Collaborative Research: IRES: US-German research on human-computer interaction in ubiquitous computing

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Nontechnical Abstract:We have entered the era of ubiquitous computing, an era defined by interconnected devices embedded in everyday objects that become part of everyday activities. Ubiquitous computing, or ubicomp, is a multidisciplinary field of study that explores the design and implementation of such embedded, networked computing devices. Interactions with the computational devices of the developing ubicomp world are challenging. Ubicomp researchers explore natural interactions with devices, using modalities such as speech, gaze, gestures, and touch. With these modes of interaction, the user?s focus can remain primarily on the world surrounding the device. Human-computer interaction is a central issue in ubicomp, and it will be the focus of the work of the IRES students who will conduct research at two locations in Germany: at the University of Stuttgart, and at the University of Oldenburg. Technical Abstract:Our research will explore human-computer interaction in three areas of ubicomp: in-vehicle interactions, interactions with large displays, and interactions with devices on a ship bridge. We will explore user interfaces for highly automated vehicles, those that can take over all control of the vehicle for extended periods of time, and will signal well in advance when the driver needs to resume control. In these future vehicles, drivers will have ample time to devote to non-driving tasks. The design of the user interfaces will have less to do with the driver's attention to the road (as is the case in today's vehicles), and more with the physical characteristics of the vehicle (size, seating arrangement), the characteristics of the computing environment (network speed, quality of sensor readings), and the presence of other people in the vehicle and even in other vehicles (collaboration with other passengers, and distractions due to the activities of other passengers). Our goal is to explore how context should shape the design of in-vehicle user interfaces for automated vehicles. In our work with interfaces for ship bridges we will evaluate how to design interfaces that keep the human operator's attention on the relevant interfaces and on the outside world, such that the operator can safely navigate the vessel. Our goal is to explore how to visualize relevant entities that are outside of the operator's visual focus, and how to guide the operator's shift of attention towards these entities for navigation and decision making. Finally, our work with large displays will explore the relationships between the characteristics of the user interfaces such as mode of interaction and context awareness, and measures such as user satisfaction, task completion time, and task completion quality. Our overarching goal is to establish some of these relationships, and use the results to propose improved designs of interactions with large displays.