User Interaction Model Research Articles

Palestine in Pixels: The Holy Land, Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Reality Construction in Video Games

This article explores the ways in which Palestine is envisioned, and its representation constructed, in contemporary video games. At the same time, capitalizing on Bogost's notion of procedurality, this article discusses the potential and limitations of various game genres for modeling complex historical, social, and political realities. It focuses particularly on the ways in which the Arab-Israeli conflict is mediated and its perception and evaluation subsequently shaped by these games. By doing so, this article analyzes how the (re)constructions of reality as provided by the video games' graphical, textual, and procedural logic, serve parallel – albeit contradictory – political and ideological interpretations of real-world events. Essentially, this article argues that the procedural forms, i.e. the common models of user interaction as utilized by particular video game genres, fundamentally shape and limit the ways in which reality is communicated to the players. Therefore, on a more general level, this article aims to further develop the game genres' critique by focusing on two contrasting, but equally significant and simultaneous, aspects of video games – the persuasive power of procedurality and the inherent limitations thereof.

UML Modeling of User and Database Interaction

In this paper, we will present a design technique for user and database interaction based on UML. User interaction will be modeled by means of UML state diagrams, and database interaction by means of UML sequence diagrams. The proposed design technique establishes how to integrate both diagrams in order to describe the user interface and database interaction of a business software system. A case study of an Internet Book Shopping system will be shown to illustrate the proposal.

Controlling Control Flow in Web Applications

Control flow is often key problem in current web applications. For example, using the back button gives a POSTDATA error, using multiple windows books the wrong hotel, and sending a link to a friend does not work.Previous solutions used continuations as a model for user interaction. However continuations are insufficient as a model of all web interactions. We believe the protocol and browsers themselves are insufficiently powerful to represent the control flow desired in a web application.Our solution is to extend the protocol and browser sufficiently that these problems can be avoided. We seek to be agnostic about how web applications are written and instead recognise that many of the problems stem from underlying weaknesses in the protocol.As an example, the application ought to be able to inform the browser that pressing back on a payment confirmation page is not allowed. Instead, the cached page can be displayed in a read-only, archive fashion to the user, or a new page can be shown instead which is consistent with the global state.We discuss how some of these ideas may be implemented within the existing HTTP/1.1 protocol; and what modest extensions to the protocol would enable full implementation. We also discuss the interaction with Web 2.0 and the security and privacy implications of our extensions.

バーチャルリアリティ手法を用いた放射線教育訓練システムの開発

A virtual reality education and training system was developed for radiation workers. The function of the system is designed as a scenario which is programmed with a proprietary script language capable of defining motion of objects created by three-dimensional (3D) modeling software, user interaction, sounds and text strings displayed in the scene. Combining these functions enables the system to provide lectures and to judge the user's action. The system consists of the 3D model of the radiation facilities and three modes of scenarios (guidance, training and end-of-course examination) including the procedure to enter and exit, experiment, measurement, radioactive waste classification and accidents. By combining these modes, the trainee of education and training is possible to learn safety handling and how to act in the case of fire or earthquake.

The effect of latency on user performance in Real-Time Strategy games

Latency on the Internet is a well-known problem for interactive applications. The growth in interactive network games brings an increased importance in understanding the effects of latency on user performance. Classes of network games such as First Person Shooters (FPS) and Real-Time Strategy (RTS) differ in their user interaction model and hence susceptibility to latency. While previous work has measured the effects of latency on FPS games, there has been no systematic investigation of the effects of latency on RTS games. In this work, we design and conduct user studies that measure the impact of latency on user performance on three of the most popular RTS games. As a foundation for the research, we separated typical RTS user interactions into the basic components of explore, build and combat, and analyzed each individually. We find modest statistical correlations between user performance and latency for exploration, but very weak correlations for building and combat. Overall, the effect of even very high latency, while noticeable to users, has a negligible effect on the outcome of the game. We attribute this somewhat surprising result to the nature of RTS game play that clearly favors strategy over the real-time aspects.

Modelling VCR-like video content navigation

Although various alternative control sets have been proposed for various purposes, VCR-like control sets remain the most commonly used for everyday video content navigation by many professional and home users, due to their predominance within popular commercial media players, such as Windows Media Player, QuickTime and RealPlayer. Consequently, this paper proposes a model of user interaction with VCR-like control sets, with the aims of better understanding the process and informing the development of future video content navigation control sets. The model is derived from the results of empirical experimentation. A digital video navigation system with a VCR-like control set was developed and subsequently used by a large sample of users ( n=200), who were required to complete a number of goal-directed navigational tasks. Each user's navigational activity was tracked and recorded automatically by the system. Subsequent analysis revealed several patterns of interaction employed by users that were then used to construct the model.

WEB-BASED VIRTUAL LAB AND REMOTE EXPERIMENTATION USING EASY JAVA SIMULATIONS

This paper presents an ongoing schema to develop virtual models of physical setup equipment and their integration into the corresponding remote laboratory. For this task, we use Easy Java Simulations (Ejs), a tool that allows us to make a complete simulation model based on the physical laws of the setup. Ejs is also able to produce virtual views that are necessary for model user interaction. These virtual views can be used with the simulation or real plant data. Accordingly, a communication model between Ejs and real equipment has to be defined in order to work with the same view in virtual mode (simulation) or remote mode (real setup). An example of a servomotor setup will be presented showing the virtual views and the way of working in both modes.

UML Activity Diagram Semantics and Automated GUI Prototyping

Extended Activity Semantics (XAS) is a notation which can be used with Unified Modeling Language (UML) activity diagrams to specify user interactions with a system and to automatically generate a prototype of the graphical user interface (GUI) that would be used in these interactions. XAS has been incorporated in a CASE tool, Guibot, which has been developed as a plug-in for Rational Rose, a leading UML tool. The notation and tool address a specific gap in UML – the inability to model user interaction.

Specifying ACT-R models of user interaction with a GOMS language

We describe a system, G2A, that produces ACT-R models from GOMS models. The GOMS models can contain hierarchical methods, visual and memory stores, and control constructs. G2A allows ACT-R models to be built much more quickly, in hours rather than weeks. Because GOMS is a more abstract formalism than ACT-R, most GOMS operators can be plausibly translated in different ways into ACT-R productions (e.g., a GOMS Look-for operator can be carried out by different visual search strategies in ACT-R). Given a GOMS model, G2A generates and evaluates alternative ACT-R models by systematically varying the mapping of GOMS operators to ACT-R productions. In experiments with a text editing task, G2A produces ACT-R models whose predictions are within 5% of GOMS model predictions. In the same domain, G2A also generates ACT-R models that give better predictions than GOMS, providing good predictions of overall task duration for actual users (within 2%), though the models are less accurate at a detailed level. In a separate experiment with a mouse-driven telephone dialing task, G2A produces models that do a better job of distinguishing between competing interfaces than a Fitts’ law model or an ACT-R model built by hand. G2A starts to describe the relationship between two major theories of cognition. This may have appeared a simple relationship, but the complexity of the translation illustrates why this was not done before. G2A shows a way forward for cognitive models, that of higher level languages that compile into more detailed specifications.

Defining services for mobile terminals using remote user interfaces

CE devices are increasingly extended with network support, such that the devices can be monitored or controlled remotely. At the same time, mobile phones are extended with additional network technologies, such that they can connect directly to the other devices. The use of a mobile phone as a generic remote control is investigated with a focus on the user interface (UI). Existing technologies are limited in their capabilities and user interaction models, that is, (one- way) page-based or form-based interaction. The UI fragments protocol, described in this article, has the advantages that it allows for better interaction between the user and the device (due to incremental updates, and two-way communication), and that it is an independent device (due to the use of abstract UI descriptions, in conjunction with hierarchical style sheets).

Mobile user recovery in the context of internet transactions

With the expansion of Web sites to include business functions, a user interfaces with e-businesses through an interactive and multistep process, which is often time-consuming. For mobile users accessing the Web over digital cellular networks, the failure of the wireless link, a frequent occurrence, can result in the loss of accomplished prior to the disruption. This must then be repeated upon subsequent reconnection - often at significant cost in time and computation. This disconnection-reconnection-repeat work cycle may cause mobile clients to incur substantial monetary as well as resource (such as battery power) costs. In this paper, we propose a protocol for a user to an appropriate recent interaction state after such a failure. The objective is to minimize the amount of that needs to be redone upon restart after failure. Whereas classical database focuses on recovering the system, i.e., all transactions, our considers the problem of recovering a particular user interaction with the system. This problem encompasses several interesting subproblems: (1) modeling user interaction in a way that is useful for recovery, (2) characterizing a user's recovery state, (3) determining the state to which a user should be recovered, and (4) defining a mechanism. We describe the user interaction with one or more Web sites using intuitive and familiar concepts from database transactions. We call this interaction an Internet transaction (iTX), distinguish this notion from extant transaction models, and develop a model for it, as well as for a user's state on a Web site. Based on the twin foundations of our iTX and state models, we finally describe an effective protocol for recovering users to valid states in Internet interactions.

An interactive authoring system for video object segmentation and annotation

An interactive authoring system is proposed for semi-automatic video object (VO) segmentation and annotation. This system features a new contour interpolation algorithm, which enables the user to define the contour of a VO on multiple frames while the computer interpolates the missing contours of this object on every frame automatically. Typical active contour (snake) model is adapted and the contour interpolation problem is decomposed into a two-directional contour tracking problem and a merging problem. In addition, new user interaction models are designed for the user to interact with the computer. Experiments indicate that this system offers a good balance between algorithm complexity and user interaction efficiency.

Evaluation of the usability of digital maintenance manuals developed without either user input or a task analysis

The primary objective was to investigate the value that can be added to a low-cost digital maintenance manual by the addition of a navigational aid. Two versions of a digital maintenance manual were developed, the difference between them being the number of design heuristics observed when designing navigational aids. Neither version was based on an analysis of the tasks carried out by users, nor were users involved in the design process. Instead, the manuals were developed directly from the digital information used to produce the existing paper manual. Usability trials were carried out to test both versions according to the time taken and errors committed by users during typical information retrieval tasks. Users were questioned to determine their ease of use (EOU) perceptions for each manual. The main outcomes were that the navigation aid used in the second version reduced the time taken to use the manual but increased the number of errors made by users. The navigational aid also seemed to reduce the perceived EOU compared with the first version. In both cases, the perceived EOU was lower than for a previous digital manual that had been developed using a task analysis and user input. The paper concludes by recommending the development of a generic task model of user interaction with digital maintenance manuals.

A model for user interaction in grammar-based design systems

Grammar-based production systems are considered potentially powerful design tools by their ability to generate sets of designs adhering to user-specified constraints. However, development of such tools has been slow, partly because of the lack of good interaction between user and system. This paper describes modes of user interaction and control possible with grammar-based design systems and presents issues to be examined in the development of models that represent the locus of interactions possible with such systems. The examination of existing grammar-based systems provides empirical evidence to support the validity of such models.

Event-based detection of concurrency

Understanding the behavior of a system is crucial in being able to modify, maintain, and improve the system. A particularly difficult aspect of some system behaviors is concurrency. While there are many techniques to specify intended concurrent behavior, there are few, if any, techniques to capture and model actual concurrent behavior. This paper presents a technique to discover patterns of concurrent behavior from traces of system events. The technique is based on a probabilistic analysis of the event traces. Using metrics for the number, frequency, and regularity of event occurrences, a determination is made of the likely concurrent behavior being manifested by the system. The technique is useful in a wide variety of software engineering tasks, including architecture discovery, reengineering, user interaction modeling, and software process improvement.

Layered protocols for computer-human dialogue. II: some practical issues

The concepts of the Layered Protocol reference model of user interaction are developed through consideration of the design process, using a multimodal spatial interaction as an example. Specific issues are addressed: multiplexing (which is seen as a way of describing interface modes); feedback, with special consideration of voice recognition systems; type-ahead and asynchronous interaction; embedded help and the development of autonomous means for the computer to assist the user; the tension among robustness, modularity, and efficiency; learning and transfer of training; standardization issues; and evaluation of interfaces, with examples from the Apple Macintosh and the Adagio workstation. Finally, the layered model is considered in the light of published guidelines for user interfaces.

Two Models of User Assistance

This paper discusses two general models of user interaction in the context of user assistance (HELP) and their implications for design. Conceptual and quantitative models provide software engineers with tools that can aid them in the interface design process. The conceptual model presented is derived using a hermeneutic approach to the analysis of human-computer interaction. The interaction is modeled as a set of states and transitions between states. This suggests that user assistance should have a more central role in the design of the system. The quantitative model is derived from a study of the existing literature, and provides a framework for analyzing performance issues at the human-computer interface, using metrics like response time, keystrokes, error rates, and task completion rates. The model contains seven components, covering user characteristics, information type, structure, user knowledge, presentation, control, and access.