A Review of Web‐Based Dietary Interventions: From the Human–Computer Interaction Practitioners' Perspective

Despite the popularity of web‐based dietary interventions, there are few evidence‐based, practical guidelines that help human–computer interaction (HCI) practitioners design new dietary intervention systems. We suspect that a lack of such guidelines is partly due to a chasm between two major research domains, healthcare and HCI. We believe that technologies developed in HCI are not used and evaluated by healthcare researchers, so we fail to accumulate experiences to develop guidelines. To assess the gap, we carefully selected 86 papers that employed and evaluated various web‐based dietary interventions in both fields and analyzed general characteristics, behavior change strategies, intervention media, and research outcomes used in each paper. Through this review, we reaffirmed our belief about the discrepancies between healthcare and HCI, and additional findings helped us offer some suggestions to close the gap. We also identified several interesting patterns among behavior change strategies, intervention media, and outcomes that provide potential topics for future research. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A theoretical agenda for feminist HCI

HCI has a complex and often ambivalent attitude towards the issue of gender and interactive systems. Here I discuss three dominant paradigms for treating gender in HCI, and discuss their limitations. Next, I will present the theoretical perspectives on gender which are on the fringes of HCI - Technology as Masculine Culture, Gender Positionality, and Lived Body Experience - and discuss their possible contributions. I will show how this supports a reassessment of the use of gender theory in technological settings and its relevance for framing questions of gender in HCI. My goal in doing so is to argue for the importance of a more direct treatment of gender in HCI and move towards a feminist theory for HCI.     

A tangible information explorer using vibratory touch screen

Various kinds of touch panel displays are becoming readily available for implementing futuristic human computer interaction (HCI) methods and are proven to be a useful infrastructure for inventing intuitive HCI environments. In spite of their popularity, there are some drawbacks. The most serious one is their hardness to operate especially for the weak in information technology such as elderly and blind users. A tactile feedback function has a potential ability for enabling them to make full use of the devices. We propose an approach for effectively designing user-friendly HCI environments based on the tactile feedback. We exemplify our approach through the design and development of a practical application, a haptic web browsing system. It allows even the weak users to intuitively explore various web pages without heavily depending on the visual information. While the system targets at supporting the weak, the touch interactions are quite useful means for general users to improve the stability and the degree of satisfaction in web browsing operations. The proposed system uses a touch panel haptic display for helping the users to operate with intuitive touch sensations.     

Security and human computer interfaces

Computer users are exposed to technology mainly through user interfaces. Most users' perceptions are based on their experience with these interfaces. HCI (human computer interaction) is concerned with these interfaces and how they can be improved. Considerable research has been conducted and major advances have been made in the area of HCI. Information security is becoming increasingly important and more complex as business is conducted electronically. However, state-of-the-art security-related product development has ignored general aspects of HCI. The objective of this paper is to promote and enable security awareness of end-users in their interaction with computer systems. It thus aims to consolidate and integrate the two fields of information security and HCI. HCI as a research discipline is a well developed field of study, and the authors are of the opinion that the use of security technologies can be significantly enhanced by employing proven HCI concepts in the design of these technologies. In order to achieve this, various criteria for a successful HCI in a security-specific environment will be examined. Part of the Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall will be used as a case study and analysed according to these criteria, and recommendations will be made.     

The Usability Construct: A Dead End?

“Usability” is a construct conceived by the human–computer interaction (HCI) community to denote a desired quality of interactive systems and products. Despite its prominence and intensive use in HCI research, the usefulness of the usability construct to HCI theories and to our understanding of HCI has been meager. In this article I propose and discuss two reasons for this state of affairs. The first is that usability is an umbrella construct. Umbrella constructs are prevalent in scientific fields that are broad, diverse, and lack a unifying research paradigm. Accordingly, umbrella constructs, such as usability, tend to be vague and loose, characteristics that challenge our ability to accumulate and communicate knowledge and to capture real-world phenomena. The second reason involves the nature of the relations between the usability construct and its measures, a topic rarely discussed in HCI research. There appears to be a mismatch between how the HCI community has (implicitly) conceptualized these relations and how it has empirically examined them. The relations have been conceptualized according to a formative measurement model but have mostly been tested according to a reflective measurement model. The trouble is that representing the usability construct by the reflective model appears inappropriate, and representing it by the formative model involves considerable difficulties. Possible ways of addressing these issues are discussed, each with its advantages and drawbacks. I conclude that for scientific research on this subject to progress, the usability construct ought to be unbundled and replaced by well-defined constructs. The issues discussed in this article are relevant to other HCI umbrella concepts and constructs such as user experience.     

Building it better: Applying human–computer interaction and persuasive system design principles to a monetary limit tool improves responsible gambling

In two studies, we aimed to improve the responsible gambling (RG) utility of monetary limit tools for non-disordered Electronic Gambling Machine (EGM) players – the target population for such prevention-oriented RG tools. To this end, based on feedback from focus groups with non-disordered EGM players, we created a new monetary limit tool that incorporated EGM players’ desired functionality coupled with design fundamentals of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Persuasive Systems Design (PSD; Study 1). We then tested the newly created HCI and PSD inspired tool and compared its RG utility (limit adherence) against a standard monetary limit tool (Study 2). Non-disordered EGM players were randomly assigned to experience the HCI and PSD inspired or the standard monetary tool prior to gambling in a virtual realty casino. As predicted, participants adhered to their pre-set monetary limits more (92%), when exposed to the HCI and PSD inspired pop-up tool than the standard monetary limit tool (62.2%). Improving RG tools through the use of HCI and PSD principles is discussed.     

虚拟环境的用户意图捕获

目的虚拟制造环境中需要复杂精确的3D人机交互。目前的虚拟环境(VE)的主要问题是人在交互过程中的认知和操作负荷太重,交互效率亟需提高。解决此问题的重要途径是提高机器的认知能力。方法本文研究了用户意图的分析和抽取,并建立多通道用户意图理解的算法,以此来提高交互效率。结果结合虚拟装配应用给出了典型意图的实验结果并给予分析。通过实验对多通道意图的可用性和可靠性,以及基于意图系统的实时性进行了评估。实验是虚拟装配空间中用户拾取对象意图的实验。当3维鼠标和对象距离为5 000 mm时,传统系统中操作平均耗时5.344 7 s,而基于意图的系统中平均耗时2.326 6 s。基于意图的系统极大地降低了操作的时间和复杂度。结论采用意图驱动的系统情景转换能在虚拟环境工作中有效地降低人的认知负荷,并能很好地帮助系统开发者进行混成系统的建模和分析,降低开发的复杂度。实践结果表明用户意图理解的多通道模型和算法能极大地提高交互式系统的交互自然性和交互效率。该方法不仅适用于本文所用的虚拟装配系统,对于所有的虚拟环境应用场景都有同样的有效性。     

基于手势识别的人机交互技术

文章将现有人机交互方法与基于计算机视觉交互方法进行了对比,列举了该交互技术的优点及可行性,并提出了一种利用摄像头采集手势进行人机界面交互的方法,研究了并进一步实现了基于图像的手势分析、识别等关键技术.通过一系列实验结果表明,基于文中技术实现的一套系统能够实时地跟踪手的运动,并识别出手势结果,实现实时的人机手势交互.     

A case study in systematic hypermedia design

Hypermedia structuring and navigation requires design methodologies different from those developed for standard information systems. This case study details our successful application of relationship management methodology (RMM), a hypermedia systems analysis and design methodology, to ACM SIGLINK's LINKBase. LINKBase is a World Wide Web (WWW) application, which dynamically generates WWW pages from a relational database containing information about hypermedia-related events such as conferences, publications, authors, and sponsoring organizations. We describe our experience applying RMM in this case study, summarize design lessons we learned in the process, present extensions to RMM, discuss human–computer interaction (HCI) aspects of RMM, and ground our work in the hypermedia design and HCI literature. Our experiences should encourage hypermedia and WWW developers to utilize systematic design techniques to build highly usable and useful WWW applications.     

On integration of interface design methods: Can debates be resolved?

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.     

Real-time single camera natural user interface engine development

Natural user interfaces (NUIs) provide human computer interaction (HCI) with natural and intuitive operation interfaces, such as using human gestures and voice. We have developed a real-time NUI engine architecture using a web camera as a means of implementing NUI applications. The system captures video via the web camera, implements real-time image processing using graphic processing unit (GPU) programming. This paper describes the architecture of the engine and the real-virtual environment interaction methods, such as foreground segmentation and hand gesture recognition. These methods are implemented using GPU programming in order to realize real-time image processing for HCI. To verify the efficacy of our proposed NUI engine, we utilized it in the development and implementation of several mixed reality games and touch-less operation applications, using the developed NUI engine and the DirectX SDK. Our results confirm that the methods implemented by the engine operate in real time and the interactive operations are intuitive.     

Foundations of dialog engineering: the development of human-computer interaction. Part II

The human-computer interface is increasingly the major determinant of the success or failure of computer systems. It is time that we provided foundations of engineering human-computer interaction (HCI) as explicit and well-founded as those for hardware and software engineering. Through the influences of other disciplines and their contribution to software engineering, a rich environment for HCI studies, theory and applications now exists. Many principles underlying HCI have systemic foundations independent of the nature of the systems taking part and these may be analysed control-theoretically and information-theoretically. The fundamental principles at different levels may be used in the practical design of dialog shells for engineering effective HCI. This paper surveys the development of styles of dialog through generations of computers, the principles involved, and the move towards integrated systems. It then systematically explores the foundations of HCI by analysing the various analogies to HCI possible when the parties are taken to be general systems, equipment, computers or people.     

Symmetry and aesthetics in website design: It’s a man’s business

In recent years the aesthetic appearance of user-interfaces has become a topic of increasing interest in the field of human–computer interaction (HCI). At the same time, it is well known that there are gender-specific effects in HCI. The present study investigates the effect of web page symmetry by taking gender differences into account. A total of 60 people (30 male, 30 female) participated in a laboratory experiment, where 20 website startpages had to be rated regarding symmetry, intuitive beauty, classical and expressive aesthetics. Results show that vertical symmetry is an important factor in aesthetic website design. It has an impact on intuitive straightforward beauty appraisals and on classical and expressive aesthetics judgments. Asymmetrically designed web pages were considered to be less beautiful and achieved lower scores on the classical and expressive dimensions. Moreover, the study indicates that the symmetry effect only occurs among male participants: only men react unfavorably to asymmetrically designed websites, whereas women’s judgments are not influenced by symmetry. These findings should be taken into consideration by website designers, especially when they aim to design for target audience consisting of a majority of a certain gender.     

Making HCI theory work: an analysis of the use of activity theory in HCI research

This paper reports a study of the use of activity theory in human–computer interaction (HCI) research. We analyse activity theory in HCI since its first appearance about 25 years ago. Through an analysis and meta-synthesis of 109 selected HCI activity theory papers, we created a taxonomy of 5 different ways of using activity theory: (1) analysing unique features, principles, and problematic aspects of the theory; (2) identifying domain-specific requirements for new theoretical tools; (3) developing new conceptual accounts of issues in the field of HCI; (4) guiding and supporting empirical analyses of HCI phenomena; and (5) providing new design illustrations, claims, and guidelines. We conclude that HCI researchers are not only users of imported theory, but also theory-makers who adapt and develop theory for different purposes.     

Human computer interaction methods for electronic flight bag envisionment and design

This paper reports on the application of a range of human computer interaction (HCI) methods to the re-design of an electronic flight bag (EFB), as part of a commercial software development project. Specifically, it focusses on the use of participatory design methods, for resolving EFB usability problems. The purpose of this case study is to: (a) Show how participatory design methods can be effectively combined with ethnographic techniques and more formal methods in HCI, for the development of human-friendly EFB systems, (b) Illuminate the specific EFB usability issues encountered in this research and related HCI solutions, (c) Generate an awareness of the challenges faced by HCI practitioners adapting HCI methods to meet commercial project constraints. The HCI methodology outlined in this case study may be of interest to practitioners tasked with process and technology envisionment and/or working with limited resources.Joan Cahill has worked as an (HCI) consultant to Aircraft Management Technologies     

Network system and world wide web security

The Internet was developed in 1965 for academic and military use. Thirty-one years later, it is regarded as the ‘information superhighway’ with almost one billion computer networks and well over a billion users projected to be using the Internet by the end of the century [1]. In essence, the open design of the Internet, geared towards the ease of communication and rapid development, has led to a severe lax in system security. As new developments (for example, the world wide web) and application of information technology emerge, so do the possibilities of hostile attacks on local area networks (LANS) and wide area networks (WANs). Therefore, the security aspects of the Internet and the world wide web must be carefully scrutinized. This paper outlines the security aspects of network systems and the world wide web.     

The role of user's perceived control in interface design, employing verbal protocol analysis

This paper outlines some general strengths and weaknesses of using psychological theoretical approaches beyond their original domains, focusing on Rotter's (1966) Internal and External (I/E) Locus of Control construct. Rotter's theory examines perceived locus of control of individuals during their social interactions. The issues of why and how I/E may be a useful theoretical approach to human-computer interaction (HCI) are addressed. Specific problems encountered in importing I/E into HCI are then described.

An interface evaluation experiment is discussed. First, the system used for evaluation purposes is described, as well as the verbal protocol technique used, and the methods of analysis. Finally, the conclusions about the interface are presented. In this contect, I/E as an interface evaluation tool is discussed, as are related issues of importing psychological theories into HCI.     

Improved crossover firefly algorithm based deep Beleif network for low-resolution face recognition

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Face detection by low-resolution image (LR) is one of the key aspects of Human-Computer Interaction(HCI). Due to the LR image, which has changes in pose,...     

User analysis in HCI — the historical lessons from individual differences research

User analysis is a crucial aspect of user-centered systems design, yet Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) has yet to formulate reliable and valid characterizations of users beyond gross distinctions based on task and experience. Individual differences research from mainstream psychology has identified a stable set of characteristics that would appear to offer potential application in the HCI arena. Furthermore, in its evolution over the last 100 years, research on individual differences has faced many of the problems of theoretical status and applicability that are common to HCI. In the present paper, the relationship between work in cognitive and differential psychology and current analyses of users in HCI is examined. It is concluded that HCI could gain significant predictive power if individual differences research was related to the analysis of users in contemporary systems design.     

HCI and Societal Issues: A Framework for Engagement

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is much broader than the study of interface design and input devices. It includes considerations of the social, political, ethical, and societal implications of computer systems. Concerns such as privacy, accessibility, universal design, and voting usability have led to active HCI research. Our examination of HCI responses to these and other issues informs a model of social engagement based on societal influences that motivate various responses from the HCI community. This model provides suggestions for engagement with issues that are likely to grow in importance over the next several years. By focusing on these issues, HCI researchers may make still greater contributions toward addressing societal concerns.