arXiv subjects

Nadir Weibel

Publications and source records attributed to Nadir Weibel.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Screen or No Screen? Lessons Learnt from a Real-World Deployment Study of Using Voice Assistants With and Without Touchscreen for Older Adults

While voice user interfaces offer increased accessibility due to hands-free and eyes-free interactions, older adults often have challenges such as constructing structured requests and perceiving how such devices operate. Voice-first user interfaces have the potential to address these challenges by enabling multimodal interactions. Standalone voice + touchscreen Voice Assistants (VAs), such as Echo Show, are specific types of devices that adopt such interfaces and are gaining popularity. However, the affordances of the additional touchscreen for older adults are unknown. Through a 40-day real-world deployment with older adults living independently, we present a within-subjects study (N = 16; age M = 82.5, SD = 7.77, min. = 70, max. = 97) to understand how a built-in touchscreen might benefit older adults during device setup, conducting self-report diary survey, and general uses. We found that while participants appreciated the visual outputs, they still preferred to respond via speech instead of touch. We identified six design implications that can inform future innovations of senior-friendly VAs for managing healthcare and improving quality of life.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2022

VRContour: Bringing Contour Delineations of Medical Structures Into Virtual Reality

Contouring is an indispensable step in Radiotherapy (RT) treatment planning. However, today's contouring software is constrained to only work with a 2D display, which is less intuitive and requires high task loads. Virtual Reality (VR) has shown great potential in various specialties of healthcare and health sciences education due to the unique advantages of intuitive and natural interactions in immersive spaces. VR-based radiation oncology integration has also been advocated as a target healthcare application, allowing providers to directly interact with 3D medical structures. We present VRContour and investigate how to effectively bring contouring for radiation oncology into VR. Through an autobiographical iterative design, we defined three design spaces focused on contouring in VR with the support of a tracked tablet and VR stylus, and investigating dimensionality for information consumption and input (either 2D or 2D + 3D). Through a within-subject study (n = 8), we found that visualizations of 3D medical structures significantly increase precision, and reduce mental load, frustration, as well as overall contouring effort. Participants also agreed with the benefits of using such metaphors for learning purposes.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2022

A DirectX-Based DICOM Viewer for Multi-User Surgical Planning in Augmented Reality

Preoperative medical imaging is an essential part of surgical planning. The data from medical imaging devices, such as CT and MRI scanners, consist of stacks of 2D images in DICOM format. Conversely, advances in 3D data visualization provide further information by assembling cross-sections into 3D volumetric datasets. As Microsoft unveiled the HoloLens 2 (HL2), which is considered one of the best Mixed Reality (XR) headsets in the market, it promised to enhance visualization in 3D by providing an immersive experience to users. This paper introduces a prototype holographic XR DICOM Viewer for the 3D visualization of DICOM image sets on HL2 for surgical planning. We first developed a standalone graphical C++ engine using the native DirectX11 API and HLSL shaders. Based on that, the prototype further applies the OpenXR API for potential deployment on a wide range of devices from vendors across the XR spectrum. With native access to the device, our prototype unravels the limitation of hardware capabilities on HL2 for 3D volume rendering and interaction. Moreover, smartphones can act as input devices to provide another user interaction method by connecting to our server. In this paper, we present a holographic DICOM viewer for the HoloLens 2 and contribute (i) a prototype that renders the DICOM image stacks in real-time on HL2, (ii) three types of user interactions in XR, and (iii) a preliminary qualitative evaluation of our prototype.

cs.MM↗

arXiv2022

Investigating Input Modality and Task Geometry on Precision-first 3D Drawing in Virtual Reality

Accurately drawing non-planar 3D curves in immersive Virtual Reality (VR) is indispensable for many precise 3D tasks. However, due to lack of physical support, limited depth perception, and the non-planar nature of 3D curves, it is challenging to adjust mid-air strokes to achieve high precision. Instead of creating new interaction techniques, we investigated how task geometric shapes and input modalities affect precision-first drawing performance in a within-subject study (n = 12) focusing on 3D target tracing in commercially available VR headsets. We found that compared to using bare hands, VR controllers and pens yield nearly 30% of precision gain, and that the tasks with large curvature, forward-backward or left-right orientations perform best. We finally discuss opportunities for designing novel interaction techniques for precise 3D drawing. We believe that our work will benefit future research aiming to create usable toolboxes for precise 3D drawing.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2022

Towards Visualization of Time-Series Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) Data on Standalone Voice-First Virtual Assistants

Population aging is an increasingly important consideration for health care in the 21th century, and continuing to have access and interact with digital health information is a key challenge for aging populations. Voice-based Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) are promising to improve the Quality of Life (QoL) of older adults, and coupled with Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA) they can be effective to collect important health information from older adults, especially when it comes to repeated time-based events. However, this same EMA data is hard to access for the older adult: although the newest IVAs are equipped with a display, the effectiveness of visualizing time-series based EMA data on standalone IVAs has not been explored. To investigate the potential opportunities for visualizing time-series based EMA data on standalone IVAs, we designed a prototype system, where older adults are able to query and examine the time-series EMA data on Amazon Echo Show - a widely used commercially available standalone screen-based IVA. We conducted a preliminary semi-structured interview with a geriatrician and an older adult, and identified three findings that should be carefully considered when designing such visualizations.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2022

Making Hidden Bias Visible: Designing a Feedback Ecosystem for Primary Care Providers

Implicit bias may perpetuate healthcare disparities for marginalized patient populations. Such bias is expressed in communication between patients and their providers. We design an ecosystem with guidance from providers to make this bias explicit in patient-provider communication. Our end users are providers seeking to improve their quality of care for patients who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and/or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ). We present wireframes displaying communication metrics that negatively impact patient-centered care divided into the following categories: digital nudge, dashboard, and guided reflection. Our wireframes provide quantitative, real-time, and conversational feedback promoting provider reflection on their interactions with patients. This is the first design iteration toward the development of a tool to raise providers' awareness of their own implicit biases.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2022

QTBIPOC PD: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation in Participatory Design

As Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research aims to be inclusive and representative of many marginalized identities, there is still a lack of available literature and research on intersectional considerations of race, gender, and sexual orientation, especially when it comes to participatory design. We aim to create a space to generate community recommendations for effectively and appropriately engaging Queer, Transgender, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC) populations in participatory design, and discuss methods of dissemination for recommendations. Workshop participants will engage with critical race theory, queer theory, and feminist theory to reflect on current exclusionary HCI and participatory design methods and practices.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2021

Understanding Barriers and Design Opportunities to Improve Healthcare and QOL for Older Adults through Voice Assistants

Voice based Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) promise to improve healthcare management and Quality of Life (QOL) by introducing the paradigm of hands free and eye free interactions. However, there has been little understanding regarding the challenges for designing such systems for older adults, especially when it comes to healthcare related tasks. To tackle this, we consider the processes of care delivery and QOL enhancements for older adults as a collaborative task between patients and providers. By interviewing 16 older adults living independently or semi independently and 5 providers, we identified 12 barriers that older adults might encounter during daily routine and while managing health. We ultimately highlighted key design challenges and opportunities that might be introduced when integrating voice based IVAs into the life of older adults. Our work will benefit practitioners who study and attempt to create full fledged IVA powered smart devices to deliver better care and support an increased QOL for aging populations.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2020

Interactive Multi-User 3D Visual Analytics in Augmented Reality

This publication reports on a research project in which we set out to explore the advantages and disadvantages augmented reality (AR) technology has for visual data analytics. We developed a prototype of an AR data analytics application, which provides users with an interactive 3D interface, hand gesture-based controls and multi-user support for a shared experience, enabling multiple people to collaboratively visualize, analyze and manipulate data with high dimensional features in 3D space. Our software prototype, called DataCube, runs on the Microsoft HoloLens - one of the first true stand-alone AR headsets, through which users can see computer-generated images overlaid onto real-world objects in the user's physical environment. Using hand gestures, the users can select menu options, control the 3D data visualization with various filtering and visualization functions, and freely arrange the various menus and virtual displays in their environment. The shared multi-user experience allows all participating users to see and interact with the virtual environment, changes one user makes will become visible to the other users instantly. As users engage together they are not restricted from observing the physical world simultaneously and therefore they can also see non-verbal cues such as gesturing or facial reactions of other users in the physical environment. The main objective of this research project was to find out if AR interfaces and collaborative analysis can provide an effective solution for data analysis tasks, and our experience with our prototype system confirms this.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2016

Managing Commercial HVAC Systems: What do Building Operators Really Need?

Buildings form an essential part of modern life; people spend a significant amount of their time in them, and they consume large amounts of energy. A variety of systems provide services such as lighting, air conditioning and security which are managed using Building Management Systems (BMS) by building operators. To better understand the capability of current BMS and characterize common practices of building operators, we investigated their use across five institutions in the US. We interviewed ten operators and discovered that BMS do not address a number of key concerns for the management of buildings. Our analysis is rooted in the everyday work of building operators and highlights a number of design suggestions to help improve the user experience and management of BMS, ultimately leading to improvements in productivity, as well as buildings comfort and energy efficiency.

cs.CY↗

arXiv2016

Genie: A Longitudinal Study Comparing Physical and Software-augmented Thermostats in Office Buildings

Thermostats are primary interfaces for occupants of office buildings to express their comfort preferences. However, standard thermostats are often ineffective due to inaccessibility, lack of information, or limited responsiveness, leading to occupant discomfort. Software thermostats based on web or smartphone applications provide alternative interfaces to occupants with minimal deployment cost. However, their usage and effectiveness have not been studied extensively in real settings. In this paper we present Genie, a novel software-augmented thermostat that we deployed and studied at our university over a period of 21 months. Our data shows that providing wider thermal control to users does not lead to system abuse and that the effect on energy consumption is minimal while improving comfort and energy awareness. We believe that increased introduction of software thermostats in office buildings will have important effects on comfort and energy consumption and we provide key design recommendations for their implementation and deployment.

cs.HC↗