Erik Grönvall

Causing commotion with a shape-changing bench: experiencing shape-changing interfaces in use

In this paper we describe results from testing coMotion, a shape-changing bench, in three different contexts: a concert hall foyer, an airport departure hall and a shopping mall. We have gathered insights from more than 120 people, with regard to how users experience and make sense of the benchs shape changing capability. The paper applies McCarthy and Wrights six different sense making processes (anticipating, connecting, interpreting, reflecting, appropriating and recounting) as an instrument to analyse peoples experience with shape-changing furniture in the wild. The paper also introduces exploring as a seventh sense making process. Based on this analysis, the paper points to three relevant aspects when designing shape-changing artefacts for the wild, namely: 1) Affordance of shape-changing interfaces, 2) Transitions between background and foreground and 3) Interpreting physically dynamic objects.

The Heart Game: Using Gamification as Part of a Telerehabilitation Program for Heart Patients.

Abstract Objective: The aim of this article is to describe the development and testing of a prototype application (“The Heart Game”) using gamification principles to assist heart patients in their telerehabilitation process in the Teledialog project. Materials and Methods: A prototype game was developed via user-driven innovation and tested on 10 patients 48–89 years of age and their relatives for a period of 2 weeks. The application consisted of a series of daily challenges given to the patients and relatives and was based on several gamification principles. A triangulation of data collection techniques (interviews, participant observations, focus group interviews, and workshop) was used. Interviews with three healthcare professionals and 10 patients were carried out over a period of 2 weeks in order to evaluate the use of the prototype. Results: The heart patients reported the application to be a useful tool as a part of their telerehabilitation process in everyday life. Gamification and gameful design principles such as leaderboards, relationships, and achievements engaged the patients and relatives. The inclusion of a close relative in the game motivated the patients to perform rehabilitation activities. Conclusions: “The Heart Game” concept presents a new way to motivate heart patients by using technology as a social and active approach to telerehabilitation. The findings show the potential of using gamification for heart patients as part of a telerehabilitation program. The evaluation indicated that the inclusion of the patients spouse in the rehabilitation activities could be an effective strategy. A major challenge in using gamification for heart patients is avoiding a sense of defeat while still adjusting the level of difficulty to the individual patient.

On Challenges Designing the Home as a Place for Care

Traditionally, there has been much attention on workplace studies and design for work within the HCI (Human Computer Interaction) and CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) communities. Those communities have recently shown an increasing interest in healthcare and especially non-professional care settings such as patients’ private homes. When healthcare is moved from clinical settings to private homes, more attention is put on the care receiver, his/her everyday life and private home. In contrast with the hospital, the home however is not designed as a place for care. Moving healthcare activities, including treatment of severe diseases to private homes and other non-clinical settings (e.g. the patient’s workplace or vacation resorts) not prepared for these care activities may have severe consequences. In fact, the relocation of care may challenge, on different levels, the patients, their caregivers and society at large. This chapter presents and discusses seven challenges that the authors argue are important to consider when designing for holistic and sustainable home-based healthcare. Examples of these challenges are: Societal concerns, Complexity of care providers, Heterogeneity of care providers and Installation and maintenance. These challenges include law and legislation related aspects, environmental issues and the feasibility of large-scale deployment of home-care designs. The challenges discussed in this chapter have not been satisfactorily taken into account by the existing homecare designs and HCI research. Our chapter suggests that designers and HCI practitioners must be aware of, and reflect upon how these challenges can affect the value, feasibility and a wider implementation of their homecare designs.

FeltRadio: Sensing and Making Sense of Wireless Traffic

Radio waves surround us but still they remain largely undetected by our senses. Unless we use specifically tuned hardware, such as FM radios, cell phones or WiFi modems, human beings cannot perceive wirelessly transmitted data. This paper presents FeltRadio, a portable and wireless technology that makes it possible to turn radio signals into visual and tactile stimuli as a form of sensorial augmentation. FeltRadio explores and makes us reflect upon what it would be like if we could sense, and feel, wireless traffic such as WiFi or Bluetooth. We present the technological design behind FeltRadio and the outcome of two exploratory studies with the technology focused on peoples experience of being able to suddenly sense and make sense of wireless traffic. We discuss the possible qualities of this embodied experience of FeltRadio and point to future experiments with the technology.

Negotiation of values as driver in community-based PD

Community-based PD projects are often characterized by the meeting of conflicting values among stakeholder groups, but in research there is no uncontested account of the relation between design and conflicting values. Through analysis of three community-based PD cases in Denmark and South Africa, this paper identifies and discusses challenges for community-based PD that exist in these settings based on the emergence of contrasting and often conflicting values among participants and stakeholders. Discussions of participation are shaped through two theoretical perspectives: the notion of thinging and design things; and different accounts of values in design. Inspired by the concept of design things, and as a consequence of the need for continuous negotiation of values observed in all three cases, we suggest the concept of thinging as fruitful for creating productive agonistic spaces with a stronger attention towards the process of negotiating values in community-based PD.

Computer-assisted training as a complement in rehabilitation of patients with chronic vestibular dizziness: a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE To compare a computer-assisted home exercise program with conservative home-training following printed instructions in the rehabilitation of elderly patients with vestibular dysfunction. DESIGN Single-blind, randomized, controlled trial. SETTING Geriatric department of a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS Patients with chronic dizziness due to vestibular dysfunction (N=63) were randomly assigned to either rehabilitation in the clinic followed by computer-assisted home exercises (intervention group: n=32) or rehabilitation in the clinic followed by home exercises according to printed instructions (control group: n=31). INTERVENTIONS Patients in the intervention group received assisted rehabilitation by a computer program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Measurements at baseline and at 8 and 16 weeks were compared. These included the One Leg Stand Test, Dynamic Gait Index, Chair Stand Test, Motion Sensitivity Test, Short Form-12, Dizziness Handicap Inventory, and visual analog scale. RESULTS Both groups improved significantly during 16 weeks of rehabilitation. However, neither t tests nor repeated-measures analysis of variance demonstrated any significant differences between the 2 groups. The overall compliance rate to computer program exercises during 16 weeks was 57%. CONCLUSIONS A computer-assisted program to support the home training of elderly patients with vestibular dysfunction did not improve rehabilitation more than did printed instructions.

On preventive blood pressure self-monitoring at home

Self-monitoring activities are increasingly becoming part of people’s everyday lives. Some of these measurements are taken voluntarily rather than being referred by a physician and conducted because of either a preventive health interest or to better understand the body and its functions (the so-called Quantified Self). In this article, we explore socio-technical complexities that may occur when introducing preventive health-measurement technologies into older adults’ daily routines and everyday lives. In particular, the original study investigated blood pressure (BP) measurement in non-clinical settings, to understand existing challenges, and uncover opportunities for self-monitoring technologies to support preventive healthcare activities among older adults. From our study, several important aspects emerged to consider when designing preventive self-monitoring technology, such as the complexity of guidelines for self-measuring, the importance of interpretation, understanding and health awareness, sharing self-monitoring information for prevention, various motivational factors, the role of the doctor in prevention, and the home as a distributed information space. An awareness of these aspects can help designers to develop better tools to support people’s preventive self-monitoring needs, compared to existing solutions. Supporting the active and informed individual can help improve people’s self-care, awareness, and implementation of preventive care. Based on our study, we also reflect on the findings to illustrate how these aspects can both inform people engaged in Quantified Self activities and designers alike, and the tools and approaches that have sprung from the so-called Quantified Self movement.

Experimental Engineering: Articulating and Valuing Design Experimentation

In this paper we propose Experimental Engineering as a way to articulate open-ended technological experiments as a legitimate design research practice. Experimental Engineering introduces a move away from an outcome or result driven design process towards an interest in existing technologies and how they can assist in creating completely new understandings of people, technology, and their interactions.

Concordance: design ideal for facilitating situated negotiations in out-of-clinic healthcare

Healthcare HCI research has explored various designs that encourage people to follow prescribed treatments, mostly adopting compliance and adherence as design ideals. However, within the medical sciences the notion of concordance also exists. Concordance promotes negotiation between the patient and healthcare professional for forging a therapeutic alliance. However, the HCI community has still not adopted concordance as a design ideal. This paper revisits four old design-cases to explore the role of concordance in out-of-clinic healthcare. We argue that concordance, as a design ideal, can guide new designs that promote a more active patient-role both at the clinic and beyond.

HCI at the boundary of work and life

The idea behind this Special Issue originates in a workshop on HCI and CSCW research related to work and non-work-life balance organized in conjunction with the ECSCW 2013 conference by the issue co-editors. Fifteen papers were originally submitted for possible inclusion in this Special Issue, and four papers were finally accepted for publication after two rounds of rigorous peer review. The four accepted papers explore, in different ways, HCI at the boundary of work and life. In this editorial, we offer a description of the overall theme and rationale for the Special Issue, including an introduction on the topic relevance and background, and a reflection on how the four accepted papers further current research and debate on the topic.