Introduction to HCI

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Group Project - Audible Navigation Assistant for the Blind

Audible Navigation Assistant for the Blind

Objectives:

Make blind persons able to avoid obstacles in their path.
Provide binaural 3D sound cues so the user can locate the obstacle.
Device should provide both position and distance information to the user.

Proposed solution major components:

Use of infrared camera mounted on the user's head (Wii remote).
Headphones to provide binaural 3D sounds.
Infrared emitters in obstacles so they can be detected (Arduino boards with infrared LEDs).
A computing device, be it a Laptop, netbook or smartphone which will provide the binaural 3D cues.
Infrared sensor (Sharp or Panasonic IR sensor) or ultrasonic sensor (Parallax Ping sensor).

Implementation:

Because of time constraints and to keep it as simple as possible, the objects to avoid will be in a controlled scenario, meaning that the system will not recognize unknown objects. Also, the binaural cues will need to be recorded beforehand instead of producing them in real-time.

The obstacles will consist of Arduino electronic boards, these boards will have an infrared LED which will emit their unique identifier as infrared light pulses using a pre-defined protocol.

The user will wear a pair of headphones which will have a Wii remote attached to it. The Wii remote will be used as an infrared camera which will detect the obstacles infrared pulses and therefore be able to identify the obstacles position in 2D.

With this information, the computing device will play a pre-recorded binaural sound, according to the obstacle's position in 2D.

If time permits, the obstacle's distance from the user could also be notified by increasing or decreasing the binaural cue. To do this, the Arduino boards could be equipped with either an infrared or ultrasonic distance sensor. This way, the Arduino boards could detect when the user approaches them and encode their distance from the user as infrared light pulses along with their unique identifiers. The computing device will now be able to increase or decrease the binaural sound depending on the obstacle's distance.

Sketching User Experiences

By Bill Buxton

The author first explains the importance of design in any kind of organization, he mentions that very often little value is given to design phase when it should be a fundamental part of the planning and development of a product or service. An interesting observation is that if the design stage is not taken into account, we would just be extending what was done before and most likely end up making the same mistakes with the new products.

The book also mentions that the design process is not something particular to designers alone, but that other roles should also be aware of it, from management to engineering. This requires for a base set of fluency so that people from different roles can communicate about design issues effectively.

Buxton then presents some methodologies and examples of them from successful design projects. The first one is the one called "The Wizard Of Oz" technique, which consists of testing a design concept as early as possible while spending the least amount of time developing the technology that will drive it, focusing in the fidelity of the experience rather than the fidelity of the prototype. Along this line, he points out that "the last thing you should do when beginning to design an interactive system is write code".

(to be continued…)

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20

Lecture By Tina Seelig

This was a great lecture, probably one of my favorites now, as I was able to find examples of my own experience that relate to what she said. The lecture tries to motivate and empower you by examples and stories.

One of the things she emphasizes is that "the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity", pointing out that in order to start a potential company, we should aim to solve big problems.

She also mentions that "the harder I work, the luckier I get", trying to underline that getting "luckier" is almost always related to the amount of work done.

Regarding startups, she suggests to "find the intersection between your passion, skills and the market in order to build a successful career".

Also, she advices to "try a lot of things and keep what works", and to "be willing to take risks and to fail" (early if possible). She points out that the ratio of failures and successes is usually constant, so the more failures you have, the more successes you will be likely to have.

Tina Seelig then mentions that "You don’t need to wait to be anointed", that one should take the responsibilities by our own; which in most cases will end up in a recognition of those responsibilities, either in the case of a promotion or an award.

"It is a small world, don’t burn bridges". This is true, it is very likely that you will get in contact with the people you met earlier, so try to avoid having bad experiences with them.

About personal goals, she recommends to "know what your priorities are" and to "re-assess your goals regularly" so you have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish and measure whether you are following the right path.

She ends with the quote: "Never miss an opportunity to be fabulous", referring to that we should always give our best on whatever we do, not just giving the minimum effort.

The Three Paradigms of HCI

By Steve Harrison, Phoebe Sengers and Deborah Tatar

CHI 2007, April 28 – May 3, 2007, San Jose, USA

The paper first explains how two major intellectual waves have formed the field of HCI, "the first orienting from engineering/human factors with its focus on optimizing man-machine fit, and the second stemming from cognitive science, with an increased emphasis on theory and on what is happening not only in the computer but, simultaneously, in the human mind", it then talks about a third new wave in HCI called the "phenomenological matrix", which already exists and used, but was not defined properly yet.

This third wave come into appearance because of new approaches that have been emerging in HCI and that don't fit correctly into the first two waves of thinking, such as user experience, embodied interaction, value-sensitive design, affective computing and ethnomethodology.

Comparing the three paradigms, the first one would see interaction as man-machine coupling, the second would treat interaction as information communication, and the third and new paradigm sees interaction as phenomenollogically situated.

One interesting point the authors make is that "new paradigms do not disprove the old paradigms, but instead provide alternative ways of thinking", which supports their argument that the third intellectual wave can co-exist with the other two.

The paper was an interesting reading since one is able to learn a little about the intellectual waves that gave birth to the HCI discipline, how these waves are still usable and valid and how new developments and ways of thinking call for a new paradigm to encompass these new advances.

Reflecting Human Values in the Digital Age

By Abigail Sellen, Yvonne Rogers, Richard Harper, and Tom Rodden

Communications of the ACM | march 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3

The article explains how recent changes in technology and how we use technology makes us question about HCI's goals, how should it approach them and if its current methods are still relevant.

They mention how HCI started as an activity "to model a user’s interaction with a desktop computer so that the interface between person and machine could be optimized". Then during the 1990s, "the objectives of HCI began changing along with the growth of communication networks that link computers. Researchers started asking how users, with the aid of computers, might interact with each other". This led to HCI to become an academic discipline by its own.

Today, HCI is a multidisciplinary subject, "taking into account not just how technology might be functional or useful but also how it might provoke, engage, disturb, or delight".

One interesting note is their statement that HCI specialists "need to be astutely aware of how one set of design choices might highlight certain values at the expense of others".

They also talk about five major transformations that have redefined the way we interact with technology today. "The first transformation—the end of interface stability—has to do with how computers can no longer be defined by reference to a single interface but rather by many different interfaces or, alternatively, none at all."

"A second transformation, the growth of techno-dependency, refers to the fact that changes in how we live with and use technology have resulted in our becoming ever more reliant on it."

"A third transformation is the growth in hyperconnectivity, the influential role of communication technologies in tying us together in ways that were unimaginable even as recently as 10 years ago", "...our heightened ability to be in touch is equaled by a passion to capture more and more information

about people’s lives and actions—information that hitherto would have been discarded or forgotten."

The fifth transformation "—the growth of creative engagement—underscores the fact that flexible computer tools, which can be assembled and appropriated in new ways, allows us to see the world

in wholly new ways too."

The authors then provide some possible solutions for HCI to address these transformations. One of them is "to extend the ways in which user-centered research and design are conducted by explicitly

addressing human values".

They mention that "a simplified but helpful model of current practice is that projects typically follow an iterative cycle, comprised of four fundamental stages, in which HCI specialists sequentially study, design, build, and evaluate technology with users".

Also, they say that "Key here is that the analysis should not just take into account people’s interactions with computer technology but also with the environment, with everyday objects, with other human beings, and with the changing landscape that the “new tech” brings to their world".

And finally that "HCI must also take into account the truly human element, conceptualizing “users” as embodied individuals who have desires and concerns and who function within a social, economic, and political ecology".

The Children of Cyberspace

The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s

By BRAD STONE

The New York Times. Published: January 10, 2010

The article mainly talks about how today's fast-pacing technology is creating "mini-generation gaps" with children, making each group "uniquely influenced by the tech tools available in their formative stages of development". It mentions that groups of people with as little as three to four years apart, have completely different experiences with technology.

An interesting remark is one by Dr. Rosen, which says that "the newest generations, unlike their older peers, will expect an instant response from everyone they communicate with, and won't have the patience for anything less". This is not only something that I agree on, but something that I have personally experienced with my parents when I was younger. It also seems that technology is also making newer generations to be more accelerated in every way, they are involved in much more activities than previous generations and have less "free time" to do spontaneous activities.

Dr. Ito mentions brings an interesting point about how "children who play these [virtual] games would see less of a distinction between their online friends and real friends; virtually socializing might be just as fulfilling as a Friday night Party".

The article also talks about how children tend to be more talented at multitasking than their predecessors, something that can be seen as positive, but it is also noted that they are slightly less capable of concentrating on a single subject for a long time.

Finally, Mr. Rainie mentions that "If it's something you grow up with, you have a completely different comfort with it than someone who has had to unlearn something about the world". This is very true, as technology changes so rapidly these days, people have to get used to adopt these changes and forget what they used to do before.

Laptop, netbook or smartphone	$ ---
Wii remote	$25 - $40
Headphones	$10
Arduino Duemilanove board	$30
Infrared distance sensor (Sharp GP2Y0A700K)	$19
Ultrasonic distance sensor (PING sensor)	$30