Lora Oehlberg

Towards An Understanding of Mobile Touch Navigation in a Stereoscopic Viewing Environment for 3D Data Exploration

We discuss touch-based navigation of 3D visualizations in a combined monoscopic and stereoscopic viewing environment. We identify a set of interaction modes, and a workflow that helps users transition between these modes to improve their interaction experience. In our discussion we analyze, in particular, the control-display space mapping between the different reference frames of the stereoscopic and monoscopic displays. We show how this mapping supports interactive data exploration, but may also lead to conflicts between the stereoscopic and monoscopic views due to users movement in space; we resolve these problems through synchronization. To support our discussion, we present results from an exploratory observational evaluation with domain experts in fluid mechanics and structural biology. These experts explored domain-specific datasets using variations of a system that embodies the interaction modes and workflows; we report on their interactions and qualitative feedback on the system and its workflow.

Pineal: Bringing Passive Objects to Life with Embedded Mobile Devices

Interactive, smart objects-customized to individuals and uses-are central to many movements, such as tangibles, the internet of things (IoT), and ubiquitous computing. Yet, rapid prototyping both the form and function of these custom objects can be problematic, particularly for those with limited electronics or programming experience. Designers often need to embed custom circuitry; program its workings; and create a form factor that not only reflects the desired user experience but can also house the required circuitry and electronics. To mitigate this, we created Pineal, a design tool that lets end-users: (1) modify 3D models to include a smart watch or phone as its heart; (2) specify high-level interactive behaviours through visual programming; and (3) have the phone or watch act out such behaviours as the objects smarts. Furthermore, a series of prototypes show how Pineal exploits mobile sensing and output, and automatically generates 3D printed form-factors for rich, interactive, objects.

Elevating Communication, Collaboration, and Shared Experiences in Mobile Video through Drones

People are increasingly using mobile video to communicate, collaborate, and share experiences while on the go. Yet this presents challenges in adequately sharing camera views with remote users. In this paper, we study the use of semi-autonomous drones for video conferencing, where an outdoor user (using a smartphone) is connected to a desktop user who can explore the environment from the drones perspective. We describe findings from a study where pairs collaborated to complete shared navigation and search tasks. We illustrate the benefits of providing the desktop user with a view that is elevated, manipulable, and decoupled from the outdoor user. In addition, we articulate how participants overcame challenges in communicating environmental information and navigational cues, negotiated control of the view, and used the drone as a tool for sharing experiences. This provides a new way of thinking about mobile video conferencing where cameras that are decoupled from both users play an integral role in communication, collaboration, and sharing experiences.

How Novices Sketch and Prototype Hand-Fabricated Objects

We are interested in how to create digital tools to support informal sketching and prototyping of physical objects by novices. Achieving this goal first requires a deeper understanding of how non-professional designers generate, explore, and communicate design ideas with traditional tools, i.e., sketches on paper and hands-on prototyping materials. We describe a study framed around two all-day design charrettes where participants perform a complete design process: ideation sketching, concept development and presentation, fabrication planning documentation and collaborative fabrication of hand-crafted prototypes. This structure allows us to control key aspects of the design process while collecting rich data about creative tasks, including sketches on paper, physical models, and videos of collaboration discussions. Participants used a variety of drawing techniques to convey 3D concepts. They also extensively manipulated physical materials, such as paper, foam, and cardboard, both to support concept exploration and communication with design partners. Based on these observations, we propose design guidelines for CAD tools targeted at novice crafters.

Evaluation Strategies for HCI Toolkit Research

Toolkit research plays an important role in the field of HCI, as it can heavily influence both the design and implementation of interactive systems. For publication, the HCI community typically expects toolkit research to include an evaluation component. The problem is that toolkit evaluation is challenging, as it is often unclear what evaluating a toolkit means and what methods are appropriate. To address this problem, we analyzed 68 published toolkit papers. From our analysis, we provide an overview of, reflection on, and discussion of evaluation methods for toolkit contributions. We identify and discuss the value of four toolkit evaluation strategies, including the associated techniques that each employs. We offer a categorization of evaluation strategies for toolkit researchers, along with a discussion of the value, potential limitations, and trade-offs associated with each strategy.

'Maker' within Constraints: Exploratory Study of Young Learners using Arduino at a High School in India

Do-it-yourself (DIY) inspired activities have gained popularity as a means of creative expression and self-directed learning. However, DIY culture is difficult to implement in places with limited technology infrastructure and traditional learning cultures. Our goal is to understand how learners in such a setting react to DIY activities. We present observations from a physical computing workshop with 12 students (13-15 years old) conducted at a high school in India. We observed unique challenges for these students when tackling DIY activities: a high monetary and psychological cost to exploration, limited independent learning resources, difficulties with finding intellectual courage and assumed technical language proficiency. Our participants, however, overcome some of these challenges by adopting their own local strategies: resilience, nonverbal and verbal learning techniques, and creating documentation and fallback circuit versions. Based on our findings, we discuss a set of lessons learned about makerspaces in a context with socio-technical challenges.

Critiquing Physical Prototypes for a Remote Audience

We present an observational study of physical prototype critique that highlights some of the challenges of communicating physical behaviors and materiality at a distance. Geographically distributed open hardware communities often conduct user feedback and peer critique sessions via video conference. However, people have difficulty using current video conferencing tools to demonstrate and critique physical designs. To examine the challenges of remote critique, we conducted an observational lab study in which participants critiqued pairs of physical prototypes (prosthetic hands) for a face-to-face or remote collaborator. In both conditions, participants material experiences were an important part of their critique, however their attention was divided between interacting with the prototype and finding strategies to communicate `invisible features. Based on our findings, we propose design implications for remote collaboration tools that support the sharing of material experiences and prototype critique.

Lessons Learned from Conducting Group-Based Research on Facebook

Existing research methods are largely intended to be conducted co-located and synchronously with a study population, but this approach is not feasible with remote or distributed populations. We describe a group-based study we conducted asynchronously on Facebook with a remote population. This study made use of adapted versions of a number of commonly used HCI research methods. We provide a thorough description of our research process, and a discussion of the lessons learned from this approach.

Perspective on and Re-orientation of Physical Proxies in Object-Focused Remote Collaboration

Remote collaborators working together on physical objects have difficulty building a shared understanding of what each person is talking about. Conventional video chat systems are insufficient for many situations because they present a single view of the object in a flattened image. To understand how this limited perspective affects collaboration, we designed the Remote Manipulator (ReMa), which can reproduce orientation manipulations on a proxy object at a remote site. We conducted two studies with ReMa, with two main findings. First, a shared perspective is more effective and preferred compared to the opposing perspective offered by conventional video chat systems. Second, the physical proxy and video chat complement one another in a combined system: people used the physical proxy to understand objects, and used video chat to perform gestures and confirm remote actions.

The challenges of individuality to technology approaches to personally collected health data

While patients increasing willingness to collect personal health data portends improvements in the individualization of health care, helping health care providers to effectively act upon these personal data collections poses its own challenges. In this paper, we discuss the challenges we have noticed as we work towards the creation of tools to help chronic patients present their data to their clinicians.