Paper Reading #32: Taking advice from intelligent systems: the double-edged sword of explanations

Taking advice from intelligent systems: the double-edged sword of explanations

IUI '11

By:
Kate Ehrlich, Susanna Kirk, John Patterson, Jamie Rasmussen, Steven Ross, and Daniel Gruen.

• Kate Ehrlich is a senior Technical Staff member at IBM.
• Susanna Kirk holds a MS in Human Factors in Information Design.
• John Patterson is a Distinguished Engineer at IBM.
• Jamie Rasmussen is a member of the same team as John and Kate at IBM.
• Steven Ross is a member of the same team as Jamie, John and Kate at IBM.
• Daniel Gruen is currently working on the Unified Activity Management project at IBM.

Summary
Hypothesis
The researchers of this paper aim to figure out how accurate taking advice from intelligent systems currently is and ways of figuring out how to improve upon it.

Methods
Using a software called NIMBLE researchers gathered data on the effect of a network analyst following the advice of an Intelligent System.

Results
The users performance improved slightly with a correct recommendation for the system, and when there was no correct recommendation or justification available, the system kept quiet. All this was somewhat irrelevant considering that most users ignore the recommendations and instead relied on their own knowledge. They also noticed that most users the followed the recommendations quicker when it was closer to what they were inclined towards.

Contents
The authors aimed to create a study that would test the accuracy of Intelligent System recommendations and their effect on humans. Comparing gathered values with baseline results the researchers were able to calculate the benefit of positive recommendations over the negative effect of negative recommendations.

Discussion
While intriguing, I feel the topic of this paper isn't liable to progress very much. As the researchers noticed, most users aren't too inclined to take actions they have experience in based on a computers recommendations.

Paper Reading #31: Identifying emotional states using keystroke dynamics

Identifying emotional states using keystroke dynamics

Chi '11

By:
Clayton Epp, Michael Lippold, and Regan Mandryk.

• Clayton Epp is currently a Software Engineer for a private consulting firm. He also holds a masters degree in CHI from the University of Saskatchewan.
• Michael Lippold is currently a masters student at the University of Saskatchewan.
• Regan Mandryk is an Assistant Professor in the department of CS at the University of Saskatchewan.

Summary
Hypothesis
The researchers hypothesise that it is feasible to discern a users emotions using keystrokes.

Methods
Using a program to record keystrokes the researchers were able to have users fill out an emotional state based questionnaire along with another piece of text to type based upon keystroke frequency. The data gathered from this was key presses, release events, codes assigned to each key and time stamps for key events.

Results
Using under-sampling on various models to have more meaningful data they were able to conclude that these models were more accurate and most consistent. Essentially they were far better.

Contents
This paper discusses how minute measurements of keystrokes can be used to give a fairly accurate representation of the users emotional state. There is some discussion of related work in Human Computing. They also spend some time discussing ways in which to further research this topic and how to effectively use the results of this paper.

Discussion
I felt this paper is going to some potential problems. This is just going to mean that the ads I get online are now going to be fine tuned to my mood. However it does have plenty of pros. It's going to make online communication done using only text far more accurate if it displays the accompanying mood, thus reducing misunderstandings. This may lead to the acceptance of sarcasm in text based communications.

Paper Reading #30: Life "modes" in social media

Life "modes" in social media

Chi '11

By:
Fatih Kursat Ozenc, and Shelly Farnham.

• Fatih Kursat Ozenc is at Carnegie Mellon and also holds a PhD in Interaction Design.
• Shelly Farnham is currently a researcher at Microsoft Research. She also holds a PhD from the University of Washington.

Summary
Hypothesis
This paper looks at ways to improve users ability to fully use social networking sites by allowing to organise their online world more thoroughly based on life "modes" so as to maximise their use.

Methods
The researchers gathered more data for their idea by selected 16 participants after a thorough screening and asked them to model their lives using a colour scheme with focus on method of communication with each person and time spent with them.

Results
The vast majority of participants drew their lives as a social meme map while a few used the timeline method. They discovered that communication channels depended heavily on closeness to a person in areas of ones life. The closer a person was the more means of communication were used. There was also a level of compartmentalisation that was noticed and there was a relation between the level of compartmentalisation and the age, personality and culture of the user.

Contents
This paper attempted to figure out a way to allow people to manage, organise and compartmentalise their lives on social networking sites. Based on their research they were able to come up with a method that they felt worked pretty well.

Discussion
The conclusion of their research seems an awful lot like what Facebook implemented recently with their circles, and the ability to select how close on is to each friend. I'm unsure whether Facebook used this as an idea, however their implementation shows the obvious fact that this research was correct, and thus has been verified as such.

Paper Reading #29: Usable gestures for blind people: understanding preference and performance

Usable gestures for blind people: understanding preference and performance

Chi '11

By:
Shaun Kane, Jacob Wobbrock, and Richard Ladner.

• Shaun Kane is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland. He also holds a PhD from the University of Washington.
• Jacob Wobbrock is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Washington.
• Richard Ladner is current a Professor at the University of Washington. He also holds a PhD in Math from the University of California, Berkeley.

Summary
Hypothesis
Considering the different needs of blind people, especially in regards to touch based gestures, this paper approaches the problem and seeks a solution.

Methods
The researchers set up two studies to get appropriate data. They had 1 group of sighted participants and 1 group of blind participants. Both participants were asked to invent two gestures for commands that were read to them. These gestures were later evaluated based upon ease of use, and appropriateness. A second study targeted the specifics of blind people performing gestures. Both groups were asked to perform standardised gestures and the results were recorded for analysis.

Results
The first experiment showed that blind people were more liable to use complex, gestures that were closer to the edge of the tablet. They were also a lot more likely to use multi-touch gestures. The 2nd experiment showed no great difference, except for the fact that blind people had larger gestures which took them longer to draw.

Contents
This paper makes an effort to bring touch screen phones to the blind in a usable way. They discussed some previous work while later talking about their experiments and the rather predictable data gleaned from them. Using the results they recommended some improvements that could be made to touch screen devices to improve usability of touch screen devices for the blind.

Discussion
This paper does a fantastic job of bring something that is rarely thought about to the forefront. Blind people are hardly something one thinks about as users of touch screen phones, and this paper shows why there is no need that they can't use touch screen devices. Given the recommendations given in this paper and some further research, this gap could be bridged quite simply.

Paper Reading #28: Experimental analysis of touch-screen gesture designs in mobile environments

Experimental analysis of touch-screen gesture designs in mobile environments

Chi '11

By:
Andrew Bragdon, Eugene Nelson, Yang Li, and Ken Hinckle.

• Andrew Bragdon is currently a PhD student at Brown University.
• Eugene Nelson is currnetly a PhD Student at Brown University.
• Yang Li is currently a researcher at Google. He also holds a PhD from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• Ken Hinckle is a Principal researcher at Microsoft Research. He also holds a PhD from the University of Virginia.

Summary
Hypothesis
The researchers are attempting to develop an application that uses Bezel and marker-based gestures to speed up and allow more accurate actions on touch screen based phones with less user attention.

Methods
To test and asses their applications they had 15 participants were asked to complete a series of tasks through various distractions at varying levels of intensity. Sitting and walking were the two major areas studied along the levels of distraction ranging from no distraction to complete distraction. To appropriately gather data and have a proper test, the participants were give a pre-test questionnaire along with appropriate instructions to complete their tasks.

Results
Bezel marks were by far the fastest in mean completion time, with soft and hard buttons coming in next with negligible difference in their mean completion times. While bezel marks and soft buttons performed similarly in direct action, bezel marks far outperformed soft buttons with distractions. Bezel and soft button paths had a quicker mean time compared to bezel and hard button paths.

Contents
This paper spent much time looking at the effect of having varying types of buttons, and their varying levels of effectiveness under different circumstances. The concluded that direct touch is the most accurate and the quickest regardless of input form, however with distractions, hard buttons are the most successful form of input.

Discussion
The authors did a fantastic job of attaining their objective. By the end of the experiment they had a superior understanding of distractions, their effect on user input and the best input and type of input to use during varying levels of interaction and distraction. It's a fairly relevant paper and certainly worth further research.

Paper Reading #27: Sensing cognitive multitasking for a brain-based adaptive user interface

Sensing cognitive multitasking for a brain-based adaptive user interface

Chi '11

By:
Erin Treacy Solov, Francine Laloosesis, Krysta Chauncey, Douglas Weaver, Margarita Parasi, Angelo Sassaroli, Sergio Fantini, Paul Schermerhorn, Audrey Girouard, and Robert Jacob.

• Erin Treacy Solov is currently a Post Doctoral fellow at MIT.
• Francine Laloosesis is currently a PhD student at Tufts University.
• Krysta Chauncey is currently a Post Doctoral resarcher at Tufts
• Douglas Weaver has a doctorate from Tufts University.
• Margarita Parasi is currently a Masters student at Tufts University.
• Angelo Sassaroli is currently a research assistant Professor at Tufts University. He also holds a PhD from University of Electro-Communication.
• Sergio Fantini is currently a Professor at Tufts University in the department of Biomedical Engineering.
• Paul Schermerhorn is currently a post doctoral researcher at Tufts University and was previously at Indiana University.
• Audrey Girouard is currently an assistant Professor at Queen's University and holds a PhD from Tufts University.
• Robert Jacob is currently a Professor at Tufts University.

Summary
Hypothesis
The researchers aim to work on a device that can recognise cognitive multitasking tasks and help humans with their completion.

Methods
In the first experiment the participants were asked to interact with a simulated robot on Mars that was collecting and sorting rocks. Based upon the classification data was taken in relation to delay, dual tasking and branching. In the second experiment they attempted to work more specifically with branching tasks to see whether they could more specifically distinguish between random branches and predictive branches. Then they repeated the first experiment except this time with only two experimental states.

Results
Statistical analysis done to the results of the first experiment involving all variables showed significant response time between delay and dual along with delay and branching. There were however no strong correlations and therefore no learning curve was discovered. Statistical analysis to the second experiment showed absolutely no significant relationships found between any of the variables. Furthermore there were absolutely no correlations found between any of the variables.

Contents
The paper describes the objective and then the studies done to get data to attain that objective. Their attempts to asses cognitive multitasking to allow for human-robot interaction is chronicled. It connects current research to some related works and attempts to expand upon pre-existing research.

Discussion
While the scientists were unable to completely fulfil their hypothesis, they did make considerable progress in certain direction allowing for future research in the area. Their testing and research was exceptionally and thorough and thus any further work based upon this research is being build upon a solid foundation.

Paper Reading #26: Embodiment in brain-computer interaction

Embodiment in brain-computer interaction

Chi '11

By:
Kenton O'Hara, Abigail Sellen, and Richard Harper.

• Kenton O'Hara is currently a senior researcher at Microsoft Research.
• Abigail Sellen is currently a principal researcher at Microsoft Research and holds a PhD in CS from the University of California, San Diego.
• Richard Harper is currently a principal researcher at Microsoft Research and holds a PhD in CS from Manchester.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper attempt to study ways of brain and full body interaction with computers.

Methods
The study was tested using MindFlex, a game that paired with an EEC measure brain activity and controls a fan's speed accordingly. High brain activity results in a greater fan speed and reduced brain activity results in a lower fan speed. Participants were asked to play this game in a relaxed setting and record their game play. This game play was analysed and based on the bodily reactions (gestures, facial and bodily features, audible words) combined with the reaction of the fan allowed scientists to gain a better idea of how things worked. They were able to better describe visible reactions and its relation to brain activity.

Results
Body reactions had a great correlation with task at hand. Tasks requiring concentration resulted in actions such as hunching over or clenching of fists. It was noticed that players gave a certain amount of instructions which exceeded the games requirement and the relation of that to performance.

Contents
The paper spends a fair bit of time listing the need to superior understanding of the human mind and the body's role in affecting and supporting it. Then it describes the testing phrase and further the results of this testing phase the relationships discovered by the researchers and its effects.

Discussion
A rather dull paper to read. While I certainly appreciate the attempt to take computing to a new level and the logical leap from here to ubiquitous computing, this was still a pain to read. A highly intriguing topic, just very poorly and dully written.

Paper Reading #25: Twitinfo: aggregating and visualizing microblogs for event exploration

Twitinfo: aggregating and visualizing microblogs for event exploration

Chi '11

By:
Adam Marcus, Michael Bernstein, Osama Badar, David Karger, Samuel Madden, and Robert Miller.

•  Adam Marcus is currently a graduate student at MIT in the CS and AI department.
• Michael Bernstein is currently a graduate student at MIT in the CS and AI department concentrating on HCI.
• Osama Badar is a member of the CS and AI department at MIT.
• David Karger is a member of the CS and AI department at MIT as a EECS student.
• Samuel Madden is an associate professor at MIT in the EECS department.
• Robert Miller is an associate professor at MIT in the EECS department and is currently leading the User Interface Design group.

Summary
Hypothesis
The purpose of Twitinfo is to analyse twitter data and draw conclusions based upon this analysis. It also has a feature to summarise tweets based upon search or events.

Methods
All testing done to Twitinfo was to test its user interface and thus its usability. 12 participants were asked to search twitter using Twitinfo and research different recent events. The 2nd test involved a similar search with a time limit. After the test the users were interviewed for their reaction to using Twitinfo in the two sessions.

Results
Most participants were able to research topics thoroughly when they didn't have a time limit. They explored all tweets, related links and use the map to learn more. The introduction of the time limit resulted in a hastier research involving more skimming and certainly less use of advanced features. Tweets were used more to confirm previous information as opposed to garnering new information and thus resulted in slightly less thorough research.

Contents
Most of this article concentrates on the specifics of how Twitinfo works, its relation to database and user interfaces and its particular implementation. User testing is also described along with potential uses and identifying key trends in recent times on twitter.

Discussion
I find this paper to be extremely academic in nature and certainly see very little real world application for Twitinfo. While it may be some what useful for sentiment analysis and be used to garner some broad understanding of public opinion it isn't the most useful nor accurate tool for serious polling for any advertising or political purposes.

Paper Reading #24: Gesture avatar: a technique for operating mobile user interfaces using gestures

Gesture avatar: a technique for operating mobile user interfaces using gestures

Chi '11

By:
Hao Lu and Yang Li.

• Hao Lu is currently a graduate student in CSE at the University of Washington.
• Yang Li has a PhD in Computer Science from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist for Google.

Summary
Hypothesis
Gesture Avtar is meant to resolve the problem of imprecise touch screen input. This paper also compares Gesture Avtar with Shift such as Gesture Avtar's speed with small targets as opposed to large targets, having fewer errors in general and ease of use of Gesture Avtar regardless of use state (walking, sitting, etc).

Methods
Participants were divided into two groups and asked to run a series of tests  on either Gesture Avtar or GA an then later switch. All test were done both while walking and while sitting still. Tests included achieving targets of varying sizes, shapes, ambiguity and complexity. Using the English alphabet and varying the size of the keys and the space between them the researchers were able to thoroughly test and find the best combination to reduce errors.

Results
Gesture Avtar was found lacking at a target size of 20pixels compared to Shift; same at 15pixels and found to be advantageous at 10 pixels. At sizes greater than 20 pixels both Gesture Avtar and Shift became quicker. Shift combined with MobileState performed better in a stationary setting as opposed to in a moving one, while Gesture Avtar was equally quick in both states of use.

Contents
This paper presents Gesture Avtar, an application designed to result in more precise touch screen inputs. This application was developed to work on Android and was pitted against Shift technology to better understand its limitations and areas of improvement. After much testing they concluded that they had met their objective considering the positive reviews from the test subjects.

Discussion
This paper was fantastic and highly relevant considering the massive flux of touch screen based cell phones in the market and fairly high rate of inaccurate  screens amongst them. I feel a polished and complete version of this application would work out extremely well, especially if they were able to build on the user feedback.

Paper Reading #23: User-Defined Motion Gestures for Mobile Interaction

User-Defined Motion Gestures for Mobile Interaction

Chi '11

By:
Jaime Ruiz, Yang Li, Edward Lank.

• Jaime Ruiz is currently a Doctoral Student in HCI at the University of Waterloo.
• Yang Li has a PhD in Computer Science from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist for Google.
• Edward Lank has a PhD in Computer Science from Queens University. He is currently an Assistant Professor for Computer Science at the University of Waterloo.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper feel that there needs to be more research into how to optimally use and program all the multiple three dimensional sensors on modern smart phones.

Methods
To test their device and check the validity of their ideas they chose to have 20 participants were asked to design, implement and test a motion gesture to control and command smart phones. These user created gestures were analysed for accuracy and usefulness and then used in a 2nd study. In the second study users were asked to perform aforementioned gestures and then rank them based on how accurately they related to the command at hand and the ease of use.

Results
As natural most participants in the first study came up with simple, obvious gestures of commands that mimicked typical use. They physical nature of the phone and its dimensions were extensively used and users found it relate able to deal with the phone as a physical object.

Contents
The paper spent a large amount of time describing the experiment set up, its objectives and its results. Most participants felt that gestures that were more natural should be mapped more frequently so as to make them easy to learn and more intuitive. The paper goes on to discuss the parameters used to analyse gestures and then manipulated by participants. They further determine taxonomy dimensions as gesture mapping and physical characteristics. Gesture mapping gets further broken down depending upon abstract, metaphor, physical and symbol.

Discussion
This paper was interesting to read, and while it shows great leaps and bounds of progress in the field of mobile devices and how we interact with them, I wasn't all that impressed. I see no reason for all this work, and personally I am perfectly happy using keys to communicate effectively with my device as opposed to trying to use a gesture multiple times before finally getting it right. 

Paper Reading #22: Mid-air Pan-and-Zoom on Wall-sized Displays

Mid-air Pan-and-Zoom on Wall-sized Displays

Chi '11

By:
Mathieu Nancel, Julie Wagner, Emmanuel Pietriga, Olivier Chapuis, Wendy Mackay.

• Mathieu Nancel is currently a HCI PhD student at the Universite Paris-Sud XI.
• Julie Wagner is a PhD student in the insitu lab in Paris.
• Emmanuel Pietriga is a Research Scientist working for INRIA Saclay-Ile-de-France.
• Olivier Chapuis is a Research Scientist working at LRI.
• Wendy Mackay is currently on Sabbatical at Stanford University, and is a Research Director with INRIA Saclay-Ile-de-France.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper state that there is a dire need for greater research into complex interactions with high resolutions wall sized displays. They also hypothesise seven types of gestures used for interaction and their qualities. The seven gestures and qualities are: The use of two hands is quicker than one, Two handed gestures need to be more accurate and easier to use, Linear Gestures should map to zooming but should eventually slow down due to clutching, Users should prefer clutch free (circular) gestures, Using fingers should be quicker than using hands, Single Dimensional gestures should be faster, and Three Dimensional Gestures will prove to be far more tiring.

Methods
To validate their hypothesis the authors conducted a test/study involving 12 participants. The criteria for the study was Handedness, gestures and guidance. There was a Pan-Zoom task where users were asked to
navigate from one group of concentric circles to another group of concentric circles by zooming out, panning over and then zooming in.

Results
The results of the Pan-Zoom task greatly supported the hypothesis' that using two hands worked quicker than one, that the use of fingers was a lot quicker and that single dimensional actions were also a lot faster. As it turned out users preferred linear actions over circular actions. It was also proven that three dimensional actions are far more tiring.

Contents
This paper went through trying to figure out how best to use Wall-Sized displays and how to best control them. They tried to figure out how to precisely use the displays, how to optimise the use of the displays and how to do so for extended periods of time without fatigue.

Discussion
I found this paper to be interesting because to me it takes us once again into the area of star trek stuff because it's awesome. Huge High Resolution screens, controlling them using gestures its all quite exciting stuff. I feel optimising gestures is slightly useless now considering such displays aren't yet wide spread however whenever such displays become widespread these optimised gestures will become highly useful.

Paper Reading #21: Human Model Evaluation in Interactive Supervised Learning

Human Model Evaluation in Interactive Supervised Learning


Chi '11

By:
Rebecca Fiebrink, Perry R. Cook and Daniel Trueman.

• Rebecca Fiebrink has a PhD in Computer Science from Princeton University and a Post Doctoral from the University of Washington. She is Currently an Assistant Professor in the department of Computer Science at Princeton University.
• Perry R. Cook is Professor Emeritus at Princeton University in the department of Computer Science and Music.
• Daniel Trueman is a musician that teaches composition at Princeton University.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper tried to figure out precisely what model for machine learning users prefer most so as to be able to figure out precisely what criteria is most preferred by the users.

Methods
To test their theory the authors of this paper conducted three studies. One study revolved around the improvement of the Wekinator, where participants met frequently to the uses of the wekinator in their areas of study and improvements needed. In a second study users were asked to create a system that used the wekinator to take in input gestures to create a musical performance system. The final study revolved around gathering data from professional musicians so as to build a sensor equipped cello bow so as to get a gesture classifier.

Results
The users in the first study found the sound control algorithm difficult to use and felt that it resulted in musically unacceptable sounds. The second and third study used cross validation which resulted in higher validation accuracy, which in turn was indicative of higher musical performance. Users in third study used cross validation as a quick check.

Contents
The paper revolves around machine learning and model optimisation. The users of the studies used direct validation far more frequently than cross validation (which was later determined to be the more complex but more accurate form of validation). The direct validation broke down into six key areas: Accuracy, Cost, Decision Boundary Shape, Label Confidence and Posterior Shape, Complexity and Unexpectedness.

Discussion
This paper wasn't easy to understand and I most certainly didn't get all of it. While the concept of Machine Learning and Model Optimisation is now a little more clear, I'm still not a completely certain as to what on earth is going on here. That being said I was very impressed by the tests run and the methodology used by the authors of this paper. It was very thorough and covered all questions that needed answering.

Paper Reading #20: The Aligned Rank Transform for Nonparametric Factorial Analyses Using Only ANOVA Procedures

The Aligned Rank Transform for Nonparametric Factorial Analyses Using Only ANOVA Procedures

Chi '11

By:
Jacob O. Wobbrock, Leah Findlater, Darren Gergle, James J. Higgins.

• Jacob O. Wobbrock is currently an Associate and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Information School and the CSE departments respectively at the University of Washington.
• Leah Findlater is currently an Undergraduate Research Advisor, also at the University of Washington.
• Darren Gergle is currently an Associate Professor in the school of Communication Studies and EECS at Northwestern University.
• James J. Higgins is a professor of Statistics at Kansas State University.

Summary
Hypothesis
The author hypothesises that current procedures for analysing non-parametric data arising from HCI experiments are inadequate, and proposes an better, simpler and easier to understand procedure to do the job instead.

Methods
Findlater et al. conducted a study in 2009 involving adaptive menus as used by the authors of this paper, and is therefore referenced in this paper. That study had 24 participants who were asked to use the menu and then asked to grade it upon accuracy and interface.

Results
The Findlater study was unable to come to a conclusion because the Friedman Test was insufficient and inadequate for the the purposes of analysing the gathered data. Running the same data through ART yields a far superior result; a legitimate analysable set of data points which support Findlater's comments in the original study. ART was similarly used to analyse data from previous studies that could not at the time be studied. At all attempts ART strongly supported author opinions on the data.

Contents
The ART method used by the system created for this paper essentially "aligns" input data in such away to allow analysis of non-parametric data to be analysed using a simple ANOVA test. ANOVA is infinitely easier to use and understand the results of than the other options out there to analyse non-parametric data. ART has 5 key steps: 1] computing residuals 2] computing estimated effects for all effects 3] compute aligned response Y' 4] assign averaged ranks Y'' 5) perform a full factorial ANOVA on Y''. This allows for an extremely high degree of accuracy thus allowing for more accurate end analysis.

Discussion
While I see the clear use for this system and most certainly see why and how it ties in with HCI. However I'm not a statistician or a mathematician and frankly half the stuff they talked about in the paper flew well over my head. Yes it is fantastic, yes it is highly useful and yes future researchers will thank the authors and creators of this paper and ART for their contribution; however wouldn't this paper be better off being presented in a Math or Statistics journal?

Paper Reading #19: Reflexivity in digital anthropology

Reflexivity in digital anthropology

Chi '11

By:
Jennifer A. Rode.

• Jennifer A. Rode is currently an Associate Professor at Drexel's School of Information.

Summary
Hypothesis
The author of this paper hypothesised that if people could more effectively and efficiently use the various types and opportunities of ethnographies that exist, the field of HCI would greatly benefit from such use and therefore allow for far superior user oriented development.

Methods
This paper was more of an opinion piece. The author put forward a hypothesis that couldn't really be tested. It was set up more along the lines where the author listed various types of ethnographies, defines them and then states a set scenario under which that type of ethnography is ideal. There was no user testing that needed to be prepared for.

Results
Considering the utter lack of testing, there weren't exactly a whole lot of results. She did however define 'reflexivity' as possessing four primary characteristics. She defines Digital Anthropology and how it affects her work and the field of HCI. She also makes some broad statements about the HCI community and their various methods of utilising ethnographies and their results.

Contents
The author of this paper attempted to bring the varying type of ethnographies to the front of the HCI community's collective mind and try to urge more frequent, effective and efficient use of ethnographies to further the field of HCI.


Discussion
I found this paper fairly awkward to read considering the type of papers we've read so far for this class. While this paper did refer to HCI I felt this was more of a Anthropology paper than a computer science paper. I agree with some of what she said, especially her statements regarding how members of the HCI field utilise ethnographies; however I still felt that this paper was very out of place in a Computer Science based journal.

Paper Reading #18: Biofeedback Game Design: Using Direct and Indirect Physiological Control to Enhance Game Interaction

Biofeedback Game Design: Using Direct and Indirect Physiological Control to Enhance Game Interaction

Chi '11

By:
Lennart E. Nacke, Michael Kalyn, Calvin Lough, Regan L. Mandryk.

• Lennart E. Nacke has a PhD in game development. He is currently a HCI and Game Science Assistant professor at UOIT.
• Michael Kalyn is currently working on his MSc in Computer Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.
• Calvin Lough is also a student a the University of Saskatchewan.
• Regan L. Mandryk is currently an Assistant professor teaching HCI at the University of Saskatchewan.

 Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper have hypothesised that greater Biofeedback and increased Physiological control of games will results in a superior gaming experience for those involved.

Methods
To appropriately and fully test their system the authors had a set of users who were asked to participate in 3 different tests. There was a control test where users just played the author designed game with a traditional controller with no physiological augmentation. They played once with only direct physiological controls and once with only indirect physiological controls. At the end of all 3 runs the users were asked to answer a few questions so as to allow the authors to judge the success of their system.

Results
While users preferred the greater involvement in the game, they showed some hesitation towards the added complexity and the new existence of a learning curve. However all admitted that the new direct physiological sensors added a huge amount of novelty to the games and once the complexity and learning curve had been overcome the added benefit was found to be exceedingly desirable by most users.

Contents 
The researchers had two key points of interest they wished to investigate: Whether gamers are tolerant of physiological sensors being a part of their gaming experience and secondly  what type of gaming sensors work out best. To test their hypothesis they created a First Person Shooter that limited the input to a traditional gaming control and then further expanded upon that with physiological sensors.

Discussion
I personally found the entire idea to be brilliant. God knows the addition of vibrating remote controls did wonders for the Playstation. Given sufficient tweaking a game developer backing this idea has exceptional potential, not to mention the very real ability to put the Wii out of business. As far as the paper goes I feel it was well thought out, the authors knew precisely what they knew, and what they didn't and tested their system exceedingly well to get the answers they needed.

Paper Reading #17 : Privacy Risks Emerging from the Adoption of Innocuous Wearable Sensors in the Mobile Environment

Privacy Risks Emerging from the Adoption of Innocuous Wearable Sensors in the Mobile Environment

Chi '11

By:
Andrew Raij, Santosh Kumar, Animikh Ghosh, Mani Srivastava.

• Andrew Raij is currently a Post-Doctoral fellow at the University of Memphis  in the Wireless Sensors and Mobile Ad Hoc Networks Lab.
• Santosh Kumar is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Memphis and in his capacity, leads the Wireless Sensors and Mobile Ad Hoc Networks Lab.
• Animikh Ghosh is currently a Junior Research Associate at Infosys in India.
• Mani Srivastava is currently a professor in the ECEN and CSCE departments at UCLA.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper are trying to figure out the possible negative outcomes of the popularity of wearable sensors. There's a concern about potential privacy violations.

Methods
The authors for this study used the scientific process for their experimentation. They had an experimental group of users and a control group. Both sets wore a set of sensors, however the control group had absolutely no data collected off their sensors while the experimental group had certain data that was collected from their sensors. At the end both groups were asked to fill out a survey to comment upon aspects of their behaviour while wearing sensors. The monitored group was later provided with results of their observation and then asked to fill out a survey regarding how the knowledge that they had been observed effected them.

Results
People were shown to be concerned about their privacy with a direct co-relation between the number of people who would have access to the data and the users concern about privacy. The statement that ignorance is bliss holds true here: the monitored group showed far more concern about the privacy matter after they had been showed the results of their observation period.

Contents
This paper used the scientific method to first and foremost figure out whether people even care about their privacy in regards to sensors. Once it was determined that they did care, more information was gathered regarding what precise topics were matters of privacy concern.

Discussion
I felt this was a useful paper in its ability to tell developers and researchers about how hard they need try and make their sensors and methods secure. If it had turned out that most people just straight up couldn't care less about their privacy, then this would allow researchers and developers to spend far more time on more goal oriented targets and less time trying to securely communicate information from the sensors to their objective, etc. While not a true "technological" study, this paper was still highly useful.

Paper Reading #15: Madgets: Actuating Widgets on Interactive Tabletops

Madgets: Actuating Widgets on Interactive Tabletops
 
UIST 2010

By:
Malte Weiss, Florian Schwarz, Simon Jakubowski, Jan Borchers.

 

• Malte Weiss is currently a PhD student at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He is in the Media Computing Group.
• Florian Schwarz has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts. He is currently an Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Simon Jakubowski is currently a research scientist at AlphaFix.
• Jan Borchers has a PhD in Computer Science from Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany. He is currently a professor of Computer Science at RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
  

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper used electromagnetic actuation combined with optical fibers to track, move and operate physical controls. They also introduce an algorithm that can visually track touches and objects using a sample video.

Methods
They tested six different madgets to see how the system operated with them. They attempted to make their design as light weight and portable as possible. They tried to make their design flexible and easy to use. There weren't any user studies done as far as I could tell.

Results
This system provides a platform that is user friendly and great for widget developers. Creating widgets for this system is incredibly simple and quick and the physical set up is rather simple itself. The application of actuators is simple with simply gluing on markers where you want.

Contents
This design uses a 24" screen for display and the actuation is essentially an array of electromagnets and an Arduino board. The visual sensing done through a transparent acrylic widget controls. The tracking algorithm is aware of the materials of the design and thus is able to track touch and movement.

Discussion
I felt this paper was highly interesting though I found it difficult to understand everything. I was disappointed in the lack of user testing. I also felt they failed to create something that can be used quickly out of the box because while quick, the widgets still take some doing.

Paper Reading#14 : TeslaTouch: Electrovibration for Touch Surfaces

TeslaTouch: Electrovibration for Touch Surfaces

UIST 2010

By:
Olivier Bau, Ivan Poupyrev, Ali Israr, Chris Harrison.

• Olivier Bau is currently a Scientist at Disney Research in Pittsburgh. He has a PhD in Computer Science.
• Ivan Poupyrev is also a Scientist at Disney Research. He has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Hiroshima, Japan.
• Ali Israr is a member of the Interaction Design team at Disney Research, and he has a PhD in Mechanics from Purdue University.
• Chris Harrison is currently a PhD student in HCI at Carnegie Mellon.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper hypothesize that their electro-vibration based tactile feedback will enhance human - touch screen interaction thus opening up new applications for touch screens and just general improvement of touch screen use.

Methods
The authors of this test had users participate in three highly controlled psycho-physical studies so at to test the viability of their design along with coming up with improvements for their design. Along with the three psycho-physical studies they also had one subjective evaluation of their design.

For the subjective evaluation they had ten participants feel the touch screen at 4 different frequency levels and then asked to answer a few questions about what they felt.

The authors needed Absolute Detection thresholds along with discrimination thresholds. To get this information they used the psychophysical studies to get answers. To figure out the detection and discrimination thresholds the authors tested at five frequencies and went through them at a random fashion so as to figure out which frequency worked best.

For the absolute thresholds the authors set up a screen with a tactile stimulus showing up on a sections of the screen while the other section had no response. This alternated. As this was happening the amplitude and the frequencies were modified so as to figure out the precise value needed.

Results
For the subjective evaluation the users found the higher frequency higher amplification stimuli to be the smoothest while the low frequency low amplification was found to be rougher and stickier. Amplification's effect upon smoothness was dependent upon frequency.

The psychophysical studies provided the authors with the ideal range of frequencies and amplifications to use for their feed back on the electro-vibrations.

Contents
This paper referred to a large number of previous papers written by authors of this paper. They seemed to have found relationships between frequencies and forces required to work with each other and to thus optimise touch screens even further. They set up their experiments and design so as to revolve around safety and made sure no unsafe amounts of current could ever make it to the user.

Discussion
If such a touch screen feedback can be safely and cheaply built it would be spectacular. Perhaps a combination of this sort of a feedback along with other currently available feedbacks would allow for applications of touch screens where it is not currently possible. As discussed in class the shortcomings of virtual keyboards could be resolved using a combination of such feed backs. I was a little concerned about the safety of this set up, however if they limit the availability of current to the screen and can prevent spikes, then this should result in a fairly safe platform.

Paper Reading #13: Combining Multiple Depth Cameras and Projectors for Interactions On, Above, and Between Surfaces

Combining Multiple Depth Cameras and Projectors for Interactions On, Above, and Between Surfaces
 
UIST 2010

By:
Andrew D. Wilson, Hrvoje Benko.

• Andrew D. Wilson is currently a Senior Researcher Microsoft Research. He has a BA from Cornell University and an MS and PhD to go along with that from MIT.
• Hrvoje Benko has a PhD from Columbia University. He is currently a researcher at Microsoft Research.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper have developed a product called LightSpace that will allow the conversion of any normal space into an interactive 3D ish surface.

Methods
For purposes of testing they had LightSpace displayed at a convention available for public use. People Were encouraged to explore and push the system to its limits. The few hundred people that used LightSpace were observed by researchers while they were using the system so as to record test data and help improve the system.

Results
The system works pretty well as far typical use goes. From a technical perspective, there is no limitation upon how many people can use the system at once, however the technical constraints are not the same as physical constraints. While the system may support infinity people, the room for the system does not. In addition to that performance drops drastically with multiple people on the system. They users found the system easy to use, however like everything else it took some effort on the users part to get used to the systems operation, but that is naturally expected.

Contents
LightSpace as described in this paper uses multiple projectors and depth cameras to serve its purpose. All the components work in tandem to make the entire room a massive Start Trek like reality. This allows LightSpace to turn any and all interactive surfaces into one massive interactive surface that allows users to work in any way shape and form.

Discussion
I find the step in the direction of a Star Trek like reality quite awesome. The ability to have access in all directions on all surfaces seems positively brilliant to me. Admittedly this was a purely lab designed, tested and implemented idea it seems pretty impressive. It seems to be one step closer to 3D with an even closer step to ubiquitous computers.

Gang Leader for a Day

Gang Leader for a Day

By:

Sudhir Venkatesh



This book is not something I would typically read. I tend to avoid non fiction like the plague when I can. That being said, this book was fairly intriguing. It offended me at some level at the sheer lack of professionalism on Sudhir's part, at the same time it made me glad that there still existed people who weren't so narrow minded as to just ignore someone different from themselves and to actually be willing to build a relationship and allow them into ones culture.

While I found myself agreeing with Sudhir initially about  the silliness of asking students to study a group of people or a culture in a lab setting, I found myself appalled by his solution to the silly idea. Yes going out and immersing yourself in a culture you wish to study is a fantastic idea. Yes, if you get accepted into it as one of their own its even better. It is still highly important to set boundaries, to know when to call it quits and maintain some sort of objectivity (objectivity being something Sudhir never seemed to have).

It was great to see his willingness to write about a group that was being persecuted and needed help. To bring forth the corruption and prejudice of the times in question is a brave thing. To do it decades after its happened is not brave, but potentially even cowardly. He helped, he certainly did, however he did not live up to his position. His willingness to help those affected by gangs and the drug trade is commendable. His willingness to help a group of people who blatantly break the law is unacceptable to me. At the end of it all to just walk away, crank out a thesis and them later a book? That is just plain callous.

Paper Reading #12: Enabling Beyond-Surface Interactions for Interactive Surface with An Invisible Projection

Enabling Beyond-Surface Interactions for Interactive Surface with An Invisible Projection

UIST 2010

By:
Li-Wei Chan, Hsiang-Tao Wu, Hui-Shan Kao, Ju-Chun Ko, Home-Ru Lin, Mike Y. Chen, Jane Hsu, Yi-Ping Hung.

• Li-Wei Chan has a Bachelors in Computer Science from Fu Jen Catholic University, along with a Masters from the National Taiwan University. He is also currently a PhD student there.
• Hsiang-Tao Wu is currently a student at the  National Taiwan University.
• Hui-Shan Kao is currently a student at the National Taiwan University.
• Ju-Chun Ko is currently a PhD student at the National Taiwan University.
• Home-Ru Lin is currently a student at the National Taiwan University.
• Mike Y. Chen is currently a Computer Science professor at the National Taiwan University.
• Jane Hsu is currently a Computer Science and Information Engineering professor at the National Taiwan University.
• Yi-Ping Hung has a Masters and PhD from Brown University. He is currently a professor in the Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia at the National Taiwan University.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper propose a programmable infrared technique utilizing an invisible programmable markers for interaction beyond the standard surface of the diffused-illumination (DI) multi-touch system. This allows mobile devices with IR cameras to figure out their position in a three dimensional plane based on perceived markers.

Methods
To test their system they essentially tested three (im Lamp, im Flashlight, , im View) different applications.

The user testing was aimed at figuring out the key points (both strong and weak) of this prototype. For the key parts the users were asked to use the 3 available applications to navigate the map and achieve various checkpoints.

Results
For the most part users found all three applications usable. One of the key problems faced was focus, which im Lamp had some trouble with, however it was an issue that could be resolved by using the appropriate focal length. im Flashlight on the other hand had all sorts of trouble with focus.

Contents
The combinations of IR projectors and a colour projector content and markers visible to both the user and the IR camera on mobile devices which helps them calculate their location in 3D space. The use of multi-touch tablets and projectors allow interaction with space beyond the display plane.

im Lamp is essentially a desk lamp for Multi0touch tabletops. This involves an IR lamp wit ha pico projector connected which provided all information wherever the lamp was directed on the table top, thus allowing ease of use and movement of content anywhere on the table top.

im Flashlight is a mobile im Lamp that allows users to project content in a more mobile and versatile fashion. The flash like allows emphasis on relevant areas of the projected content.

im View (possibly the biggest contribution of this paper) is the tablet referred to earlier. It has an IR camera attached and it allows the users to explore an almost 3D geographical area.

Discussion
The use of the newer, cheaper and highly portable pico-projectors is something that fills me with joy. Considering pico-projectors are greatly underrated it's nice to see them be used for such a technical situation. That being said it seems awfully complex of a project. While the idea is genius, the implementation on a flashlight is a bit of reach. Using it with a lamp to project onto a worktable is highly useful and intelligent, ditto for the tablet pc implementation; however I find the flashlight implementation quite sad, especially considering its major focus issues. While it would be fantastic to have that ability, we just don't have sufficiently small and sufficiently decent pico-projectors to be able to pull it off.

Paper Reading #11: Multitoe: High-Precision Interaction with Back-Projected Floors Based on High-Resolution Multi-Touch Input

Multitoe: High-Precision Interaction with Back-Projected Floors Based on High-Resolution Multi-Touch Input

UIST 2010

By:
Thomas Augsten, Konstantin Kaefer, René Meusel, Caroline Fetzer, Dorian Kanitz, Thomas Stoff, Torsten Becker, Christian Holz, and Patrick Baudisch.

• Thomas Augsten is currently a Masters student specializing in IT Systems at the University of Potsdam in Germany.
• Konstantin Kaefer is currently a Masters student specializing in IT Systems at the University of Potsdam in Germany.
• René Meusel is currently a student at the Hasso Plattner Institute.
• Caroline Fetzer is currently a student at the Hasso Plattner Institute.
• Dorian Kanitz is currently a student at the Hasso Plattner Institute.
• Thomas Stoff is currently a student at the Hasso Plattner Institute.
• Torsten Becker is currently a student at the Hasso Plattner Institute.
• Christian Holz is getting his PhD in HCI from the University of Potsdamn in Germany..
• Patrick Baudisch is a Computer Science professor at the Hasso Plattner Institute.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors of this paper have hypothesised that current touch screen, table top options are insufficient in their area. They propose a rear projected floor which solves the area issue and then recommend using users ability to walk and manipulate the screen with actions performed by their feet. They propose the paper to serve an engineering need as opposed to a scientific need.

Methods
All tests done by the authors are for the purposes of design improvement. They did one user study to figure out how the appropriately implement the inactive state of the buttons. They had participants walk across four 'buttons' so as to trigger two and not trigger two. Their behaviour and strategies were noted, and they were fully debriefed in a verbal interview later.

The second test was done for the purposes of designing a mechanism for a conceptual hotspot. The authors wished to find out if there was one certain area of the food that was widely found intuitive, thus allowing the authors to make one hotspot as opposed to allowing personalising per user. They had users use their preferred foot to locate the hotspot on a predetermined cross-hair, and then to confirm their choice using a wireless transmitter. The transmission recorded the Frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) image, which allowed the building of a model.

Another study was conducted to optimize the precision with hotpot. Users selected a hotspot of their choice. They were then asked to access and use the keyboard to type up a sentence using varying sizes of keys.

Results
The results for the first test showed that there were far too many possible options people found intuitive meant that there was no widely accepted way that could be implemented. Some of the strategies provided were found to be impractical due to scalability concerns. However they were able to find four (tap, stomp, jump and double tap) feasible options that could implemented and scaled up to a fully operational model.

The results for the second test showed that most users conceptualized their touch as ideal (ie including the arch). FTIR uses pressure points and thus does not include the arch, however the authors felt considering its wider acceptability, they could refine the FTIR image to fit the user expectations of the conceptualized ideal input.

The results of the the hotspot optimization test showed that the smallest size of keys was obviously far too small due to the high error rate. Both error rate and task time sky rocketed as key size decreased.

Contents
The screen described in this paper is implemented using layers of various (projection screen, acrylic, silicone, and thick glass) materials. Using pressure distribution, shoe sole matching and various other features the authors were able to develop algorithms that had the ability to recognize users, differentiate personalized hotspots and classify various motions such as walking, tapping, etc. Using FTIR and other technology the authors were able to develop an algorithm that tracked user balance and used said information to control an output screen.


Discussion
While this paper brings the fiction of a Star Trek similar reality one step closer, I personally feel in its currently implementation its purposes are probably limited to gaming. Surely no one wants to type using their feet. That being said a platform like this would be quite brilliant for interactive gaming (making Wii's thankfully obsolete). This system also has the additional problem of being so interactive so as to essentially prevent people with insufficient or no motor control from using it. I really liked their approach to engineering and the amount of effort put into making the system as user friendly as possible. Where it wasn't possible to have a standardized system they worked hard to provide the ability to personalize.

Paper Reading #10: Sensing Foot Gestures from the Pocket

Sensing Foot Gestures from the Pocket

By:
Jeremy Scott, David Dearman, Koji Yatani, Khai Truong.

 

Presented at UIST 2010.

• Jeremy Scott has a Bachelors of Science, a Masters of Science and a PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Western Ontario. He is currently employed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto.
• David Dearman is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto.
• Koji Yatani is also a currnet PhD student at the University of Toronto.
• Khai Truong is currently an Associate Professor in the C.S. Department at the University of Toronto.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors aim to study the ability to use foot based gestures to control phones in users pockets. Using the results of that study they further developed a working system to recognise foot gestures and take action on the phone.

Methods
For the purposes of studying and getting initial results, the authors had participants perform certain tasks that were mapped to targets on the phone with their dominant food (right, for all participants). The participants were asked to hit 43 targets across 3 different flexions and rotations. Once they had used this study to figure out precisely how the system would need to be set up, they held another study to test foot gestures and how they could control phones using an Iphone, accelerometers and multiple cameras similar to the preliminary study.

Results
Their testing resulted in 82%-92% accuracy in classification of foot gestures, which is fairly reliable when it comes to controlling the phone. They also learnt that having the cell phone at the users side as opposed to a pocket in the front or rear allowed for greater accuracy. Sadly it showed that the system occasionally confused similar gestures, especially those that were in neighbouring degree spaces.

Contents
The authors spent a fair bit of time gathering their data, getting a list of all potential gestures possible and needed and then studied the ease of recognition of said gestures. Once that was all in place the authors worked through to take their gathered data and integrated it into a system that they designed and was able to interface with a smart phone. For appropriate data gathering and testing they used multiple cameras located at various locations and angles, and then had them working in conjunction with accelerometers so as to interface with a phone.

Discussion
While the actual study and implementation is rather intriguing and "cool" in it self, I personally find the over arching concept to be quite meaningless. The fact that the authors never resolved the issue of differentiating between gestures that need to be interfaced and "gestures" that are really just walking/running/etc makes this even more useless. In addition the fact that this system greatly limited the location of the phone in so as to be accurate is even more unacceptable. While this may prove to be a remotely useful tool for users that lack visual feed back, it's use is greatly limited and its ability is even further limited.

Paper Reading #9: Jogging over a Distance between Europe and Australia

Jogging over a Distance between Europe and Australia

By:
Florian Mueller, Frank Vetere, Martin Gibbs, Darren Edge, Stefan Agamanolis, Jennifer Sheridan.

Presented at UIST 2010.

• Florian Mueller has a Bachelor of Multimedia from Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. He has a Digital Media Degree from Furtwangen University, Germany. He also has a PhD in Interaction Design from The University of Melbourne, Australia. He is currently a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Stanford University.
• Frank Vetere is currently a senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne in the department of Information Systems. His interests lie in HCI.
• Martin Gibbs is currently a Lecturer at the University of Melbourne in the department of Information Systems.
• Darren Edge hold an undergraduate and a PhD from Cambridge University. He is currently an HCI researcher at Microsoft Research.
• Stefan Agamanolis has a Bachelor of Arts in computer science from Oberlin College along with an MS and a PhD in Media Arts and Science from MIT. He is currently an Associate Director of a research institute at Akron Children's Hospital.
• Jennifer Sheridan is currently the Senior User Experience.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors state that Jogging over Distances is made for runners that believe running to be a social activity and require more than one runner to make the act of running a success. They hypothesise the the use of spatial communication channel and thus allowing runners to co locate with another runner at a different geographic location will result in better runs for users.

Methods
The study's test results are based upon the report of 17 participants over a period of 14 runs of varying lengths. Considering the objective nature of this study, all results were gathered based on a qualitative interview with the runners immediately following their run in which they had used Jogging over Distances.

Results
Their testing showed that using Jogging over Distances did allow for better social experience when it came to running. The participants felt that the system did a great job of simulating a legitimate two person run. The runners were also given a new perspective and a better understanding of their running abilities due to the hear sensing ability and the co-location capability.

Contents
The authors of this paper have attempted to build a product that would tie into a users exertions and allow social interaction over a distance through them. To successfully implement this the authors have combined pre-existing technology with new internet based technology so as to create a more realistic experience for the users. The use of co-location allows users to know precisely where they are in terms of the other runners pace and performance.

Discussion
While from a technological aspect this paper was highly intriguing, I wasn't personally too fond of the concept. While the ability to run with someone a few continents over is highly intriguing and has a rather serious "cool factor", I just find there to be no practical application for this project. Running is plenty challenging and difficult without having to add bulky equipment just to make it possible to have a virtual runner with you. There are plenty of products out there that for all purposes and intents replace a running partner. However, from a purely technical perspective, I am highly intrigued. It's a use of the technology available is fantastic, and it does serve a pretty decent purpose if some really is that lonely.

Paper Reading #8: Gesture Search: A Tool for Fast Mobile Data Access

Gesture Search: A Tool for Fast Mobile Data Access

By:
Yang Li

Presented at UIST 2010.

• Yang Li has a PhD in Computer Science from the Chinese Academy of Science and a Post Doctoral from in EECS from University of California at Berkeley.

Summary
Hypothesis
The Author of this paper hypothesises that considering the large amount of data stored on modern mobile devices, gesture search will allow for quicker and more efficient data recall compared to current and more traditional methods of accessing data on modern mobile devices.

Methods
In addition to being available to public, Gesture Search has been tested in laboratory settings. The Authors asked participants answer a survey post (which used a 5 point Likert scale) their use of Gesture Search.

Results
Gesture Search received a median rating of 4.5/5 out of 5000 ratings from users. Of the 59 people that responded to the survey the vast majority agreed that Gesture Search was useful and usable (giving a media score of 4/5). Survey takers found Gesture Search most useful for searching through contacts (media 4/5) which makes sense considering 66% of the users used it for contact search, however they were not as excited by its use for searching through applications (median 3/5). The Author believes the greatest reason for a reduced score for applications was due to the fact that it wasn't used often for applications since most used applications fit on the homepage. The Author believes with the wide variety of applications available, eventually Gesture Search will find itself to be used more frequently for finding applications.

Contents
This paper dealt with showing the superiority of Gesture Search over other available search methods and to explain the methods employed to implement Gesture Search. Gesture Search essentially allows users to "gesture" (essentially draw/graffiti) a character on their touch screen mobile devices and then Gesture Search uses the character defined on the screen to search whatever application is open. Gesture Search uses a timeout to delimit multistroke gestures, thus making it more user friendly. The ability to avoid UI and just scribble on the screen allows for ease of use while the speed of the search allows for efficiency.

Discussion
Having personally used something like this (I'm not certain if it was Gesture Search or not) I'm surprised to see how truly complex its implementation is. Gesture Search is certainly a far more polished version of what I have used in the past, and it shows. Gesture Search is a fantastic tool for users with touch screen based mobile devices. It's main use would perpetually remain contacts search, however the fact that it has the ability to interact with practically any applications makes it highly versatile and makes it possible to customize it for whatever needs may arise in the future.

Paper Reading #7: Performance Optimizations of Virtual Keyboards for Stroke-Based Text Entry on a Touch-Based Tabletop

Performance Optimizations of Virtual Keyboards for Stroke-Based Text Entry on a Touch-Based Tabletop

By:
Jochen Rick

Presented at UIST 2010

• Jochen Rick has a Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Computer Science all from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Saarland University.

Summary
Hypothesis
The Author hypothesises that in cases of equipment where a larger touch screen keyboard is the most viable text input option (such as Interactive Tabletops) and there is no available tactile feedback to register key strokes the best possible solution is a stroke-based virtual keyboard as opposed to a more traditional tap based keyboard. The Author states that such a keyboard would allow for quicker user inputs with an optimized keyboard.

Methods
To test and thus prove his hypothesis, the author had eight participants complete a series of 1152 stroke sequences through 4 points in a certain order, where each stroke had a beginning, a middle and an end. The participants had previous experience with the interactive tabletops and were asked to stand for the period of the testing so as to have better access to the tabletop. They targeted completing the tasks as quickly as possible. They did these tests for a large number of keyboard layouts as listed in the paper.

Results
The stroke based typing showed a minimum improvement in speed of 0% with Quikwriting and a maximum improvement almost 41% with Square ATOMIK. Speed increases were substantial for all other keyboard layouts tested, thus showing the obvious superiority of Stroke based typing.

Contents
The paper dealt with first proving the superiority of Stroke based typing and then later with developing an ideal virtual keyboard layout that maximized stroke based typing speeds. Using the results gathered from participant testing the author was able to see that OptiII was the layout that allowed for the greatest words per minute on stroke based typing. Using the results it was concluded that it would take far too long (10^20 years) to use an exhaustive algorithm to find the optimized keyboard layout. The author was however, able to use an annealing process followed by hill climbing based upon Square ATOMIK and Hex ATOMIK to come up with 2 optimised layouts that were 0.5% faster in the square category and 7% faster in the Hex category.

Discussion
Considering the fact that various phones are starting to use "stroke based" keyboard input (most notably the Swype feature for Android keyboards) it is exceedingly nice to see a paper about trying to optimising the keyboard layout. While technically the paper is limited to interactive tabletop applications, surely the basic concepts of stroke based typing are carried across platforms. While it is true that most users are highly used to and comfortable with QWERTY, I feel there would be widespread interest in any optimised keyboard that was put out there due to the speed offered by it.

Paper Reading #6: TurKit: Human Computation Algorithms on Mechanical Turk

TurKit: Human Computation Algorithms on Mechanical Turk

By:
Greg Little, Lydia B. Chilton, Max Goldman, Robert C. Miller

 Presented at UIST 2010

• Greg Little has an Undergraduate from Arizona State University and a PhD from MIT. He currently works at MIT.
• Lydia B. Chilton has an Undergrad from MIT in Economics and EECS. She also has a Masters from MIT also in EECS. She is currently a Graduate student at the University of Washington.
• Max Goldman is currently a Graduate student at MIT.
• Robert C. Miller has a Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Engineering from MIT along with a PhD from Carnegie Mellon. He is currently an Associate professor at MIT.

Summary
Hypothesis

The authors of this paper hypothesised that the use of TurKit would allow for better coding of programs requiring Human Computation. The ability to make MTurk calls as just function calls is supposed to allow users to utilise more of their traditional approaches to programming, allow the functions to be used as building blocks for more complex algorithms while allowing the code to be more traditionally readable. The use of the Crash-and-rerun programming model reduces the expense of Human Computation by allowing the ability to run multiple times without repeating computationally expensive work.

Methods
To evaluate the performance of their they used the results of 20 different experiments run over the period of year using TurKit. The experiments included iterative writing, blurry text recognition, website clustering, brainstorming, and photo sorting.

Results
The 20 experiments resulted in an expense of $364.85 involving 29.731 assignments involving HITs. This showed that TurKit resulted in faster computation times. The fact that waiting for human action takes an order of magnitude longer than computation, it's shown that TurKit is suitable for most applications.

Contents
The authors showed TurKit to be greatly useful, however admitted that it wasn't scalable. They tested it thoroughly, implemented it in the best possible format, however it proved itself to be un-scalable which made it less impressive.

Discussion
While I didn't quite understand everything about human computation, I did understand a fair about it. To me anything that helps things run faster and more efficiently is a step in the right direction. Using Crash-and-Rerun seemed ingenious considering it completely reduced a redundancy in the calls. The fact that TurKit has great usability and allows exceptional ease for writing scripts.

Paper Reading #5: A Framework for Robust and Flexible Handling of Inputs with Uncertainty

A Framework for Robust and Flexible Handling of Inputs with Uncertainty

By:
Julia Schwarz, Scott E. Hudson, Jennifer Mankoff, Andrew D. Wilson.

Presented at UIST 2010

• Julia Schwarz has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Washington and is currently working on her PhD in HCI at Carnegie Mellon.
• Scott E. Hudson has a BS and an MS in Computer Science from Arizona State University, along with a PhD (also in Computer Science) from the University of Colorado. He is currently a professor at Carnegie Mellon teaching and researching HCI.
• Jennifer Mankoff has a BA from Oberlin College and a PhD in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is currently a professor at Carnegie Mellon teaching and researching HCI.
• Andrew D. Wilson is currently a Senior Researcher Microsoft Research. He has a BA from Cornell University and an MS and PhD to go along with that from MIT.

Summary
Hypothesis
The authors state that they have developed a method to better handle ambiguous user inputs so as to allow a more interactive environment in the future for humans to interact with computers. They find the current system of handling interactive user input to be insufficient and and improper, thus inhibiting users from maximising their interaction with the computer. By modifying the handling of user inputs they have enabled their system to take in and deal with all sorts of uncertain inputs thus making the system more use able even for people with motor impairments.

Methods
To test their framework they chose to attempt various tasks and actions that a user would be required to do under normal use of a computer. Tasks attempted included responding to dialog boxes, scrolling, and text boxes that take an audio input and transcribe it to text. All the tests were done by the authors themselves except for the testing of buttons by users with motor impairments.

Results
Upon testing their framework operated as expected. It handled uncertainty extremely well thus opening up ways for greater interaction between humans and computers. In regards to operability for users with motor impairments, they saw large a reduction in errors when using their probabilistic method of handling inputs.

Contents
The entire objective of this paper was to challenge the current attitude towards the handling of interactive user inputs and demonstrate the benefits of a more probabilistic method. They demonstrated how the improvement of technology aided with proper handling of uncertain inputs greatly improved the operation of systems accepting interactive user input thus allowing greater interaction.

Discussion
I found the step away from the rigid and inhuman precise interpretation of human actions to be very refreshing. The fact that they designed a system that takes inputs and interprets and treats them as human inputs as opposed to taking in human inputs and immediately converting and then treating them like computer inputs is bound to be useful. This method of handling, interpreting and treating inputs should really open the way for greater functionality being added to interactive operations on computers. In addition this should also greatly help users with disabilities by allowing them to be less precise in their actions, thus letting them be more human.

Paper Reading #4: Gestalt: Integrated Support for Implementation and Analysis in Machine Learning

Gestalt: Integrated Support for Implementation and Analysis in Machine Learning

By:
Kayur Patel , Naomi Bancroft , Steven M. Drucker , James Fogarty , Andrew J. Ko , James A. Landay

 Presented at UIST 2010.

• Kayur Patel has a BS in Computer Science and HCI from Carnegie Mellon, an MS in Computer Science from Stanford, another MS in Computer Science and Engineering from University of Washington and is currently working on his PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from University of Washington under James Fogarty and James Landay.
• Naomi Bancroft has an Undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Linguistics from University of Washington and is currently works for Google.
• Steven M. Drucker has a BSc in Neutral Sciences from Brown University, an MS in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and a PhD in Arts and Media Technology both from MIT. He is currently a Principal Researcher for Microsoft Research.
• James Fogarty holds a BS in Computer Science from Virginia Tech and a PhD in HCI from Carnegie Mellon. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at University of Washington.
• Andrew J. Ko has a BS in Computer Science and Psychology from Oregon State and a PhD in HCI from Carnegie Mellon. He is currently an Assistant Professor at University of Washinton Information school and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Engineering also at the University of Washington.
• James A. Landay has a BS in EECS from UC Berkeley along with an MS and PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon. He is currently a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington.

Summary
Hypothesis
The Authors of this paper hypothesised that users would be able to do a better job of debugging code for the purposes of machine learning using their Gestalt Development Environment compared to more traditional methods of debugging. They felt the ability to implement a classification pipeline and then to analyze the data as it moves through the pipeline all the while being able to switch easily between the implementation and the actual analysis of the code.

Methods
For testing their hypothesis they selected a group of 8 participants that matched the target audience of Gestalt, and from there proceeded to have a set of baseline results and a set of Gestalt results. The baseline results involved the creation, modification and execution of scripts. Participants created visualizations by calling functions using a provided API which allowed the reproduction of all Gestalt Visualizations. Both baseline and Gestalt used the same data table structure however the baseline data table structure did not keep track of information generated across the pipeline. To further test the setup users were asked to solve two problems, one of sentiment analysis and another of gesture recognition. Both problems had bugs that replicated common programming errors introduced in it by the authors.

Results
The participants unanimously preferred using Gestalt for their troubleshooting purposes over baseline. They were able to find more bugs faster and similarly fix more bugs, quicker.

Contents
The authors of this paper spent considerable amount of time on their testing and had a rather elaborate set up to make the testing as complete and thorough as possible. They placed fair bit of importance on the data table structure and made it perfectly clear that it was most responsible for the effectiveness of Gestalt.

Discussion
Even though I'm not all that much into heavy programming even I can appreciate the usefulness of this. Debugging has historically been a pain for me and most people I know when it comes to programming and frankly any tool that can help make the torturous process easier is a tool to be worshipped. I felt the authors did a spectacular job of make sure their testing was fair and did a great job following a scientific process of testing comparing a set of control results with a set of experimental results. They also did a great job of stating at the very start what they were trying to do, proved that they were right and then stated exactly what their system could not do.

Paper Reading #3: Pen + Touch = New Tools

Pen + Touch = New Tools

By:
Ken Hinckley, Koji Yatani, Michel Pahud, Nicole Coddington, Jenny Rodenhouse, Andy Wilson, Hrvoje Benko, Bill Buxton.

Presented at UIST 2010.

• Ken Hinckley has a PhD from University of Virginia and is currently a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research.
• Koji Yatani is currently working on his PhD in HCI at the University of Toronto.
• Michel Pahud has a PhD in Parallel Computing from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and is currently working at Microsoft Research.
• Nicole Coddington has a Bachelors in Visual Communications from the University of Florida and currently works for HTC as a Senior Interaction Designer.
• Jenny Rodenhouse has a Bachelors in Industrial Distribution from Syracuse University and is currently working as an Experience Designer for Microsoft.
• Andy Wilson has a Bacherlor of Arts from Cornell University along with a Master of Science and a PhD From MIT. He is currently a senior researcher for Microsoft.
• Hrvoje Benko has a PhD from Colombia University and is currently employed at Microsoft as a Microsoft Research.
• Bill Buxton has a Bachelor of Music Degree from Queen's University and is currently a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research.

Summary
Using typical human interaction with pen and paper as a model the authors have attempted to replicate and improve upon that concept. This new device uses a "pen" the write, the "touch" of a hand to move things around and the combination of both (pen+touch) allows the user a plethora of other options to manipulate their work with.

The Authors observed users make a physical arts project (scrap book) and catalogued the gestures, and then optimised the gestures so as to simplify the programming and improve upon the efficiency. Using this data they were able to create a functioning prototype that they could have other users test. The test users were asked to replicate a set of tasks previously done using paper with clippings, etc.

For the most part the users responded highly favourably. People found the use of the pen+hold features to be highly intuitive, and yet struggle to maintain functionality with gestures without explanation. The concept of Objects was the truly underlying concern when it came to the current prototype.

This paper is supposed to be more theoretical than practical. Their aim has been to do more research about how people typically use their hands to work and then try their best to replicate those behaviours. Behaviours specific to the dominant vs non-dominant hand, how the pen is handled when idle, etc have been the corner stone's of this project and thus the testing done was limited.

Discussion
Considering the absolute lack of effort put into the final prototype and how most of the work done was theoretical makes this quite fascinating. Considering the vast amount of data they've collected for this paper, a more thorough implementation of their idea with slightly more intuitive controls would be an exceedingly useful product. Reading the paper its easy to see that they have an extremely good grasp of what needs to be done, what the difficulties are, and roughly how to work around those problems.  Really it's now just a matter of sitting down and trying to work through all the implementation issues, because theoretically they've got a model that mimics human behaviour extremely well.