Martin Böcker

Overcoming human factors deficiencies of videocommunications systems by means of advanced image technologies

Abstract Various human factors experiments were carried out aiming at investigating to what extent assumed deficiencies of current videocommunications systems can be overcome by employing advanced image technologies. Deficiencies that are dealt with are the lack of spatial impression, limitations in the possibility of addressing the interlocutors individually by non-verbal signals, and difficulties in terms of interpersonal impression formation. Results showed that spatial impression can be enhanced significantly by stereoscopy, that reducing eye-contact angles can improve the recognisability of non-verbal signals, and that a natural-size representation of interlocutors leads to a high degree of ‘telepresence’ and facilitates impression formation. In trying to identify those human factors deficiencies of videoconferencing systems the reduction of which can be expected to increase the uptake of videoconferencing services, the lack of spatial impression and difficulties in impression formation are the most promising candidates.

On the Reproduction of Motion Parallax in Videocommunications

The paper addresses the question whether reproducing motion parallax increases the extent of telepresence in videocommunications. Motion parallax is defined as the change of the view due to the observers movements. It was hypothesized that reproducing motion parallax (a) leads to more precise depth judgments by providing further depth cues, (b) allows ‘interactive viewing’, i.e. the observer can actively explore the visual scene by changing his/her position, and (c) compensates for stereoscopic “apparent movements”. In a Human Factors study, two videoconferencing set-ups providing motion parallax (one stereoscopic and one monoscopic version) were compared with two set-ups (monoscopic and stereoscopic) without motion parallax. Each set-up was used and rated by 32 subjects. The results supported the hypotheses only in part. Even though there was some evidence for more “spatial presence” and for a greater explorability of the scene through motion parallax, the compensation of apparent movements could not be achieved.

Advanced Videocommunications with Stereoscopy and Individual Perspectives

First basic Standards for videoconferencing services have been specified several years ago and the European Videoconferencing Service (EVS) was launched in 1989. However, the uptake of videoconferencing services was less enthusiastic than predicted by some experts. Apart from high costs and low availability, one of the reasons for the poor uptake might be that some aspects of face-to-face meetings cannot be represented sufficiently well through the use of standard videoconferencing equipment. Considering this, a research project was initiated to investigate the advantages of new technologies such as stereoscopic video in videoconferencing services in terms of Telepresence. A communication system is said to have a higher degree of Telepresence the more it gives the distributed participants a feeling of sharing space with their remote partners.

Enabling and improving the use of mobile e-services

The present workshop addresses ongoing standardization issues for user education and setup procedures, enabling and improving the startup and use of mobile e-services.

Evaluating the usability of the Siemens C10 Mobile Phone going beyond common practice in industry

This paper describes the usability evaluation conducted at Siemens of the prototype for a novel interface of a cellular telephone. The aim of the paper is to show the advantages of more systematic usability testing in contrast to low-cost (often called “quick and dirty”) usability testing. The test provided key data for the decision to implement the new user interface. A quick and dirty test would not have been sufficient to achieve this. The interface design itself is presented followed by a description of the test method, the 80 subjects sample, and the results. The conclusions focus on lessons learnt by conducting an extended study and on the need of integrating usability evaluation in the product cycle.

EHealth Applications for Those in Need: Making Novel Interaction Technologies Accessible

Barrier-free usability is a precondition for eHealth applications for all. While novel and innovative user interface technologies have the potential of increasing the usability of a device, they may also impose barriers for users with physical impairments. These barriers are often removed through later updates and workarounds, but in other cases never. ETSI, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, has published an ETSI Guide (EG) [1] that anticipates new interaction technologies [2] in the form of technology roadmaps, pointing out potential barriers individual technologies may create for specific user groups. That document also lists measures that can be taken in order to overcome these barriers so that the technologies can be introduced to the market in barrier-free versions right from their first implementation. In this chapter, ETSI’s approach to identifying relevant technology areas and the resulting technology roadmaps are presented in the form of examples and scenarios.

Identifying enablers for future e-Services

The starting point of the project is the observation that new information and communication technologies (ICT) are often introduced without taking into account the requirements of elderly and/or disabled users, resulting in products and services that are hardly usable by those users. A method for identifying enablers for future e-Services is described. In short it identifies usability problems with future interaction technologies and map these future interaction technologies to e-Services. The results of investigations using this method allow stakeholders in different stages of the research and development lifecycle e-Services to spot potential difficulties in the design of user interfaces which could cause elderly or disabled users to experience usability issues.

Standardising SPOKEN commands for mobile devices and services

The current state of the art in voice-recognition technology is reaching a level of maturity that suggests sophisticated voice-based user-interface technologies will soon be available in mobile devices. As voice commands for mobile devices and services have so far been primarily limited to voice dialling and the activation of individual menu items, there is currently a window of opportunity to standardise voice commands for basic functions of mobile devices and services. ETSI, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, has formed a Specialist Task Force (STF) to extend the existing ETSI standard ES 202 076 on voice commands for mobile services and devices. The existing published standard covers five major European languages, whereas the revised version will extend the number of languages covered to 30. This paper gives an overview of the commands and languages covered, and outlines the approach used to identify the voice commands (elicitation, validation and phonetic discrimination).

Enabling and improving the use of mobile services: the role of user experience standards and interoperability

This special session Panel will present and discuss the importance and potentials of user experience, based on the insight and results achieved through recent standardization efforts in the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), Technical Committee Human Factors (TC HF). The work was sponsored by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, under the eEurope 2005 action plan. The work focused on enabling and improving the use of mobile services through improved, more usable and consistent user education [8], mobile setup procedures [7] and an optimized user experience, applied to the user experience optimization and interoperability of the 3G/UMTS and mobile broadband environment [9].

A User-Centered Terminology for Existing and Upcoming ICT Devices, Services and Applications

Users who are unfamiliar with the terms used in ICT devices, services, or applications may be reluctant to use those features, thereby missing out on the potential benefits of those features and preventing manufacturers and service providers from making revenue from the uptake of those features. The Human Factors Technical Committee (TC HF) of the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) has initiated work, co-funded by the European Commission, to develop the freely available ETSI Guide EG 203 499 [2] addressing this need.