Human-computer Interaction Literature Research Articles

Group Dynamics in the Metaverse: A Conceptual Framework and First Empirical Insights

The metaverse offers new technological possibilities for conducting 3D immersive meetings with head-mounted displays that can enrich virtual teamwork. To conceptualize this new interaction space, we synthesize interdisciplinary findings from human-computer interaction literature, group research, and meeting science. We develop a conceptual framework of 3D immersive group meetings that integrates technological design characteristics, subjective attendee experiences, mediating mechanisms, and meeting outcomes. As a first empirical glimpse into this framework, we include a pilot study of group member’s self-reported experiences and observed group dynamics in the metaverse. Building on our framework and first empirical insights, we discuss implications for future investigations of group dynamics in the metaverse.

Competing With Artificial Intelligence Or Other Fans: Effects of Making Predictions About Game Outcome on Fans’ Perceived Curiosity and Evaluations of Game Consumption

This study focused on whether predicting the game outcome prior to watching the actual game results in more positive evaluations of game consumption from sports fans through heightened perceived curiosity and flow. This study employed a 4 (prediction type: no prediction vs. simple prediction vs. prediction and compete against AI vs. prediction and compete against other fans) × 2 (game outcome: winning vs. losing) between-subjects design. The results suggest that fans who make predictions about the outcome before watching highlight videos experience greater feelings of curiosity and flow, and more positive evaluations of game consumptions in comparison to those who do not make any predictions prior to watching the game. Our findings not only contribute to fan behavior and human-computer interaction literature by examining the role of prediction and curiosity but also offer meaningful practical implications for developing effective fan engagement interfaces by incorporating the elements of prediction and competition.

Assessing Factors Influencing Customers’ Adoption of AI-Based Voice Assistants

ABSTRACT The study aims to assess the factors that engage and accentuate usage pertaining to consumers with artificial intelligence-based voice assistants. Drawing on the Behavioral Reasoning Theory (BRT), the paper establishes relationships between the enablers and inhibitors on the adoption intention of voice assistants. To examine the hypothesized relationship, a quantitative approach employing PLS-SEM was utilized to evaluate a representative sample of 1189 Indian consumers and examining the psychological and functional constructs leading to adoption intention for voice assistants. The study reveals that the “value of openness to change” poses a significant effect toward “reasons for” adoption, among which “performance expectancy” and “hedonic motivation” play the most significant role in establishing a favorable attitude toward voice assistants’ adoption. Among the “reasons against”, the “value barrier” and “image barrier” come out to be major determinants leading to inhibitions regarding the usage of voice assistants. Besides this, the findings reclaim that “reasons” (for/against) shape to form the attitude of consumers toward voice assistants. The current research offers preliminary evidence with regard to the investigation of voice assistant adoption using the BRT that jointly examines enabling and inhibiting elements leading to consumers’ attitude formation. The study findings contribute to Human-Computer interaction literature by utilizing BRT framework which provides incremental evidence demonstrating a much broader and organic explanation of consumers’ cognition for the adoption of voice assistant technology. It also provides implications for tech-managers and algorithm designers to build effective voice technology for superior user experience.

Navigating Human-Chatbot Interactions: An Investigation into Factors Influencing User Satisfaction and Engagement

With the increasing integration of chatbots in various customer service contexts, understanding factors that influence user interactions is of paramount importance. While chatbots bring several benefits, their efficacy largely depends on user satisfaction, loyalty, and perceived utility. This study explores the nuances of consumer interactions with chatbot services and identifies ways to enhance these interactions for successful goal achievement. Through a multiple qualitative method approach, involving reflections, interviews, and focus groups, conducted an exhaustive investigation of the consumer experiences with chatbot interactions. The study focused on elements such as anthropomorphism, communication styles, service scripts, consumer emotions, and privacy and trust concerns. Our findings highlight that the anthropomorphism and communication style of chatbots significantly affect user satisfaction. The perceived utility of chatbots was found to be a multifaceted construct that substantially influences consumer engagement. Furthermore, this study identified negative emotions and privacy concerns as key determinants of consumer-chatbot interactions. These findings necessitate meticulous attention in chatbot design and function. By using the affordance theory, this research offers insights into managing the complex dynamics of satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors within consumer-chatbot engagements, contributing crucially to the human-computer interaction literature.

Understanding individuals with spinal cord injury’s self-care practices: a technology probe study to promote pressure relief adherence

Pressure reliefs (PRs) are self-care practices essential for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) to prevent life-threatening pressure injuries (PIs). Despite the benefits, individuals often do not do these exercises at home, leading to increased patient morbidity and mortality. To examine how digital technology could improve this population’s adherence to PR exercises, we conducted a technology probe study with five individuals with SCI over ten consecutive business days. A chat-based intervention was created to send user-scheduled PR reminders, which were personalized with visual elements and progress trackers. Participants were interviewed before and after interacting with the probe to better understand their experiences with PIs and PR practices. Results shed light on specific factors that may impact individuals with SCI’s behaviours towards PRs and four considerations to design a customisable reminder intervention: (1) easy to use and friendly technology, (2) design-your-own- schedule feature, (3) communication style feature, and (4) dialogue support features. Personalisation supported with gamified visual progress tracking and motivational messages emerged as a strong strategy to increase PR adherence. Both sets of findings expand upon the human-computer interaction (HCI) literature for mobile health tools that encourage self-care practices; in particular, to the specific needs of individuals with SCI and the use of visual elements to increase engagement.

Touch Technology in Affective Human–, Robot–, and Virtual–Human Interactions: A Survey

Given the importance of affective touch in human interactions, technology designers are increasingly attempting to bring this modality to the core of interactive technology. Advances in haptics and touch-sensing technology have been critical to fostering interest in this area. In this survey, we review how affective touch is investigated to enhance and support the human experience with or through technology. We explore this question across three different research areas to highlight their epistemology, main findings, and the challenges that persist. First, we review affective touch technology through the human–computer interaction literature to understand how it has been applied to the mediation of human–human interaction and its roles in other human interactions particularly with oneself, augmented objects/media, and affect-aware devices. We further highlight the datasets and methods that have been investigated for automatic detection and interpretation of affective touch in this area. In addition, we discuss the modalities of affective touch expressions in both humans and technology in these interactions. Second, we separately review how affective touch has been explored in human–robot and real-human–virtual-human interactions where the technical challenges encountered and the types of experience aimed at are different. We conclude with a discussion of the gaps and challenges that emerge from the review to steer research in directions that are critical for advancing affective touch technology and recognition systems. In our discussion, we also raise ethical issues that should be considered for responsible innovation in this growing area.

A Survey on Measuring Cognitive Workload in Human-Computer Interaction

The ever-increasing number of computing devices around us results in more and more systems competing for our attention, making cognitive workload a crucial factor for the user experience of human-computer interfaces. Research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has used various metrics to determine users’ mental demands. However, there needs to be a systematic way to choose an appropriate and effective measure for cognitive workload in experimental setups, posing a challenge to their reproducibility. We present a literature survey of past and current metrics for cognitive workload used throughout HCI literature to address this challenge. By initially exploring what cognitive workload resembles in the HCI context, we derive a categorization supporting researchers and practitioners in selecting cognitive workload metrics for system design and evaluation. We conclude with three following research gaps: (1) defining and interpreting cognitive workload in HCI, (2) the hidden cost of the NASA-TLX, and (3) HCI research as a catalyst for workload-aware systems, highlighting that HCI research has to deepen and conceptualize the understanding of cognitive workload in the context of interactive computing systems.

Robotic Moment: The Influence Mechanism of Frequency of Socializing on Willingness to Interact with AI Robots

Past research has discovered that the shape design and interaction process design of AI robots, as well as the users’ constant features, are the major factors that affect users’ willingness to interact with AI robots. Currently, AI robots that play a vital part in the daily activities of our society are becoming increasingly prevalent, thus things about AI robots have gone from mythic to prosaic. But when and where people are more likely to adopt AI robots remains an important research topic. With the development of online technology and the long-term impact of COVID-19, there has been a recent trend in the lower frequency of socializing. To investigate whether a state of low socializing frequency is a robotic moment and whether it affects people’s willingness to interact with AI robots, we conducted two-wave questionnaire surveys to collect data from 300 participants from 23 provinces in China. The results showed that the frequency of socializing had a significant negative correlation with the willingness to interact with the AI robots via the mediation role of social compensation. Furthermore, the relationship between social compensation and willingness to interact with the AI robots was demonstrated to be stronger, when participants had a lower anthropomorphic tendency. These findings have theoretical implications for the human–computer interaction literature and managerial implications for the robotics industry.

External Human-Machine Interfaces for Automated Vehicles in Shared Spaces: A Review of the Human-Computer Interaction Literature.

Given the rise of automated vehicles from an engineering and technical perspective, there has been increased research interest concerning the Human and Computer Interactions (HCI) between vulnerable road users (VRUs, such as cyclists and pedestrians) and automated vehicles. As with all HCI challenges, clear communication and a common understanding-in this application of shared road usage-is critical in order to reduce conflicts and crashes between the VRUs and automated vehicles. In an effort to solve this communication challenge, various external human-machine interface (eHMI) solutions have been developed and tested across the world. This paper presents a timely critical review of the literature on the communication between automated vehicles and VRUs in shared spaces. Recent developments will be explored and studies analyzing their effectiveness will be presented, including the innovative use of Virtual Reality (VR) for user assessments. This paper provides insight into several gaps in the eHMI literature and directions for future research, including the need to further research eHMI effects on cyclists, investigate the negative effects of eHMIs, and address the technical challenges of eHMI implementation. Furthermore, it has been underlined that there is a lack of research into the use of eHMIs in shared spaces, where the communication and interaction needs differ from conventional roads.

Effects of communication style on relational outcomes in interactions between customers and embodied conversational agents

AbstractConversational agents are increasingly used to substitute or augment human service employees. Due to their ability to use human‐like communicative behaviors, these agents are theorized to establish social connections with customers. However, the existing literature is ambiguous on how conversational agents should verbally communicate with customers and whether they should be adaptive to customers' verbal behavior. The current study aims to address these gaps, by focusing on the effects of the conversational agent's communication style on the perceived social connection. Two experiments were conducted in which a virtual agent in a hedonic service (Experiment 1) or a utilitarian service (Experiment 2) was manipulated to adapt either a static task‐ or a social‐oriented communication style or mimic the communication style used by the customer in the previous turn. Guided by marketing and human–computer interaction literature, measures for engagement and rapport were used to reveal customers' perceived social connection. Results show that for the hedonic service, rapport was significantly affected by the presence of social cues in the agent's communication style (whether statically or mimicked), while engagement was significantly affected by mimicry. For the utilitarian service, only social cues significantly affected rapport. These findings enrich the Computers As Social Actors paradigm and provide clear guidelines for practitioners.

Touch or click? The effect of direct and indirect human-computer interaction on consumer responses

ABSTRACT This paper examines how input devices of human-computer interaction (HCI) affect consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. Across four studies (one study with two secondary data and three experiments), we demonstrate that consumers using direct HCI (touch with fingers) will generate more favorable attitudes and greater purchase intentions than those using indirect HCI (click with a mouse). This effect is mediated by the sense of immersion and moderated by the product haptic importance. Specifically, the sense of immersion significantly mediates the effect of input devices on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions for high haptic products. In contrast, the mediating effect of the sense of immersion becomes weaker for low haptic products. These findings make important theoretical contributions to the HCI and touch literature. We also provide some practical implications for firms to improve product evaluations and purchase behavior through human-computer interaction.

It’s Cool to be Healthy! The Effect of Perceived Coolness on the Adoption of Fitness Bands and Health Behaviour

Contemporary technology success is frequently associated with the competitive advantage of being cool. A fitness band is one of the smart wearable devices promoting health behaviours, which is one of the cool lifestyle trends in modern societies. Although past research established the profound effects of coolness on user technology acceptance, the influencing role in fostering health behaviour remained obscure. To bridge the existing literature gap, the current study aims to examine the perception of coolness as a higher-order construct with multiple dimensions, namely originality, attractiveness, and sub-cultural appeals, by investigating the direct effect on fitness band adoption and indirect influence on users’ health behaviour. An online survey was conducted on 280 fitness band users, and the data was subsequently analysed via the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The study results demonstrated that the perceived coolness of fitness bands significantly affects users’ device adoption levels, which subsequently influence personal health behaviour. This study thus contributes to health communication research by testing the coolness concept and developing the diffusioninnovation framework from current human-computer interaction literature. The findings would guide future developers of fitness bands to emphasise the coolness functions for higher degrees of adoption and positive impact on society.

Customers’ motives to co-create in smart services interactions

The paper identifies and analyses customers’ motives to co-create when interacting with smart services by integrating the self-determination theory with coordination mechanisms. The study also examines the how and to what extent value co-creation impacts on word-of-mouth and customer-based brand equity. An online questionnaire was employed for empirically validating the research model. The relationships were examined using partial least square path modelling. The findings show that intrinsic and extrinsic motives are significant antecedents of value co-creation. The coordination mechanisms namely, relating and knowing also significantly influence customers’ involvement in the value co-creation process. Results also show that value co-creation mediates the relationship between customers motives (intrinsic and extrinsic) to co-create and consequences. Findings of this study adds to the human–computer interaction literature by strengthening the nomological network of value co-creation when interacting with smart services by proposing a novel model integrating both the antecedents and outcomes of value co-creation. By recognizing how this practice could be motivated, service providers can bolster customer-firm interactions and enable favourable firm level consequences.

AI anthropomorphism and its effect on users' self-congruence and self–AI integration: A theoretical framework and research agenda

This paper examines how users of anthropomorphised artificially intelligent (AI) agents, which possess capabilities to mimic humanlike behaviour, relate psychologically to such agents in terms of their self-concept. The proposed conceptual framework specifies different levels of anthropomorphism of AI agents and, drawing on insights from psychology, marketing and human–computer interaction literature, establishes a conceptual link between AI anthropomorphism and self-congruence. The paper then explains how this can lead to self–AI integration, a novel concept that articulates the process of users integrating AI agents into their self-concept. However, these effects can depend on a range of moderating factors, such as consumer traits, situational factors, self-construal and social exclusion. Crucially, the conceptual framework specifies how these processes can lead to specific personal-, group- and societal-level consequences, such as emotional connection and digital dementia. The research agenda proposed on the basis of the conceptual framework identifies key areas of interest that should be tackled by future research concerning this important phenomenon.

Data Sensemaking in Self-Tracking: Towards a New Generation of Self-Tracking Tools

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers have been increasingly interested in investigating self-trackers’ experience with self-tracking tools (STT) to get meaningful insights from their data. However, the literature lacks a coherent, integrated and dedicated source on designing tools that support self-trackers’ sensemaking practices. To address this, we carried out a systematic literature review by synthesizing the findings of 91 articles published before 2021 in HCI literature. We identified four data sensemaking modes that self-trackers go through (i.e., self-calibration, data augmentation, data handling, and realization). We also identified four design implications for designing self-tracking tools that support self-trackers’ data sensemaking practices (i.e., customized tracking experience, guided sensemaking, collaborative sensemaking, and learning sensemaking through self-experimentation). We provide a research agenda with nine directions for advancing HCI studies on data sensemaking practices. With these contributions, we created an analytical information source that could guide designers and researchers in understanding, studying, and designing for self-trackers’ data sensemaking practices.

The Reflection Object: An Activity-Theory Informed Concept for Designing for Reflection

Abstract A substantial body of human-computer interaction literature investigates tools that are intended to support reflection, e.g. under the header of quantified self or in computer-mediated learning. These works describe the issues that are reflected on by users in terms of examples, such as reflecting on financial expenditures, lifestyle, professional growth, etc. A coherent concept is missing. In this paper, the reflection object is developed based on activity theory, reflection theory and related design-oriented research. The reflection object is both what is reflected on and what is changed through reflection. It constitutes the link between reflection and other activities in which the reflecting person participates. By combining these two aspects—what is reflected on and what is changed—into a coherent conceptual unit, the concept of the reflection object provides a frame to focus on how to support learning, change and transformation, which is a major challenge when designing technologies for reflection.

Exploring the first experiences of computer programming of older people with low levels of formal education: A participant observational case study

Computer programming is widely regarded as a key skill in the 21st century. Yet, and despite a growing aging population and interest in promoting computer programming for all, research on this topic with older people (60+) is scant in the Human-Computer Interaction literature. This paper presents a qualitative case study aimed to explore the first experiences of computer programming of a group of older active computer users with low levels of educational attainment (i.e., primary school / K-12). Over a 6-month period, we provided a hands-on introduction to several textual and visual programming languages and environments to (N = 29) older and adult people in three courses in an adult educational center. We reveal and explain relevant factors that shape, and help us understand, the participants’ computer programming learning experiences, including their motivations, difficulties, and identity, along with strategies that hindered and fostered empowerment. Implications for research and design are discussed.

Real-Time Communication: Creating a Path to COVID-19 Public Health Activism in Adolescents Using Social Media.

The COVID-19 pandemic and related public health efforts limiting in-person social interactions present unique challenges to adolescents. Social media, which is widely used by adolescents, presents an opportunity to counteract these challenges and promote adolescent health and public health activism. However, public health organizations and officials underuse social media to communicate with adolescents. Using well-established risk communication strategies and insights from adolescent development and human-computer interaction literature, we identify current efforts and gaps, and propose recommendations to advance the use of social media risk communication for adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and future disasters.

Collaborative Use of a Shared System Interface: The Role of User Gaze—Gaze Convergence Index Based on Synchronous Dual-Eyetracking

Gaze convergence of multiuser eye movements during simultaneous collaborative use of a shared system interface has been proposed as an important albeit sparsely explored construct in human-computer interaction literature. Here, we propose a novel index for measuring the gaze convergence of user dyads and address its validity through two consecutive eye-tracking studies. Eye-tracking data of user dyads were synchronously recorded while they simultaneously performed tasks on shared system interfaces. Results indicate the validity of the proposed gaze convergence index for measuring the gaze convergence of dyads. Moreover, as expected, our gaze convergence index was positively associated with dyad task performance and negatively associated with dyad cognitive load. These results suggest the utility of (theoretical or practical) applications such as synchronized gaze convergence displays in diverse settings. Further research perspectives, particularly into the construct’s nomological network, are warranted.

Transitioning into states of immersion: transition design of mixed reality performances and cinematic virtual reality

ABSTRACT Cinematic virtual reality (CVR) experiences are increasingly expanding their use of additional media outside the VR headset, including scenography, spatial sound, and live performance, to successfully transition their audience into the experience. As such, they promote a heightened interest in transition design to secure experience continuity. In this paper, the authors argue that returning to the Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) concept of trajectories provides a fruitful starting point for considering transition design in CVR installations. However, explicit explorations of transitions and their design in HCI literature are limited. This contrasts with a strong design focus ‘in the wild’ across immersive genres including performance art, theme parks, video games, and live-action roleplay. Therefore, this paper advances the trajectory framework by returning to existing case studies with a transition design focus in order to discuss two existing design strategies and to mark future directions for research in the context of CVR.