Communication is a central activity in command and control. However, analysing communication using linear transcription of large amounts of sequential data is tedious and time consuming. This paper describes an alternative approach for communication analysis based on visual exploration of abstract representations of communication. It introduces a visualisation technique based on the Attribute Explorer. The technique was implemented in a visualisation component embedded in a framework for coordinated presentation of temporal data. It is demonstrated using authentic communication data from a military exercise and a rescue operation.

The move from print to multimedia will cause changes not only to the form of the news service but also the involved processes in the news organizations. The cooperative scenario building technique is used on a number of groups; end-users, management and media professionals to envisioning the news services of the future. We take the perspective of consensus and conflict to illustrate the identified visions. Firstly, we illuminate conflicts and consensus between the groups, regarding their visions and future use scenarios. Secondly, we show the implications of using the cooperative scenariobuilding technique in relation the consensus and conflict perspectives in cooperative design. We conclude that both consensus and conflicts could be found in the scenarios described in the paper and that the cooperative technique was suitable in this context.

The transition to digital TV is changing the television set into an entertainment as well as information supplier device that provides two-way communication with the viewer. However, the present remote control device is not appropriate for navigation through the huge amount of services and information provided by the future digital TV, presumably also a device for accessing the Internet. One possibility for coping with the complex information navigation required by TV viewers is an augmentation of the interaction tools currently available for TV. Two approaches to such an augmentation are investigated in this thesis: linking paper-based TV guides to the digital TV and enhancing the remote control unit with speech interaction.

Augmentation of paper-based TV guides is a futuristic research approach based on the integration of paper-based TV guides into computation technology. This solution provides interactive paper-based TV guides that also function as a remote control for the TV. A prototype system is developed and explorative studies are conducted to investigate this approach. These studies indicate the benefits of integrating paper-based TV guides into the TV set. They also illuminate the potential to provide innovative solutions for home information systems. Integrating familiar physical artefacts, such as paper and pen into TV technology may provide easy access to information services usually provided by PCs and the Internet. Thus, the same augmentation needed for TV as an entertainment device also opens up new communication channels for providing society information to citizens who do not feel comfortable with conventional computers.

The thesis also reports on studies of speech interfaces for TV information navigation. Traditional speech interfaces have several common problems, such as user acceptance and misinterpretation of user input. These problems are investigated in empirical and explorative studies with implementation of mockups and running research systems. We have found that the pragmatic solution of augmenting remote control devices by speech is a suitable solution that eases information navigation and search.

Interaction techniques for interactive television (iTV) are currently complex and difficult to use for a wide-range of viewers. Few previous studies have dealt with the potential benefits of multimodal dialogue interaction in the context of iTV for the purpose of flexibility, usability, efficiency, and accessibility. This paper investigates the benefits of introducing speech and connected dialogue for iTV interaction, and presents a case study in which a prototype system was built allowing users to navigate the information space and control the operation of the TV by a speech-based natural language interface. The system was evaluated by analysing the user experience in five categories capturing essential aspects of iTV interaction: interaction style, information load, data access, effectiveness and initiative. Design considerations relevant for speech and dialogue information systems for TV interfaces also emerged from the analysis.

Computer-based simulation of influenza outbreaks in local communities can help researchers, epidemiologists, and decision makers better understand the impact of the community structure on the reproduction rate of disease, and the relative benefits of different types of prevention and interventions. The goal of scenario modeling is to develop a description of scenario components, such us the disease, the community and interventions. An ontology-based representation of the scenario model together with a modeling tool, which is based on an extension to Protege assist scenario developers in formulating simulation specifications. This approach allows the exploration of new ideas by rapidly formulating and reconstructing scenarios from novel components.

In this article we argue that a structured use of perspective descriptions can support a design process. A design perspective is a coherent set of values and aspects emphasized by the designer in a given design situation. We present a generic framework for describing 7 dimensions of perspectives concerning user, artifact, context, activities, communication, central relations, and use qualities that we argue are relevant in a design situation. Subsequently we use this metaperspective to describe four perspectives: tool, architectural, usability, and media perspective distilled from literature sources. By conducting two design workshops, we have evaluated the effects of using perspective descriptions to address the problem of idea generation in the early phases of design. Our analysis shows that the perspectives contain values that can have an important impact on the resulting artifact. By guiding the exploration of the design space, they influence both the artifact's conceptual idea and its use qualities. In our design example, a car game, the conceptual idea of the artifact varied from a goal-oriented tool to a media-based communication experience. Use qualities varied from a task-based flow of action to a format-dependent communication experience. The perspectives served as a synthesis of basic assumptions from the literature and as support to generate conceptually different design ideas. Based on the outcome of our study, we propose an approach for working with design perspectives in design practice, and education. We also present an agenda for research on design perspectives. Copyright © 2006, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Many studies have shown the advantages of building multimodal systems, however not in the interactive TV application context. This paper reports on a qualitative study of a multimodal program guide for interactive TV. The system was designed by adding speech interaction to an already existing TV program guide. Study results indicate that spoken natural language input combined with visual output is preferable for TV applications. Furthermore, the user feedback requires a clear distinction between the dialogue system's domain result and system status in the visual output. Consequently, we propose an interaction model that consists of three entities: user, domain results, and system feedback.

A media terminal box combines digital television and services on the World Wide Web. This device will be available in many homes and the interaction with it occurs via a remote control and a visual presentation. The problem is the navigation difficulties among the huge number of television channels. The aim of this study is to investigate whether spoken commands could solve the navigation problem. In this study two input techniques were tested: remote control and speech input. The results showed that speech input was more effective as steps to complete tasks were less and shortcuts were used more often in the speech condition. However, the subjective data showed that the subjects were more satisfied with the remote control input. In conclusion, we recommend multimodal interaction where of speech input to complement the remote control unit.

With the evolvingfunctionality in television-based Tvbasedinformation andentertainment appliances, there is an increased need to enableusers input text through remote control devices. We present a noveltext input method, The Numpad Typer TNT, for interactive TV,multimediahome terminals or other similar applications. Embodied ina TV remote control and guided by a visual map on the Tvscreen, TNTwas designed for consistent spatial Stimuli-Response S-Rcompatibility and consistency of use. Fiveusers tested TNT in tensessions of 45-minutes. This initial investigation showed thatusers on average could type 9.3 and 17.7 correct words per minutewith TNT doing the slowest and the fastest session respectively.The study also showed that the users found the TNT method easy tograsp and fun to use. Subjectively the participants felttheymastered the method rather quickly in comparison to theiractual speed improvement.

Studies of how 10 to 11 year old children understand eventbasedprogram descriptions based on comic strips showed thatnarrative interpretations of such programs were common. A narrativeperspective was taken both when using paper prototypes and computerprototypes, but was stronger on paper than on the computer. While anarrative model of programming can interfere with the creation ofnon-linear simulation-oriented programs, a classroom study showedthat the children were able to use a narrative perspective onprogramming to create story-based games with interactive agents.Thus, visual event-based programming could be an alternative tohypertext authoring for the creation of interactive stories where adynamic content is considered important.

[No abstract available]

Contact-expressive devices could improve our lives -- from practical improvements that let us interact with devices when other modalities are impossible, inappropriate, or inadequate to devices that have important consequences for physical well-being. We can also imagine using contact expressions in devices that are pleasurable, playful, artistic, or otherwise important to a human's experience. This paper discusses the technical development of sensor-motor systems, tactile interfaces, and technologies that can embody and understand affect. Contact-expressive devices are technologies that understand and use touch in meaningful ways-that can distinguish between a press and a caress. Also discussed are the following issues: technical requirements and the nature of contact expressions. Although a fairly large body of research exists regarding nonverbal communication, the majority of this work is on visual expression (facial expressions, physical appearance, direction of gaze, physical posture, and other visible forms of body language) and paralinguistics (such as vocal inflection, pitch, volume, and speech rate). Work needs to begin on studies of human contact with the goal of leveraging those insights for the design of contact-expressive devices-and work needs to begin on the implementation of technologies that have rich contact-expressive range and appeal.

Enactive cognitive science is an approach to the study of mind that seeks to explain how the structures and mechanisms of autonomous cognitive systems can arise and participate in the generation and maintenance of viable perceiver-dependent worlds -- rather than more conventional cognitivist efforts, such as the attempt to explain cognition in terms of the "recovery" of (pre-given, timeless) features of The (objectively-existing and accessible) World. As such, enactive cognitive science is resonant with radical constructivism. And as with other scientific efforts conducted within a constructivist orientation, it is broadly "conventional" in its scientific methodology. That is, there is a strong emphasis on testable hypotheses, empirical observation, supportable mechanisms and models, rigorous experimental methods, acceptable criteria of validation, and the like. Nonetheless, this approach to cognitive science does also raise a number of specific questions about the scope of amenable phenomena (e.g. meaning, consciousness, etc.) -- and it also raises questions of whether such a perspective requires an expansion of what is typically considered within the purview of scientific method (e.g. the role of the observer/scientist). This paper is a brief introduction to enactive cognitive science: a description of some of the main research concerns; some examples of how such concerns have been realized in actual research; some of its research methods and proposed explanatory mechanisms and models; some of the potential as both a theoretical and applied science; and several of the major open research questions.

Traditionally, most interface work has emphasized visual features, and even when other senses such as speech, audio, and touch have been taken into account, these are often done to supplement (or compensate for) visual information. However, there is one area of physical contact that has received virtually no attention from the HCI community: the "contact expressions" used by people and animals in different contexts. As robotic toys and embodied technological devices become more commonplace, it is our belief that this aspect of "interface" will have great significance. It is clear that the future of computational interfaces will include devices that are both physically embodied and which will include physical contact and "contact expressions" as part of their "interface." Future generations of autonomous devices will not only "display" significant gestures -- they will express themselves through physical contact. This paper outlines an initial design taxonomy of basic contact expressions -- and describes a "contact cushion" we have built and tested to explore some of the potential for Contact User Interfaces (CUIs). The paper concludes with a discussion about some of the implications of this work for future interface development.

There are activities where a dynamic, creative partnership among equals seems like an appropriate model of empowerment. Not only do good partnerships seem to help people attain or sustain powerful engagement in their current activities, in some cases they seem to enable people to successfully enter new activities. In this paper we describe our initial work to develop partner technologies. Using examples from four partner prototypes being developed, we discuss some design patterns based on the work to date, some insights into aspects of partnership, and conclude with a discussion of some future prospects and potential of partner technologies.

In order to create applications that programmatically use the Web as an expressive medium, the current choice is largely between conventional programming languages that are difficult to learn and use -- and less expressive alternatives. In order to address this issue, we have been developing CrawLogo, a Logo-inspired programming environment in which Web-elements are programmable, body-syntonic "Crawltures" that exist within a 5-dimensional Crawlture Geometry. In this paper we briefly summarize related work, describe the CrawLogo environment, some sample applications, and the initial response of end-user programmers who have successfully used it to build Web-enabled applications. We conclude with a discussion of some insights into the larger question of empowering end-user programming of the Web, the development of a Crawlture Geometry, and future research challenges.

The various models and simulations of automobile driving that have been suggested over time have differential explanatory and predictive power. Some address the processes within the driver, others have the joint system of driver and car as a unit of analysis. One of the particular limitations that is not well-addressed in these models is the prospect of semi-autonomy that currently emerges when technology enables the car to take over parts of the driving task. The utility of combined human-machine subsumption architectures in semi-autonomous wheelchair control suggests that the joint subsumption architecture has the potential to address the issue of semi-autonomy in motor vehicles generally. In order to address semi-autonomy in simulated driving, we have explored a joint subsumption model in a 2D top-down view driving simulation in which the human controller is a layer in a subsumption control architecture, extended with a behaviour coordination mechanism that combines simple command fusion with priority-based arbitration. Joint human-machine subsumption seems to be a useful architecture to conduct research concerning semi-autonomy. Several possibilities for future research are sketched.