Showing papers on "User interface published in 2017"
TL;DR: ImageJ2 as mentioned in this paper is the next generation of ImageJ, which provides a host of new functionality and separates concerns, fully decoupling the data model from the user interface.
Abstract: ImageJ is an image analysis program extensively used in the biological sciences and beyond. Due to its ease of use, recordable macro language, and extensible plug-in architecture, ImageJ enjoys contributions from non-programmers, amateur programmers, and professional developers alike. Enabling such a diversity of contributors has resulted in a large community that spans the biological and physical sciences. However, a rapidly growing user base, diverging plugin suites, and technical limitations have revealed a clear need for a concerted software engineering effort to support emerging imaging paradigms, to ensure the software’s ability to handle the requirements of modern science. We rewrote the entire ImageJ codebase, engineering a redesigned plugin mechanism intended to facilitate extensibility at every level, with the goal of creating a more powerful tool that continues to serve the existing community while addressing a wider range of scientific requirements. This next-generation ImageJ, called “ImageJ2” in places where the distinction matters, provides a host of new functionality. It separates concerns, fully decoupling the data model from the user interface. It emphasizes integration with external applications to maximize interoperability. Its robust new plugin framework allows everything from image formats, to scripting languages, to visualization to be extended by the community. The redesigned data model supports arbitrarily large, N-dimensional datasets, which are increasingly common in modern image acquisition. Despite the scope of these changes, backwards compatibility is maintained such that this new functionality can be seamlessly integrated with the classic ImageJ interface, allowing users and developers to migrate to these new methods at their own pace. Scientific imaging benefits from open-source programs that advance new method development and deployment to a diverse audience. ImageJ has continuously evolved with this idea in mind; however, new and emerging scientific requirements have posed corresponding challenges for ImageJ’s development. The described improvements provide a framework engineered for flexibility, intended to support these requirements as well as accommodate future needs. Future efforts will focus on implementing new algorithms in this framework and expanding collaborations with other popular scientific software suites.
5,584 citations
TL;DR: TrackMate is an extensible platform where developers can easily write their own detection, particle linking, visualization or analysis algorithms within the TrackMate environment and is validated for quantitative lifetime analysis of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in plant cells.
3,306 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: The entire ImageJ codebase was rewrote, engineering a redesigned plugin mechanism intended to facilitate extensibility at every level, with the goal of creating a more powerful tool that continues to serve the existing community while addressing a wider range of scientific requirements.
Abstract: ImageJ is an image analysis program extensively used in the biological sciences and beyond. Due to its ease of use, recordable macro language, and extensible plug-in architecture, ImageJ enjoys contributions from non-programmers, amateur programmers, and professional developers alike. Enabling such a diversity of contributors has resulted in a large community that spans the biological and physical sciences. However, a rapidly growing user base, diverging plugin suites, and technical limitations have revealed a clear need for a concerted software engineering effort to support emerging imaging paradigms, to ensure the software's ability to handle the requirements of modern science. Due to these new and emerging challenges in scientific imaging, ImageJ is at a critical development crossroads.
We present ImageJ2, a total redesign of ImageJ offering a host of new functionality. It separates concerns, fully decoupling the data model from the user interface. It emphasizes integration with external applications to maximize interoperability. Its robust new plugin framework allows everything from image formats, to scripting languages, to visualization to be extended by the community. The redesigned data model supports arbitrarily large, N-dimensional datasets, which are increasingly common in modern image acquisition. Despite the scope of these changes, backwards compatibility is maintained such that this new functionality can be seamlessly integrated with the classic ImageJ interface, allowing users and developers to migrate to these new methods at their own pace. ImageJ2 provides a framework engineered for flexibility, intended to support these requirements as well as accommodate future needs.
2,156 citations
TL;DR: The Pathview Web server is developed, to make pathway visualization and data integration accessible to all scientists, including those without the special computing skills or resources, and presents a comprehensive workflow for both regular and integrated pathway analysis of multiple omics data.
Abstract: Pathway analysis is widely used in omics studies. Pathway-based data integration and visualization is a critical component of the analysis. To address this need, we recently developed a novel R package called Pathview. Pathview maps, integrates and renders a large variety of biological data onto molecular pathway graphs. Here we developed the Pathview Web server, as to make pathway visualization and data integration accessible to all scientists, including those without the special computing skills or resources. Pathview Web features an intuitive graphical web interface and a user centered design. The server not only expands the core functions of Pathview, but also provides many useful features not available in the offline R package. Importantly, the server presents a comprehensive workflow for both regular and integrated pathway analysis of multiple omics data. In addition, the server also provides a RESTful API for programmatic access and conveniently integration in third-party software or workflows. Pathview Web is openly and freely accessible at https://pathview.uncc.edu/.
391 citations
17 Jul 2017
TL;DR: A usability test of the most prestigious and internationally used Speech-based NUI (i.e., Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Google’s) shows that even though there are many services available, there is a lot to do to improve the usability of these systems.
Abstract: Natural User Interfaces (NUI) are supposed to be used by humans in a very logic way. However, the run to deploy Speech-based NUIs by the industry has had a large impact on the naturality of such interfaces. This paper presents a usability test of the most prestigious and internationally used Speech-based NUI (i.e., Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Google’s). A comparison of the services that each one provides was also performed considering: access to music services, agenda, news, weather, To-Do lists and maps or directions, among others. The test was design by two Human Computer Interaction experts and executed by eight persons. Results show that even though there are many services available, there is a lot to do to improve the usability of these systems. Specially focused on separating the traditional use of computers (based on applications that require parameters to function) and to get closer to real NUIs.
309 citations
TL;DR: Maplab as discussed by the authors is an open, research-oriented visual-inertial mapping framework for processing and manipulating multi-session maps, written in C++, which includes a collection of multisession mapping tools that include map merging, visual inertial batch optimization, and loop closure.
Abstract: Robust and accurate visual-inertial estimation is crucial to many of today's challenges in robotics. Being able to localize against a prior map and obtain accurate and driftfree pose estimates can push the applicability of such systems even further. Most of the currently available solutions, however, either focus on a single session use-case, lack localization capabilities or an end-to-end pipeline. We believe that only a complete system, combining state-of-the-art algorithms, scalable multi-session mapping tools, and a flexible user interface, can become an efficient research platform.
We therefore present maplab, an open, research-oriented visual-inertial mapping framework for processing and manipulating multi-session maps, written in C++. On the one hand, maplab can be seen as a ready-to-use visual-inertial mapping and localization system. On the other hand, maplab provides the research community with a collection of multisession mapping tools that include map merging, visual-inertial batch optimization, and loop closure. Furthermore, it includes an online frontend that can create visual-inertial maps and also track a global drift-free pose within a localization map. In this paper, we present the system architecture, five use-cases, and evaluations of the system on public datasets. The source code of maplab is freely available for the benefit of the robotics research community.
289 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: A literature review of quality issues and attributes as they relate to the contemporary issue of chatbot development and implementation is presented, and a quality assessment method based on these attributes and the Analytic Hierarchy Process is proposed and examined.
Abstract: Chatbots are one class of intelligent, conversational software agents activated by natural language input (which can be in the form of text, voice, or both). They provide conversational output in response, and if commanded, can sometimes also execute tasks. Although chatbot technologies have existed since the 1960s and have influenced user interface development in games since the early 1980s, chatbots are now easier to train and implement. This is due to plentiful open source code, widely available development platforms, and implementation options via Software as a Service (SaaS). In addition to enhancing customer experiences and supporting learning, chatbots can also be used to engineer social harm - that is, to spread rumors and misinformation, or attack people for posting their thoughts and opinions online. This paper presents a literature review of quality issues and attributes as they relate to the contemporary issue of chatbot development and implementation. Finally, quality assessment approaches are reviewed, and a quality assessment method based on these attributes and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is proposed and examined.
274 citations
2 May 2017
TL;DR: This work presents WiDance, a Wi-Fi-based user interface, which is utilized to design and prototype a contactless dance-pad exergame and proposes a light-weight pipeline to detect, segment, and recognize motions without training.
Abstract: In-air interaction acts as a key enabler for ambient intelligence and augmented reality. As an increasing popular example, exergames, and the alike gesture recognition applications, have attracted extensive research in designing accurate, pervasive and low-cost user interfaces. Recent advances in wireless sensing show promise for a ubiquitous gesture-based interaction interface with Wi-Fi. In this work, we extract complete information of motion-induced Doppler shifts with only commodity Wi-Fi. The key insight is to harness antenna diversity to carefully eliminate random phase shifts while retaining relevant Doppler shifts. We further correlate Doppler shifts with motion directions, and propose a light-weight pipeline to detect, segment, and recognize motions without training. On this basis, we present WiDance, a Wi-Fi-based user interface, which we utilize to design and prototype a contactless dance-pad exergame. Experimental results in typical indoor environment demonstrate a superior performance with an accuracy of 92%, remarkably outperforming prior approaches.
267 citations
TL;DR: To assess the Microsoft HoloLens’ potential for delivering AR assembly instructions, the cross-platform Unity 3D game engine was used to build a proof of concept application and showed that while the HoloLens is a promising system, there are still areas that require improvement, such as tracking accuracy, before the device is ready for deployment in a factory assembly setting.
Abstract: Industry and academia have repeatedly demonstrated the transformative potential of Augmented Reality (AR) guided assembly instructions. In the past, however, computational and hardware limitations often dictated that these systems were deployed on tablets or other cumbersome devices. Often, tablets impede worker progress by diverting a user's hands and attention, forcing them to alternate between the instructions and the assembly process. Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) overcome those diversions by allowing users to view the instructions in a hands-free manner while simultaneously performing an assembly operation. Thanks to rapid technological advances, wireless commodity AR HMDs are becoming commercially available. Specifically, the pioneering Microsoft HoloLens, provides an opportunity to explore a hands-free HMD’s ability to deliver AR assembly instructions and what a user interface looks like for such an application. Such an exploration is necessary because it is not certain how previous research on user interfaces will transfer to the HoloLens or other new commodity HMDs. In addition, while new HMD technology is promising, its ability to deliver a robust AR assembly experience is still unknown. To assess the HoloLens’ potential for delivering AR assembly instructions, the cross-platform Unity 3D game engine was used to build a proof of concept application. Features focused upon when building the prototype were: user interfaces, dynamic 3D assembly instructions, and spatially registered content placement. The research showed that while the HoloLens is a promising system, there are still areas that require improvement, such as tracking accuracy, before the device is ready for deployment in a factory assembly setting.
209 citations
10 Jun 2017
TL;DR: Tiles Cards, a set of 110 design cards and a workshop technique to involve non-experts in quick idea generation for augmented objects, aims to support exploring combinations of user interface metaphors, digital services, and physical objects.
Abstract: The Internet of Things (IoT) offers new opportunities to invent technology-augmented things that are more useful, efficient or playful than their ordinary selves, yet only a few tools currently support ideation for the IoT. In this paper we present Tiles Cards, a set of 110 design cards and a workshop technique to involve non-experts in quick idea generation for augmented objects. Our tool aims to support exploring combinations of user interface metaphors, digital services, and physical objects. Then it supports creative thinking through provocative design goals inspired by human values and desires. Finally, it provides critical lenses through which analyze and judge design outcomes. We evaluated our tool in 9 ideation workshops with a total of 32 participants. Results show that the tool was useful in informing and guiding idea generation and was perceived as appealing and fun. Drawing on observations and participant feedbacks, we reflect on the strengths and limitations of this tool.
196 citations
1 Sep 2017
TL;DR: NeuroNER as mentioned in this paper is an easy-to-use named entity recognition tool based on ANNs, where users can annotate entities using a graphical web-based user interface (BRAT).
Abstract: Named-entity recognition (NER) aims at identifying entities of interest in a text. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have recently been shown to outperform existing NER systems. However, ANNs remain challenging to use for non-expert users. In this paper, we present NeuroNER, an easy-to-use named-entity recognition tool based on ANNs. Users can annotate entities using a graphical web-based user interface (BRAT): the annotations are then used to train an ANN, which in turn predict entities’ locations and categories in new texts. NeuroNER makes this annotation-training-prediction flow smooth and accessible to anyone.
TL;DR: Qudi is a general, modular, multi-operating system suite written in Python 3 for controlling laboratory experiments that provides a structured environment by separating functionality into hardware abstraction, experiment logic and user interface layers.
TL;DR: A survey on hand posture and gesture is clarified with a detailed comparative analysis of hidden Markov model approach with other classifier techniques, and difficulties and future investigation bearing are also examined.
Abstract: Motion recognition is a topic in software engineering and dialect innovation with a goal of interpreting human signals through mathematical algorithm. Hand gesture is a strategy for nonverbal communication for individuals as it expresses more liberally than body parts. Hand gesture acknowledgment has more prominent significance in planning a proficient human computer interaction framework, utilizing signals as a characteristic interface favorable to circumstance of movements. Regardless, the distinguishing proof and acknowledgment of posture, gait, proxemics and human behaviors is furthermore the subject of motion to appreciate human nonverbal communication, thus building a richer bridge between machines and humans than primitive text user interfaces or even graphical user interfaces, which still limits the majority of input to electronics gadget. In this paper, a study on various motion recognition methodologies is given specific accentuation on available motions. A survey on hand posture and gesture is clarified with a detailed comparative analysis of hidden Markov model approach with other classifier techniques. Difficulties and future investigation bearing are also examined.
1 Nov 2017
TL;DR: Transkribus is a comprehensive platform for the computer-aided transcription, recognition and retrieval of digitized historical documents through an open-source desktop application that incorporates means to segment document images, to add a transcription and to tag entities within.
Abstract: Transkribus is a comprehensive platform for the computer-aided transcription, recognition and retrieval of digitized historical documents. The main user interface is provided via an open-source desktop application that incorporates means to segment document images, to add a transcription and to tag entities within. The desktop application is able to connect to the platform's backend, which implements a document management system as well as several tools for document image analysis, such as layout analysis or automatic/handwritten text recognition (ATR/HTR). Access to documents, uploaded to the platform, may be granted to other users in order to collaborate on the transcription and to share results.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A systematic literature review is conducted and a comprehensive overview of relevant psychological effects and exemplary nudges in the physical and digital sphere are provided to provide a valuable basis for researchers and practitioners that aim to study or design information systems and interventions that assist user decision making on screens.
Abstract: Individuals make increasingly more decisions on screens, such as those on websites or mobile apps. However, the nature of screens and the vast amount of information available online make individuals particularly prone to deficient decisions. Digital nudging is an approach based on insights from behavioral economics that applies user interface (UI) design elements to affect the choices of users in digital environments. UI design elements include graphic design, specific content, wording or small features. To date, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that underlie digital nudging. To address this research gap, we conducted a systematic literature review and provide a comprehensive overview of relevant psychological effects and exemplary nudges in the physical and digital sphere. These insights serve as a valuable basis for researchers and practitioners that aim to study or design information systems and interventions that assist user decision making on screens.
TL;DR: A thorough analysis of the architectural design of an intelligent operational system is completed to present a smart solution for cities to unify departments and agencies under one umbrella.
22 Apr 2017
TL;DR: The Jani model format and tool interaction protocol is a metamodel based on networks of communicating automata and has been designed for ease of implementation without sacrificing readability, to provide a stable and uniform interface between tools such as model checkers, transformers, and user interfaces.
Abstract: The formal analysis of critical systems is supported by a vast space of modelling formalisms and tools. The variety of incompatible formats and tools however poses a significant challenge to practical adoption as well as continued research. In this paper, we propose the Jani model format and tool interaction protocol. The format is a metamodel based on networks of communicating automata and has been designed for ease of implementation without sacrificing readability. The purpose of the protocol is to provide a stable and uniform interface between tools such as model checkers, transformers, and user interfaces. Jani uses the Json data format, inheriting its ease of use and inherent extensibility. Jani initially targets, but is not limited to, quantitative model checking. Several existing tools now support the verification of Jani models, and automatic converters from a diverse set of higher-level modelling languages have been implemented. The ultimate purpose of Jani is to simplify tool development, encourage research cooperation, and pave the way towards a future competition in quantitative model checking.
TL;DR: A subjective evaluation of AEPS’s effectiveness as an educational tool shows that the proposed platform not only promotes the students’ learning interest and practical ability but also consolidates their understanding and impression of theoretical concepts.
Abstract: With the purpose of further mastering and grasping the course of speech signal processing, a novel Android-based, mobile-assisted educational platform (AEPS) is proposed in this paper. The goal of this work was to design AEPS as an educational signal-processing auxiliary system by simulating signal analysis methods commonly used in speech signal processing and bridging the gap for transition from undergraduate study to industry practice or academic research. The educational platform is presented in a highly intuitive, easy-to-interpret and strongly maneuverable graphical user interface. It also has the characteristics of high portability, strong affordability, and easy adoptability for application extension and popularization. Through adequate intuitive user interface, rich visual information, and extensive hands-on experiences, it greatly facilitates students in authentic, interactive, and creative learning. This paper details a subjective evaluation of AEPS’s effectiveness as an educational tool. The re...
2 May 2017
TL;DR: GazeSpeak is an eye gesture communication system that runs on a smartphone, and is designed to be low-cost, robust, portable, and easy-to-learn, with a higher communication bandwidth than an e-tran board.
Abstract: Current eye-tracking input systems for people with ALS or other motor impairments are expensive, not robust under sunlight, and require frequent re-calibration and substantial, relatively immobile setups. Eye-gaze transfer (e-tran) boards, a low-tech alternative, are challenging to master and offer slow communication rates. To mitigate the drawbacks of these two status quo approaches, we created GazeSpeak, an eye gesture communication system that runs on a smartphone, and is designed to be low-cost, robust, portable, and easy-to-learn, with a higher communication bandwidth than an e-tran board. GazeSpeak can interpret eye gestures in real time, decode these gestures into predicted utterances, and facilitate communication, with different user interfaces for speakers and interpreters. Our evaluations demonstrate that GazeSpeak is robust, has good user satisfaction, and provides a speed improvement with respect to an e-tran board; we also identify avenues for further improvement to low-cost, low-effort gaze-based communication technologies.
Patent•
16 Feb 2017TL;DR: A gesture based user interface includes a movement monitor configured to monitor a user's hand and to provide a signal based on movements of the hand as discussed by the authors, where a processor is configured to provide at least one interface state in which a cursor is confined to movement within a single dimension region responsive to the signal from the movement monitor.
Abstract: A gesture based user interface includes a movement monitor configured to monitor a user's hand and to provide a signal based on movements of the hand. A processor is configured to provide at least one interface state in which a cursor is confined to movement within a single dimension region responsive to the signal from the movement monitor, and to actuate different commands responsive to the signal from the movement monitor and the location of the cursor in the single dimension region.
1 Mar 2017
TL;DR: XChemExplorer is a graphical workflow and data-management tool for the parallel determination of protein–ligand complexes.
Abstract: XChemExplorer (XCE) is a data-management and workflow tool to support large-scale simultaneous analysis of protein–ligand complexes during structure-based ligand discovery (SBLD). The user interfaces of established crystallographic software packages such as CCP4 [Winn et al. (2011), Acta Cryst. D67, 235–242] or PHENIX [Adams et al. (2010), Acta Cryst. D66, 213–221] have entrenched the paradigm that a `project' is concerned with solving one structure. This does not hold for SBLD, where many almost identical structures need to be solved and analysed quickly in one batch of work. Functionality to track progress and annotate structures is essential. XCE provides an intuitive graphical user interface which guides the user from data processing, initial map calculation, ligand identification and refinement up until data dissemination. It provides multiple entry points depending on the need of each project, enables batch processing of multiple data sets and records metadata, progress and annotations in an SQLite database. XCE is freely available and works on any Linux and Mac OS X system, and the only dependency is to have the latest version of CCP4 installed. The design and usage of this tool are described here, and its usefulness is demonstrated in the context of fragment-screening campaigns at the Diamond Light Source. It is routinely used to analyse projects comprising 1000 data sets or more, and therefore scales well to even very large ligand-design projects.
TL;DR: This work proposes a novel interaction technique called TopicLens that allows a user to dynamically explore data through a lens interface where topic modeling and the corresponding 2D embedding are efficiently computed on the fly.
Abstract: Topic modeling, which reveals underlying topics of a document corpus, has been actively adopted in visual analytics for large-scale document collections. However, due to its significant processing time and non-interactive nature, topic modeling has so far not been tightly integrated into a visual analytics workflow. Instead, most such systems are limited to utilizing a fixed, initial set of topics. Motivated by this gap in the literature, we propose a novel interaction technique called TopicLens that allows a user to dynamically explore data through a lens interface where topic modeling and the corresponding 2D embedding are efficiently computed on the fly. To support this interaction in real time while maintaining view consistency, we propose a novel efficient topic modeling method and a semi-supervised 2D embedding algorithm. Our work is based on improving state-of-the-art methods such as nonnegative matrix factorization and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding. Furthermore, we have built a web-based visual analytics system integrated with TopicLens. We use this system to measure the performance and the visualization quality of our proposed methods. We provide several scenarios showcasing the capability of TopicLens using real-world datasets.
TL;DR: The design aspects and development processes to transform a general‐purpose mobile robotic platform into a semi‐autonomous agricultural robot sprayer focusing on user interfaces for teleoperation, with particular emphasis on human–robot interaction are presented.
Abstract: This article presents the design aspects and development processes to transform a general-purpose mobile robotic platform into a semi-autonomous agricultural robot sprayer focusing on user interfaces for teleoperation The hardware and the software modules that must be installed onto the system are described, with particular emphasis on human–robot interaction Details of the technology are given focusing on the user interface aspects Two laboratory experiments and two studies in the field to evaluate the usability of the user interface provide evidence for the increased usability of a prototype robotic system Specifically, the study aimed to empirically evaluate the type of target selection input device mouse and digital pen outperformed Wiimote in terms of usability A field experiment evaluated the effect of three design factors: (a) type of screen output, (b) number of views, (c) type of robot control input device Results showed that participants were significantly more effective but less efficient when they had multiple views, than when they had a single view PC keyboard was also found to significantly outperform PS3 gamepad in terms of interaction efficiency and perceived usability Heuristic evaluations of different user interfaces were also performed using research-based HRI heuristics Finally, a study on participants’ overall user experience found that the system was evaluated positively on the User Experience Questionnaire scales
TL;DR: A netnographic protocol was designed that systematised data collection across four dimensions of platforms’ technological structure and informational content and developed a typology that grouped platforms into three groups: network, transaction and community oriented.
Abstract: Although still embryonic, collaborative consumption and the sharing economy have become social and economic phenomena in just a few short years, yet there is little consensus on how to define them. The current classificatory schema or typologies of platforms have some weaknesses. Sectoral classifications, technological functionality, and discursive modes of understanding sharing and collaborative economies all provide valuable insights, but when taken individually important gaps are evident, not least in their inter-system isolation, but most particularly when technology, such as platform architecture and user interfaces, is disassociated from wider social and economic conditions of possibility. In order to build on previous research we set out to develop a more complex understanding of collaborative consumption by studying platform architecture, interface, design and informational content to examine how technological affordances of digital platforms’ structure social interaction. In order to carry out the research we designed a netnographic protocol that systematised data collection across four dimensions of platforms’ technological structure and informational content: functionality and usability; trust and virtual reputation; codes of conduct and community footprint. Data was collected on fifty-five platforms, including forty seven across Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as eight international platforms. Following factor and cluster analysis, and on the basis of the theoreticalunderstandings of the sharing and collaborative economy, we developed a typology that grouped platforms into three groups: network, transaction and community oriented.
TL;DR: Existing works on declarative specifications and user interfaces for visualization construction are reviewed by summarizing their methods for producing information visualizations and efforts on improving usability in terms of a design space which describes the tools in several different aspects.
Abstract: Information visualization has been widely used to convey information from data and assist communication. There are enormous needs of efficient visualization design for users from diverse fields to leverage the power of data. As a result, emerging construction tools for information visualization focus on providing solutions with different aspects including expressiveness, accessibility, and efficiency. In this paper, we review existing works on declarative specifications and user interfaces for visualization construction. By summarizing their methods for producing information visualizations and efforts on improving usability, we express the design patterns in terms of a design space which describes the tools in several different aspects. We discuss how the design space can be applied to support further exploration of potential research topics in the future.
TL;DR: A new hand-based gesture recognition algorithm that works robustly against changes in distance or direction while responding only to defined gestures by ignoring meaningless motions is proposed, which would be a key technology of future automobile user interfaces.
Abstract: Modern cars continue to offer more and more functionalities due to which they need a growing number of commands. As the driver tries to monitor the road and the graphic user interface simultaneously, his/her overall efficiency is reduced. In order to reduce the visual attention necessary for monitoring, a gesture-based user interface is very important. In this paper, gesture recognition for a vehicle through impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) radar is discussed. The gestures can be used to control different electronic devices inside a vehicle. The gestures are based on human hand and finger motion. We have implemented a real-time version using only one radar sensor. Studies on gesture recognition using IR-UWB radar have rarely been carried out, and some studies are merely simple methods using the magnitude of the reflected signal or those whose performance deteriorates largely due to changes in distance or direction. In this study, we propose a new hand-based gesture recognition algorithm that works robustly against changes in distance or direction while responding only to defined gestures by ignoring meaningless motions. We used three independent features, i.e., variance of the probability density function (pdf) of the magnitude histogram, time of arrival (TOA) variation and the frequency of the reflected signal, to classify the gestures. A data fitting method is included to differentiate between gesture signals and unintended hand or body motions. We have used the clustering technique for the classification of the gestures. Moreover, the distance information is used as an additional input parameter to the clustering algorithm, such that the recognition technique will not be vulnerable to distance change. The hand-based gesture recognition proposed in this paper would be a key technology of future automobile user interfaces.
TL;DR: Results show that the most important factor for human-robot interface usability is the number and placement of views, whereas the effect of the screen output type was only significant on the participants' perceived workload index.
TL;DR: A smart walker that navigates blind users safely by leveraging recent developments in robotics that includes vibro-tactile user interfaces and a controller that takes into account human motion behavior obtained from a user study.
Abstract: Navigation in complex and unknown environments is a major challenge for elderly blind people. Unfortunately, conventional navigation aids such as white canes and guide dogs provide only limited assistance to blind people with walking impairments as they can hardly be combined with a walker, required for walking assistance. Additionally, such navigation aids are constrained to the local vicinity only. We believe that technologies developed in the field of robotics have the potential to assist blind people with walking disabilities in complex navigation tasks as they can provide information about obstacles and reason on both global and local aspects of the environment. The contribution of this article is a smart walker that navigates blind users safely by leveraging recent developments in robotics. Our walker can support the user in two ways, namely by providing information about the vicinity to avoid obstacles and by guiding the user to reach the designated target location. It includes vibro-tactile user interfaces and a controller that takes into account human motion behavior obtained from a user study. In extensive qualitative and quantitative experiments that also involved blind and age-matched participants we demonstrate that our smart walker safely navigates users with limited vision.
TL;DR: A participatory framework for designing EDSS is presented that emphasizes a more complete understanding of the decision making structures and iterative design of the user interface and is combined with co-design methods from Human-Computer Interaction research.
Abstract: Open and decentralized technologies such as the Internet provide increasing opportunities to create knowledge and deliver computer-based decision support for multiple types of users across scales. However, environmental decision support systems/tools (henceforth EDSS) are often strongly science-driven and assuming single types of decision makers, and hence poorly suited for more decentralized and polycentric decision making contexts. In such contexts, EDSS need to be tailored to meet diverse user requirements to ensure that it provides useful (relevant), usable (intuitive), and exchangeable (institutionally unobstructed) information for decision support for different types of actors. To address these issues, we present a participatory framework for designing EDSS that emphasizes a more complete understanding of the decision making structures and iterative design of the user interface. We illustrate the application of the framework through a case study within the context of water-stressed upstream/downstream communities in Lima, Peru. Environmental management may involve polycentric governance arrangements.Decision support for such contexts needs to meet diverse user requirements.A user-driven approach is proposed that involves actor and decision making analysis.This is combined with co-design methods from Human-Computer Interaction research.The result is more tailored decision support for users with different experiences.
TL;DR: An effort is made to overcome the reluctance of the elderly to the use of new technology with the study of both elderly user experiences and user interface design of an mHealth application and an analysis of the relation between them.