Kai Kuikkaniemi

The influence of implicit and explicit biofeedback in first-person shooter games

To understand how implicit and explicit biofeedback work in games, we developed a first-person shooter (FPS) game to experiment with different biofeedback techniques. While this area has seen plenty of discussion, there is little rigorous experimentation addressing how biofeedback can enhance human-computer interaction. In our two-part study, (N=36) subjects first played eight different game stages with two implicit biofeedback conditions, with two simulation-based comparison and repetition rounds, then repeated the two biofeedback stages when given explicit information on the biofeedback. The biofeedback conditions were respiration and skin-conductance (EDA) adaptations. Adaptation targets were four balanced player avatar attributes. We collected data with psycho¬physiological measures (electromyography, respiration, and EDA), a game experience questionnaire, and game-play measures. According to our experiment, implicit biofeedback does not produce significant effects in player experience in an FPS game. In the explicit biofeedback conditions, players were more immersed and positively affected, and they were able to manipulate the game play with the biosignal interface. We recommend exploring the possibilities of using explicit biofeedback interaction in commercial games.

From Space to Stage: How Interactive Screens Will Change Urban Life

Framed digital displays will soon give way to walls and facades that creatively motivate individual and group interaction. A stage serves as an apt metaphor to explore the ways in which these ubiquitous screens can transform passive viewing into an involved performance.

Interactive Public Displays

Public-display installations can range from large-scale media facades that are embedded in architectural structures and that people can interact with only from a distance, to direct-touch interactive kiosks that provide information of local interest. These different scenarios impose different challenges and research questions regarding the design of interfaces and interaction techniques. The articles in this special issue present snapshots of several ways that researchers are addressing these challenges.

Next step in electronic brainstorming: collaborative creativity with the web

Brainstorming is an essential technique in creative group work. Research literature indicates the strengths of electronic brainstorming over face-to-face work. Despite this evidence, the old practice dominates. We believe that this is due to the inadequate integration of new tools to existing practices and the tendency to focus on idea production alone. This paper explores how to augment traditional, collocated Brainstorming and make electronic brainstorming feasible and accessible with web-based technology. We introduce an electronic brainstorming application prototype and justify its design principles. Our system aimed at facilitating conceptual design and we present design insights from a pilot study with the prototype used by 27 design students. The paper argues that by structuring the generative group process with a low-cost tool, users can sprint through a creative process, from problem definition to defining a solution.

Toolkit for user-created augmented reality games

In this paper we present MAR (Mobile Augmented Reality) Toolkit as an easy-to-use augmented reality toolset for building multi-user mobile phone games. It is built on top of MUPE - Nokia-developed open source mobile platform based on Java - which considers the special qualities of mobile technology. MAR Toolkit contains four components, map interface (MAP), physical object tagger (POT), public display (PUD) and silent communicator (SIC).We have successfully demonstrated MAR Toolkit by implementing a game named as Mupeland Yard based on classical board game Scotland Yard. In user testing we found that common usability issues related to mobile technology and MUPE-platform troubled the tests. However, especially POT component raised interest among developers. We found that using graphical 2D-tags for providing location information for augmented reality games is a simple and robust alternative for more technology intensive GPS and cell-ID information.

Large displays in urban life - from exhibition halls to media facades

Recent trends show an increasing prevalence of large interactive displays in public urban life. For example, museums, libraries, public plazas, or architectural facades take advantage of interactive technologies that present information in a highly visual and interactive way. Studies confirm the potential of large interactive display installations for educating, entertaining, and providing evocative experiences. This workshop will provide a platform for researchers and practitioners from different disciplines to exchange insights on current research questions in the area. The workshop will focus on how to design large interactive display installations that promote engaging experiences that go beyond playful interaction, and how to evaluate their impact. The goal is to cross-fertilize insights from different disciplines, establish a more general understanding of large interactive displays in public urban contexts, and to develop an agenda for future research directions in this area.

Emotionally Adapted Games --- An Example of a First Person Shooter

This paper discusses a specific customization technology --- Psychological Customization - which enables the customization of information presented on a computer-based system in real-time and its application to manipulating emotions when playing computer games. The possibilities of customizing different elements of games to manipulate emotions are presented and a definition of emotionally adaptive games is given. A psychophysiologically adaptive game is discussed as an example of emotionally adapted games.

Personal Device as a Controller for Interactive Surfaces: Usability and Utility of Different Connection Methods

The popularity of touch-screen-equipped smart phones has made them an attractive choice for interacting with large display surfaces, especially in public spaces. The challenge in using a personal mobile device for interaction in such a setting lies in the usability of methods to initiate the interaction, as the users may give up if the interaction is not immediately successful. For this reason, a few commercial systems have already opted to use web-based interaction instead of dedicated mobile applications. However, the usability of different methods of initiating the web-based interaction has not been extensively studied. In this paper we present the results of a laboratory usability study with 20 participants, in which we studied how the users experienced four different methods of initiating web-based interaction between a smart phone and a large display surface. The compared initiation methods were NFC, QR code, typing an URL and connecting to a WiFi access point. Additionally, in order to study how the users experienced the quality of the connection, the first three methods were used over 3G. Our results indicate typing an URL to be the most usable method for initiating the connection between the smart phone and the large display surface. The difference in quality between the 3G and WiFi connections was deemed hardly noticeable by the subjects. We acknowledge that our results are only preliminary, and the subject needs to be studied in a more realistic setting to get a more comprehensive picture.

Designing for presenters at public walk-up-and-use displays

Interactive walk-up-and-use displays are spreading in a variety of settings where stand presentation situations are common. We contribute by characterizing a presentation situation and investigating specific design implications for presenters in this situation. We also introduce interface system that utilizes physics-modeled spherical content widgets for information browsing. The system includes dedicated features we developed to support presenters in content production and visualization. To investigate stand presentations and their support, we organized a field trial at an exhibition, collecting observational data from video analysis, interviews with presenters, and questionnaires from the audience and presenters. The field study confirms the importance of the presentation use case for public walk-up-and-use screens and points to dedicated design implications for simultaneous support for presenters and visitors, management of presentation territories, and personalization.

Spaceify: a client-edge-server ecosystem for mobile computing in smart spaces

Spaceify is a novel edge architecture and an ecosystem for smart spaces --- a technology that extends the mobile user view of todays common space services (e.g., WiFi) to a richer portfolio of space-centric, localized services and space-interactive applications.