Arto Juhani Lehtiniemi

Evaluating an avatar-based user interface for discovering new music

This paper studies the idea of using avatars as a user interface for discovering new music. In the evaluated prototype, the user builds an avatar from three parts (head, body and background). The appearance of each part reflects a certain musical genre. Based on the selected combination of parts, the application generates a new playlist of music by seeding a content-based music recommender with examples from the selected genres. In a user study with 40 participants, the prototype was considered to be entertaining and easy to use. The concept inspired users to explore new music and provided faster access to cross-genre playlists than traditional music player applications. In the longer term use, the prototype was slightly too simple and it would have benefited from, e.g., text-based search functionality. Several other interesting ideas for the future development of the concept were also received.

Evaluation of automatic mobile playlist generator

Mobile music consumption is increasing and many of the current mobile phones already offer music listening capabilities. Still, most of the current automatic playlist generation systems do not function in the mobile domain. This paper presents an evaluation of a content-based prototype mobile playlist generator. A user study was conducted to find out the quality and performance of our content-based automatic playlist generation engine from the users perspective. In addition, possible benefits, usage scenarios, and future improvements are covered in this study, to support further development. There were 30 test subjects taking part in the usability study consisting of individual interviews and a trial. The overall performance of the automatic playlist generator satisfied 90% of the test subjects and they would like to use such system. Still, there are many improvements and new design ideas to take into account in further development to gain even better user acceptance and performance. These development ideas include e.g. getting rid of the most unsuccessful recommendations, providing option to group similar artists on the playlists and adding support for new ways of creating playlists by utilizing multiple seed songs.

MyTerritory: evaluation of outdoor gaming prototype for music discovery

This paper presents an outdoor gaming prototype for music discovery and its field-trial evaluation by 15 Finnish users. The implemented mobile prototype enables users to conquer physical areas from a map view by circulating them and assigning songs to dominate the areas. Music can then be consumed from these areas by other users using three different methods. Based on the results, the concept adds novel experiences to outdoor gaming and music discovery. Populating the world with music by competing in the game was seen as a motivating way to discover and share music. Outdoor exercising combined to discovering places conquered with new music were seen as important and interesting by all the users in the interviews. Users found the different music consumption options to be novel and useful. This paper proposes a set of general design drivers for music discovery in outdoor gaming and further development ideas for the concept.

Six Enablers of Instant Photo Sharing Experiences in Small Groups Based on the Field Trial of Social Camera

Mobile photo taking and sharing has become a frequent leisure-time activity for smartphone users. This paper presents a field study of a mobile application called Social Camera, which enables instant sharing of photos within small groups. The application enables collaborative creation of photo collections with shared folders in the cloud and instant connection through the folders and photos. Social Camera was evaluated using four groups (altogether 17 users) in a field trial. The results reveal six enablers of instant photo-sharing experiences within small groups: sense of connectedness and social awareness, presentation and expression of self, lightweight and surprising interaction, collective photography, documentation of experiences, and finally, privacy and user control. This work gives design implications of these enablers for photo-sharing applications.

Using Animated Mood Pictures in Music Recommendation

This paper studies the idea of using animated mood pictures in the context of music recommendation. In the implemented prototype, the user interacts with a collection of pictures to receive new music recommendations from associated genres. The prototype was evaluated by 40 Finnish participants. After the first use of the prototype, the concept of selecting music based on mood pictures was found to be very good by 85% of the participants. In the longer-term use, the prototype lacked some important features such as the ability to personalize the picture and music associations. Despite this, 60% of the participants were interested in using the prototype to complement their other music player applications. This indicates that mood pictures are a promising way to access music collections and to explore new music.

Evaluating MoodPic - a Concept for Collaborative Mood Music Playlist Creation

This paper studies a MoodPic concept and a prototype implementation enabling collaborative creation of mood picture based musical play lists, evaluated qualitatively with 30 Finnish participants. In general, MoodPic was found to be a successful concept and stated to add novel experiences to music listening. Accessing music through mood pictures was highly appreciated and seen as a good way to discover new music over the genre boundaries and receive music recommendations from real users based on their mood picture interpretation. Sorting music based on mood pictures instead of genres was seen as an interesting and easy way to interact with music. Based on the interview results, this paper introduces several ideas for further improving the music listening experience using mood pictures as a basis for play lists. This paper summarizes the main findings and proposes an extensive set of generalized design implications to take into account when designing solutions for social music discovery.

Easy access to recommendation playlists: selecting music by exploring preview clips in album cover space

This paper studies the idea of selecting music by exploring preview clips in an album cover space. In the implemented prototype, the user listens to representative audio clips until the preferred musical style has been found, and the corresponding song is then used as a seed song for generating a new playlist of music recommendations. The prototype was evaluated by 40 Finnish participants. In the initial interview, the concept was seen as an innovative and a fast way to explore different types of music without deeper musical knowledge, and it was said that the beauty of the concept is the instant feedback that the user gets when moving in the album cover space. In the longer-term use, the prototype was considered to be less fun and it would have benefited from the possibility to search for individual songs or listen to full albums. Still, the majority of the participants would have wanted to continue using the prototype to complement their other music player applications.

Automatic multi-camera remix from single video

In this paper we present a first of its kind automatic multi-camera video remix creation system from a single video, referred to as SmartView. We present a novel method which uses the fusion of multimodal content analysis and cinematic rules, for creating a multi-camera experience. Further, a playback metadata based model, which consists of playback instructions for metadata-aware media player, allows for providing a remix experience without editing the original video content. This approach produces a low footprint, which is suitable for on-device processing in resource constrained mobile devices. The research prototype demonstrates the feasibility of such a system with current off-the-shelf mobile devices. The SmartView creation process was seen to take less time than the video duration. 5 out of 9 test users found the fully automatic SmartView remix experience to be better than the conventional playback. The user customized SmartView remix was preferred over conventional playback.

Designing for Music Discovery: Evaluation and Comparison of Five Music Player Prototypes

Abstract This article describes the evaluation and comparison of five prototypes designed for the discovery of new music. The prototypes were compared against each other using various qualitative and quantitative metrics, and the results were then used to formulate a set of design criteria for future music discovery applications. Based on the results of a user study with 40 participants, visually interesting user interfaces and new interaction paradigms can inspire users to explore music collections and provide playful and fun ways to find new music. Without textual search functionality, such applications should rather complement than replace traditional music-listening applications.

Evaluating a Potentiometer-Based Graphical User Interface for Interacting with a Music Recommendation Service

This paper studies the idea of using potentiometers as a graphical user interface for interacting with a music recommendation service. In the implemented prototype, the user selects a musical genre and adjusts tempo and energy level potentiometers to fine-tune the play list of new music recommendations. The look of the interface is changed to reflect the currently selected genre. In a user study with 40 participants, the idea of using potentiometers to access music collections was found to be suitable for discovering new music and to complement traditional music player applications. The prototype was seen to be easy to use and entertaining, and the graphical designs matched well with the musical genres. In the longer-term use, the prototype was slightly too simple and it would have benefited from e.g. text-based search functionality. Several other interesting ideas for the future development of the concept were also received.