Browsing by Author "Wong, Nelson"

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    A Visual Interaction Cue Framework from Video Game Environments for Augmented Reality
    (2018-09-18) Dillman, Kody R.; Tang, Tony C. T.; Wong, Nelson; Willett, Wesley J.
    Based on an analysis of 49 popular contemporary video games, I develop a descriptive framework of visual interaction cues in video games. These cues are used to inform players what can be interacted with, where to look, and where to go within the game world. These cues vary along three dimensions: the purpose of the cue, the visual design of the cue, and the circumstances under which the cue is shown. I demonstrate that this framework can also be used to describe interaction cues for augmented reality applications. Beyond this, I show how the framework can be used to generatively derive new design ideas for visual interaction cues in augmented reality experiences and use the framework as a guide to create three novel AR prototypes. Finally, I suggest design considerations for the creation of visual interaction cues for augmented reality and examine how the framework might be employed in future work.
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    Authoring Data Visualizations with Physical Template Tools
    (2019-01-14) Wun, Tiffany; Carpendale, Sheelagh; Oehlberg, Lora A.; Wong, Nelson; Reardon, Joel
    In our data-rich society, it is increasingly important that all people are able to use and understand data. Large data sets commonly require expert knowledge to design and disseminate accessible and information-rich visualizations, resulting in visualizations that work well for experts but are less accessible for the general public. My research question addresses how we can support the use of visualization to increase data accessibility for the general public. One approach is to encourage people to self-author data representations suited to their own comprehension needs using simple techniques. However, providing data visualization authoring tools for the general public remains an ongoing challenge. My thesis explores the use of physical tools—specifically, rulers and block-printing stamps—as novel methods of authoring data visualizations, leveraging the advantages of ready-made visualization templates while providing freedom to personalize visual elements. To first explore the possibility of designing physical tools for authoring data visualizations, I present prototypes for several modifiable, computationally-fabricated ruler and stamp designs, created with the goal of allowing users to quickly create repeating visual elements when authoring visual elements on paper. From my design efforts, stamps show promise as low-effort, easy-to-create tools; I therefore conducted a workshop study to understand how people approach visualization authoring when given the ability to create their own physical template tools. In this study, participants authored visualizations on paper using hand-carved stamps made from potatoes and sponges. My results show that participants were able to author meaningful data visualizations from their self-created stamps, as well as several unique traits and uses of block-printing stamps. I conclude the thesis by discussing issues around expressivity and effectiveness of personalizing physical authoring tools, identify implications for the design and assembly of primitives in potential visualization authoring kits, and applications for physical authoring tools in the bigger scope of data democratization.
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    Evaluating User Preferences for Augmented Reality Interactions for the Internet of Things
    (2019-12-20) Chopra, Shreya; Maurer, Frank; Wong, Nelson; Costa Sousa, Mario
    This thesis investigates how users want to control IoT devices in their homes with headset AR. Gestural and voice controls are both suitable methods of input for headset AR. However, there is a lack of end-user input in the design of such gestures and voice commands: especially in comparative terms. An elicitation study is performed with 16 participants to gather their preferred voice commands and gestures for a set of referents. The contribution is an analysis of 784 inputs (392 gestures and 392 voice), a resulting gesture set and command types, comparative method preferences, a novel method to analyze voice command input (called voice command pattern template), as well as design recommendations based on observations and interviews. These recommendations serve as guides for future designers and implementors of such voice commands and gestures.
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    Exploring Notifications with Pepper’s Ghost Illusion
    (2018-01) Pratte, Sydney Anne; Maurer, Frank; Oehlberg, Lora; Wong, Nelson
    Today people are living a fast-paced environment with many tasks trying to grab our attention leading to multitasking and rapid task switching. Notifications and pop-ups is an effective method of grabbing user’s visual attention and helping maintain information awareness. Unfortunately, the current method of notifications has also been considered to be a disruption during tasks. In this work, I explore a different method of gaining user’s visual attention with Pepper’s Ghost optical illusion – called the Acquario display. Through a user study the reaction time and user preference was evaluated to understand the benefits and drawbacks of using Pepper’s Ghost to display pop-up information during a typing task. Results from the pre- and post-study interviews showed that participants liked Pepper’s Ghost Illusion as a notification application. The illusion provided a less invasive means of notifying by appearing overlaid on the screen and its transparent quality. They also reported that the overlay had legibility issues that need addressing. The study showed that there was no statistical significant difference in the participants words per minute or in reaction time. My contributions include a hardware prototype of a desktop display using the Pepper’s Ghost Illusion, a study methodology for evaluation notifications with Pepper’s Ghost and an evaluation of using this technique.
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    Exploring User Experience Guidelines for Designing HMD Extended Reality Applications
    (2020-04-24) Vi, Steven; Maurer, Frank; Oehlberg, Lora A.; Wong, Nelson
    With the rise of Extended Reality (XR) technologies, such as head mounted displays (HMD) for Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Augmented Reality (AR), designers are presented with many unique challenges and opportunities when creating applications. Publications can be found from research and industry that offer insights and ideas surrounding user experience (UX) for XR applications. However, these publications often vary in format and content. Based on a thorough analysis of 68 different resources from research, industry, and 2D design, we present a set of eleven UX guidelines for designing XR applications. Our work serves as a reference to the literature for understanding what others have tried and discovered and provides an integrated set of guidelines. Furthermore, we explore how our work can be utilized by conducting a case study where we used our guidelines throughout the development of an XR application. More specifically, in collaboration with the Alberta Electric System Operators (AESO), we developed an HMD XR app that explores how information from their current control room can be replicated and reimagined in a virtual environment. Based on our experience, we use the knowledge gained to reflect on the guidelines and suggest areas for future research. We see our work as a starting point to better understand how to create and design usable HMD XR applications.
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    Gone but not forgotten: designing for disconnection in synchronous groupware
    (ACM, 2010) Gutwin, Carl; Graham, T.C. Nicholas; Wolfe, Chris; Wong, Nelson; de Alwis, Brian
    Synchronous groupware depends on the assumption that people are fully connected to the others in the group, but there are many situations (network delay, network outage, or explicit departure) where users are disconnected for various periods. There is little research dealing with disconnection in synchronous groupware from a user and application perspective; as a result, most current groupware systems do not handle disconnection events well, and several user-level problems occur. To address this limitation, we developed the Disco framework, a model for handling several types of disconnection in synchronous groupware. The framework considers how disconnections are identified, what senders and receivers should do during an absence, and what should be done with accumulated data upon reconnection. We have implemented the framework in three applications that show the feasibility, generality, and functionality of our ideas. Our framework is the first to deal with a full range of disconnection issues for synchronous groupware, and shows how groupware can better support the realities of distributed collaboration.
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    Level Down: Using Games as a Teaching Tool for Low-Level Computer Science
    (2021-07-23) Wright, Hannah; Aycock, John; Wong, Nelson; Reardon, Joel
    Game-based learning has had promising results for a variety of different topics; however, for computer science education in particular, its applications have mostly focused on high-level concepts such as program flow and the control structures that modify it. Considering that students are known to struggle with low-level topics, the goal of this thesis is to level down game-based learning by applying it to lower-level concepts—this is accomplished by designing, building, and evaluating two original games. The first game is the physical card game Mermaids and Narwhals, which is meant to teach binary manipulations such as shifts and rotations with broader applications in computational thinking; it was evaluated through a gameplay simulation that modelled the game's behaviour under different conditions. The second game is Binary Bubbles, which is a digital bubble shooter game designed to help students practice their Boolean/bitwise logic operations; this game was evaluated through a large two-group, pre-test post-test survey. Overall, this thesis contributes to a promising area of research that has been relatively unexplored in related literature.
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    Supporting Interactive Graph Exploration with Edge Plucking
    (2005-08-26) Wong, Nelson; Carpendale, Sheelagh
    Excessive edge density in graphs can cause serious readability issues, which in turn can make the graphs difficult to understand or even misleading. We introduce Edge Plucking, an interactive tool that enables clarification of node-edge relationships by bending edges while preserving node positions. Edge Plucking extends the types of interactive graph exploration tools that have been designed to address edge congestion.