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This paper presents the process and outputs from a participatory design activity with secondary school children whose task was to design organic user interfaces (OUIs) for use in energy-aware applications. Although experienced in participatory design sessions with children and teenagers, the design team faced three new challenges in this work: how to convey the idea of OUIs, how to facilitate the pupils to design OUIs and how to interpret the OUI design ideas. To convey the ideas of OUI, the Obstructed Theatre method, used in other studies with children and teenagers, was used. In this work, the salient features of the OUI conveyed in the theatre were: its malleability, its potential to bend and change shape, its association with the body and its novelty. To facilitate the design, three scenarios of increasing user interface complexity were conveyed in the theatre; and three different media (i) slime and pipe cleaners, (ii) PlayDoh and small Lego bricks, (iii) fabric and sticky shapes that afforded the creation of designs representing future organic interactive technologies were deployed. To enable the design team to make sense of the resulting designs, a Comic Strip approach was used to capture the changes in the designs as they demonstrated interaction. The paper explores this work from three perspectives; first, the effectiveness of the Obstructed Theatre approach to convey requirements of OUIs, secondly, the effectiveness of the three media used in the design sessions to encourage design solutions for OUIs and thirdly, the quality and relevance of the design ideas generated in the sessions and communicated to the design team using the Comic Strips and their applicability to other contexts. The paper concludes with some thoughts on methods and materials that could be used to encourage design ideas for OUIs and offers some of the participants more innovative ideas for the research and development community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the emergence of flexible display technologies, it will be necessary for interface designers to move beyond flat interfaces and to contextualize interaction in an object's physical shape. Grounded in early explorations of organic user interfaces (OUIs), this paper examines the evolving relationship between industrial and interaction designs and examines how not only what we design is changing, but how we design too. First, we discuss how (and why) to better support the design of OUIs: how supporting sketching, a fundamental activity of many design fields, is increasingly critical and why a ‘hypercontextualized’ approach to their design can reduce the drawbacks met when everyday objects become interactive. Finally, underlying both these points is the maturation of technology to that of a computational material; when interactive hardware is seamlessly melded into an object's shape, the ‘computer’ disappears and is better seen as a basic design material that, incidentally, happens to have interactive behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of the long-term, iterative design process of the ColorTable, a complex tangible user interface (TUI) supporting various stakeholders in collaboratively envisioning and discussing urban projects through constructing mixed reality scenes. The TUI has been iteratively designed, evaluated and redesigned in a series of real-world participatory design workshops over a 4-year period. We reflect on the most prominent redesign decisions related to (a) the sensing technology, (b) the physical objects, (c) the places for interaction and (d) the visual representations, in order to identify a series of 10 dimensions describing the design space of the ColorTable. Our aim is to provide new insights to the elaboration of design strategies of TUIs by describing the scope and complexity of the design space of a feature-rich TUI designed in a longterm, iterative process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of dynamic versus static visualizations in computer-based training (CBT) systems has generated a lot of research effort with divergent findings. The work reported in this paper examines a novel paradigm that learning a procedural motor skill may be enhanced by instructional visualizations that optimizes the construction of mental task models. We investigated the interaction of different interface visualizations of a CBT system with the cognitive characteristics of trainees by comparing three conditions of interface dynamism in a mechanical motor skills learning task. Ninety-one participants across three treatment groups performed a disassembly motor task. After controlling for effects of spatial visualization abilities, participants who used training interfaces with dynamic information content completed the post-learning motor task faster and more accurately than those who used interfaces with a static visual content. These findings suggest that instructional interfaces having motor coordinating information, which is intrinsic to the execution of procedural motor tasks, are more suitable for CBT of novice trainees. It may also imply the possibility of a common approach to the design and implementation of CBT systems, which is independent of learner's cognitive abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses two common problems that users of various products and interfaces encounter--over-featured interfaces and product documentation. Over-featured interfaces are seen as a problem as they can confuse and over-complicate everyday interactions. Researchers also often claim that users do not read product documentation, although they are often exhorted to 'RTFM' (read the field manual).We conducted two sets of studies with users which looked at the issues of both manuals and excess features with common domestic and personal products. The quantitative set was a series of questionnaires administered to 170 people over 7 years. The qualitative set consisted of two 6-month longitudinal studies based on diaries and interviews with a total of 15 participants. We found that manuals are not read by the majority of people, and most do not use all the features of the products that they own and use regularly. Men are more likely to do both than women, and younger people are less likely to use manuals than middle-aged and older ones. More educated people are also less likely to read manuals. Over-featuring and being forced to consult manuals also appears to cause negative emotional experiences. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes two studies that examine the ways in which parameters of touch can be manipulated to support human–mobile interaction, providing designers with greater awareness regarding the range of tactile icons (tactons) for integration with interfaces. The first study examined the efficacy of presenting tactons via low-cost eccentric rotating motor vibration technologies, often used in the design of wearable interfaces. Findings highlight the role of intensity in supporting tactile recognition as well as the impact of duration, interval, and intensity on task time. In our second study, we build on these results by comparing the impact of simulated and real-world auditory distractors on the perception of four parameter tactons. Findings indicate the negative effects of realistic ambient sounds on recognition accuracy, time taken and cognitive workload, but the results also indicate that some tactile designs (e.g. those encoded with stronger intensities) better resist the effects of these auditory distractions. Our research suggests that mobile devices should be evaluated under real-world scenarios to ensure that tactile feedback presented via a mobile device meets the needs of mobile users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking important life decisions is a complex task leading to long-lasting consequences. It requires balancing one's own needs and those of other stakeholders. Current digital decision support focuses little on the human decision-making capabilities. Systems are designed as analytic tools to find optimal outcomes assuming stable and known preferences. However, insights from psychology and behavioral decision research show that people construct preferences during an adaptive decision-making process and are less rational than assumed by current tools. It has been suggested that a stronger focus on personal values could lead to improved decision making, but reflection on values is difficult for people. This paper presents a first exploration of how to aid people in reflecting on their values. It serves as a starting point to develop digital value-focused decision support tools. We describe the design of a probe for value reflection and several studies with experts and end-users that led to a first set of considerations for such tools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Audio and visual modalities are two common output channels in the user interfaces embedded in today's mobile devices. However, these user interfaces are typically centered on the visual modality as the primary output channel, with audio output serving a secondary role. This paper argues for an increased need for shared input multimodal user interfaces for mobile devices. A shared input multimodal interface can be operated independently using a specific output modality, leaving users to choose the preferred method of interaction in different scenarios. We evaluate the value of a shared input multimodal menu system both in a single-task desktop setting and in a dynamic dual-task setting, in which the user was required to interact with the shared input multimodal menu system while driving a simulated vehicle. Results indicate that users were faster at locating a target item in the menu when visual feedback was provided in the single-task desktop setting, but in the dual-task driving setting, visual output presented a significant source of visual distraction that interfered with driving performance. In contrast, auditory output mitigated some of the risk associated with menu selection while driving. A shared input multimodal interface allows users to take advantage of multiple feedback modalities properly, providing a better overall experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When interacting with any technology that differs significantly from what its users are comfortable and familiar with, there is likely to be an increased risk of undesirable and unexpected effects on their lives. Embedded systems are a prime and timely example of such dramatic change, where computing devices are placed inside everyday objects, thus making them ‘smart’ by enhancing their capabilities, whilst simultaneously fading their functionality into the background and out of sight. These devices will become connected to different systems and to each other, forming complex networks of smart devices that will ultimately become the core infrastructure of future technologies. The direct form of interaction with existing computer systems stands to be ‘turned on its head’, where actively and directly interacting with computing technologies will no longer be a necessity. Given the intended wide-scale spread and use of this technology, it stands not only to be embedded in the world in a physical sense, but also become embedded in our social lives as well. This will amplify the potential undesirable consequences of the systems, placing a strong need to understand and measure the social impact of these technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Haptic and audio cues now appear commonly in computer interfaces, partially due to inherent advantages such as their support for eyes-free interaction. Their invisible, unobservable nature also makes them ideal candidates for security interfaces in which users have to enter secret information such as passwords. In particular, researchers have explored this idea through the design of PIN entry authentication systems based on multi-modal combinations of visual and non-visual content or on the recognition of small sets of unimodal haptic or audio stimuli. This paper highlights the benefits and performance limitations of these approaches and introduces an alternative based on unimodal audio or haptic temporal numerosity – the ability to accurately and rapidly determine the number of cues presented in rapid temporal succession. In essence, in a numerosity interface, rather than recognizing distinct cues, users must count the number of times that a single cue occurs. In an iterative process of design and evaluation, three prototypes implementing this concept are presented and studies of their use reported. The results show the fastest PIN entry times and lowest error rates to be 8s and 2%, figures that improve substantially on previous research. These results are attained while maintaining low levels of workload and substantial resistance to observation attack (as determined via camera attack security studies). In sum, this paper argues that unimodal audio and haptic numerosity is a valuable and relatively unexplored metaphor for non-visual input and demonstrates the validity of this claim in the demanding task of unobservable authentication systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes the development of a Spoken Spanish generator from sign-writing. The sign language considered was the Spanish sign language (LSE: Lengua de Signos Española). This system consists of an advanced visual interface (where a deaf person can specify a sequence of signs in sign-writing), a language translator (for generating the sequence of words in Spanish), and finally, a text to speech converter. The visual interface allows a sign sequence to be defined using several sign-writing alternatives. The paper details the process for designing the visual interface proposing solutions for HCI-specific challenges when working with the Deaf (i.e. important difficulties in writing Spanish or limited sign coverage for describing abstract or conceptual ideas). Three strategies were developed and combined for language translation to implement the final version of the language translator module. The summative evaluation, carried out with Deaf from Madrid and Toledo, includes objective measurements from the system and subjective information from questionnaires. The paper also describes the first Spanish-LSE parallel corpus for language processing research focused on specific domains. This corpus includes more than 4000 Spanish sentences translated into LSE. These sentences focused on two restricted domains: the renewal of the identity document and driver’s license. This corpus also contains all sign descriptions in several sign-writing specifications generated with a new version of the eSign Editor. This new version includes a grapheme to phoneme system for Spanish and a SEA-HamNoSys converter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper aims to provide a discussion of how model-based approaches and related tools have been used to address important issues for obtaining usable interactive software and the new challenges for this research area. The paper provides an analysis of the logical descriptions that can be used in the design of interactive systems and how they can be manipulated in order to obtain useful results. This type of approach has recently raised further interest in the ubiquitous computing field for supporting the design of multi-device interfaces. The new challenges currently considered are mainly in the area of end-user development, ambient intelligence, and multimodal interfaces. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, we wanted to discover the most prominent technologies in listening to digital music and the reasons underlying the popular choices. We asked Finnish students what are their main sources of digital music and how they perceived these sources. We received over 700 responses to an Internet questionnaire. Among our discoveries, we found that on-demand music services, Spotify and YouTube, are the most popular. Many users utilize both actively. YouTube is more popular, possibly because it is more accessible, more socially connected and satisfies many musical needs, but not solely because of its visual content. The perceived service characteristics are distinctive, but only greater musical serendipity was predictive of more frequent use of the service. We also find a preference for YouTube when sharing digital music with others. We discuss the relationship between perception and choice, and present directions for future research on music interaction and consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent version problem relates to finding the latest version of a file to avoid reconciliation and rework resulting from editing an out of date version. To identify the most recent version, we developed a prototype, Old'nGray, which automatically grays out the icon of older versions of the file to help users ignore them and spot the latest version using perceptual rather than cognitive processes. We tested our prototype using a within-subjects design (n = 60). Use of Old'nGray drastically reduced failure percentage from an average of 24% in the control condition to 4%, and retrieval time from an average of 17.68 s in the control condition to 6.56 with Old'nGray. The benefits of Old'nGray increased with folder size. Chronological sorting was used in only half of the control condition retrievals, which may explain the high failure percentage. The use of chronological sorting also resulted in additional retrieval time compared with the use of Old'nGray. When asked, 70% of the participants indicated that they would like the prototype to be integrated into their next operating system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The audio channel in computing interactions has been the focus of a variety of research interest in recent years. This paper examines one form of audio interface, earcons, in the context of information technology (IT) exception messages. Users of IT commonly encounter exception messages during their interactions with application programs. Exception messages often are accompanied by earcons which are aural messages of a musical nature used in the human–computer interface to provide information and feedback. Utilizing the notions of musical dissonance/consonance and pitch earcons were designed that vary as to their degree of aural disagreeableness and pitch. It is hypothesized that dissonant earcons (possessing aural disagreeableness) and low pitch earcons would be perceived as communicating a higher degree of hazard associated with an underlying computing problem signaled by an exception message. Results indicate support for the hypotheses. The implications are that it may be possible to increase the degree of hazard matching in IT environments by designing earcons to communicate different levels of perceived severity of an underlying computer problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper a Bayesian Networks-based solution for dialogue modelling is presented. This solution is combined with carefully designed contextual information handling strategies. With the purpose of validating these solutions, and introducing a spoken dialogue system for controlling a Hi-Fi audio system as the selected prototype, a real-user evaluation has been conducted. Two different versions of the prototype are compared. Each version corresponds to a different implementation of the algorithm for the management of the actuation order, the algorithm for deciding the proper order to carry out the actions required by the user. The evaluation is carried out in terms of a battery of both subjective and objective metrics collected from speakers interacting with the Hi-Fi audio box through predefined scenarios. Defined metrics have been specifically adapted to measure: first, the usefulness and the actual relevance of the proposed solutions, and, secondly, their joint performance through their intelligent combination mainly measured as the level achieved with regard to the user satisfaction. A thorough and comprehensive study of the main differences between both approaches is presented. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests are also included to measure the effects of both: the system used and the type of scenario factors, simultaneously. Finally, the effect of bringing this flexibility, robustness and naturalness into our home dialogue system is also analyzed through the results obtained. These results show that the intelligence of our speech interface has been well perceived, highlighting its excellent ease of use and its good acceptance by users, therefore validating the approached dialogue management solutions and demonstrating that a more natural, flexible and robust dialogue is possible thanks to them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Haptic feedback has the potential to enhance users’ sense of being engaged and creative in their artwork. Current work on providing haptic feedback in computer-based drawing applications has focused mainly on the realism of the haptic sensation rather than the users’ experience of that sensation in the context of their creative work. We present a study that focuses on user experience of three haptic drawing interfaces. These interfaces were based on two different haptic metaphors, one of which mimicked familiar drawing tools (such as pen, pencil or crayon on smooth or rough paper) and the other of which drew on abstract descriptors of haptic experience (roughness, stickiness, scratchiness and smoothness). It was found that users valued having control over the haptic sensation; that each metaphor was preferred by approximately half of the participants; and that the real world metaphor interface was considered more helpful than the abstract one, whereas the abstract interface was considered to better support creativity. This suggests that future interfaces for artistic work should have user-modifiable interaction styles for controlling the haptic sensation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This essay is a personal reflection on John Long’s keynote address at the BCS People and Computers meeting in Nottingham in the summer of 1989. I try to locate the paper’s purpose and significance within the history of human-computer interaction (HCI), both prior to 1989 and subsequently, and particularly with respect to the abiding questions of what sort of enterprise HCI is, and of what sorts of knowledge it uses and produces. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An assumption behind new interface approaches that employ physical means of interaction is that these can leverage users’ prior knowledge from the real world, making them intuitive or ‘natural’ to use. This paper presents a user study of Tangible Augmented Reality, which shows that physical input tools can invite a wide variety of interaction behaviours and raise unmatched expectations about how to interact. Children played with interactive sequences in an augmented book using physical paddles to control the main characters. Our analysis focuses on how knowledge and skills that children have from the physical world succeed or fail to apply in the interaction with this application. We found that children expected the digital augmentations to behave and react analogous to physical 3D objects, encouraged by the ability to act in 3D space and the (digital) visual feedback. The affordances of the paddles as physical interaction devices invited actions that the system could not detect or interpret. In effect, children often struggled to understand what it was in their actions that made the system react. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In most of the existing human–computer interfaces, enactive knowledge as new natural interaction paradigm has not been fully exploited yet. Recent technological advances have created the possibility to enhance naturally and significantly the interface perception by means of visual inputs, the so-called Vision-Based Interfaces (VBI). In the present paper, we explore the recovery of the user’s body posture by means of combining robust computer vision techniques and a well known inverse kinematics algorithm in real-time. Specifically, we focus on recognizing the user’s motions with a particular mean, that is, a body gesture. Defining an appropriate representation of the user’s body posture based on a temporal parameterization, we apply non-parametric techniques to learn and recognize the user’s body gestures. This scheme of recognition has been applied to control a computer videogame in real-time to show the viability of the presented approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents an investigation of the self-serving biases of interface agent users. An experiment that involved 202 MS Office users demonstrated that, in contrast to the self-serving hypothesis in attribution theory, people do not always attribute the successful outcomes of human–agent interaction to themselves and negative results to interface agents. At the same time, it was found that as the degree of autonomy of MS Office interface agents increases, users tend to assign more negative attributions to agents under the condition of failure and more positive attributions under the condition of success. Overall, this research attempts to understand the behavior of interface agent users and presents several conclusions that may be of interest to human–computer interaction researchers and software designers working on the incorporation of interface agents in end-user systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of auditory display (the use of non-speech sounds to convey information) applied to the study of molecular properties in human–computer interfaces, particularly in virtual environments. Chemistry researchers and students have difficulty in analysing and comprehending molecular structure and bonding and other biomolecular characteristics. Research reports that non-speech sounds have been useful in identifying trends in gene sequences and molecular characteristics, which when used in virtual environments, can facilitate comprehension of complex relationships that are difficult to perceive through visualisation alone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There have been many debates on how to design the human–computer interface (HCI). Often, one can find that different views in a debate are simply because these views are attached to different aspects which embody the same thing. In other words, prior to giving an effective judgment of a debate, one needs to establish an understanding of the ‘total’ aspects of a thing the debate is about. Following this line of thinking, in this paper, we propose an understanding of the ‘total’ aspects of designing HCI, which is called the total interface design framework. We then judge several debates under this framework with the purpose of exemplifying the judgment process for any other debate related to designing HCI. At the end, the debates used for exemplifying our judgment process can be resolved. The effectiveness of the total interface design framework for integrating the different HCI approaches is also demonstrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The notion of ‘universal access’ reflects the concept of an Information Society in which potentially anyone (i.e. any user) will interact with computing machines, at anytime and anyplace (i.e. in any context of use) and for virtually anything (i.e. for any task). Towards reaching a successful and cost effective realization of this vision, it is critical to ensure that the future interface development tools provide all the necessary instrumentation to support inclusive design, i.e. facilitate inclusive development. In the meantime, it is crucial that both tool developers and interface developers acquire awareness regarding the key development features they should pursue when investigating for the most appropriate software engineering support in addressing such a largely demanding development goal (i.e. universally accessible interactions). This paper discusses a corpus of key development requirements for building universally accessible interactions that has been consolidated from real practice, in the course of six medium-to-large scale research projects, all completed, within a 10 years timeframe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It is generally recognized that today''s frontier of HCI research lies beyond the traditional desktop computers whose GUI interfaces were built on the foundation of display—pointing device—full keyboard. Many interface challenges arise without such a physical UI foundation. Text writing—ranging from entering URLs and search queries, filling forms, typing commands, to taking notes and writing emails and chat messages—is one of the hard problems awaiting for solutions in off-desktop computing. This paper summarizes and synthesizes a research program on this topic at the IBM Almaden Research Center. It analyzes various dimensions that constitute a good text input interface; briefly reviews related literature; discusses the evaluation methodology issues of text input; presents the major ideas and results of two systems, ATOMIK and SHARK; and points out current and future directions in the area from our current vantage point. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, four types of experienced HCI Professionals are interviewed about their different ways of describing users. By use of the qualitative research interview technique of thematizing the dialogue as explicit, implicit and constructive conversations about users, these differences are explored. The research shows that the traditional usability engineering approach to user description produce person descriptions that are filled with idiosyncratic information about the individual in the particular test situation. Less traditional approaches to user modelling give other kinds of schematic user typification in terms of the users'' roles, users'' social events or users'' self-concepts. Despite the obvious fallacies in these approaches, typification of users appears unproblematic for the experienced HCI professional, because in practice user types are rich conceptual structures that support professional user modelling. Accordingly, we suggest that it might not be that important to discuss why user types exist, but rather to study their application and change and under which conditions they become user stereotypes, and how we may counteract the negative effects of user stereotypes on design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper addresses issues raised by the ever-expanding role of email as a multi-faceted application that combines communication, collaboration, and task management. Individual differences analysis was used to contrast two email user interfaces in terms of their demands on users. The results of this analysis were then interpreted in terms of their implications for designing more inclusive interfaces that meet the needs of users with widely ranging abilities.The specific target of this research is the development of a new type of email message representation that makes pending tasks more visible. We describe a study that compared a new way of representing tasks in an email inbox, with a more standard representation (the Microsoft Outlook inbox). The study consisted of an experiment that examined how people with different levels of three specific cognitive capabilities (flexibility of closure, visual memory, and working memory) perform when using these representations. We then identified combinations of representation and task that are disadvantageous for people with low levels of the measured capabilities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The communication and interpretation of users’ intentions play a key role in collaborative web discussions. However, existing computational mechanisms are not effective in supporting the expression of intentions during collaborations. In this article, we present the design of interactive mechanisms that allow users to make their intentions explicit. The study considered the domain of collaborative forums of software developers. The mechanisms design was based on semiotic principles and artifacts. They were implemented and evaluated to assess their effectiveness. We investigated to which extent the mechanisms support users in the task of interpreting message exchanges in forums that make use of the mechanisms. The results reveal the suitability of the designed interface elements, enabling more meaningful and successful communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a study that quantifies the effect of cold temperature on smartphone input performance, particularly on tapping tasks. Our results show that smartphone input performance decreases when completing tapping tasks in cold temperatures. We show that colder temperature is associated with lower throughput and less accurate performance when using the phone in both one-handed and two-handed operations. We also demonstrate that colder temperature is related to higher error rate when using the phone in one-handed operation only, but not two-handed. Finally, we identify a number of design recommendations from the literature that can be considered as a countermeasure to poorer smartphone input performance in completing tapping tasks in cold temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of age on visuomotor tracking using submental and anterior neck surface electromyography (sEMG) to assess feasibility of computer control via neck musculature, which allows people with little remaining motor function to interact with computers. Thirty-two healthy adults participated: 16 younger adults aged 18-29 years and 16 older adults aged 69-85 years. Participants modulated sEMG to achieve targets presented at different amplitudes using real-time visual feedback. Root mean squared (RMS) error was used to quantify tracking performance. RMS error was increased for older adults relative to younger adults. Older adults demonstrated more RMS error than younger adults as a function of increasing target amplitude. The differential effects of age found on static tracking performance in anterior neck musculature suggest more difficult translation of human--computer interfaces controlled using anterior neck musculature for static tasks to older populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blog has become one of the most important virtual spaces where people express their uniqueness and define themselves in social groups. Bloggers place great emphasis on the visual interface of blogs, and both usability and affective factors are important considerations for a successful blog. This study aims to determine major dimensions influencing user affective responses to personalized blog interfaces, and the corresponding design factors that bloggers or platform developers may apply to effectively manipulate them. This study used the Affective/Kansei Engineering approach and two multidimensional scaling algorithms to evaluate the affective responses of users. In conclusion, this study first defined the three dimensions of an affective perceptual space, and their corresponding design factors and affective responses. Secondly, it investigated the relationship between the visual features of 18 typical blogs and the 12 typical affective response vectors in this space. This study also discussed blog interface design guidelines for bloggers and developers. These findings highlight the application potential for developing customized blog template or automated database template generation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article places the notion of organic user interfaces in a historical context of developments in architecture, art and design, and illustrates the organic design of several recent projects. These examples are drawn from the author’s own practice, in musical instrument design, video interfaces and installations, liquid architecture, interactive textiles and 3D printed individually shaped user interfaces. The reciprocal relationship between the human form and function and interface design is discussed, in the historical context of aesthetic and practical responses to technological developments, through the concept of anthropomorphic resonances. The approach proposed and illustrated through the examples aims to shape the (passive as well as the dynamic) shape of the organic user interface to establish these resonances. The use of active feedback and haptic presentation is presented as a way of creating a dynamic organic shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a new type of organic user interface that displays a 3D robotic creature, ‘MoleBot’ to provide a ludic experience inspired by traditional board games. To ensure fluid motions of the molehills cast by the ‘MoleBot’, the table surface combines horizontal rigidity with the vertical flexibility of over 15,000 movable pins. Users are enabled to kinetically interact with this creature via a joystick or gestural commands. We conducted user study sessions with 12 participants and classified the observed spontaneous play activities into 4 distinct categories: (1) enjoying simple ludic experience, (2) competing in skills, (3) mimicking realworld sports and (4) playing with a companion. In addition, a focusgroup interview with six video scenarios was conducted to explore the idea of potential applications and it was suggested that the ‘MoleBot’ can be used in interactive board-gaming environments and kinetically informative tabletops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]