In recent years, Internet enabled objects (Internet of Things) and their augmentation through virtual reality has become both technically possible and increasingly advanced. This paper explores how interaction between physical IoTs and their virtual and digital twins can be advanced. Three virtual reality games focusing on three different interactions were created. One game focused on rotating, another on pushing and pulling, and a third on lifting and dropping. All games revolved around the use of real tracked cardboard boxes which were represented in the games by a virtual box in the same relative position and rotation to the player, allowing participants to manipulate the virtual boxes by manipulating the physical boxes. 14 participants were asked to play the games and were afterwards interviewed in regards to the games, their interactions with them, their enjoyability and their thoughts regarding them and the concept in general. The results were acquired from game performance, the reflections of the participants, and the subsequent analysis of recorded audio and video. The study presents the difficulties, challenges and opportunities of such a system, while also providing insight into lessons learned from the creation of the system and the games. The main contributions of the paper are the lessons learned in creating the games and experiences in addition to a few specific areas of interest for future research on the area, namely the importance of ergonomic consideration and affordance evaluation. / De senaste åren har föremål kopplade till Internet (Internet of Things eller Sakernas Internet) och deras augmentering genom virtuell verklighet både blivit möjligt och mer tekniskt avancerat. Denna rapport utforskar hur interaktioner mellan fysiska IoT föremål och deras virtuella och digitala tvillingar kan förbättras. Tre VR-spel med fokus på tre olika interaktioner utvecklades. Ett av spelen fokuserade på rotation, ett annat på rörelsen fram och tillbaka, och det tredje på rörelsen upp och ner. Alla spel involverade användandet av riktiga kartonglådor som representerades i spelet av en virtuell låda i samma position och rotation i relation till spelaren, vilket lät spelaren manipulera de virtuella lådorna genom att manipulera de fysiska lådorna. 14 deltagare ombads spela spelen och intervjuades i efterhand angående spelen, interaktionerna, underhållningsvärdet och deras tankar kring konceptet. Resultaten kom från deltagarnas prestationer i spelen, deras reflektioner och efterföljande analys av inspelad audio och video. Studien presenterar svårigheter, utmaningar och möjligheter hos det beskrivna systemet och delar med sig av insikter från skapandeprocessen av systemet och spelen. Studiens huvudsakliga bidrag är de nämnda insikterna från skapandeprocessen samt ett par specifika intresseområden för framtida forskning: vikten av hänsyn till ergonomi och utvärdering av affordans.

This paper presents MusiCushions, a set of interactive sofa cushions used as an interface to music. Built on physical affordances of sofa cushions and e-textile technology, the artefact is used to explore how an e-textile interface can be used for music interaction at home. Challenges in prototyping e-textile interfaces would also be identified. Three cushions are prototyped with off-the-shelf e-textile and electronic components: in one cushion, its case is explored as an interactive surface; another cushion explores the softness and how it can be easily pressed; and the last cushion explores its portability. The set is then mapped to music interaction in two scenarios: as a remote control to a music player and as a musical instrument to control a synthesizer. Evaluation is conducted in two focus group discussions involving students in Media Technology. It is concluded that MusiCushions could be received as a new way to control media such as music player at home, with broader possible use to interact with other services and objects. As a musical instrument, however, it might not be accepted due to the lack of precision control. / Den här studien handlar om MusiCushions, ett set med interaktiva soffkuddar som används som ett gränssnitt för interaktion med musik. De är utvecklade baserat på soffkuddars fysiska affordances och teknologier för e-textil och används för att undersöka hur ett e-textilt gränssnitt kan användas för att interagera med musik i hemmet. Utmaningar som kan komma att uppstå när man utvecklar ett gränssnitt av e-textil är också identifierade. Tre soffkuddar utvecklades med off-the-shelf elektronik och komponenter för e-textil: en kudde undersöker möjligheten att använda dess fodral som en interaktiv yta; en annan undersöker kuddens fysiska egenskaper, att den är mjuk och enkelt kan pressas ihop, medan den tredje är baserad på att den är enkel att flytta runt. Kuddarna är sedan mappade till två olika scenarier där man interagerar med musik: som en kontroll att styra musik med och som ett musikaliskt instrument. Kuddarna är sedan testade i två olika fokusgrupper där studenter från medieteknik deltar. Av denna studie kan slutsatsen dras att MusiCushions kan användas som ett nytt sätt att kontrollera musik på och det finns även möjlighet att integrera dem med andra tjänster och objekt. Däremot är de inte uppskattade som ett musikaliskt instrument, då interaktionen med det textila gränssnittet saknar precision.

We report on the design of a tangible device for encouraging the acceptance of unproductive time. We first conducted interviews for a better understanding of the subjective experience of productivity. We found that while the idea of being productive can evoke positive feelings of satisfaction, dealing with unproductive time can be a struggle, negatively affecting people’s moods and self-esteem. These findings guided the design and implementation of RU, a tangible device for reflecting on self-care time. Our prototype offers a physical representation of the mainstream productivity mindset and plays with the idea of connecting and charging energy to encourage the user to experience the time considered unproductive as self-care. In a second study, participants used the device for 5 days and our results suggest that the device motivates reflection on activities beyond work and increases awareness of the importance of taking time for self-care. / I rapporten redogör vi utformningen av ett fysiskt verktyg vars syfte är att öka acceptansen för icke-produktiv tid. Först användes intervjuer för att skapa en bättre förståelse och insikt i vad en “produktiv upplevelse” är. Intervjuerna visade att, samtidigt som idéen av att vara produktiv kan ge positiva känslor i form av “uppfyllnad”, så kan hanteringen av icke-produktiv tid vara jobbig och därmed negativt påverka människors humör och självkänsla. Insikterna från intervjuerna användes som stöd för designen och implementationen av RU, ett fysiskt verktyg vars användning är menad att härleda till reflektion samt tid för självvård. Prototypen är en fysisk representation av vad som anses var den stereotypiska bilden av ett produktivt sinne. Prototypen spelar på idéen av att koppla samman och ge energi i syfte om att motivera användaren att uppleva oproduktiv tid som självvård. I en ytterligare exekverad studie använde deltagarna RU under 5 dagar där resultatet indikerade på att verktyget motiverar till reflektion i aktiviteter bortom jobb och en ökad medvetenhet om vikten i att ta sig tiden för självvård.

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This thesis discusses commensality as a significant social activity, that helps to maintain and strengthen social bonds. It also examines the sense of touch as a communication channel, and provides an insight to how it can be used to communicate affect. Touch as contextualized medium and its relevance to interaction design is investigated. Based on studies made in psychology, physiology, sociology and communication it aims to find an answer to the question: ”How may we create togetherness -with the help of an interactive device- between loved ones separated by distance during dining, through remote communication?” In order to meet the objectives of the above question this research followed the Research Through Design methodology, with series of workshops and prototyping sessions.

This thesis examines the role connected devices in the home could play for maintaining and taking care of close relationships of people living apart. Communication tools nowadays offer many different ways of communicating and they are mostly focused on mobile devices. Social presence describes the feeling that humans have when communicating with each other and can be mediated through communication tools in different strengths. The Internet of Things is one rapidly developing branch of contemporary technology and estimates say by 2020 about 200 billion devices will be connected. This research focuses on the possibilities the Internet of Things offers to the notion of social presence in the domestic setting by exploring how we feel interrupted by current devices: Through a Research through Design approach, alternative concepts will be developed to materialize the feeling of social presence.

<p dir="ltr">Recognition of human behavior and object status plays a significant role in context-aware applications. Although researchers have explored methods to detect users’ activities, there still exists a research gap where end-users are not able to build personalized applications that accurately recognize their activities in the physical environment. Therefore, in this thesis, to fill the gap, we explore different in-situ context-aware Augmented Reality (AR) applications that leverage hand-object recognition and support users to rapidly author context-aware applications by referring to their activities. We first explore the possibility that end-users develop AR applications with customized freehand interactions and introduce GesturAR, an end-to-end authoring tool that supports users to create freehand AR applications through embodied demonstration and visual programming. Next, we explore hand interactions with physical objects and propose ARnnotate, an AR system enabling end-users to create custom data. To further study context-aware applications with haptic feedback, we present Ubi Edge, an AR authoring tool that allows end-users to customize edges on daily objects as tangible user interface (TUI) inputs to control varied digital functions. We develop an integrated AR device and a vision-based detection workflow to track 3D edges and detect the touch interaction between fingers and edges. Finally, to enable end-users to apply AR applications in different physical environments, we propose AdapTUI, a system that can automatically adapt the geometric-based TUIs in various environments. In summary, our contribution lies in the development of several context-aware AR applications that effectively sense users’ activities and facilitate users’ authoring process intuitively and conveniently.</p>

This diploma thesis focuses on long-term tangible assets in International Financial Reporting Standards and Czech accounting legislation. My thesis deals with regulation and harmonization of accounting information, describes recognition, valuation and presentation of long-term tangible assets in IFRS and Czech legislation; US GAAP regulation is mentioned if significant. An important contribution of the thesis is a practical application concentrated on accounting policy used in practice and compliance with requirements on disclosures. Another outcome of the thesis is a comparison between IFRS and Czech legislation and summarizing the difference.

This thesis project explores how interactive technologies can facilitate a sense of social connectedness with others whilst remotely located. While studying the way humans use rituals for emotional management, I focused my interest on the act of commensality because it is one of the oldest and most important rituals used to foster togetherness among families and groups of friends. Dining with people who do not belong to the same household is of course hard during a global pandemic, just like many of the other forms of social interactions that were forcibly replaced by the use of technological means such as video-chat apps, instant messaging and perhaps an excessive use of social networking websites. These ways of staying connected, however, lack the subtleties of real physical interaction, which I tried to replicate with my prototype system, which consists of two sets of a lamp and a coaster which enable to communicate through light and tactile cues. The use of such devices creates a new kind of ritual based on the simultaneous use of the devices by two people, thus enabling a new and original form of commensality that happens through a shared synchronized experience.

L'intérêt porté par l'archéologie à la réalité virtuelle est croissant. La réalité virtuelle est devenue un outil nécessaire pour l'exploration et l'étude des sites archéologiques, et plus particulièrement, les sites archéologiques sous-marins qui se révèlent parfois difficile d'accès. Les études actuelles proposent des solutions en réalité virtuelle ou en réalité augmentée sous forme d'environnements virtuels avec une interaction virtuelle et/ou augmentée mais aucune étude n'a vraiment essayé de comparer ces deux aspects de l'interaction. Nous présentons dans ce mémoire trois environnements en réalité virtuelle et un environnement en réalité augmentée où nous proposons des nouvelles méthodes d'interaction. Ainsi, nous évaluons leurs fonctionnalités d'un point de vue archéologique, nous étudions l'influence du niveau d'immersion sur les performances de l'interaction et nous réalisons une comparaison entre l'interaction en réalité virtuelle et en réalité augmentée.