The impact of technology is increasing in the automotive industry resulting in user experience to have a significant role in the industry. Previous studies have researched the use of user experience in the automotive industry describing the importance of it. Studies have also described the user experience in connection to in-vehicle functions. Contrariwise, a gap has been identified in relation to the actual use and users’ preferences to these functions. The aim of this study is to analyze the users’ perspective in the automotive industry and how a high level of user experience can be achieved by identifying the preference of the users. This paper aims to identify if functions related to entertainment or functions related to functionality are preferred by the users. It is important to note that the study is not excluding any of the two different type of functions but investigates the preference of the users. Mixed method was used to respond to the research question. Two interviews with experts of the domain of automotive were conducted, where important aspects of the experts’ perspective were covered and was used to develop the survey. In order to achieve a full understanding of the user experience, a survey was sent to identify users’ preferences. The study proved user experience to be important for the organizations in the automotive industry. Moreover, it discovered a discrepancy between the experts’ perspective and the users’ perceptions. Experts expressed customer satisfactions and fulfillment of their demands to be of the primary aim of organizations in the automotive industry. Contrariwise, users expressed that organizations may consider the preference of the users but only to achieve economic and concurrent benefits. Additionally, users expressed a preference to in-vehicle functions related to functionality. More specifically, in-vehicle functions in relation to safety, connectivity and assistance in driving. As a result, this study suggests for organizations in the automotive industry to include the above functions to their vehicles in order to satisfy the demands of their customers and achieve high level of user experience but not exclude the functions related to entertainment.

The theoretical part of the thesis presents the evolution of the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX) including hedonic-pragmatic model of user experience. It further presents platforms and ecosystems in general, the evolution of smartphone market and the platforms of Android and iOS, and explains the basic concepts of information and consumer behaviour. A part of the thesis is a qualitative study examining the differences between the preferences towards smartphones of Android and iOS users, and differences in their information behaviour. It was found out that the participants - users of both platforms have mostly pragmatic reasons for their platform preference but describe them differently; that Android users seek more information at the time of smartphone purchase decision and that some iOS users, unlike Android users, started using their platform based on observation of others' good user experience with it.

In the domain of access control, the notion of zone is still ambiguous. The zone demands clearer contextualization that resonates with the security operators in their workplace. Through interpretive research, this project aims to investigate intuitive ways to monitor the overview of security through visualisation and propose a groundwork that can facilitate discussion around future possibilities of zones in physical access control. Based on the sense making process, this project presents three visualisation models: textual, physical, and abstract. Each model explores various representations of zones to communicate zone-to-zone relationships to improve usability. Also, the design work demonstrates diverse expressive qualities interacting with spaces that are physical, conceptual, and logical. In the most practical sense, the zone means groups of doors, however, the zone also embodies an abstract layer of interpretation that is not strictly connected to a physical space.

Information security is growing in importance as the world becomes more digital, at the same time the importance of usability implementation in software development is also growing. In this study, an evaluation was done on what affects usability and how important usability is in a reporting tool handling information security risk assessment (ISRA). The research question from which the study is based on: What actions can enhance and support the information security risk assessment process in corporations? In order to investigate the research question a study was organized consisting of a survey (N=30) and a think-aloud usability test (N=7). As a part of the analysis process a usability heuristic analysis was performed. According to this study, the ISRA process is complicated and creating a well-functioning supporting tool for it is complex. In order for the tool to facilitate for the users work, usability is an important aspect and should be taken in consideration early in the development process of a tool. Based on the findings in this study actions that can contribute to enhanced usability were discussed. The recommended actions are: 1) Include all types of roles in the ISRA process to determine the purpose of the tool and what it should support. 2) Implement clear guiding information in all parts of the tool, all people involved in the ISRA process should be able to understand the tool. 3) Keep an intuitive flow throughout the tool, the user should intuitively always know what the next step is and what to expect. 4) Have a search function that supports all aspects in the tool. / Informationssäkerheten växer i betydelse i takt med att världen blir mer digital, samtidigt så ökar även betydelsen av implementering av användbarhet i mjukvaruutveckling. I denna studie gjordes en utvärdering av vad som påverkar användbarheten och hur viktigt användbarheten är i ett rapporteringsverktyg som hanterar informationssäkerhetsriskbedömning (ISRB). Den forskningsfråga som studien bygger på: Vilka åtgärder kan förbättra och stödja informationssäkerhetsriskbedömningsprocessen i företag? För att undersöka forskningsfrågan organiserades en studie bestående av en enkätundersökning (N = 30) och ett användbarhetstest med ”Think-Aloud” (N = 7). Som en del av analysprocessen utfördes en användbarhets heuristisks analys. Enligt denna studie är ISRB-processen komplicerad och att skapa ett välfungerande stödjande verktyg för att det är komplext. För att verktyget ska underlätta för användarnas arbete är användbarheten en viktig aspekt och bör tas i beaktning tidigt i utvecklingsprocessen för ett verktyg. Baserat på resultaten i dessa studie så diskuterades åtgärder som kan bidra till ökad användbarhet. De rekommenderade åtgärderna är: 1) Inkludera alla typer av roller i ISRB-processen för att bestämma syftet med verktyget och vad det ska stödja. 2) Implementera tydlig guidande information i alla delar av verktyget, alla personer som är involverade i ISRB-processen ska kunna förstå och använda verktyget. 3) Ha ett intuitivt flöde genom alla delar i verktyget, användaren bör intuitivt alltid veta vad nästa steg är och vad de kan förvänta sig. 4) Har en sökfunktion som stöder alla aspekter i verktyget

<p>Tactile speech communication allows individuals to understand speech by sensations transmitted through the sense of touch. Devices that enable tactile speech communication can be an effective means to transmit important messages when the visual and/or auditory systems are overloaded or impaired. This has applications in silent communication and for people with hearing and/or visual impairments. An effective artificial speech communication system must be learned in a reasonable time and be easily remembered. Moreover, it must transmit any word at suitable rates for speech communication. The pursuit of a system that fulfills these requirements is a complex task that requires work in different areas. This thesis presents advancements in four of them. First is the matter of encoding speech information. Here, a phonemic-based approach allowed participants to recognize of tactile phonemes, words, phrases and full sentences. Second is the issue of training users in the use of the system. To this end, this thesis investigated the phenomenon of incidental categorization of vibrotactile stimuli as the foundation of more natural methods to learn a tactile speech communication system. Third is the matter of the neural processing of the tactile speech information. Here, an exploration of the functional characteristics of the phonemic-based approach using EEG was conducted. Finally, there is the matter of implementing the system for consumer use. In this area, this work addresses practical considerations of delivering rich haptic effects with current wearable technologies. These are informative for the design of actuators used in tactile speech communication devices.</p>

What are pedestrian attitudes towards driverless vehicles that have no human driver? In this paper, we use virtual reality to simulate a virtual scene where pedestrians interact with driverless vehicles. This was an exploratory study where 15 users encounter a driverless vehicle at a crosswalk in the virtual scene. Data was collected in the form of video and audio recordings, semi-structured interviews and participant sketches to explain the crosswalk scenes they experience. An interaction design framework for vehicle-pedestrian interaction in an autonomous vehicle has been suggested which can be used to design and model driverless vehicle behaviour before the autonomous vehicle technology is deployed widely. / Vad är fotgängares inställning till förare utan fordon som inte har någon mänsklig förare? I det här dokumentet använder vi virtuell verklighet för att simulera en virtuell scen där fotgängare interagerar med förare utan bil. Det här var en undersökande studie där 15 användare möter ett förarefritt fordon vid en korsning i den virtuella scenen. Uppgifterna samlades i form av video- och ljudinspelningar, halvstrukturerade intervjuer och deltagarskisser för att förklara de övergripande scenerna de upplever. En ram för interaktionsdesign för fordonets fotgängarinteraktion i ett autonomt fordon har föreslagits, vilket kan användas för att utforma och modellera körlösa fordonsbeteenden innan den autonoma fordonstekniken används brett.

[pt] Realidade Virtual é uma tecnologia capaz de alterar a percepção do usuário e o transportar para um ambiente mediado por tecnologia, criado pelo designer daquela experiência. Esta dissertação analisa o design de experiências imersivas de Realidade Virtual que tem como objetivo informar ou educar participantes sobre informações complexas. Para tal, fez-se uso de taxonomias de UX e educacionais como base de categorização das experiências. A seleção de trabalhos para análise foi feita a partir de uma base massiva de trabalhos publicados sobre realidade virtual. Utilizou-se uma metodologia original, criada para a presente pesquisa e detalhada ao longo da mesma, baseada em técnicas computacionais de ciência de dados para classificação dos resultados, facilitando a seleção e minimizando vieses de escolha. Ao fim desse processo iterativo, os trabalhos escolhidos foram analisados em termos de aprendizado, engajamento e suas características específicas de UX e educacionais. Tal análise da amostragem de trabalhos selecionada indica que o potencial educacional de Realidade Virtual é significativo e aplicável em diversas áreas, e que é possível estimular o engajamento dos participantes com relativa facilidade. Entretanto, a efetividade educacional da experiência é mais complexa de se alcançar. Sugere-se algumas maneiras com potencial de ajudar a alcançar esse resultado, como: maior foco no design instrucional; maior colaboratividade; mais participação de instrutores; mais interações que permitam atividades criativas, bem como modos mais criativos de apresentação das informações. Essas sugestões e recomendações podem ajudar os designers de experiências em Realidade Virtual (ou de outros tipos de realidades mediadas por tecnologia) a proporcionarem ou explorarem o potencial de experiências que podem se mostrar mais efetivas em alcançar os objetivos de educar ou informar sobre temas complexos. / [en] Virtual Reality is a technology that can alter a user s perception and transport them into a technology-mediated environment created by the designer of that virtual experience. This research examines the design of immersive Virtual Reality experiences that aim to inform or educate participants about complex topics. To do so, we use UX and educational taxonomies as a basis for categorizing the experiences. The selection of publications for analysis was made from a massive base of published works on virtual reality. An original methodology was used, created for this research and detailed throughout, based on computational data science techniques to classify the results, facilitating the selection and minimizing biases. At the end of this iterative process, the chosen works were analyzed in terms of learning, engagement, and their specific UX and educational characteristics. Such analysis indicates that the educational potential of Virtual Reality is significant and applicable in a variety of areas, and that it is possible to create engaging experiences with relative ease. However, the educational effectiveness of the experience is more complex to achieve. We explore suggestions that may have the potential to achieve this outcome, such as: more focus on instructional design; more collaboration; more instructor participation; more interactions that allow for creative activities, as well as more creative ways of presenting information. These suggestions and recommendations can help designers of Virtual Reality experiences (or other types of technology-mediated realities) to provide or explore the potential for experiences that may prove more effective in achieving the goals of educating or informing about complex topics.

<div>The coming of the Internet of things (IoT) has enabled manufacturers, teachers, machine operators, makers, and researchers to design and use new workflows, fabricate parts efficiently and effectively, and interact with systems and devices in ways that were not possible before.</div><div>These networked systems have changed the way in which input is received from and data is outputted to humans. Context-awareness and autonomy are characteristics of these devices that result in automated processes, faster production times, and more intuitive interfaces. Direct manipulation is an intuitive and natural human-computer interaction (HCI) that enables its users an easy and fast learning.</div><div>In this thesis, an Internet of things architecture is designed and implemented to enable control and data visualization in machines and devices through immersive interfaces using direct manipulation. The proposed architecture and interfaces are tested and validated approaching three different categories of systems; namely, systems that need to be modified to be IoT ready, systems that are IoT ready, and systems that have not yet been constructed. For the latter case, a custom system has been made to evaluate and test the whole architecture and its implementation. The knowledge acquired in developing this architecture and the design rationale behind the development of immersive interfaces, are summarized and presented as a series of guidelines and recommendations for IoT systems manufacturers to follow to include immersive interfaces in their designs.</div>

Sustainable consumption is used to describe consumer behaviors which aim to reduce environmental impact. One way of measuring sustainable consumption is by tracking products’ carbon footprint. Today however, there is limited research on how carbon footprint information is influencing consumers online, and few online tools which allow consumers to track carbon footprints for specific products before the point of purchase. The purpose of the thesis is to design a sustainability tool which contains product level carbon footprint information as well as to test and evaluate how the information affects sustainable consumption. Theory from the fields of Human Computer Interaction and Carbon Footprint research was used in a multi-method qualitative study. Expert interviews and qualitative usability tests were conducted during the thesis as means of collecting empirical data. The study concludes that carbon footprint information should be introduced in the search phase of the consumer journey. The information should then progressively become more detailed as the consumer approaches the point of purchase. The study found that displaying carbon footprint information affects sustainable consumption positively in the tested online environment. However, personal preference and cost constitute a large part of consumers' choices as well. The study extends the research on carbon footprints by including results from an online environment. Future research should be conducted using quantitative methods to validate the results of this study on larger samples. Other product categories should also be tested as a way of investigating if the same consumption patterns emerge across different product categories. / Hållbar konsumtion används för att beskriva konsumentbeteenden med syfte att minska miljöpåverkan. Ett sätt att mäta hållbar konsumtion är genom att spåra produkters koldioxidavtryck. I dag är dock forskningen kring hur koldioxidavtrycksinformation påverkar konsumenter online begränsad, och få verktyg tillåter konsumenter att spårasina koldioxidavtryck för specifika produkter innan köp. Syftet med studien är att designa ett hållbarhetsverktyg med information om koldioxidavtryck på produktnivå samt att testa och utvärdera hur informationen påverkar hållbar konsumtion. Teori från områdena Människa-datorinteraktion samt Koldioxidavtrycksforskning användes i en kvalitativ multimetodstudie. Expertintervjuer samt kvalitativa användbarhetstester genomfördes under studien som ett sätt att samla in empirisk data. Slutsatsen från studien visar att information om koldioxidavtryck bör introduceras i sökfasen av konsumentresan. Koldioxidinformationen bör sedan successivt bli mer detaljerad när konsumenten närmar sig köptillfället. Studien påvisar att koldioxidavtrycksinformation påverkar hållbar konsumtion positivt i den testade onlinemiljön. Dock påverkar även personlig preferens samt kostnad konsumenternasval. Studien utökar forskningen om koldioxidavtryck genom att inkludera resultat från en onlinemiljö. Framtida forskning bör utföras med hjälp av kvantitativa metoder för att validera resultaten av denna studie på en större urvalsgrupp. Även andra produktkategorier bör testas som ett sätt att undersöka om samma konsumtionsmönster uppstår över olika produktkategorier.

This master thesis presents a machine learning framework for real-time gesture and skeleton-based action recognition, integrated with the Unity game engine. The system aims to enhance human-computer interaction (HCI) in gaming and 3D related applications through natural movement recognition, by training a model on skeleton tracking data. The framework is trained to accurately categorize and identify gestures such as kicks and punches, enabling a more immersive gaming experience not existing in traditional controllers. After studying the evolution of HCI and how machine learning has transformed and reshaped the interaction paradigm, the prototype system is built through data collection, augmenting, and preprocessing, followed by training and evaluating a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network model for gesture classification. The model is integrated into Unity via Unity Sentis using Open Neural Network Exchange (ONNX) format, enabling efficient real-time action recognition in 3D space. Each component of the pipeline is available and adaptable for future custom- ization and needs, skeleton tracking and Unity integration is built using the ZED 2i camera and ZED SDK. Experimental results demonstrate that the system presented can achieve over 90% accuracy in identifying predefined gestures. As a bridging solution tailored for Unity, this framework offers a practical solution to action recognition that could be found useful in future applications. This work contributes to advancing human-computer interaction and offers a foundation for further development in gesture-based Unity game design.