Matthias Wölfel

Activating people with dementia using natural user interface interaction on a surface computer

Reminiscence Therapy can act as an effective and conducive method for increasing the Quality of Life (QoL) of people with dementia (PwD) when implemented properly. In addition to non-digital approaches, digitally enhanced systems can be built to elicit positive memories as well as emotions using multimodal interaction and digital content. In the same line, interactive multimedia systems can also be used to provide meaningful, engaging and joyful activities for PwD in order to further increase well-being and QoL. The aim of this study was to investigate whether using natural user interfaces (NUI) provides benefits to interactive multimedia systems for PwD. Elaborated interaction possibilities should further facilitate the physical and mental activation of PwD as well as stimulate positive feelings, empowerment and joy. Since there are no applications available that satisfy the particular requirements of our user group, we developed an interactive aquarium application as our study object. The application supports touch gestures as well as tangible object interaction. The application can be used to playfully activate and engage PwD. It can help to establish and to improve communication with PwD, promote positive feelings and, last but not least, be fun. The study demonstrated that interactive multimedia systems using NUI and object interaction are a promising approach to improve the QoL of PwD.

Hybrid City Lighting - Improving Pedestrians' Safety through Proactive Street Lighting

Although digital revolution has pervaded almost every part of daily life, cities remained seemingly analogue and furthermore inhabitants are mostly excluded from the digital layer. By replacing timeworn light bulbs with a projector linked with an intelligent sensor array we expect to increase social interaction within open spaces by creating a more engaging way through the city and reduce the use of distracting and separating mobile devices. We propose several applications to support the weakest traffic participants -- pupils -- having a safe way to school and back, prevent accidents and guide pedestrians through an increasingly complex city. We want to provide a more economical, safer and smarter way to lighten up the way through future cities.

Do you feel what you see?: multimodal perception in virtual reality

This paper discusses how different physically existing materials can be mapped on virtual textures in mixed reality environments by carrying out an explorative user study (n=101). For physical materials-in form of 3d trackable and moveable cubes-acrylic, wood and aluminum have been used. The virtual textures convey the impression of ceramic, fabric, glass, leather, paper, wood, acrylic, quartz, granite and aluminum. The study reveals which virtual textures match well with the different virtual textures and which do not match at all.

Acceptance of dynamic feedback to poor sitting habits by anthropomorphic objects

The human body is designed for regular movement. Many humans, however, spend the bulk of their day sitting still instead. On average, for instance an adult spends approximately 10 hours each day sitting-in Asia, Europe as well as US. While a brief period of sitting here and there is natural, long periods of sitting day-in and day-out can seriously impact health and are associated with a significantly higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and depression, as well as muscle and joint problems. Even working out vigorously may not compensate for long sitting sessions. The key is to build frequent movement variety into the day and to change the sitting position from time to time. About every 20--30 minutes the body needs a posture break by moving for a couple of minutes or, at least, by changing the sitting position. Most humans, even knowing about bad behavior and willing to change it, are not able to do so for many different reasons. In order to support behavior changes we have developed a system which is able to track sitting behavior and reflect this by anthropomorphic objects. By doing so we can provide a constant feedback of the sitting posture and give a reminder to sit right, to change the sitting posture from time to time or to stand up. A user study confirms that such a system is accepted and believed to lead to better posture awareness and sitting behavior by most users.

Responsive Type - Introducing Self-Adjusting Graphic Characters

In this publication we introduced a radical new concept of perceiving information in written form: Until today, after the layout process has finished, the shape of a single typographic character is treated as an unchangeable property. But due to current sensor and display technologies this does not have to be necessary anymore. We propose, to change the shape of each character according to various conditions of the user while maintaining its individual and discriminative identity. In contrast to fixed character shapes, responsive character shapes are not limited to be adjusted for a particular output media, but offers the possibilities to adjust to personal conditions such as age, position and defects of sight. This seemingly simple difference, however, questions information brokering fundamentally. It expands the possibilities, besides the engagement of the media, to perceive information within the context and the conditions of the individual. Through experiments and user studies, we demonstrated that our proposed approach, dubbed responsive type, is widely accepted and readability as well as legibility can be improved.

Investigating Multimodal Warnings for Distracted Smartphone Users on the Move in Potentially Dangerous Situations

The use of smart devices has become an integrated part of our everyday life. Communication is now possible any place and any time. The distraction caused by these devices, however, can lead to potentially dangerous situations. To mitigate these situations, various researchers have proposed and developed solutions to analyze the environment and to alert the user if a situation is evaluated dangerous. While seeking technical solutions, the concerns of the users are usually not addressed. With our studies we put the needs of the user into focus and investigated the acceptance, potential dangers, events to be warned about, type of warning, reaction time and legal regulations.

To Be There, or Not to Be There, that is the Question

Virtual words, independent of their realizations, let us experience a persons sense of Being There, a form of spatial immersion dubbed presence. Where we are and even who we are is the result of living in the real world as well as a multitude of virtual worlds. This visceral feeling depends on several technical dimensions, which have been widely discussed, including the realism of the virtual environment and the embodiment of oneself and the others. But presence and belonging are preliminary not a question of technique but a question of the provided format, the symbolic spaces and of social interaction. A virtual world is always a managed space and a managed me with all its complications. It is about the basic conceptions of a conditio humana.

Voice driven type design

With voice driven type design (VDTD), we introduce a novel concept to present written information in the digital age. While the shape of a single typographical character has been treated as an unchangeable property until today, we present an innovative method to adjust the shape of each single character according to particular acoustic features in the spoken reference. Thereby, we allow to keep some individuality and to gain additional value in written text which offers different applications - providing meta-information in subtitles and chats, supporting deaf and hearing impaired people, illustrating intonation and accentuation in books for language learners, giving hints how to sing - up to artistic expression. By conducting a user study we have demonstrated that - using our proposed approach - loudness, pitch and speed can be represented visually by changing the shape of each character. By complementing homogeneous type design with these parameters, the original intention and characteristics of the speaker (personal expression and intonation) are better supported.