Keith Nesbitt

Finding trading patterns in stock market data

This article describes our design and evaluation of a multisensory human perceptual tool for the real-world task domain of stock market trading. The tool is complementary in that it displays different information to different senses - our design incorporates both a 3D visual and a 2D sound display. The results of evaluating the tool in a formal experiment are complex. The data mined in this case study is bid-and-ask data - also called depth-of-market data - from the Australian Stock Exchange. Our visual-auditory display is the bid-ask-land-scape, which we developed over much iteration with the close collaboration of an expert in the stock market domain. From this domains perspective, the projects principal goal was to develop a tool to help traders uncover new trading patterns in depth-of-market data. In this article, we not only describe the design of the bid-ask-landscape but also report on a formal evaluation of this visual-auditory display. We tested nonexperts on their ability to use the tool to predict the future direction of stock prices.

A Systematic Review of Cybersickness

The uptake of new interface technologies, such as the Oculus Rift have generated renewed interest in virtual reality especially for private entertainment use. However, long standing issues with unwanted side effects, such as nausea from cybersickness, continue to impact on the general use of devices such as head mounted displays. This in turn has slowed the uptake of more immersive interfaces for computer gaming and indeed more serious applications in training and health. In this paper we report a systematic review in the area of cybersickness with a focus on measuring the diverse symptoms experienced. Indeed the related conditions of simulator sickness and motion sickness have previously been well studied and yet many of the issues are unresolved. Here we report on these issues along with a number of measures, both subjective and objective in nature, using either questionnaires or psychophysiological measures that have been used to study cybersickness. We also report on the factors, individual, device related and task dependent that impact on the condition. We conclude that there remains a need to develop more cost-effective and objective physiological measures of both the impact of cybersickness and a persons susceptibility to the condition.

Gamelike features might not improve data

Many psychological experiments require participants to complete lots of trials in a monotonous task, which often induces boredom. An increasingly popular approach to alleviate such boredom is to incorporate gamelike features into standard experimental tasks. Games are assumed to be interesting and, hence, motivating, and better motivated participants might produce better data (with fewer lapses in attention and greater accuracy). Despite its apparent prevalence, the assumption that gamelike features improve data is almost completely untested. We test this assumption by presenting a choice task and a change detection task in both gamelike and standard forms. Response latency, accuracy, and overall task performance were unchanged by gamelike features in both experiments. We present a novel cognitive model for the choice task, based on particle filtering, to decorrelate the dependent variables and measure performance in a more psychologically meaningful manner. The model-based analyses are consistent with the hypothesis that gamelike features did not alter cognition. A postexperimental questionnaire indicated that the gamelike version provided a more positive and enjoyable experience for participants than the standard task, even though this subjective experience did not translate into data effects. Although our results hold only for the two experiments examined, the gamelike features we incorporated into both tasks were typical of—and at least as salient and interesting as those usually used by—experimental psychologists. Our results suggest that modifying an experiment to include gamelike features, while leaving the basic task unchanged, may not improve the quality of the data collected, but it may provide participants with a better experimental experience.

Verifying the Miles and Snow strategy types in Australian small- and medium-size enterprises

In this paper we set out to verify the existence of Miles and Snow strategy types in Australian small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) through objective classification. Australian SMEs, in particular, are interesting as they are reported to have some unique characteristics, with as many as 70% following a low growth or life-style pathway. While numerous empirical studies have been conducted to validate the existence and characteristics of the Miles and Snow strategy types in different domains for both larger and smaller enterprises, these studies typically rely on a subjective, ‘self-typing’ approach. In this study we employ a more objective approach by identifying measures from existing survey data that capture the strategic dimensions proposed by Miles and Snow. We use these objective measures in a K-means cluster analysis to identify four different strategic groups. Three of the groups correspond to the three ‘viable’ Miles and Snow strategy types of Defender, Prospector and Analyser; however, we also identify a ‘Static’ strategy type that constitutes 42% of SMEs in the sample.

Cybersickness provoked by head-mounted display affects cutaneous vascular tone, heart rate and reaction time.

Evidence from studies of provocative motion indicates that motion sickness is tightly linked to the disturbances of thermoregulation. The major aim of the current study was to determine whether provocative visual stimuli (immersion into the virtual reality simulating rides on a rollercoaster) affect skin temperature that reflects thermoregulatory cutaneous responses, and to test whether such stimuli alter cognitive functions. In 26 healthy young volunteers wearing head-mounted display (Oculus Rift), simulated rides consistently provoked vection and nausea, with a significant difference between the two versions of simulation software (Parrot Coaster and Helix). Basal finger temperature had bimodal distribution, with low-temperature group (n=8) having values of 23-29 °C, and high-temperature group (n=18) having values of 32-36 °C. Effects of cybersickness on finger temperature depended on the basal level of this variable: in subjects from former group it raised by 3-4 °C, while in most subjects from the latter group it either did not change or transiently reduced by 1.5-2 °C. There was no correlation between the magnitude of changes in the finger temperature and nausea score at the end of simulated ride. Provocative visual stimulation caused prolongation of simple reaction time by 20-50 ms; this increase closely correlated with the subjective rating of nausea. Lastly, in subjects who experienced pronounced nausea, heart rate was elevated. We conclude that cybersickness is associated with changes in cutaneous thermoregulatory vascular tone; this further supports the idea of a tight link between motion sickness and thermoregulation. Cybersickness-induced prolongation of reaction time raises obvious concerns regarding the safety of this technology.

The Gestalt Principle of Continuation Applies to both the Haptic and Visual Grouping of Elements

The multi-sensory display of abstract data is a new and emerging area of study in the area of computer interfaces. Unfortunately the design of multi-sensory displays is complex and it is necessary to carefully consider the perceptual capabilities of humans. Therefore we aim to both collect useful guidelines that help designers of multi-sensory displays and to structure these guidelines by using appropriate high-level principles. Gestalt principles suggest themselves as one possible framework for structuring multi-sensory design guidelines. Gestalt theory explains how humans organise individual elements into groups and how humans perceive and recognise patterns. Unfortunately very little work has been done in evaluating how well these principles apply to the haptic sense. This paper focuses on how individuals use the sense of haptic (touch) to group display elements using the gestalt principle of continuation. The hypothesis of the experiment is that people used their haptic perceptions to group display elements in the same way they group elements visually. Overall we find this hypothesis to be true and that a significant number of subjects group haptic elements so that they can be interpreted as continuous lines and forms. This supports our hypothesis that the gestalt principle of continuation is applicable for both visual and haptic grouping and therefore provides a useful principle for structuring multi-sensory design guidelines

Using the Startle Eye-Blink to Measure Affect in Players

The startle eye-blink is part of a non-voluntary response that typically occurs when an individual encounters a sudden and unexpected stimulus, such as a loud noise or increase in light. Modulations of the startle reflex can be used to infer affective processing in players. The response can be elicited using simple auditory, visual, electric, or mechanical stimuli. The magnitude of the startle eye-blink is used to infer the unconscious positive (pleasant) or negative (unpleasant) emotional state of the player. It is frequently used in psychology where variations in the magnitude, latency, and duration of the startle response are used to understand attention, workload, affective processing, and psychopathologies such as schizophrenia. By comparison, there has been limited use of this objective measure for studying games. As such, there are opportunities to adapt this measure to studies of player affect in the context of game design. We provide a review of the concepts of “affect” and “affective computing” as they relate to game design and also explain in detail the use of the startle eye-blink for objectively measuring player affect. Finally, the use of the approach is illustrated in a case study for evaluating a serious game design.

Identifying Commonly-Used Gestalt Principles as a Design Framework for Multi-Sensory Displays

The multi-sensory display of abstract data is a new and emerging area of study in the area of computer interfaces. One broad application of multi-sensory displays is to display abstract data using multiple senses in such a way that the user might detect useful patterns in the data. Gestalt theory explains how humans organize individual elements into groups and how humans perceive and recognize patterns. Because we are interested in the design of information displays that allow users to find patterns, Gestalt principles suggest themselves as one possible framework for collating useful design guidelines. This paper begins with a brief discussion of perception. This is followed by a short historical survey of major developments in perceptual theory. This paper surveys a number of theoretical and applied research works that concern Gestalt principles. From this survey the most commonly used principles are identified and relevant work to do with multi-sensory display is discussed. Finally, some opportunities to extend existing knowledge in the area of haptic display are identified.

Profiling subjective symptoms and autonomic changes associated with cybersickness

Our aim was to expand knowledge of cybersickness - a subtype of motion sickness provoked by immersion into a moving computer-generated virtual reality. Fourteen healthy subjects experienced a 15-min rollercoaster ride presented via a head-mounted display (Oculus Rift), for 3 consecutive days. Heart rate, respiration, finger and forehead skin conductance were measured during the experiment; this was complemented by a subjective nausea rating during the ride and by Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire before, immediately after and then 1, 2 and 3h post-ride. Physiological measurements were analysed in three dimensions: ride time, association with subjective nausea rating and experimental day. Forehead, and to a lesser extent finger phasic skin conductance activity showed a correlation with the reported nausea ratings, while alteration in other measured parameters were mostly related to autonomic arousal during the virtual ride onset. A significant habituation was observed in subjective symptom scores and in the duration of tolerated provocation. The latter increased from 7.0±1.3min on the first day to 12.0±2.5min on the third day (p<0.05); this was associated with a reduced slope of nausea rise from 1.3±0.3units/min on the first to 0.7±0.1units/min on the third day (p<0.01). Furthermore, habituation with repetitive exposure was also determined in the total symptom score post-ride: it fell from 1.6±0.1 on the first day to 1.2±0.1 on the third (p<0.001). We conclude that phasic changes of skin conductance on the forehead could be used to objectively quantify nausea; and that repetitive exposure to provocative VR content results in habituation.

MS-Taxonomy: a conceptual framework for designing multi-sensory displays

One important task that the designer of multi-sensory displays must perform is the comparison of displays designed for the different senses. Comparing designs for different visualisations is difficult enough but comparing a visual display with an auditory display, or haptic display is harder still. Yet the designer of multi-sensory displays would like to make sensible decisions about when to use each modality. This work describes the MS-Taxonomy, a classification of abstract data displays that is general for all senses. This allows the same terminology to be used for describing visualisation, sonification and haptic display designs. The classification of displays is hierarchical and describes multiple levels of abstraction. In software engineering terms the taxonomy allows a designer to consider reuse at both an abstract architectural level and also a more detailed component level. Thus design mappings can be discussed independently of the sensory modality to be used. This allows for exactly the same design to be implemented for each sense and subsequently compared or transferred between modalities.