Simon Butscher

Back to tangibility: a post-WIMP perspective on control room design

In todays digital control rooms, desktop computers represent the most common interface for process control. Compared to their predecessors -- manual control actuators -- desktop computers enable quick and effective process intervention but they lack in process-related interaction qualities such as haptic feedback and the involvement of motor skills. Thus, design trade-offs have to be made to combine the strengths of both paradigms: todays processing power with the interaction qualities of former control room interfaces. In this paper related interaction concepts are presented and evaluated. In a control room scenario, participants were tasked with adjusting numerical values -- so-called process variables -- under two traditional conditions (mouse, keyboard) and two post-WIMP conditions (touch, tangible). Task completion time and recall accuracy of the adjusted values were measured. As a result, traditional desktop interaction proved to be faster, whereas control actions could be recalled significantly better using the tangible control elements. We therefore suggest providing both tangible control for process maintenance and traditional desktop interaction in critical situations that require quick intervention.

SpaceFold and PhysicLenses: simultaneous multifocus navigation on touch surfaces

Many tasks performed in multiscale visual spaces require the user to have several foci. Using bimanual interaction, multitouch devices can facilitate the simultaneous definition and exploration of several foci. However, multitouch is rarely used for multifocus navigation, and may limit the interaction to a sequential definition of areas of interest. We introduce two novel navigation techniques that combine multiple foci and bimanual touch, and therefore enable the isochronic definition of areas of interest, leading to simultaneous multifocus navigation. SpaceFold folds the visual space in the third dimension, allowing users to bring objects closer to each other. Our technique enables a direct, bimanual manipulation of a folded space and therefore provides high flexibility. PhysicLenses uses multiple magnification lenses to compare objects. Using a physics model, PhysicLenses introduces a general solution for the arrangement of multiple lenses within the viewport. We conducted a controlled experiment with 24 participants to compare the techniques with split screen. The results show that SpaceFold significantly outperformed all other techniques, whereas PhysicLenses was just as fast as split screen.

Content-aware navigation for large displays in context of traffic control rooms

Context-sensitive information is of vital importance to the monitoring of processes in control rooms, but its incorporation in current state-of-the-art user interfaces is inadequate. By looking at a traffic control center as an example, this paper proposes an interaction concept for monitoring complex networks on large remote displays. Our approach is based on content-aware navigation with the goal to improve the navigation of the road network and the availability of context-sensitive information. We conducted a study comparing different navigation techniques as well as two techniques for visualizing context-sensitive information.

Integrative visual analytics for suspicious behavior detection

In the VAST Challenge 2009 suspicious behavior had to be detected applying visual analytics to heterogeneous data, such as network traffic, social network enriched with geo-spatial attributes, and finally video surveillance data. This paper describes some of the awarded parts from our solution entry.

Clusters, Trends, and Outliers: How Immersive Technologies Can Facilitate the Collaborative Analysis of Multidimensional Data

Immersive technologies such as augmented reality devices are opening up a new design space for the visual analysis of data. This paper studies the potential of an augmented reality environment for the purpose of collaborative analysis of multidimensional, abstract data. We present ART, a collaborative analysis tool to visualize multidimensional data in augmented reality using an interactive, 3D parallel coordinates visualization. The visualization is anchored to a touch-sensitive tabletop, benefiting from well-established interaction techniques. The results of group-based, expert walkthroughs show that ART can facilitate immersion in the data, a fluid analysis process, and collaboration. Based on the results, we provide a set of guidelines and discuss future research areas to foster the development of immersive technologies as tools for the collaborative analysis of multidimensional data.

Multi-user Twitter Analysis for Crisis Room Environments

After two years of extensive experience with operating a big wall display it can be concluded that many large display installations are functioning from a hardware point of view. However, the software available to operate and utilize such video walls has much room for improvement in functionality, in particular for a situation room environment. With experience gained in human computer interaction (HCI) in several projects (including ECML experiments and developments for multitouch phones and tablets), the Crisis Monitoring and Response Technologies (CRITECH) action, in collaboration with the Open Source Text Information Mining and Analysis (OPTIMA) action, have developed a concept of dedicated software exploiting the benefits of a large video wall and supporting a clear set of situation room tasks: analysis, collaboration, and presentation. The concept combines novel layouts for the big wall display, support for multiple interaction modes (touch-screen, surface table, iPad, space mouse, etc.) and OLAP (on-line analytical processing) techniques. The software is in essence a presentation layer exploiting to the maximum the existing information systems of the Global Security and Crisis Management Unit (GlobeSec) unit but in a harmonized and integrated way: Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) [1] by the Crisis Monitoring and Response Technologies (CRITECH) action, Europe Media Monitor (EMM) [2] by the Open Source Text Information Mining and Analysis (OPTIMA) action, Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) by the Geo-Spatial Information Analysis for Security and Stability (ISFEREA) action, Theseus by the Statistics and Information Technologies for Anti-Fraud and Security (SITAFS) action, Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) by the Geospatial EMergency Management (GEMMA) action, etc. URI: Authors: DE GROEVE Tom [1] RESTER Markus ATKINSON Martin STEINER Yaniv DOHERTY Brian ANNUNZIATO Alessandro GALLIANO Daniele Publication Year: 2013 Type: Contributions to ConferencesIn this paper we suggest novel interaction and visualization techniques for a prospective ECML crisis room environment focusing on the analysis of social media data. For this purpose we describe both, concepts providing a Daily Newsflash and concepts for the preparation of Daily Reports referring to a selected incident or crisis situation. The Daily Newsflash is an overview of global incidents regarding humanitarian crises, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, conflicts, etc. Such a bulletin typical contains 1-5 international items with brief facts and 1-5 European items. For selected incidents or crisis situations a Daily Report is prepared. A typical Daily Report consists of one page usually providing a map, key facts, and a brief summary of the situation.

Explicit & Implicit Interaction Design for Multi-Focus Visualizations

Many tasks that have to be performed to analyze data in large visual information spaces require the user to have several foci. This is for example the case for comparing or organizing digital artefacts. In my research, I explore alternative interaction concepts for multi-focus visualizations in the context of single and multi-user scenarios. Alongside explicit interaction for navigating within multi-focus visualizations I investigate implicit interaction for making the visualization react on the social and spatial context. To evaluate different designs, measures like task completion time, spatial memory and subjective preferences are examined.

InformationSense: Trade-offs for the Design and the Implementation of a Large Highly Deformable Cloth Display

Deformable displays can provide two major benefits compared to rigid displays: Objects of different shapes and deformabilities, situated in our physical environment, can be equipped with deformable displays, and users can benefit from their pre-existing knowledge about the interaction with physical objects when interacting with deformable displays. In this article we present InformationSense, a large, highly deformable cloth display. The article contributes to two research areas in the context of deformable displays: It presents an approach for the tracking of large, highly deformable surfaces, and it presents one of the first UX analyses of cloth displays that will help with the design of future interaction techniques for this kind of display. The comparison of InformationSense with a rigid display interface unveiled the trade-off that while users are able to interact with InformationSense more naturally and significantly preferred InformationSense in terms of joy of use, they preferred the rigid display interfaces in terms of efficiency. This suggests that deformable displays are already suitable if high hedonic qualities are important but need to be enhanced with additional digital power if high pragmatic qualities are required.

Blended Library : neue Zugangswege zu den Inhalten wissenschaftlicher und öffentlicher Bibliotheken

The article discusses new ways to access library collections based on two joint initiative projects with scientific and public libraries. In the beginning of each scientific initiative, we conducted a number of empirical studies in order to gain valuable insights about users’ patterns when accessing library collections. In detail, we distinguish between intuitive, collaborative, transparent, and contextual access. These four qualities served as a basis for the development of interactive systems. In this article, we discuss how we derived these four qualities based on our empirical studies and explain their implementation in the inquiring systems “Blended Shelf”, “TwisterSearch”, “Tiefenrausch”, and “Expedition”. Finally, we elaborate on insights and experiences gained through the development of our systems, especially how our work feeds back and further informs the four ways to access library collections.

Die Wiederentdeckung analoger Interaktionsqualitäten in der digitalen Leitwarte / The return of physical interaction in future control rooms

Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag wird das Blended Interaction Designframework als neuartiger Ansatz zur Vermischung realer und digitaler Interaktionskonzepte für Leitwarten vorgestellt. Hintergrund ist die Herausforderung einer stetig ansteigenden Komplexität der Mensch-Maschine-Schnittstelle. Leitbild bei der Konzeptentwicklung sind die Prinzipien der realitätsbasierten Interaktion und des Conceptual Blendings, die sowohl den Operateur mit seinen inhärenten Fähigkeiten, als auch den situativen Kontext der Arbeitsumgebung hervorheben. Die Anwendungsmöglichkeiten des Frameworks werden anhand eines Fallbeispiels aus dem Kraftwerkskontext erläutert. Hierzu werden Visualisierungs- und Interaktionskonzepte für die Manipulation von Prozessvariablen beschrieben. Des Weiteren werden Ergebnisse einer experimentellen Benutzerstudie vorgestellt, in welcher ein möglicher Paradigmenwechsel hin zu neuen Interaktionsformen untersucht und diskutiert wird. Summary Blended Interaction is introduced as a novel approach to a holistic design of the work environment of control room operators. The Framework addresses the continuously growing complexity of human-machine-interfaces in control rooms. The approach refers to the principles of the Realitybased Interaction framework and the Conceptual Blending theory, which both stress the operator’s inherent abilities and their working context. The applicability of Blended Interaction is illustrated by means of a case study which is situated within the context of power plants. In this respect, visualization- and interaction concepts for the manipulation of process variables are presented. Furthermore, the results of a user study and a possible paradigm shift in control room interaction design are discussed.