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Thumb based interaction is becoming increasingly popular in mobile devices. However, the interaction still remains slow, ambiguous, and error-prone. This paper presents an exploratory user experiment results of one-thumb pointing and dragging task performance, based on three factors: mobile size, target size, and posture (sitting and walking positions). Beside obvious findings, we observed some surprising scenarios, such as the gripping style of most users was casual and did not follow any formal model or structure. We concluded our experiences into design implications with respect to mobile size, posture, and gripping styles.

We are concurrently witnessing two significant shifts: mobiles are becoming the most used computing device; and older people are becoming the largest demographic group. However, despite the recent increase in related CHI publication, older adults continue to be underrepresented in HCI research as well as commercially, further widening the digital divide they face and hampering their social participation. This workshop aims to increase the momentum for such research within CHI and related fields such as gerontechnology. We plan to create a space for discussing and sharing principles and strategies to design and evaluate mobile user interfaces for the aging population. We thus welcome contributions to empirical studies, theories, design and evaluation of mobile interfaces for older adults.

Cognitive impairments decrease the quality of life of the elderly. Earlier studies show multitasking sedentary video games are an effective intervention. However, little work has studied multitasking motion video games which can be more directly beneficial for overall wellbeing. This project investigates the efficacy of multitasking motion video games for the cognitive enhancement of the elderly. As a response to this situation, we developed a custom-made game called Safari Move. Here we report the initial step towards our goal in which we studied whether or not elderly people enjoy playing our game. Two important game elements were studied - skill balancing methods and controller types. Our results demonstrate that our participants enjoyed playing our game, and that they prefer manual over dynamic difficulty adjustment, and Microsoft Kinect over Gamepad. Future work will use neuroimaging and cognitive assessment tools to investigate the effectiveness of Safari Move to enhance cognitive function.

We are often overwhelmed by everyday stressors. Mindfulness meditation can help slow things down and bring one's attention into the present moment. Given the prevalence of smartphones, mindfulness-based mobile applications (MBMAs) have received much attention. Current MBMAs mainly use the guided meditation method which may not be always effective, e.g., users may not be able to follow the pace of instructions and they need a private environment. This paper presents a framework for interactive MBMAs which allows users to self-regulate their attention according to their abilities and conditions. The framework is described by an Attention-Regulation Process and has two components: (1) Relaxation Response and (2) Attention Restoration Theory. The framework is validated by our experiment. It also informs future development for interactive meditation and has broad implications for designing mindfulness and well-being.

In our fast-paced society, stress and anxiety have become increasingly common. Meditation for relaxation has received much attention. Meditation apps exploit various senses, e.g., touch, audio and vision, but the relationship between human senses and interactive meditation is not well understood. This paper empirically evaluates the effects of single and combined human senses on interactive meditation. We found that the effectiveness of human senses can be defined by their respective roles in maintaining the balance between relaxation and focus. This work is the first to attempt to understand these relationships. The findings have broad implications for the field of multi-modal interaction and interactive meditation applications.

Body-based interfaces have recently attracted much attention. In such interfaces, gross motor skills are critical in providing a safe and pleasant experience. However, little is known about gross motor performance, particularly on the age-related differences between the elderly and young adults. This study compares simple gross motor skills of the elderly with those of younger adults when performing arm and leg movements in different directions and different time intervals. By measuring participants' body movements during the task, we identified movement ranges, awkward movements, and the appropriate time interval between consecutive movements. We conclude by providing relevant HCI design implications.

This paper addresses the design of user interfaces for aging adults. Older people differ vastly in how aging affects their perceptual, motor, and cognitive abilities. When it comes to interface design for aging users, the "one design for all" approach fails. We present first results from attempts to extend ability-based design to the aging population. We describe a novel approach using age-related differences as the principle of optimizing interactive tasks. We argue that, to be successful, predictive models must take into account how users adapt their behavioral strategies as a function of their abilities. When combined with design optimization, such models allow us to investigate optimal designs more broadly, examining trade-offs among several design factors. We present first results on optimizing text entry methods for user groups with different age-related declines.

Engagement is a key reason for introducing gamification to learning and thus serves as an important measurement of its effectiveness. Based on a literature review and meta-synthesis, this paper proposes a comprehensive framework of engagement in gamification for learning. The framework sketches out the connections among gamification strategies, dimensions of engagement, and the ultimate learning outcome. It also elicits other task - and user - related factors that may potentially impact the effect of gamification on learner engagement. To verify and further strengthen the framework, we conducted a user study to demonstrate that: 1) different gamification strategies can trigger different facets of engagement; 2) the three dimensions of engagement have varying effects on skill acquisition and transfer; and 3) task nature and learner characteristics that were overlooked in previous studies can influence the engagement process. Our framework provides an in-depth understanding of the mechanism of gamification for learning, and can serve as a theoretical foundation for future research and design.

Mid-air gestures enable intuitive and natural interactions. However, few studies have investigated the use of mid-air gestures for blind people. TV interactions are one promising use of mid-air gestures for blind people, as "listening"' to TV is one of their most common activities. Thus, we investigated mid-air TV gestures for blind people through two studies. Study 1 used a user-elicitation approach where blind people were asked to define gestures given a set of commands. Then, we present a classification of gesture types and the frequency of body parts usage. Nevertheless, our participants had difficulty imagining gestures for some commands. Thus, we conducted Study 2 that used a choice-based elicitation approach where the participants selected their favorite gesture from a predefined list of choices. We found that providing choices help guide users to discover suitable gestures for unfamiliar commands. We discuss concrete design guidelines for mid-air TV gestures for blind people.

This SIG advances the study of mobile user interfaces for the aging population. The topic is timely, as the mobile device has become the most widely used computer terminal and at the same time the number of older people will soon exceed the number of children worldwide. However, most HCI research addresses younger adults and has had little impact on older adults. Some design trends, like the mantra “smaller is smarter”, contradict the needs of older users. Developments like this may diminish their ability to access information and participate in society. This can lead to further isolation (social and physical) of older adults and increased widening of the digital divide. This SIG aims to discuss mobile interfaces for older adults. The SIG has three goals: (i) to map the state-of-art, (ii) to build a community gathering experts from related areas, and (iii) to raise awareness within the SIGCHI community. The SIG will be open to all at CHI.

Full-body motion gestures enable realistic and intuitive input in video games. However, little is known regarding how different kinds of players engage/disengage with full-body game interaction. In this paper, adopting a user-typing approach, we explore player differences and their preferences in full-body gesture interaction (i.e., Kinect). Specifically, we hypothesize three human factors that influence player engagement in full-body game interaction, i.e., the player's motivation to succeed (achiever vs. casual player), motivation to move (mover vs. non-mover), and game expertise (gamer vs. non-gamer). To explore the hypotheses, we conducted an experiment where participants were tasked with playing three different video games supporting full-body game gestures. The results suggest a significant correlation and main effect of the three factors on players' engagement. The results also suggest three important game properties that affect players' preferences: level of cognitive challenge, level of physical challenge and level of realistic interaction.