Few researchers have addressed the important issue of three-dimensional multiple object selection (MOS) in immersive Virtual Environments (VEs). We have developed a taxonomy of the MOS task as a framework for exploring the design space of these techniques. In this thesis, we describe four techniques for selecting multiple objects in immersive VEs. Of the four techniques, two are serial (where only one object can be indicated per operation), and two are parallel (where one or more objects may be indicated per operation). Within each of the two categories we also investigated two metaphors of interaction: a 3D spatial metaphor and the pen and tablet metaphor. Two usability studies were used to evaluate the four techniques, iterate their designs, and gain a deeper understanding of the design space of MOS techniques. The results from our studies show that parallel MOS techniques can select objects faster than serial techniques as the number of target objects increase. We also show that effective techniques for MOS in immersive VEs can be created using both pen and tablet and 3D metaphors. / Master of Science

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The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between self reported exposure to sources of electromagnetic fields, frontal left and right hemisphere absolute and relative power EEG measurements, and a measure of depression. Thirty-three male undergraduates with varying degrees of EMF exposure assessed by cell phone and computer use were participants in the study. Results indicated that there were significant relationships between long term computer use, indicated by years of use, total Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores, and suicidal thoughts or wishes. There were significant positive relationships between both long term and current computer use, indicated by minutes per month, and eyes open delta (,5-3.5Hz) absolute power in both hemispheres. Significant negative relationships were found between computer use and eyes open absolute power and relative power in the 12-15Hz EEG band. Also, significant positive and negative relationships were found between several delta, alpha, and theta absolute power and/or relative power EEG measurements and total and item scores on the BDI.

Affective computing, the study of giving computers the ability to perceive human emotions and of endowing computers with synthetic emotions, has recently become an area of great activity. With the work of Mayer and Salovey, as well as that of Goleman, suggesting that emotions are to some extent quantifiable and can be studied with due rigor, work in the field of psychology has produced a large number of emotional models. Many computational architectures have been developed with the goal of synthesizing emotions for an artificial agent. These range from the affective dimensions in Breazeal's work to the goal based architecture developed by Michaud. The emotion-based architecture described in this thesis builds on previous work by Lisetti, combining scripts for emotion concepts based on semantic primitives and computational scripts based on the componential appraisal theory of emotions. The thesis describes some aspects of one implementation of the architecture on a specific platform as an emotional state generator for a robotic office assistant. The architecture itself, though, is not platform specific and could be implemented on different types of autonomous agents.

As access to information changes with increased use of technology, privacy becomes an increasingly prominent issue among technology users. Privacy concerns should be taken seriously because they influence system adoption, the way a system is used, and may even lead to system disuse. Threats to privacy are not only due to traditional security and privacy issues; human factors issues such as unintentional disclosure of information also influence the preservation of privacy in technology systems. A dual pronged approach was used to examine privacy. First, a broad investigation of younger and older adults' privacy behaviors was conducted. The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of privacy across technologies, to discover the similarities, and identify the differences in what privacy means across contexts as well as provide a means to evaluate current theories of privacy. This investigation resulted in a categorization of privacy behaviors associated with technology. There were three high level privacy behavior categories identified: avoidance, modification, and alleviatory behavior. This categorization furthers our understanding about the psychological underpinnings of privacy concerns and suggests that 1) common privacy feelings and behaviors exist across people and technologies and 2) alternative designs which consider these commonalities may increase privacy. Second, I examined one specific human factors issue associated with privacy: disclosure error. This investigation focused on gaining an understanding of how to support privacy by preventing misclosure. A misclosure is an error in disclosure. When information is disclosed in error, or misclosed, privacy is violated in that information not intended for a specific person(s) is nevertheless revealed to that person. The goal of this study was to provide a psychological basis for design suggestions for improving privacy in technology which was grounded in empirical findings. The study furthers our understanding about privacy errors in the following ways: First, it demonstrates for the first time that both younger and older adults experience misclosures . Second, it suggests that misclosures occur even when technology is very familiar to the user. Third, it revealed that some misclosure experiences result in negative consequences, suggesting misclosure is a potential threat to privacy. Finally, by exploring the context surrounding each reported misclosure, I was able to propose potential design suggestions that may decrease the likelihood of misclosure.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed April 28, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 198-209).

Context. The mental effort offered by a user to identify an important email from the email message is considered significant or impossible. A user must enter the e-mail application to determine what type of e-mail they have received. To let the user identify the type of email via smartphone notification, micro-interactions are utilized. De augmentatie in UX of de e-mail notificaties is dan getest met de modificaties gemaakt aan de micro-interacties. Objectives. This study explores the microinteractions in an email notification of a smartphone that requires the modification of micro-interactions. These modifications have been implemented based on the design principles and usability heuristics of the existing literature. With this implementation, the augmentation in user experience of the modified design is determined. Methods. On conducting a systematic literature review, the experimental design of micro-interactions is prototyped. These prototypes are subjected to user interaction by conducting interviews that include performing certain tasks on the prototype and obtaining the user's perspectives regarding usability with an SUS scale. The data collected has been analyzed to obtain data on user experience increase. Since this data is tested for statistical significance to prove the theory and the evidence reinforce each other. Results. User interviews resulted in 100% of the users being able to perform the tasks successfully during the interaction with the prototypes. The modified design or email notifications achieve job performance time that is much less than the time used by the user for the existing design. Meanwhile, The SUS score for the modified design of micro-interactions with the existing design achieved the best imaginable score which reflects the rise in user experience of the e-mail notifications on a smartphone. On analysis, these achieved scores showed their statistical significance of the claim of increase in UX.Conclusions. This study concludes the reduction in cognitive load in a smartphone's email notifications by effective application or design principles in microinteractions. Regardless of the increased number of email arrivals on a device, a smartphone user can now identify the important e-mails on a smartphone directly from the email notifications. Following the Google's Material Design Principles resulted in increased user experience of e-mail notifications on a smartphone. However,

Boverket har huvudansvar för att skapa en portal för samhällsplanering som ska kunna förse kommuner, landsting, företag och privatpersoner med olika typer av kartinformation. Denna portal kallas Planeringsportalen och som ett led i dess utveckling hölls ett designmöte i april 2007. Inför mötet gjordes en analys av diverse förebilder för att beskriva de goda designlösningar som finns i genren WebGIS, enligt förlaga från Lundberg, Holmlid och Arvolas (2007) arbete. Uppsatsen beskriver hur dessa designlösningar kan användas i designen av Planeringsportalen tillsammans med en redogörelse för hur förebilder kan bidra till en bättre designprocess. Genren representeras i arbetet av webbplatserna Eniro, Norge digitalt, RATP samt Mapquest som alla studerats enligt ett formaliserat förfarande. Analysen identifierade ett stort antal goda designlösningar varav en del ansågs passa in i Planeringsportalens designsituation.

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is an important issue in the area of medicine, for example, the operation of surgical simulators, virtual rehabilitation systems, telemedicine treatments, and so on. In this thesis, the human-computer interaction of a self-operated mobile telemedicine device is designed. The mobile telemedicine device (i.e. intelligent Medication Box or iMedBox) is used for remotely monitoring patient health and activity information such as ECG (electrocardiogram) signals, home medication, patient movements, etc., through a wearable bio-patch and a touch screen on the device, thus creating interaction between patient and doctor via the internet. The telemedicine device also has a reminder function for the time of medication. Two aspects have mainly been addressed in designing the HCI. The first one is about the user interface of the telemedicine device and the second one is about the interaction between patients and the wearable device. Scenario design, user participation and interview were applied as the design methodology of this work. Literature study of relevant background information and interviews with experts were also used for scenario design. After the first version of the prototype was developed, interviews were conducted with some typical users, whose feedback and user data were collected and analysed. The thesis includes envisionment and evaluation as two parts. The study revealed that HCI is an important issue for telemedicine, particularly when it is used for elderly-care. A simple and user-friendly interface, proper physical size of devices, better and bio-compatible materials for the bio-patch etc. are to be considered important for a better HCI for telemedicine devices.