Pasi Välkkynen

Bridging the physical and virtual worlds by local connectivity-based physical selection

The prevalent visions of ambient intelligence emphasise natural interaction between user and functions and services embedded in the environment or available through mobile devices. In these scenarios the physical and virtual worlds seamlessly gear into each other, making crossing the border between these worlds natural or even invisible to the user. The bottleneck in reaching these scenarios appear in the natural mapping between the physical objects and their virtual counterparts. The emergence of local connectivity in mobile devices opens possibilities for implementing novel user interface paradigms to enhance this mapping. We present physical selection paradigm for implementing an intuitive human technology interaction for mobile devices. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the paradigm we implemented two experimental set-ups using commercially available smart phones with IrDA connectivity. The experiments involved selecting a website by physically pointing at its symbol and making a phone call by pointing at an icon representing the person to be called. In tentative user experiments the physical selection method was more time-efficient and it was perceived more positively by the users than a conventional method.

Mobile Mental Wellness Training for Stress Management: Feasibility and Design Implications Based on a One-Month Field Study

Background Prevention and management of work-related stress and related mental problems is a great challenge. Mobile applications are a promising way to integrate prevention strategies into the everyday lives of citizens. Objective The objectives of this study was to study the usage, acceptance, and usefulness of a mobile mental wellness training application among working-age individuals, and to derive preliminary design implications for mobile apps for stress management. Methods Oiva, a mobile app based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), was designed to support active learning of skills related to mental wellness through brief ACT-based exercises in the daily life. A one-month field study with 15 working-age participants was organized to study the usage, acceptance, and usefulness of Oiva. The usage of Oiva was studied based on the usage log files of the application. Changes in wellness were measured by three validated questionnaires on stress, satisfaction with life (SWLS), and psychological flexibility (AAQ-II) at the beginning and at end of the study and by user experience questionnaires after one week’s and one month’s use. In-depth user experience interviews were conducted after one month’s use to study the acceptance and user experiences of Oiva. Results Oiva was used actively throughout the study. The average number of usage sessions was 16.8 (SD 2.4) and the total usage time per participant was 3 hours 12 minutes (SD 99 minutes). Significant pre-post improvements were obtained in stress ratings (mean 3.1 SD 0.2 vs mean 2.5 SD 0.1, P=.003) and satisfaction with life scores (mean 23.1 SD 1.3 vs mean 25.9 SD 0.8, P=.02), but not in psychological flexibility. Oiva was perceived easy to use, acceptable, and useful by the participants. A randomized controlled trial is ongoing to evaluate the effectiveness of Oiva on working-age individuals with stress problems. Conclusions A feasibility study of Oiva mobile mental wellness training app showed good acceptability, usefulness, and engagement among the working-age participants, and provided increased understanding on the essential features of mobile apps for stress management. Five design implications were derived based on the qualitative findings: (1) provide exercises for everyday life, (2) find proper place and time for challenging content, (3) focus on self-improvement and learning instead of external rewards, (4) guide gently but do not restrict choice, and (5) provide an easy and flexible tool for self-reflection.

Evaluating touching and pointing with a mobile terminal for physical browsing

Physical browsing is a user interaction paradigm in which the user interacts with physical objects by using a mobile terminal to select the object for some action. The objects contain links to digital services and information related to the objects. The links are implemented with tags that are readable by the mobile terminal. We have built a system that supports selecting objects for interaction by touching and pointing at them. Our physical browsing system emulates passive sensor-equipped long-range RFID tags and a mobile terminal equipped with an RFID reader. We have compared different system configurations for touching and pointing. Additionally, we have evaluated other parameters of physical selection, such as conditions for choice of selection method. In our evaluation of the system, we found touching and pointing to be useful and complementary methods for selecting an object for interaction.

Ubimedia based on readable and writable memory tags

Ubimedia is a concept where media files are embedded in everyday objects and the environment. We propose an approach where the user can read and write these files with his/her personal mobile phone simply by touching the physical objects. This facilitates easy access and storage of, e.g. video and audio files related to the physical object in question. This paper describes our work in developing a technical solution for ubimedia and studying user acceptance of forthcoming ubimedia services. Our technical development of the ubimedia concept has been focused on a mobile phone platform with a tag reader/writer, memory tags with large storage capacity, and the communication between the phone and the tags. Currently, the technical design is in test and evaluation phase. The preliminary results show that the concept works and it can be implemented technically. In parallel with the technical development, we have studied usage possibilities for ubimedia and user acceptance of future ubimedia services. User acceptance has been studied in a web survey and in user evaluations of proofs-of-concept. In addition, an ethical assessment has been carried out. The users appreciated especially the simplicity, speed, low cost and reliability of ubimedia. Ethical concerns were related to control over the download with regard to viruses and other unwanted content.

Identifying User Requirements for a Mobile Terminal Centric Ubiquitous Computing Architecture

System level solutions affect many properties of ubiquitous applications and thus also user experience. That is why user point of view should guide the design of mobile architectures although the users will see them indirectly, via the applications. This paper describes our approach in identifying user requirements for a ubiquitous computing architecture that facilitates mobile applications sensing their environment. The sensing is based on wireless connectivity to tags and sensors in the environment. We illustrated a representative set of future applications as scenarios and proof of concepts and evaluated them with potential users. Scenarios were analyzed to identify generic use cases and to understand the implications of the user feedback on the architecture. Our experiences show that user requirements for system level solutions can be identified with this approach. We identified several requirements for the architecture dealing with user interaction, wireless measurements, context-awareness, taking applications into use and ethical issues

Ambient functionality: use cases

In this paper we describe use cases and user requirements for ambient intelligence applications on personal mobile devices. Wireless connections to tags and sensors provide mobile applications with different identification, measurement and context data. Mobile applications that utilise local connectivity share many common patterns. We have identified these common patterns and describe them as use cases related to physical selection, activating applications, sensing and context-awareness. Based on user and expert evaluations of usage scenarios we also present user requirements for the use cases.

Sharing Content and Experiences in Smart Environments

Once upon a time… Stories used to be the only way to pass a message. The story teller would take his audience through the events by mere oration. Here and there he would hesitate, whisper, or gesticulate to emphasise his story or induce the right emotions in his audience. No doubt troubadourswere loved, they both brought news of the world as well as entertainment.

Usage and Dose Response of a Mobile Acceptance and Commitment Therapy App: Secondary Analysis of the Intervention Arm of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Mobile phone apps offer a promising medium to deliver psychological interventions. A mobile app based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was developed and studied in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Objective To study usage metrics of a mobile ACT intervention and dose-response relationship between usage and improvement in psychological flexibility. Methods An RCT was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of different lifestyle interventions for overweight people with psychological stress. This paper presents a secondary analysis of the group that received an 8-week mobile ACT intervention. Most of the analyzed 74 participants were female (n=64, 86%). Their median age was 49.6 (interquartile range, IQR 45.4-55.3) years and their mean level of psychological flexibility, measured with the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II, was 20.4 (95% confidence interval 18.3-22.5). Several usage metrics describing the intensity of use, usage of content, and ways of use were calculated. Linear regression analyses were performed to study the dose-response relationship between usage and the change in psychological flexibility and to identify the usage metrics with strongest association with improvement. Binary logistic regression analyses were further used to assess the role of usage metrics between those who showed improvement in psychological flexibility and those who did not. In addition, associations between usage and baseline participant characteristics were studied. Results The median number of usage sessions was 21 (IQR 11.8-35), the number of usage days was 15 (IQR 9.0-24), and the number of usage weeks was 7.0 (IQR 4.0-8.0). The participants used the mobile app for a median duration of 4.7 (IQR 3.2-7.2) hours and performed a median of 63 (IQR 46-98) exercises. There was a dose-response relationship between usage and the change in psychological flexibility. The strongest associations with psychological flexibility (results adjusted with gender, age, and baseline psychological variables) were found for lower usage of Self as context related exercises (B=0.22, P=.001) and higher intensity of use, described by the number of usage sessions (B=−0.10, P=.01), usage days (B=−0.17, P=.008), and usage weeks (B=−0.73, P=.02), the number of exercises performed (B=−0.02, P=.03), and the total duration of use (B=−0.30, P=.04). Also, higher usage of Acceptance related exercises (B=−0.18, P=.04) was associated with improvement. Active usage was associated with female gender, older age, and not owning a smart mobile phone before the study. Conclusions The results indicated that active usage of a mobile ACT intervention was associated with improved psychological flexibility. Usage metrics describing intensity of use as well as two metrics related to the usage of content were found to be most strongly associated with improvement. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01738256; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01738256 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6iTePjPLL)

Ubimedia based on memory tags

Ubimedia is a concept where media files can be embedded in everyday objects and the environment. The user can access those files with his/her personal mobile phone simply by touching the physical objects. This facilitates easy access e.g. to video or audio files related to the physical object in question. In parallel with the technical development of the mobile phone platform and the memory tags that will facilitate ubimedia in practice, we have studied possible usages for ubimedia and user acceptance of those usages. User acceptance has been studied in a web survey and in user evaluations of a proof-of-concept. In addition, an ethical assessment has been carried out. The users appreciated especially the simplicity, speed, low cost and reliability of ubimedia. Concerns were related to control over the download with regard to viruses and other unwanted content.

Using exercise cycle as a haptic input device in a virtual environment

Virku (Virtual Fitness Centre) is a study, in which an exercise cycle is used for navigating in a virtual environment. The cycle acts as a haptic bodily user interface between the user and the simulation. The simulation takes the terrain of the virtual environment into account in order to provide better feedback of the environment for the user. We have found out in usability tests that this kind of interface enhances the users feeling of immersion in the virtual environment.