Using Audio and Haptics for Delivering Spatial Information via Mobile Devices

Proceedings at: http://www.english.certec.lth.se/haptics/HaptiMap/MobileHCI2010workshop_proceedings.pdf


Workshop at MobileHCI 2010, Tuesday, September 7, 2010, Lisbon, Portugal                               

Submission deadline: May 10, 2010

 

Orientation and navigation are very important skills for getting along in daily life. The acquisition and use of these skills is based on the processing of visual, auditory and sensorimotor/kinesthetic information, denoting the relations between objects, places, and people. This multisensory information gives us cues about directions, distances, speed, headway, traffic, landmarks, obstacles, etc. With the recent availability of global positioning method, of comprehensive GIS systems, of powerful mobile computers and of advanced interaction techniques, multisensory spatial information could now be presented in a personalized, context-aware and intuitive manner.

 

However, it is still not completely clear how to design, and how and when to present multisensory spatial information on mobile devices. This workshop will initiate a multidisciplinary discussion on these topics. We would like to invite researchers working in the fields of human-computer-interaction, computer science, cognitive sciences, psychology, psychophysics, mechanics and electronics to submit a position paper and/or a demo presentation dealing with topics similar to the ones listed below:

  • Methodologies for representing spatial information (e.g. distances, directions, speed, landmarks, obstacles) using audio and haptics on mobile devices
  • Compatibility with the device: display and rendering capabilities, task-related and environmental constraints…
  • New interaction techniques, both hardware and software: wearables, haptic accessories, etc.
  • Design methods and guidelines for such information on mobile devices (e.g. design of useable and useful audio and haptic icons)
  • Specific evaluation methods and criteria
  • Workload and user performance
  • Spatial information presentation and the moving body
  • User experience and satisfaction

 

Format

This will be a full-day workshop. Up to ten position papers will be presented by theirs authors. Each presentation will be limited to 15 min. There will be a discussion after each presentation. Presentations and discussions will be followed by a demo session (demo submissions should be accompanied by a one-page description), some hands-on activities with the demonstrators and a wrap-up discussion at the end of the workshop.

 

Submissions and participants selection criteria

Interested researchers are invited to submit a workshop positions paper (2-4 pages) and or demo submissions formatted according to the ACM MobileHCI format until 10th May 2010. Please visit the conference submission page (http://mobilehci2010.di.fc.ul.pt) for detailed formatting requirements. The papers should be submitted to Margarita Anastassova: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

The papers should focus on current research activities and/or interesting aspects of future work. All position papers will be peer-reviewed by at least two reviewers and evaluated on their originality and relevance to the workshop topics. Authors of accepted position papers will be notified on 21st May 2010. Camera-ready manuscripts should be ready on the 28th May 2010.

 

The authors of the best workshop papers will be invited to publish an extended version of their work in a special issue of a relevant journal (e.g. International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction, International Journal of Handheld Computing Research).

 

The workshop will be held at on the 7th of September 2010. In order to participate in the workshop, at least one author of a position paper must register for both the conference and the workshop.

 

Please note that the early registration deadline for MobileHCI has been moved to the 16th of June.

 

Organizers

 

Margarita Anastassova is a researcher in the Sensory Interfaces Laboratory at CEA, LIST in France. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics from Paris Descartes University. Her PhD work was centered on the analysis of users’ needs for an Augmented Reality system to be used as a job aid by automotive service technicians. Margarita has over 8 years of experience in the user-centered design of interactive systems, which she gained in a number of EU projects such as Ambient Agoras, VIRTHUALIS and SAMBA. She is currently working on the EU HaptiMap project. Her main research interests lie in the field of human factors (usability, utility, accessibility) of emerging technologies such as haptic and tactile interfaces, mobile systems, virtual and augmented reality. She is also interested in cognitive ergonomics aspects of navigation and wayfinding. Margarita is a member of the program committee or a reviewer for a number of international conferences (CHI, Interact, MobileHCI, Pervasive Health).

 

Charlotte Magnusson, PhD, associate professor (docent), Certec, Division of Rehabilitation Engineering Research, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University. Charlotte is the leader of the research at Certec on the design of useworthy haptic and audio interfaces for people who are blind or have low vision. She has over 10 years of experience in the field. Charlotte has currently two particular areas of interest. The first is concerned with the use of haptic devices, and how haptics and audio can be used to make different types of complex information and virtual environments more accessible. The second is design and design methodology for persons with and without disabilities. Charlotte is also an experienced programmer, with particular experience from interactive multimodal applications. Charlotte is the leader of the haptics group at Certec, and has been responsible for the department participation in the EU projects MICOLE, ENABLED and ENACTIVE. She is currently the coordinator of the EU project HaptiMap.

 

Martin Pielot is an associate researcher in the Intelligent User Interfaces Group at the OFFIS – Institute for Information Technology, Germany. At the same time he is a doctoral student in the Media Informatics and Multimedia Systems Group at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. Coming from a background of building mobile applications, his research focuses on ubiquitous computing and mobile human-computer interaction in general. In particular, he is interested in non-visual information presentation in the domain of mobile applications and the methods needed to evaluation them.

 

Dr. Gary Randall has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology, an MSc (Distinction) in Cognitive Science (both University of Birmingham UK), a BSc (Hons) in Artificial Intelligence and is an expert in the computational modelling of visual processing. He has a unique blend of IT and theoretical skills relating to Cognitive Science, built up over 20 years, and is an experienced programmer in many languages. Gary is a Senior Research Scientist at BMT and Project Manager of EC projects. His post-doctoral experience as Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School was related to implementing and extending the influential machine vision model Guided Search. Prior to this, Gary's research concentrated on building dynamic neural systems to predict common visual behaviours. His areas of interest include the roles of object recognition, attention, and memory as they relate to image retrieval. Gary was the co-ordinator of the EC-funded MAPPED project which provided customised route data for use by different categories of disabled user in multiple European locations.

 

Ginger B. Claassen studied computer science at the University of Paderborn(Germany) and the School of Computer Science at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada). For more than 10 years Mr. Claassen worked as a research assistant for the C-LAB, a joined research and development laboratory of Siemens AG and the University of Paderborn, with special focus on “accessibility” respectively “Design for All”. Mr. Claassen is blind, and therefore knows from his own living and working the problems and barriers persons with disabilities are facing in our modern information and communication society.

 

Since 2008 he works for the Siemens "Accessibility Competence Center" and for the "Siemens Access Initiative", the company's corporate joint effort to improve the accessibility of the various Siemens products and services like software, Internet portals, workplaces, information and communication technology, household appliances, and public transport systems. He has been involved in various commercial and research projects, provides "Design for All" training to colleagues and customers and presents various accessible solutions at international exhibitions and congresses.

 

Acknowledgements


The workshop organizers are grateful to the European Commission which co-funds the IP HaptiMap (FP7-ICT-224675).