Perceived Asynchrony of Rhythmic Stimuli Affects Pupil Diameter and Smooth Pursuit Eye MovementsIn networked applications, latency can disrupt the sense of synchrony by causing offsets e.g. between local speech and remote visual response. We investigate the influence of frequency and Stimulus Onset Asynchrony (SOA) on synchrony perception during rhythmic audiovisual experiences. Our results show that the Point of Subjective Synchrony (PSS) is influenced by frequency, whereas the Window of Subjective Synchrony (WSS) is not. Variations in SOA induce adaptive gaze behavior in response to audiovisual latencies, while pupil diameter increases with increasing SOA, suggesting a higher cognitive load for successive unisensory rather than integrated events. This has practical implications for the design of computer-mediated applications that promote a sense of community through rhythmic interaction. Eye tracking data may indicate perceived (a)synchrony in audiovisual integration. In addition, the choice of frequencies may help to mask latencies, enhance the experience of synchrony and thus support feelings of closeness and intimacy in virtual interaction.2025LKLina Klass et al.Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, UsabilityEye Tracking & Gaze InteractionVisualization Perception & CognitionCHI
Estimating Detection Thresholds of Being Looked at in Virtual Reality for Avatar RedirectionThe human face and eyes provide crucial conversational cues about a person’s focus of attention. In virtual reality applications, avatar faces are typically simplified, and eye movements often neglected. This paper explores how VR users perceive the look-at direction of other avatars and estimates the range within which an avatar's averted gaze goes unnoticed. Through two-alternative forced choice experiments, we investigate different gaze offsets to quantify thresholds for perceived gaze aversion across three conditions: gaze side (left/right), stimulus duration, and avatar distance. Additionally, we assess the impact of averted gaze on social presence during interactions with an embodied conversational agent in a social game. A user study (N=40) revealed that social presence is significantly affected by averted gaze when noticed, and that detection thresholds are particularly impacted by stimuli duration and interactions between side and distance. Our findings provide a foundation for understanding gaze perception in social virtual reality.2025ESEphraim Schott et al.Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Virtual Reality and Visualization Research GroupEye Tracking & Gaze InteractionSocial & Collaborative VRIdentity & Avatars in XRCHI
A Design Vocabulary for Data PhysicalizationAlthough physical artifacts that represent data have been used for centuries, the research field—known as data physicalization—has only recently gained traction. Compared to data visualization, there is no established vocabulary for analyzing and discussing the properties of physicalizations. Through a grounded analysis of examples and literature, we propose a comprehensive design vocabulary, which consist of three separate, but connected parts: explicit variables, implicit properties, and consequential aspects. Explicit variables build on visual variables known from visualization and extend it to account for physicalization’s multi-modal nature. Implicit properties concern elements which are central to the design intention and user experience of physicalizations, yet are not a result of “explicit” encoding strategies. Finally, consequential aspects refer to unintentional effects of design decisions, that influence how a physicalization is experienced. Our work illustrates how physicalizations incorporate opportunities and challenges that are not afforded in other data representations, such as embodiment and imagined touch. With this, we contribute to generating theory on physicalization. Our design vocabulary can support (1) creators through informing their design processes and highlighting design strategies, (2) educators, and (3) academics and practitioners to analyse existing physicalizations, and reflect on the impact of design decisions on interpretation and experience.2024EHEva Hornecker et al.Data PhysicalizationDIS
The Secret Life of Data – Uncovering the Diverse, Lived, and More-Than-Human Nature of Personal DataAs the datafication of our personal lives increases, researchers have started to critique what we consider as data. Where data are often seen from a reductionist perspective –as neutral numbers and graphs– theory suggests that data are messy, subjective, and pertaining to more than the human alone. They are experienced and lived with, something which is often not accounted for in personal data. To explore what people themselves consider data, sixteen interlocutors participated in a cultural probe study where they visually documented what they considered data in their everyday lives. Our analysis indicates that data can be disciplinary, social, and extend beyond ourselves, incorporating more-than-human aspects. Data are often regarded for entertainment, work, and wellbeing purposes. As interlocutors actively engaged and lived with data, we end the pictorial with a working definition of personal data, which acknowledges people’s active roles in their data creation.2024RKRosa van Koningsbruggen et al.Universal & Inclusive DesignData StorytellingEcological Design & Green ComputingC&C
"It's just a graph"– The Effect of Post-Hoc Rationalisation on InfoVis EvaluationA growing body of work in InfoVis explores its user experience (UX), however, emotions remain underexplored. Our study reveals barriers for investigating personal connection and emotional reaction to visualisations. This provides an explanation for why the role of emotions so far received little attention in InfoVis. Twenty-four participants viewed two traditional data visualisations, answered UX questionnaires for each, and were interviewed about their experience. Our findings show that traditional visualisations are seen as ‘just a graph’, that represents neutral information. Participants referred to aesthetics, legibility, and usability, instead of the actual topic. Moreover, to make sense of the data, emotions have to be separated from it. We found four possible explanations underlying this belief and argue that a form of post-hoc rationalisation takes place, which obscures people’s initial connections and affective responses to visualisations. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for future research on the UX of visualisations.2022RKRosa van Koningsbruggen et al.Interactive Data VisualizationVisualization Perception & CognitionC&C
ADHD and Technology Research -- Investigated by Neurodivergent ReadersTechnology research for neurodivergent conditions is largely shaped by research aims which privilege neuro-normative outcomes. As such, there is an epistemic imbalance in meaning making about these technologies. We conducted a critical literature review of technologies designed for people with ADHD, focusing on how ADHD is framed, the research aims and approaches, the role of people with ADHD within the research process, and the types of systems being developed within Computing and HCI. Our analysis and review is conducted explicitly from an insider perspective, bringing our perspectives as neurodivergent researchers to the topic of technologies in the context of ADHD. We found that 1) technologies are largely used to `mitigate' the experiences of ADHD which are perceived as disruptive to neurotypical standards of behaviour; 2) little HCI research in the area invites this population to co-construct the technologies or to leverage neurodivergent experiences in the construction of research aims; and 3) participant resistance to deficit frames can be read within the researchers' own accounts of participant actions. We discuss the implications of this status quo for disabled people and technology researchers alike, and close with a set of recommendations for future work in this area.2022KSKatta Spiel et al.TU WienCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Universal & Inclusive DesignTechnology Ethics & Critical HCICHI
Pet-Robot or Appliance? Care Home Residents with Dementia Respond to a Zoomorphic Floor Washing Robot Any active entity that shares space with people is interpreted as a social actor. Based on this notion, we explore how robots that integrate functional utility with a social role and character can integrate meaningfully into daily practice. Informed by interviews and observations, we designed a zoomorphic floor cleaning robot which playfully interacts with care home residents affected by dementia. A field study shows that playful interaction can facilitate the introduction of utilitarian robots in care homes, being nonthreatening and easy to make sense of. Residents previously reacted with distress to a Roomba robot, but were now amused by and played with our cartoonish cat robot or simply tolerated its presence. They showed awareness of the machine-nature of the robot, even while engaging in pretend-play. A playful approach to the design of functional robots can thus explicitly conceptualize such robots as social actors in their context of use.2022EMEmanuela Marchetti et al.SDU Syddansk UniversitetElderly Care & Dementia SupportDomestic RobotsEmpowerment of Marginalized GroupsCHI
"It's just a graph"– The Effect of Post-Hoc Rationalisation on InfoVis EvaluationA growing body of work in InfoVis explores its user experience (UX), however, emotions remain underexplored. Our study reveals barriers for investigating personal connection and emotional reaction to visualisations. This provides an explanation for why the role of emotions so far received little attention in InfoVis. Twenty-four participants viewed two traditional data visualisations, answered UX questionnaires for each, and were interviewed about their experience. Our findings show that traditional visualisations are seen as ‘just a graph’, that represents neutral information. Participants referred to aesthetics, legibility, and usability, instead of the actual topic. Moreover, to make sense of the data, emotions have to be separated from it. We found four possible explanations underlying this belief and argue that a form of post-hoc rationalisation takes place, which obscures people’s initial connections and affective responses to visualisations. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for future research on the UX of visualisations.2021RKRosa van Koningsbruggen et al.Interactive Data VisualizationVisualization Perception & CognitionC&C
Fighting Fires and Powering Steam Locomotives: Distribution of Control and Its Role in Social Interaction at Tangible Interactive Museum ExhibitsWe present a video-analysis study of museum visitors' interactions at two tangible interactive exhibits in a transport museum. Our focus is on groups’ social and shared interactions, in particular how exhibit setup and structure influence collaboration patterns. Behaviors at the exhibits included individuals focusing beyond their personal activity towards companions’ interaction, adults participating via physical interaction, and visitors taking opportunities to interact when companions moved between sections of the exhibit or stepped back from interaction. We demonstrate how exhibits’ physical configuration and interactive control engendered behavioral patterns. Systematic analysis reveals how different configurations (concerning physical-spatial hardware and interactive software) distribute control differently amongst visitors. We present four mechanisms for how control can be distributed at an interactive installation: functional, temporal, physical and indirect verbal. In summary, our work explores how mechanisms that distribute control influence patterns of shared interaction with the exhibits and social interaction between museum visitor companions.2021LCLoraine Clarke et al.University of St AndrewsDigital Art Installations & Interactive PerformanceMuseum & Cultural Heritage DigitizationCHI
Understanding the Design Space of Embodied Passwords based on Muscle MemoryPasswords have become a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives, needed for every web-service and system. However, it is challenging to create safe and diverse alphanumeric passwords, and to recall them, imposing a cognitive burden on the user. Through consecutive experiments, we explored the movement space, affordances and interaction, and memorability of a tangible, handheld, embodied password. In this context, we found that: (1) a movement space of 200 mm × 200 mm is preferred; (2) each context has a perceived level of safety, which—together with the affordances and link to familiarity—influences how the password is performed. Furthermore, the artefact’s dimensions should be balanced within the design itself, with the user, and the context, but there is a trade-off between the perceived safety and ergonomics; and (3) the designed embodied passwords can be recalled for at least a week, with participants creating unique passwords which were reproduced consistently.2021RKRosa van Koningsbruggen et al.Bauhaus-Universität WeimarForce Feedback & Pseudo-Haptic WeightPasswords & AuthenticationCHI
Overcoming Reserve – Supporting Professional Appropriation of Interactive CostumesDeploying wearable technologies in the performing arts not only concerns costume wearers but affects further stakeholders whose work is impacted by the interactive effects or who help maintain the technology. Beyond the wearer, literature neglects how these other stakeholders engage with interactive costumes, though a performance production is based on the contribution of many parties. We conducted a longitudinal study to examine how stakeholders of a youth ballet production experience and appropriate interactive costuming. Our findings suggest that user experiences vary according to stakeholders’ closeness to the costume, background and taste, the costume interaction mode and social environment. We expand existing models of technology appropriation with two novel technology relations: professional reserve and polite indifference. Based on these, we suggest integration into existing practices, to design for the show, and create positive experiences to incorporate interactive costumes in the performing arts and discuss relevance for other professional fields.2020MHMichaela Honauer et al.Shape-Changing Interfaces & Soft Robotic MaterialsDance & Body Movement ComputingDIS
Transparency of CHI Research Artifacts: Results of a Self-Reported SurveySeveral fields of science are experiencing a "replication crisis" that has negatively impacted their credibility. Assessing the validity of a contribution via replicability of its experimental evidence and reproducibility of its analyses requires access to relevant study materials, data, and code. Failing to share them limits the ability to scrutinize or build-upon the research, ultimately hindering scientific progress.<br>Understanding how the diverse research artifacts in HCI impact sharing can help produce informed recommendations for individual researchers and policy-makers in HCI. Therefore, we surveyed authors of CHI 2018-2019 papers, asking if they share their papers' research materials and data, how they share them, and why they do not. The results (34% response rate) show that sharing is uncommon, partly due to misunderstandings about the purpose of sharing and reliable hosting. We conclude with recommendations for fostering open research practices.<br>This paper and all data and materials are freely available at https://osf.io/3bu6t.2020CWChat Wacharamanotham et al.University of ZürichExplainable AI (XAI)Research Ethics & Open ScienceCHI
The Inflatable Cat: Idiosyncratic Ideation of Smart Objects for the HomeResearch on product experience has a history in investigating the sensory and emotional qualities of interacting with objects. However, this notion has not been fully expanded to the design space of co-designing smart objects. In this paper, we report on findings from a series of co-design workshops where we used the toolkit Loaded Dice in conjunction with a card set that aimed to support participants in reflecting the sensory qualities of domestic smart objects. We synthesize and interpret findings from our study to help illustrate how the workshops supported co-designers in creatively ideating concepts for emotionally valuable smart objects that better connect personal inputs with the output of smart objects. Our work contributes a case example of how a co-design approach that emphasizes situated sensory exploration can be effective in enabling co-designers to ideate concepts of idiosyncratic smart objects that closely relate to the characteristics of their domestic living situations.2019ABChristopher Frauenberger et al.Chemnitz University of TechnologySmart Home Interaction DesignParticipatory DesignCHI
Reinterpreting Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet: Interactive Costume for Unthinkable MovementsIn the 1920s, Oskar Schlemmer, artist in the Bauhaus movement, created the Triadic Ballet costumes. These re-strict movement of dancers, creating new expressions. In-spired by this, we designed an interactive wire costume. It restricts lower body movements, and emphasizes arm movements spurring LED-light ‘sparks’ and ‘waves’ wired in a tutu-like costume. The Wire Costume was introduced to a dancer who found that an unusual bond emerged be-tween her and the costume. We discuss how sensory altera-tion (sight, kinesthetic awareness and proprioception) and bodily training to adjust to the new soma, can result in nov-el, evocative forms of expression. The interactive costume can foster a certain mood, introduce feelings, and even embody a whole character – only revealed once worn and danced. We describe a design exploration combining cul-tural and historical research, interviews with experts and material explorations that culminated in a novel prototype.2018PKPavel Karpashevich et al.KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Bauhaus Universität WeimarDigital Art Installations & Interactive PerformanceDance & Body Movement ComputingCHI