Katja Suhonen

Haptically augmented remote speech communication: a study of user practices and experiences

Haptic technology provides a channel for interpersonal communication through the sense of touch. In the development of novel haptic communication devices, it is essential to explore peoples use behaviors and perceptions of such a communication channel. To this end, we conducted a laboratory study on haptically augmented remote interpersonal communication. Participant pairs tested a communication system that allowed them to send squeezing and thermal feedback to each others forearm during speech discussion. We explored the use practices and user experience of this setup and compared it to traditional speech-only communication. The findings indicate that squeezing was experienced as a more versatile and immediate type of feedback than thermal feedback. Warm and cold were on the other hand useful for communicating positive and negative meanings. Compared to speech-only communication, the added haptic modality allowed conveying emphases, emotions, and touches related to the discussion, and increased the feeling of closeness between the pairs.

User experience and usage scenarios of audio-tactile interaction with virtual objects in a physical environment

Augmented reality (AR) systems enable new user experiences while the user is interacting with virtual objects in the physical space. The virtual objects have mostly been presented visually, overlaid on the physical world. In this paper, we present an explorative user study of a prototype system AHNE with the aim to understand the user experience and usage potential of non-visual audio-tactile augmented reality interactions. The qualitative results reveal that non-visual interaction was experienced confusing at first, but also fun, playful, and exciting. Even though audio feedback clearly dominates the spatial interaction experience, tactile feedback makes the virtual objects feel more concrete. The ideated and evaluated set of 23 usage scenarios includes both game-like and pragmatic application ideas for individual and social usage. The results can be used to inform the design of novel AR applications that utilise human senses beyond vision.

Exploring usage scenarios on social devices: balancing between surprise and user control

Mobile devices and social media are designed primarily to support communication between remote people. However, the sensors in modern smart phones allow also proxemic interactions between the devices and their co-located users. In such interactions, mobile devices can act as smart, social objects -- or Social Devices -- proactively triggering interpersonal interactions. We present the results of our explorative user study about usage scenarios and user perceptions of Social Devices. We conducted three bodystorming sessions and eight laboratory sessions to expose altogether 39 participants to the concept of Social Devices. The bodystorming sessions resulted in a set of novel usage scenarios for Social Devices. The evaluations of the scenarios and prototypes show that participants valued Social Devices offering surprising social effects, such as discovering mutual interest between users. However, participants strongly expressed the need to control the device-initiated interactions. Based on the findings, we suggest five design implications for further development of related concepts.

Assessing the applicability of modular playability heuristics for evaluating health-enhancing games

An increasing amount of health-related games are available, in which health enhancement is included either by having health topics as educational content, making players move physically, or by combinations of these approaches in various degrees. Heuristic evaluation is widely used as a low-cost expert evaluation method in software and game development for assessing usability problems. The goal of our research was to assess how modular playability heuristics work in the evaluation of different types of health games. Based on a literature review we collected a six-module set of playability heuristics. Three different games with direct or indirect health enhancing effects were evaluated with the derived set of heuristics. The results suggest that playability heuristics are useful in evaluating various types of health-enhancing games, provided that the heuristic modules chosen for the evaluation are suitable for the game in question. Two new heuristic modules are suggested to be designed for better evaluation of typical characteristics of health games.