Seamus Hickey

Gaze tracking and non-touch gesture based interaction method for mobile 3D virtual spaces

This paper introduces a continuous gaze tracking and non-touch gesture recognition based interaction method for 3D virtual spaces on tablet devices. The user can turn his/her viewpoint, select objects with gaze and grab and manipulate objects with non-touch hand gestures. The interaction method does not require the use of a mouse or a keyboard. We created a test scenario with an object manipulation task and measured the completion times of a combined gaze tracking and non-touch gesture interaction method, with a touch screen only input method. Short interviews were conducted with 13 test subjects and data was gathered through questionnaires. The touch screen method was generally faster than or as fast as the combined gaze and non-touch gesture method. The users thought, however, that gaze tracking was more interesting and showed potential. The gaze tracking would however require more stability to be suitable for use with mobile devices.

Wireless User Perspectives in Europe: HandSmart Mediaphone Interface

HandSmart is one example of wearable device that can be used as a user interface for advanced mediaphones and it is based on MARISIL a Mobile Augmented Reality Interface Sign Interpretation Language. This paper will describe the interface and some of the applications of these new types of personal devices. The user-centered development methodology is discussed in brief at the end of the paper. Evolutions in technology have provided a variety of new opportunities for exploring and discovering virtual 3D worlds. Head-mounted displays and data gloves enable us to interact and immerse much better into the artificial generated 3D environment. Such devices have been advertised in the entertainment media and are recognized by the public as the symbols of virtual reality (VR). Augmented Reality that has the attribute of being more related to real world than VR by overlaying virtual sounds, feelings or visions onto our senses within the real world, can therefore extend our natural experiences. The authors believe that the new generation of mediaphones can embed these new techniques.

Classifying music user groups and identifying needs for mobile virtual music services

This paper presents the results of qualitative interviews conducted with musicians and listeners about their music activities and use of social media services. The paper describes different music user groups, their wishes and what services are needed from a mobile network virtual environment. This information can help developers design new mobile network services from the user experience points of views.

Power Consumption Model of a Mobile GPU Based on Rendering Complexity

This paper presents a mathematical model for predicting power consumption of a mobile device when it is rendering 3D graphics. The model is based on 3D primitives (triangles, render batches, texels), and hence is hardware agnostic. With the model, a complexity of any given 3D scene can be predicted already at a production phase without access to the actual target hardware. This paper describes how the power consumption model is derived. The model is verified with measurements of real-world content and hardware. With the given hardware, 3D data and given verification scenarios, the model is able to predict the total power consumption with an error ranging from 0.3% to 3.2%.

A Virtual World Web Client Utilizing an Entity-Component Model

The popularity of virtual worlds has increased considerably in recent years. Currently, many service providers are trying to make it easier for users to access their virtual worlds. However, accessing a virtual world typically requires a client application that needs to be versioned for each device platform and operating system configuration. Using WebGL, an interactive 3D environment can be used on a cross-platform supported web browser. In this paper, we present a system architecture that utilizes an entity-component model, and a prototype implementation of a WebGL-based virtual world client to provide a plug-in free, extensible and open source web client for 3D virtual worlds. The performance of the web client was evaluated in terms of frame rate, CPU load, memory consumption and scene processing speed. Based on the results, the performance of the web client was good on a desktop PC, but mobile hardware specific optimizations are required to provide a good user experience on mobile devices.

Activity recognition of the elderly

The development of context aware services is one proposed way to support independent living for the elderly. Performing test scenarios with the elderly helps when developing the context aware services. However, rigorous testing is not always desirable when working with elderly subjects. Our research proposes to capture the activity data of the subjects to use with a virtual environment and virtual human to test the services. This paper begins a larger set of research by describing a process in which the daily activities of the elderly are captured using accelerometer sensors. The process consists of pre-investigation, data capturing and data postprocessing. Using common activity recognition methods daily activities chosen by two elderly subjects themselves are recognized reasonably well. This allows using the described process in larger experiments to acquire more activity data.

PiTaSu: wearable interface for assisting senior citizens with memory problems

Abstract Little research has been carried out on specialized wearable input interfaced designs to assist memory impaired senior citizens. This paper proposes and implements PiTaSu (Picture based Tapping on wall Surfaces) to realize a direct input interface system to offer visual feedback and tactile feedback. PiTaSu is based on a pictorial based Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system. PiTaSu consists of a body-worn or shoulder-attached mobile projector, a camera and an accelerometer wrist band. The projector shows information that will help assist the memory impaired senior citizen in their daily task. The camera and the accelerometer detect a tapping position and tapping trigger. Experimental results have demonstrated that a senior citizen can use PiTaSu without learning special skills, and the projection based user interface has potential. Therefore, PiTaSu can assist memory-impaired senior citizens as a daily task reminder.

Service fusion: an interactive 3D user interface

This paper describes an interactive 3D user interface which allows different real-time services to cooperate in order to complete a user task on a mobile tablet sized device. The UI is based on objectifying data and describing it in an ontological language and combing this with behavioral scripts. The 3D UI is used to visualize the different data and services, while providing a means for object selection and manipulation. Two use cases, a cinema and music service, have been implemented in a prototype, which demonstrates how a general 3D user interface can be used to provide added value to users. The prototype is also meant to advance the thinking of what 3D UIs can accomplish, for virtual environments and mobile augmented reality, by showing practical use cases in action.

Evaluating the use of a audio-video mobile phone for web magazine reporters

This paper describes the usability issues encountered by Web reporters in the production of video reports using mobile Smartphones. It examines their ability to use the Smartphone to capture video and editing tools used to alter the video content before publication on the web. The purpose was to understand the usefulness of the technology, whether the devices are usable, useful, add value, improve the reporters work routines. The study was carried out as a case study with participants from two web magazines. The study showed that the video quality, the distraction of operating the phones and support structure were negative aspects, while the reporters saw value in the audio recording capability, usefulness of the phone and the ability to catch breaking news activities. The reporters also wanted accessories like microphones to enhance usability.

Effect of 3D Content Simplification on Mobile Device Energy Consumption

Extensible 3D virtual spaces and their services are often too heavy for a mobile device to handle. The burden caused by such services is divided between extensive amounts of content, which need to be downloaded prior to using the service, and the complexity of the graphical reproduction process (rendering). In this paper, it is shown how texture optimization, texture compression and geometry optimization of such a content will affect the overall energy consumption of a mobile device during rendering. Results show that careful optimization of the 3D content for the mobile device gain energy savings of up to 40%.