper describes the early development of a maintainer support system. Our goal was to develop a user-experience prototype, which consists of a mobile and a situated interface, to support maintenance activities and the coordination between maintainers and shift-leads. The interfaces are meant to reduce the amount of information and to improve awareness for defective equipment. Efforts described in this paper include the development of a conceptual user experience prototype, following an iterative user-centered design approach. Based on the requirements analysis, an initial mock-up of both interfaces was developed and later on discussed with maintainers in a workshop. With an interactive Wizard of Oz (WOz) prototype we examined the cooperative aspect as well as user experience factors (e.g., distraction, trust, usability) in a simulated factory environment.

Touch-screen interfaces on smart devices became ubiquitous in our everyday lives. In specific contextual situations, capacitive touch interfaces used on current mobile devices are not accessible when, for example, wearing gloves during a cold winter. Although the market has responded by providing capacitive styluses or touchscreen-compatible gloves, these solutions are not widely accepted and appropriate in such particular situations. Using the nose instead of fingers is an easy way to overcome this problem. In this paper, we present in-depth results of a user study on nose-based interaction. The study was complemented by an online survey to elaborate the potential and acceptance of the nose-based interaction style. Based on the insights gained in the study, we identify the main challenges of nose-based interaction and contribute to the state of the art of design principles for this interaction style by adding two new design principles and refining one already existing principle. In addition, we investigated in the emotional effect of nose-based interaction based on the user experiences evolved during the user study.

It is the aim of this work to research how short-comings of a social robot due to its expressive limitations may be overcome by multimodal feedback. An experiment is proposed in which a robot that cannot produce facial expressions plays a game of rock, paper, scissors with people. A screen which is built-in the torso of the robot is used to compensate for these limitations in expressiveness and provide the participant with facial expressions during the game. To assess the impact of the screen on the user's rating of the robot and the interaction as such, there will be a control condition in which the screen will stay turned off. With this experiment we would like to show that sophisticated feedback setup can contribute to make a playful interaction between a human and a robot even more enjoyable.

To enhance successful cooperation in human-robot collaboration tasks, many factors have to be considered. We assume, that for specific levels of task complexity, there is always one complementing input modality which increases the corresponding user satisfaction and performance. In order to identify the ideal mix of these elements, we present two experiments in this paper. The first study was in a public space and the second in a controlled laboratory environment. Besides investigating the correlation of task complexity and input modality, we explored, whether the appearance of the robot also has an impact, within the lab environment. We identified strong interdependencies between task complexity and input modalities. Specifically with hard tasks, differences in performance and satisfaction were often highly significant. Additionally we found, that the perceived task complexity was strongly dependent on the cognitive workload, driven by the used input modality, which also emphasized the strong coherency of these factors. Regarding the influence of the appearance of the robot, we found, that the human-like shape increases users' self confidence, to be able to solve a task without help.

In this paper we report a user study to investigate the effect of semantic weight in a touch-based drag and drop task. The study was motivated by our own interest in exploring potential factors that influence touch behavior and supported by results in related neuroscience research. The question we intended to answer is: "Do people drag the representation of a smaller and lighter real world object (e.g. an apple) different than the representation of a heavier and larger real world object (e.g. a car)?". Participants were asked to perform a drag and drop task repeatedly on a tablet device. Dragged objects were the same physical size on screen, but represented real world objects that were either heavy and large or light and small. We studied two representation modalities (i.e. image and text). In both representation modalities, semantically heavier objects were dragged significantly faster than semantically lighter objects.

In this paper we describe an exploratory design study of the potentials of taste as a playful interaction modality. We present the design and implementation of LOLLio -- an interactive lollipop that serves as a haptic input device that dynamically changes its taste. We conclude this paper with three basic principles for potential game designs, where we see how the interactive lollipop we have built can foster novel, playful game experiences.

Online learning activities between grandparents and grandchildren are a promising solution for those, who live geographically separated or cannot meet face-to-face. Up to now, little is known about the characteristics these activities should have. In order to find out about the challenges that arise when designing an intergenerational online learning activity we analyzed children's preferences and needs, as well as those of grandparents. Investigating both perspectives ensures that the children benefit best from the activity itself and their grandparents' support. As the identified challenges mainly refer to the general set-up of learning activities, we also discuss a design concept illustrating how to meet the challenges.

The persona method is a powerful approach to focus on needs and characteristics of target users, keeping complex user data,numbers and diagrams alive during the whole design cycle.However, the development of prosperous personas requires a considerable amount of time, effort and specific skills. This paper introduces the development of a set of 30 basic senior personas, covering a broad range of characteristics of European older adults, following a quantitative development approach. The aim of this tool is to support researchers and developers in extending empathy for their target users when developing ICT solutions for the benefit of older adults. The main innovation lies in the representativeness of the basic senior personas. The personas build on multifaceted quantitative data from a single source including micro-level information from roughly 12,500 older individuals living in different European countries. The resulting personas may be applied in their basic form but are extendable to specific contexts. Also, the suggested tool addresses the drawbacks of current existing personas describing older adults: being representative and cost-efficient. The basic senior personas, a filter tool, a manual and templates for "persona marketing" articles are available for free online under http://elderlypersonas.cure.at.

This paper introduces Trip Experience Sampling (TES)---a low-tech method to gather driver experiences in the car. It builds upon the original paper-and-pencil based experience sampling method and applies it to the automotive context. TES uses driver logbooks to survey user experience at the end of a trip while still sitting in the car. To proof the feasibility of TES we collected 475 trip experience samples from 20 participants in a field study. Our study showed that TES is a feasible and successful method to conduct user experience research in the car without distracting the driver. TES is a successful method in terms of return rate, trip diversity, data quality and subjective participants' responses. The strengths of the method lie in the entire abandonment of technology making it a quantifiable field method, which is easy to conduct.

Safe interaction with interactive systems in the car requires both hands to be placed on the steering wheel and eyes to be kept on the road. To allow safe text input in the vehicle, we propose the back of the steering wheel as space for interactive text input elements. In the effort to explore this space, we present two design alternatives for text input elements; one has two sliding sensors and the other has three buttons on each side of the wheel. In combination with a head up display and an adapted keyboard layout, these elements allow text input while driving with the eyes on the road an the hands on the wheel. In a first study with end users, we show the potential of the proposed text input approach for future vehicles.

This paper is aimed at studying information technology acceptance in an automotive context. Most models of technology acceptance focus on barriers of successful information technology implementation in organizations, while factors that take the contextual situation into account are neglected. We address this issue through deriving context-related determinants from an extensive literature review and a content analysis, and we further describe a technology acceptance modeling process to provide an explanation for drivers' acceptance of in-car technology. Based on our evaluation we take the determinants safety and anxiety into consideration, and propose a theoretical car technology acceptance model (CTAM) by incorporating these determinants into the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Our modeling approach and proposed questionnaire support decision processes regarding in-vehicle information system implementation in the automotive industry as well as behavior prediction for research purposes.

Although alternative means of text input in vehicles have already been developed, touchscreen keyboards still pose a standard solution for this input in modern vehicles. Until alternative means of text input will be widely available in vehicles, it is important to further investigate potential improvements in button text input on touch screens. This paper presents a study in which we compared three means of text input for navigation destination entry on a touchscreen in the central console: two keyboards using a QWERTY and an ABC layout, respectively, and a novel 5Button input approach using only 5 buttons to type in city names. The study focused on performance, distraction, and user experience caused by the different keyboards. Results show that the QWERTY and ABC keyboards performed better in terms of perceived workload than the 5Button approach. Performance and perceived usability were best with the QWERTY keyboard, even compared to the ABC keyboard. No significant differences between the systems were found in lane keeping behavior. The main downside of the 5Button approach was the increase of mental workload compared to the other keyboards.

This paper reports about a User Experience (UX) study on industrial robotic arms in the context of a semiconductor factory cleanroom. The goal was to find out (1) if there is a difference in the UX between robots used over years with a strict security perimeter (robot A) and a newly installed robot without security perimeter (robot B), and (2) if the UX ratings of the new robot change over time. Therefore, a UX questionnaire was developed and handed out to the operators working with these robots. The first survey was conducted one week after the deployment of robot B (n=23), the second survey (n=21) six months later. Thereby, we found that time is crucial for experiencing human-robot interaction. Our results showed an improvement between the first and second measurement of UX regarding robot B. Although robot A was significantly better rated than robot B in terms of usability, general UX, cooperation, and stress, we assume that the differences in UX will decrease gradually with prolonged interaction.

This paper suggests new methodology for measuring User Experience in HRI. We suggest using implicit attitude to predict User Experience (Affect). Therefore we show a first validation study. The study uses short videos of a robot (IURO - Interactive Urban Robot) approaching a person and asking for the. IURO either approached a walking or a standing person. We measured people's implicit attitude towards the robot with the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP). The results show that a walking person being approached by the robot evolves an implicitly more negative attitude in the observing participant whereas corresponding questionnaire items showed no difference in attitude for the approach behaviour. We conclude from these results that measuring implicit attitude in HRI is valuable for the evaluation of the User Experience of a robot.

The results from an empirical study on the impact of a robot's approach trajectories on its social acceptance are presented. An online survey presenting short videos of a robot (IURO - Interactive Urban RObot) approaching a person in a public space and asking for help was shown to the users. IURO either approached a walking or standing person. The results show that walking participants preferred to be approached from the front left or front right direction rather than frontally. However, when they are standing all three approach directions were acceptable.

When applying the Wizard of Oz (WOz) method to mobile and ubiquitous computing studies, the task of the wizard becomes more difficult as observing the user requires the wizard to be in the context. We address this problem through the ConWIZ system that allows not only to control a specific prototype but also to control parameters included in the contextual settings. In order to evaluate our approach, we setup a study with eight human wizards where we evaluated the applicability, appropriateness and usability of the ConWIZ system for mobile and UbiComp environments. Each wizard had to simulate a navigation system and control contextual parameters like simulation of wind by switching a fan on and off, and tactile feedback mechanism using the ConWIZ system. All wizards stated that the tool is definitely applicable and appropriate for supporting a mobile WOz study which allows the wizard to be hidden also if he resides in the study context. Regarding the applicability of the system, we found out that high workload may hinder the wizard from doing additional tasks such as note taking.

In this paper we report about a methodological approach to cooperatively evaluate the usability of two different teach pendants for teaching a robotic arm. Two case studies were conducted to compare an already established teach pendant with a novel prototype which applies a different interaction paradigm. Involved in these studies were the company which produces the teach pendant (our industrial partner) and two clients of this company (one in the automotive sector, the other one in the injection modeling sector). We describe the cooperation in this project in detail, how the industrial partners were involved, and our approach to enhance the integration of usability studies in the life cycle of their industrial robotic products. Upon conducting these case studies in the industrial context we come to understand bit by bit the interplay of industrial robots in a better way and how we could affect user centered design (UCD) of real life robotic products with our work.

It is the aim of our research to explore how multimodal feedback can help a robot to carry out itinerary requests effectively and satisfactory for a human interaction partner. We conducted two studies to evaluate the feedback setup of the Interactive Urban Robot (IURO), which navigates through public space autonomously and finds its way by asking pedestrians for directions. In a Wizard-of-Oz (WOz) experiment with novice users, different feedback modalities and various combinations of them were tested against each other to ascertain the ideal setup of the robot. Subsequently, a cognitive walkthrough with HRI experts was performed to validate the results from the experiment. The results from both studies show that for itinerary requests verbal feedback is most prominent but other feedback modalities may support the conversation by providing reassurance or positive emotions.

The school context provides a fruitful and at the same challenging environment to get children engaged in creative development activities. Within this paper we highlight the opportunities and challenges when involving children in the design and development process of interactive technologies with a special focus on this educational context. A summary of the contributions to this IDC 2011 workshop is provided pointing out the main highlights from the position papers. We conclude by discussing future research challenges and opportunities when working with children in the school context.

In terms of human computer interaction (HCI), the car interior is a space, which can be divided into three areas: the driver's area, the front seat area, and the back seat area. So far HCI researchers have primary focused on the driver, and how in-car electronic devices can be designed to assist the driver in order to increase safety and comfort. We propose that for investigating interactive technology in the car in a holistic way, all three areas have to be taken into account. For that purpose we argue for an increased usage of qualitative in-situ studies, which have been hardly applied in automotive user interface research. So far the HCI community has mainly focused on laboratory studies utilizing driving simulators. Despite the broad range of available field study methods, such as ethnographic and self-reporting studies, the adaption of these methods for the automotive context is challenging due to the specific characteristics of this environment. For instance, cars provide only very limited space, the environment is constantly changing while driving and the driver must not be distracted from driving safely. As a consequence, a lack of experience exists, on how in-situ methods should be applied to cars. In this paper we describe three qualitative in-situ studies, we conducted to research the driver, the front seat passenger, and the rear seat passenger spaces. All three studies used a different method tailored to fit these three areas best. To share our experiences and insights we discuss the strengths and pitfalls of each method.

Following laws and provisions passed on the national and international level, the most relevant goal of future vehicular interfaces is to increase road safety. To alleviate the cognitive load associated with the interaction with the variety of emerging information and assistance systems in the car (and to increase driving performance as well), subliminal persuasion is assumed to be a promising technique to reduce the amount of information the driver must store and recall. Subliminal cues could be provided across appropriate sensory modalities, according to the specific nature of the current task, and corresponding to drivers' cognitive abilities.

This paper reports on the analysis of video footage of a human-robot study in public place regarding context factors that significantly influence the interaction. Therefore, a coding scheme was developed which was later used to analyze the video footage of the human-robot study. To ensure the validity of the coding, the video footage was coded independently by two students and afterwards the Cohen's Kappa was calculated to ensure the intercoder reliability. This calculation served as a basis for the creation of the first context model which shows factors that influence the interaction. This approach could show that it is possible to extract valid context factors and to create a context model based on video annotation. These factors should then be further tested in lab-based studies to get a better understanding of how they affect the human-robot interaction.

The paper presents the first step of a user-centered design process for a robot designated to operate in urban public space. A participatory design workshop was conducted to challenge the anthropomorphic design approach assumed by the designers and elicit user requirements for the design. In contrast to the expectations, the results show a tendency towards a preference of a non-anthropomorphic design.

To analyze the formula for success of human communication, we examined dialogs between human interactors who were asking for directions in public place and extracted those elements that are responsible for making a dialog succeed or fail. Then, we tried to rate the elements according to the grade of their influence. Based on this rating and on the Shannon & Weaver model of communication, we created a communication structure for successful human-robot communication on which further research may be based to make human-robot communication as effective as possible.

This workshop is a forum of multi-disciplinary discussion on how mobile devices can increase perceived work efficiency (PWE), as well as how this subjective enhancement can be measured. It brings together practitioners and researchers from different domains interested in researching perceived workflow efficiency in the mobile context. The overall aim is to create a common base, as well as further extend the research agenda for work efficiency enhancement with the assistance of mobile devices both from a scientific, as well as from an industrial perspective.

Different methods, techniques and tools exist for supporting design activities in a user-centered design process. Due to the increasing relevance of experience-centered design, the need to advance existing design methods and tools becomes evident. Within this paper we present "experience characters" as a design tool for communicating a richer understanding of mobile phone experiences towards designers. We conducted a qualitative text analysis study of written experience reports from an online forum in the tradition of grounded theory. Major experience types were grouped into categories and further transformed into five fictive characters that are easy to remember and likely to invoke empathy in design. Thus, designers' communication on and understanding of mobile phone experiences are supported. We describe in detail the steps taken for analysing experience reports and developing the experience characters, including relevant properties for informing and supporting an experience-centered design process.

A previously conducted study on human-human communication in the context of itinerary requests in public space resulted in “feedback” being the most powerful influencing factor regarding the successfulness of conversations between humans. In this paper, we report on a subsequently performed Wizard-of-Oz (WOz) experiment that applied the results from the human-human study to human-robot interaction. The participants interacted with a Nao robot in a cardboard model town, where the robot asked them for directions to a specific destination. It was the aim of this experiment to validate the importance of adequately timed feedback in human-robot communication. The experiment could show that feedback is a crucial factor for successful human-robot interaction in the context of asking for directions. Adequately timed and appropriately deployed feedback fosters a vivid and natural flow of communication.

In order to design in-car interfaces in a user-centered way it is necessary to understand users' experiences (UX). Therefore it is beneficial to gain early insight on the user acceptance (UA) of the system under development as a part of a holistic understanding of UX in the car. This paper describes a pre-study on the influence of drivers' characteristics (such as gender, self-concept, opinion) on the UA of eco-friendly in-car interfaces. Five interfaces that support environmental friendly driving were presented in an online questionnaire. No influences of socio-demographic variables and the self-concept components of the driver were found on UA. In opposition to that it is shown that users' wish for technology support and the general attitude towards technology have an influence on UA.

This paper reports about a human-robot interaction field trial conducted with the autonomous mobile robot ACE (Autonomous City Explorer) in a public place, where the ACE robot needs the support of human passers-by to find its way to a target location. Since the robot does not possess any prior map knowledge or GPS support, it has to acquire missing information through interaction with humans. The robot thus has to initiate communication by asking for the way, and retrieves information from passers-by showing the way by gestures (pointing) and marking goal positions on a still image on the touch screen of the robot. The aims of the field trial where threefold: (1) Investigating the aptitude of the navigation architecture, (2) Evaluating the intuitiveness of the interaction concept for the passers-by, (3) Assessing people's willingness to support the ACE robot in its task, i.e. assessing the social acceptability. The field trial demonstrates that the architecture enables successful autonomous path finding without any prior map knowledge just by route directions given by passers-by. An additional street survey and observational data moreover attests the intuitiveness of the interaction paradigm and the high acceptability of the ACE robot in the public place.

This article reports on the results of a user study that investigates the perceived usability of naïve users conducting two navigation tasks with the HOAP-3 robot. In this user study, the robot was controlled via a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that enabled the users to navigate the robot in the physical environment. The main goal of the user study was to gain insights on the question if users assign usability issues mainly to the robot, the GUI, or both. The participants performed two tasks: (1) navigating the robot through a maze to find the exit, (2) navigating the robot through the maze to find an object. The user study was supplemented by the think aloud technique and the SUS questionnaire to investigate usability aspects. Furthermore, task duration and task completion were measured. The results stress that the users rated the overall usability of the navigation rather positive. They identified usability problems for both, the GUI and the robot itself. The participants made more suggestions for improving the interface than for improvement of the robot. A reflection on the think aloud data revealed, however, three underlying principles (“feeling of distance”, “lack of orientation”, and “lack of control” ) for the usability problems that were independent of the assignment to the GUI and the robot.

Usability inspection methods like cognitive walkthroughs and guideline-based evaluations of robotic systems find more and more usage in the design of human-robot interaction. However, due to the fact that robots can be used in a variety of different scenarios, applying these methods to robots is rather difficult. Expert evaluation methods like heuristic evaluations thus need a methodological adaptation to be reasonably applied for human-robot interaction scenarios. We propose a methodological adaptation of remote heuristic evaluation based on video scenarios. To investigate this methodological adaptation we conducted a heuristic evaluation case study based on six different video scenarios with three different robots. Traditional heuristic evaluation data was gathered (number of found usability problems and severity rankings of the problems) and additionally a feedback questionnaire on the method itself was distributed to the participating expert evaluators. We could show that video-based remote heuristic evaluations conducted by interdisciplinary expert evaluators are a valuable approach to detect usability problems in human-robot interaction design in an early development phase.

Measuring user acceptance to avoid system rejection by the users in pre-prototype stage of product development is of high interest for both researchers and practitioners. This is especially true when technology uses strategies of persuasion in an emotional laden environment like the car. This paper presents the results of an online survey aiming at evaluating the acceptance of future persuasive in-car interaction approaches for a more economic driving behaviour. Five different persuasive interface concepts are presented and studied towards their acceptance. The results show an overall acceptance of the system concepts and the usefulness of the presented method. We show that individual expectations of the systems' disturbance and risk have an effect on the acceptance of technology and the behavioural intention to use.

Tag clouds have become a frequently used interaction technique in the web. Recently several approaches to present tag clouds with the tags semantically clustered have been proposed. However, it remains unclear whether the expected gains in performance and advantages in interaction actually can be realized as no empirical evaluations of such approaches are available yet. In this paper we describe a series of experiments designed to evaluate the effects of semantic versus alphabetical and random arrangements of tags in tag clouds. The results of our work indicate that semantically clustered tag clouds can provide improvements over random layouts in specific search tasks and that they tend to increase the attention towards tags in small fonts compared to other layouts. Also, semantically structured tag clouds were preferred by about half of the users for general search tasks. Tag cloud layout does not seem to influence the ability to remember tags.

This article reports on a user study conducted to asses the credibility of a humanoid robot. The study set-up was based on the Monty Hall Problem. Overall 13 people between the ages of 19 and 84 took part in the study (7 male and 6 female). The experiment was set up as a card-game where the participant had to guess which of the three cards shows a price. At one point of the experiment the robot advised the participant to change his/her mind and choose another card. During the user study the participants had to fill in a questionnaire on their level of certainty about their choice and the credibility of the robot. The results showed a significant correlation between the believability of the robot and the certainty in the decision made. Furthermore, the outcomes showed differences between participants who followed the robot's advise and participants who did not, regarding credibility, certainty of the decision made and the estimation whether the robot was helpful or not.

This paper reports on the evaluation of the ICRA 2008 Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Challenge. Five research groups demonstrated state-of-the-art work on HRI with a special focus on social and learning abilities. The demonstrations were rated by expert evaluators, in charge of awarding the prize, and 269 participants, i.e. 20 percent of the conference attendees through a standardized questionnaire (semantic differential). The data was analyzed with respect to six independent variables: expert evaluators vs. attendees, nationality of participants, origin region of the demo, age, gender and knowledge level of the attendees. Conference attendees tended to give higher scores for Social Skills, General Impression, and Overall Score than the expert evaluators. Irrespectively of the level of knowledge, age, and gender, conference attendees rated all demos relatively homogeneously. However, a comparative analysis of the conference attendees's ratings nationality-wise showed that demonstrations were rated differently depending on the region of origin. Conference attendees for the USA and Asian countries tended to rate demos from the same country of origin more frequently and more positively.

Effective collaboration between robots and humans is not only a question of interface design and usability, but also of user experience and social acceptance. To investigate these aspects for Human-Robot Collaboration with the HRP-2 robot, two video-based focus groups enhanced with creative stimuli were conducted. The following research question was addressed: Is the HRP-2 robot perceived differently in an autonomous collaboration condition compared to a tele-operated collaboration condition, in terms of social acceptance and user experience?The results show that participants in general are open to a humanoid robot as working partner as long as there is a clear distinction between a human and a robot, in terms of tasks and working procedures. Furthermore, participants stated a positive attitude toward the remotely-controlled HRP-2 robot.

In this poster we present findings of a study focusing on touch based interaction using a three display interface design on a mobile phone. We aimed to reveal users' individual preferences and methods for mobile device personalization; to find out to which extent users have already adopted the method of touch based interaction; and finally to investigate users' acceptance of location-based idle screens. Using our new interaction concept for a mobile device, we found out that participants perceive the possibility to personalize their mobile phones as important due to emotional bonding reasons with their mobile device and still the method of touch based interaction has not been fully adopted.

Emotions as such is a research topic with a lot of coverage in various domains (neuroscience, psychology, medicine, criminology and more recently in user experience research). This workshop addresses multidisciplinary approaches, discussing ways of implementing mobile research about emotions. Particularly, this workshop aims to improve the assessment of emotions in the mobile context of field research. The workshop addresses particularly the state-of-the-art in emotion measurement and investigates the possibilities to apply and adopt these methods in the field of mobile HCI.

We present a study investigating two novel mobile services supporting querying for information in the urban environment using camera equipped smart phones as well as two different ways to visualize results -- icon-based visualization and text-based visualization. Both applications enable the user to access information about an object by snapping a photo of it. We investigate how users would use a photo-based tourist guide in a free exploration setting in general as well as the acceptance/preference of two different ways to visualize results.

In this article a field trial is presented that explores shopping information and navigation strategies and evaluates if the spectacles camera is beneficial as mobile device for this research context. The spectacles camera, a small camera installed in a pair of glasses, was used as exploration instrument in a shopping mall where passers-by could take part in a field trial on a voluntary basis. The goal of the field trial was twofold: 1.) Gaining insights on shoppers' behavior. 2.) Investigating the feasibility of the spectacles camera as exploration instrument. The field trial gave insights on navigation patterns and constituting elements of interest points of participants' shopping behavior, while the spectacles camera proved its value for investigating shopping strategies in the field.

In this paper, we present an interactive mannequin for persuading bypassing customers to extend the perceived time they stay in front of a shop window. The mannequin was designed and prototyped to be seamlessly integrated into a shop window, constituting an ambient persuasion interface. The design concept of our virtual mannequin is based on actual real world mannequins. Based on implicit input from the customers, the mannequin reacts on their presence by looking into their direction. We implemented a prototype of the persuasive interactive mannequin (PIM) as a 3D model, visualized on a large LCD screen and deployed it in a retail store within a shopping mall. The results from a three days field study of this deployment are presented and discussed. The study results give insights about the persuasive effect of the mannequin as well as implications for the user centered design of interactive agents in the context of shopping.

This article reports on the results of a user study investigating the satisfaction of nave users conducting two learning by demonstration tasks with the HOAP-3 robot. The main goal of this study was to gain insights on how to ensure a successful as well as satisfactory experience for nave users. The participants performed two tasks: They taught the robot to (1) push a box, and to (2) close a box. The user study was accompanied by three pre-structured questionnaires, addressing the users' satisfaction with HOAP-3, the users' affect toward the robot caused by the interaction, and the users' attitude towards robots. Furthermore, a retrospective think aloud was conducted to gain a better understanding of what influences the users' satisfaction in learning by demonstration tasks. A high task completion and final satisfaction rate could be observed. These results stress that learning by demonstration is a promising approach for nave users to learn the interaction with a robot Moreover, the short term interaction with HOAP-3 led to a positive affect, higher than the normative average on half of the female users.

This article investigates the prototypical implementation of a dynamic map of a retail store and the results of an empirical study in the shopping environment. Due to the distinct characteristics of the context of shopping (e.g. openness to the public, preexisting technologies), this context is particularly fruitful for UbiComp technologies. The prototype consists of a display showing an enhanced store map, which combines the dynamic visualization of customer activity (e.g. hot-spots, sales ranks) with conventional map elements (e.g. product locations, promotions). The results of our three-day in-situ study indicate the relevance and the usefulness of UbiComp technologies for shopping environments.

We conducted a study to the topic of this active idle screen (AIS) with regards to the services users prefer. To this end, we employed card-sorting techniques for predefined services and applications with personalization and customization aspects, followed by specific brainstorming to generate additional ideas. To evaluate in which specific contexts participants would prefer to use selected services, we employed a semi-closed card-sorting technique ('context-card-sort'), where we defined five basic contexts as group headings but allowed for changes or updates of the groups where the user would need or miss specific elements.In a second step, the users created their own 'active idle screen' and three navigation concepts for the AIS were presented to the users. In a short task-based study, users explored the four concepts using paper prototypes and reflected on them as to which would appeal most to them. Participants felt mainly attached to their own heavily personalized design where exactly those services were included that they missed, and otherwise chose concepts that they knew as opposed to alternative ones that provided more playful experience.

This paper shows how basic human values are related to behavior patterns of the usage and production of mobile multimedia content. For these purposes we applied an interview technique called Laddering, a technique referring to the means-end theory. These in-depth interviews establish relations between product characteristics (attributes), user behaviors (consequences) and basic values and user goals. We carried out interviews with 24 respondents. We found that the entertainment of other people, the exchange of content, the desire to save time and strategies to influence one's mood are the main driving forces for multimedia usage. Those are strongly related to basic values like social recognition, pleasure and happiness as well as to ambition. It is shown that usability aspects, like an intuitive UI, are strongly related to the users' desire for being effective and ambitious. Summarizing, we report the method's applicability in the realm of (mobile) HCI.

Several variations of methodological approaches are used to study the social acceptance in human-robot interaction. Due to the introduction of robots in the home, working practice and usage typically informing the design of new forms of technology are missing. Studying social acceptance in human-robot interaction thus needs new methodological concepts. We propose a so called breaching experiment with additional ethnographic observation to close this gap. To investigate the methodological concept we have been conducting a field trial on a public place. We gathered feedback using questionnaires, in order to estimate whether this method can be beneficially to evaluate social acceptance. We could show that breaching experiments can be a useful method to investigate social acceptance in the field.

Interactive TV (iTV) will only succeed if user-centered solutions are provided. Despite an increasing focus on the home environment within the human–computer interaction field, there is still a lack of studies of the context home and empirical data on users' domestic activities (Blythe, Overbeeke, Monk, & Wright, 2004 Blythe, M. A., Overbeeke, K., Monk, A. F. and Wright, P. C. 2004. Funology. From usability to enjoyment, 277–281. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic. [Google Scholar]; Mateas, Salvador, Scholtz, & Sorensen, Mateas, M., Salvador, T., Scholtz, J. and Sorensen, D. . Engineering ethnography in the home. Proceedings of the Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference (CHI'96). pp.283–284. [Google Scholar] O'Brien, Rodden, Rouncefield, & Hughes, 1999 O'Brien, J., Rodden, T., Rouncefield, M. and Hughes, J. 1999. At home with the technology: An ethnographic study of a set-top-box trial. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 6(3): 282–308. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). In this article, the results of an ethnographic study conducted during the summer 2005 as part of a field trial on iTV in the country of Salzburg, Austria, are presented. The research aim was to gain a deeper understanding of selected household types and household members, their daily habits and social background, their TV viewing behavior and experiences, and expectations on iTV. Within the research, patterns of what people do, how existing technologies facilitate their daily activities, what meanings people connect with the TV, and how iTV services can support people at home could be identified. The findings of this study and the lessons learned from the usability study during the first field trial (Bernhaupt, Ploderer, & Tscheligi, 2005 Bernhaupt, R., Ploderer, B. and Tscheligi, M. . Relevance of prior experience in MHP-based ITV services. Human-computer interaction–INTERACT 2005, IFIP TC13 International Conference. Edited by: Costabile, M. F. and Paterno, F. pp.149–152. Rome, Italy: Springer. [Google Scholar]) guided the design and development of the iTV services for the second field trial in spring 2006.

This paper describes the results of three studies investigating an embodied agent that supports its interaction with the user by gazing at corresponding objects within its close environment. Three experiments were conducted in order to research whether users can detect an agent's line of sight, whether the agent's gaze direction can help to guide the users' attention towards designated locations and whether such a setup can be used to improve realistic interaction situations. The results show that a) users can detect the agent's gaze direction quickly (within 200 ms) but not very exactly, b) the use of the agent's gaze direction can speed up but also slow down the detection of objects in dependence on their location and c) that the agent's gaze towards corresponding objects during the interaction can have counterproductive effects in realistic settings.

Mobile devices equipped with near-field communication can be used in a variety of settings to interact with the real world. In this study, we assessed user experiences with such mobile devicesfor different groups of users to better understand the possibilities of NFC in real-world interaction, based on a complementary set of studies (diary study, online survey, experience study, focus group and idea development workshop) in a large field-trial, wherea group of 75 users interacted with NFC-services. The studies show a large variety in application domains and business potential. However, analyses of the current situation also show user experience breakdowns due to functional failures, missing feedback, inconsistent interaction models and absent affordances.

In this paper we examine the role of social context --- for example social relationships or mood --- in the use of mobile phones. A mobile system that uses information on social context can provide a less obtrusive and a more natural way of interaction: it could play a cheery and joyful tone when a friend calls, or divert the call for the mother-in-law. We present a model of social context, along with its implementation in a prototype based on Semantic Web ontologies. The empirical evaluation, based on experience sampling, with participants during a field trial shows that communicated content, relationship types, and mood have an impact on the usage of mobile devices. Based on the findings, we argue that the design of future mobile services needs to be informed by social context to a greater extent.

The optimal way to structure information in hierarchies has occupied researchers for at least two decades. In the last few years, mobile devices added new challenges to this research: the limited screen size, navigation methods and data transfer rates make the search for the optimal information structure even more complex. In this paper an experiment is presented that investigates the usability of 4 different information hierarchies (46, 84, 163 and 642) on three mobile devices. It turns out that the narrow hierarchies (46 and 84) perform better than the broader hierarchies on the three devices. The experiment was repeated on two more occasions with the same participants to test expertise effects; the preference for narrow hierarchies did not change over the three occasions.

This course addresses strategic and organisational aspects of user experience work in companies, based on experiences in the mobile service industry. It focuses on the question of how to successfully set-up a Corporate User Experience Team in the areas of conflict between top management, marketing, sales, IT, customer service, and product development. Besides the presentation of general motivations and drivers for corporate user experience work and several concepts for doing so, the course in particular represents the authors' experiences in setting-up such a team, discusses key success factors, and the role of selected strategic concepts (ROI, BSC). The organisers will provide an insight into the institutionalization within Austria's largest telecom & mobile service providing company - mobilkom austria. The tutorial provides attendees with the information required in order to be successful in establishing user experience work, and with insights and ideas for strategic positioning.

Many different kinds of context aware systems have been proposed in the domain of mobile systems. So there are many application concepts available which are based some form of context parameters. However, there is additional potential available. In our belief, the truly novel systems that are using context as a major enabler are just appearing. There are now improved platforms for mobile context applications - how to use them to their full potential?The outcome of the workshop on Innovative Mobile Applications of Context (IMAC) will be a set of promising application concepts and scenarios with a solid understanding of the technical feasibility as well as requirements towards enabling context parameters.

Navigation aids based on landmarks have been successfully investigated over the last years. There seems to be little doubt that navigation systems using landmarks clearly outperform those systems, relying only on distance specifications. Little, however, is known about the optimal selection of landmarks that are used to lead the user through an environment. This paper presents five methods to select landmarks that are visually and semantically distinguishable and which are suited to lead the user to his/her goal. The paper also discusses the lessons learned from the application of these methods. It shows the results that can be expected and it highlights also their possible traps and drawbacks.

This workshop aims to explore recent research and findings on context in the face of mobile HCI. The goal of the workshop is to raise discussions on the topics, and leverage a share of experiences among people addressing the aspects from different perspectives, e.g. human-computer interaction, ubiquitous computing, ambient environments, psychology, cognitive science, communication science, design, etc.

Increasing use of mobile phones in leisure and communication with digital images are important and current issues in the field of telecommunications. However, little is known about how images would be used in leisure related communication. According to our experience field trials are the best way of studying it. In this paper, we describe a field-trial case study of leisure related communication with digital images. Moreover, we discuss the advantages of conducting field trials as part of product concept design process.

This article reports on the results of the second meeting and workshop of the International Scientific Forum, "Towards an Information Society for All," that took place in Crete, Greece, June 15-16, 1998. In particular, it elaborates on the international research and development agenda (Stephanidis et al., 1998), which resulted from the first meeting and workshop of the Forum in San Francisco, California, on August 29, 1997, in the context of the HCI International '97 Conference. This article elaborates on the proposed research and development agenda by identifying human-computer interaction challenges and clusters of concrete recommendations for international collaborative research and technological development (RTD) activities. Four clusters of recommendations are proposed. The first three facilitate reaching technological targets, and the fourth comprises accompanying measures. The three technological clusters concern the corresponding transitions from (a) productivity tools to environments of use, (b) individual users to communities of users, and (c) computer-assisted business tasks to computer-mediated human activities. The fourth cluster covers support (horizontal) actions needed to establish a favorable environment for the creation of an information society acceptable to all citizens. Each cluster is elaborated by means of specific recommendations, plausible RTD objectives, and likely or expected outcomes.