Elmo Marcus Attila Diederiks

Buddies in a box: animated characters in consumer electronics

In this paper it is argued that animated characters in the interaction with consumer electronics products can have four kinds of benefits. They can add fun to the interaction and realise a more enjoyable experience. Animated characters can deploy social behaviour and social rules known from daily life and thus make it more natural and easier to interact with consumer electronic products. Furthermore an animated character can set the right level of expectation and finally they can make system errors and interaction obstacles more acceptableTwo examples are described to illustrate this argumentation. The L-icons are virtual personal friends that live inside the television and that represent a so-called recommendation system. Bello is a virtual pet dog that facilitates voice-controlled interaction for a television set. The evaluation results of two example applications confirm the four arguments, but they also show that the right form of animated character must be application specific in order to come to an optimal match between the characteristics of the character and those of the system they represent

How probes inform and influence the design process

Design and research practitioners have applied probes in their design processes to find new ways of understanding user experience, allowing them to obtain a better understanding of their users and to inspire their designs. Usually in design practice and research, project leaders and managers expect an ultimate solution emerging as a result of probing. However, in most cases such a direct connection is not evident as probes inform and influence the design process in many different ways. We provide illustrative examples of these ways based on a study related to bathroom use for a lighting system. We present a generalization of our findings on how probes can help inform other design processes.

The experience of being connected

The rapid spread of broadband always-on Internet is expected to change the way people will communicate and share content and experiences in the near future. This broadband connection can enhance the communication among family members and friends. It can also make it easy to share content and activities such as watching a movie together or listening to the same music while having a videophone chat. While using all these functions people want to be able to move freely through their home. The advance of portable devices fulfils this need for mobility. These portable devices can be used either in isolation or in co-operation with the stationary devices in the house. This paper describes the development and evaluation of two novel interaction concepts that support sociability and mobility for people inhabiting the connected home.

From Imagination to Experience: The Role of Feasibility Studies in Gathering Requirements for Ambient Intelligent Products

From a User-Centered Design perspective, technology pushes are often regarded to as negative because the ideas behind these pushes not always address user needs, often causing products to fail in the market. Feasibility studies help close the gap between technology pushes and demand pulls. By inviting users to witness feasibility studies in an early stage of a design process, participants not only are able to provide input long before full functionality has been developed, but it also allows them to make that important step from imagining what an Ambient Intelligent product can do for them in their daily lives, to actually experiencing it.

Sociability and mobility concepts for the connected home

The functionality offered by interconnected devices in a networked home will be drastically increased by the possibilities of always-on broadband Internet. This broadband connection can enhance the communication among family members and friends. It can also make it easy to share content and activities such as watching a movie together or listen to the same music while having a videophone chat. While using all these functions people want to be able to move freely through their home. The advance of portable devices fulfils this need for mobility. These portable devices can be used either in isolation or in co-operation with the stationary devices in the house. Two novel interaction concepts are described that support sociability and mobility for people inhabiting the connected home.