Usability Report. Testing Natural Interaction-based Applications with Elderly Users

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1 Usability Reports

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3 Usability Report. Testing Natural Interaction-based Applications with Elderly Users Martin Gonzalez-Rodriguez The Human Communication and Interaction Research Group Faculty of Computer Science, University of Oviedo, Spain martin AT uniovi.es Abstract This usability report describes the work of doctorate students in the develop of novel interaction techniques targeted to students over 65 years of the University of Oviedo s Program for Elderly Students. The prototypes developed included an Avatarbased videogame (called Magic Cube), a Planetarium, a Face recognition videogame and touristic application able to display 3D maps including the most important buildings of a city. These prototipes were based on Gesture Recognition and Augmented Reality technologies. 1 Introduction The Master on Web Engineering [1] taught in the School of Computer Science [2] of the University of Oviedo [3], includes a specialization in advanced research leading to PhD. Information Architecture on the Web [4] is one of the subjects included in this specialization. The main goal of this course is to understand the importance of information architectures, user cognitive models, navigation strategies, user interface adaptation and special interaction requirements. In order to obtain the required skills, the students are put into teams to develop software prototypes, research experimental works, written reports and presentations. One of the main activities of this course was the research and development of new tecniques based on natural interaction. Working in groups, the students developed in two weeks several applications based on image-recognition gesture recognition. The last session of the course was dedicated to test such prototypes with students of the Universtiy of Oviedo s Program for Elderly Students (PUMUO [5]). This program is targeted to people over 65 years old and include courses of history, business, computing, languages, etc. Three students of PUMUO visited the facilities of the School of Computer Science for a 3 hours long testing session including the following prototypes: Martin Gonzalez-Rodriguez Usability Report. Testing Natural Interaction-based Applications with Elderly Users Vol. II No. 7 (March 2011). ISSN: (print) (online).

4 Martin Gonzalez-Rodriguez Magic Cube. Teaches basic mathematics displaying Pokemon s like cartoons by mean of Augmented Reality. Planetarium. Based on augmented reality techniques, this application allows users to compare inner planets of the Solar System, rendering them in full scale in the user s hand. Faces. This videogame is based on face recognition engine and train users to increase their motor accuracy. Gorrion 3D. Shows a 3d model including the most representative buildings of the city of Oviedo. The documents included next describe the basic design of the prototypes, the results of the usability tests and the future work. 2 Acknowledgements The SHUBAI Project: Augmented Accessibility for Handicapped Users in Ambient Intelligence and in Urban computing environments (TIN ) is developed thanks to the support of the MCYT (Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology) References [1] Master on Web Engineering (2011). [2] School of Computer Science of the University of Oviedo (2011). [3] University of Oviedo (2011). [4] Information Architecture in the Web (2011). [5] PUMUO: Programa para Mayores de la Universidad de Oviedo. (2011)

5 Usability Report. Gorrion: 3D view of Oviedo using augmented reality Pablo Abella Vallina, Carlos Fernandez Medina Information Architecture in the Web Master on Web Engineering School of Computer Science, University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain UO AT uniovi.es, UO AT uniovi.es, 1 Introduction Nowadays, we are living a mobile revolution. Most of us have a mobile phone with access to the internet every time, everywhere. In addition, some technologies like augmented reality [1] are rising in recent years. We have developed a prototype using augmented reality to illustrate our idea. This prototype is developed in Java and allows us to show 3D models of the most important buildings of Oviedo in the surface of some markers printed for this purpose. Our idea aims to lay the groundwork for a system for mobile platforms so that these models can be displayed in 3D on real maps of any city using custom markers for each one. The idea for this prototype arose from the idea of Google Earth [2]. This application allows us to show both maps and 3D models of lots of buildings around the world. One of the problems we saw is that we can only see those 3D models in a virtual map, not in a real map. For example, in lots of cities we have maps in the streets to locate ourselves, but sometimes we don t know where we really are. What if we can point to that map with our mobile phone camera and view a 3D model of the most important buildings to trim ourselves or to view some important information about a certain building? Of course, this first approach is only a prototype so we are not able to do that yet. However, we developed this prototype using the Java platform and some augmented reality libraries to take advantage of the cross-platform feature of Java. Using this technology would be pretty easy to port the prototype to other architectures like mobile phones, which is the main idea of this project. 2 Design of the prototype For developing this prototype we used some augmented reality libraries in Java called NyARToolkit [3]. With this prototype we are able to recognize some markers printed in cards by showing them in front of a webcam and Pablo Abella Vallina, Carlos Fernandez Medina Usability Report. Gorrion: 3D view of Oviedo using augmented reality Vol. II No. 7 (March 2011). ISSN: (print) (online).

6 Pablo Abella Vallina, Carlos Fernandez Medina put the loaded 3D models on the surface of its specific marker using Java 3D libraries [4]. Those models were downloaded from the Google Sketchup 3D Warehouse [5] and we focused on buildings of Oviedo to illustrate this first prototype. They are not using a standard OBJ format and were designed by amateurs so the models have some errors. For those reasons, the complexity of the models and the limitations of the Java 3D library, loading the models had been a very difficult task so we have finally chosen to colour the whole building with a solid color to distinguish itself from the others. We have not obtained the best results but we have chosen landmark buildings of Oviedo so the tester users didn t have major problems to recognize them. 3 User testing To obtain some information about the utility our prototype could have and ways to improve it we called for some volunteers over fifty years of PUMUO program of University of Oviedo. We gave them some markers and they had to stick them in the place they thought each building must be placed in the map. Some volunteers had some problems linking each marker with its related building, but when they saw the 3D model in the screen they could realize what building they were dealing with and where they must place it. The volunteers also missed the textures of the buildings to recognize them easier and they have some problems viewing the markers in the front of the webcam because of they where not printed in both faces of the card. 4 Future work The test with the volunteers of the PUMUO program were better than we expected and provided lots of information to improve our proposal. So, we have thought about the following future work: 1. More representative figures in each marker and provide the name of the building in the card 2. Cards printed in both faces to allow the user to view the information about the marker while he or she is showing it to the camera 3. Load the textures of each building as we could see them in the Google Sketchup 3D Warehouse to improve the recognition of each building 4. Change some libraries to allow us to port the prototype to other platforms and use it with the camera of a mobile phone, for example 114

7 References Usability Report. Gorrion: 3D view of Oviedo using augmented reality [1] Augmented Reality definition in Wikipedia. org/wiki/augmented_reality. [2] Google Earth. [3] NyARToolkit for Java. index.php?nyartoolkit%20for%20java.en. [4] Java 3D. tech/index-jsp html. [5] Google Sketchup 3D warehouse of Adcava. http: //sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?uq= &scoring=m. 115

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9 Usability Report. Teaching Mathematics with an Augmented Reality-based Game Weena Jimenez Nacero, Gustavo Valero Simancas Information Architecture in the Web Master on Web Engineering School of Computer Science, University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain uo AT uniovi.es, uo AT uniovi.es 1 Introduction Magic Cube is a game specifically designed for mathematics education. It is based on augmented reality and was developed with Processing using NyARtoolkit library. Our focus is to offer a different human interface in learning enviroment to improve the mathematics skills in children between 5 to 10 years old. The following sections presents details about Magic Cube and the user testing performed. 2 Design Our system uses augmented reality (AR) to provide a interesting situations where children have to do matematics operations to see familiar comics characters appear in front of them. The augmented reality allows the user to see the real world, with virtual objects superimposed upon or composited with the real world. AZUMA [1] raises six classes of potential AR applications have been explored: medical visualization, maintenance and repair, annotation, robot path planning, entertainment, and military aircraft navigation and targeting however we present additional and seventh applications in learning enviroment. Magic Cube was developed with Processing, that is an open source programming language and environment for create images, animations, and interactions [2]. We have combined it with NyARtoolkit [3] AR library to superimposed cubes with differents images. In summary the game have three elements (Figure 1) a video generator, video of real word taken with a camera, and finally a video composed that is showed to the user. 3 User testing In the evaluation of our prototype with three senior volunteers, we received very encouraging comments and also some problems were pointed out. Weena Jimenez Nacero, Gustavo Valero Simancas Usability Report. Teaching Mathematics with an Augmented Reality-based Game Vol. II No. 7 (March 2011). ISSN: (print) (online).

10 Weena Jimenez Nacero, Gustavo Valero Simancas Figure1:MagicCubeElements They needed a very detailed explanation about the augmented reality technology and the way the had to use it. Once they managed to see 3D model over the marker, they were attracted by being able to move around the model and viewing it from different sides. The problems encountered were the design of the game s interface, the score numbers should be enlarged in order to highlight the mathematics operations; the markers design must help identifying the object they represent and the game s rules should be redefined to facilitate the understanding of the mathematical activities. Much work remains to be done, a redesign of the game rules are in development were the mathematical operations have a greater role. Continuous evaluation of the practical value of the game will be done and more intuitive and easy handling markers will be designed in order to increase the usability of the game. Figure 2: Magic Cube: User Testing 118

11 Usability Report. Teaching Mathematics with an Augmented Reality-based Game References [1] AZUMA RT. A: Survey of Augmented Reality. Media. 1997;4(August): [2] Processing Graphics Librarly. [3] NyARtoolkit

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13 Usability Report. A face recognition based game for users with disabilities Francisco Adolfo Cifuentes Silva Information Architecture in the Web Master on Web Engineering School of Computer Science, University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain uo AT uniovi.es 1 Introduction The Human-Computer Interaction field proposes a set of principles focused on improving the user experience with computer systems. Considering this, we have designed a prototype oriented to people with some grade of disability meeting the HCI principles[1]. On this way we try to improve the user experience and to use new interaction types, in this case, the human face recognition. Due to the large number of people with some kind of disability so physic as mental, we think that it is appropriate to apply HCI principles in order to decrease the complexity in using classical electronics game controls. In this way we will provide the means that allow people with disabilities to interact naturally with software application, including to compete with another players. 2 Description of prototype In summary, our prototype allows to recognize a random number of human faces (between one and five), that are capture through a webcam connected to the computer. The main objective of the game is to achieve that the software application recognizes human faces as soon as possible. In short, the application asks user that show a determined number of faces, this request is released through prerecorded voice, as well as text and for one image of the correct card. In addition, the screen shows a clock that count the seconds elapsed. It also shows the question number and a block with the video capture where is visualized what will be recognized by the application. The game requires the following input devices: a webcam, a computer screen, a mouse and a set of speakers. To programmatical level, the software application was built using the Java programming language and three additional libraries: OpenCV[2] for video capture, Processing[3] for draw figures and JMyron[4], a wrapper for Java of Myron library focused to recognition and computer vision. Francisco Adolfo Cifuentes Silva Usability Report. A face recognition based game for users with disabilities Vol. II No. 7 (March 2011). ISSN: (print) (online).

14 Francisco Adolfo Cifuentes Silva 3 Usability Test We submitted our prototype to an usability test with three real users over 65 years old. It was explained only that cards should be put in front to the webcam for to be recognized. The first interaction of the users with the application was very natural. The users easily achieve the target raised by the game mechanics. Even though response times were registered, they were not suficient for generate a really conclusive analysis. However the user criticism was very positive, highlighting in all moment only positive features of the prototype. Figure 1: A user testing the application 4 Conclusions and Future Work The main findings of this work is that the use of HCI principles improve signifcantly the user experience, specially for those with some kind of disability. Other advantages of HCI usage were enabling as well as more attractive applications, more accessible and naturally controllable applications for the users. As future work we will add new features to the application, improve the graphic design of the user interface, provide more stability and improved face recognition capabilities. References [1] Dünser A., Grasset R., Seichter H., Billinghurst M. - Applying HCI principles to AR systems design, HIT Lab NZ [2] Open source computer vision - [3] Processing

15 Usability Report. A face recognition based game for users with disabilities [4] JMyron

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17 Usability Report. Planet-AR-ium: The Solar System in your hands Jaime Solis Martinez, Alfonso Urban Fernandez Information Architecture in the Web Master on Web Engineering School of Computer Science, University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain UO AT uniovi.es, UO AT uniovi.es 1 Introduction Augmented reality (AR from now on) is one of the most amazing disciplines inside Computer Science. Although it is considered as very recent, the first use of an important AR system took place in 1992 when Feiner, MacIntyre and Seligmann presented the KARMA prototype. Since this moment AR has been increasing in importance until nowadays, when there are some mobile devices which include the possibility of using it. AR has been mainly used for games as its 3D effects match perfectly with this type of applications but nowadays its use has been growing and it has been introduced to other types of disciplines like marketing (there are some companies that use AR to introduce new products to their users) or construction (presenting 3D models of buildings which have not been built yet). We think that one of the main uses of AR is educational proyects like the ones used in museums, as some studies have shown that the use of computers in the learning process encourages the students to participate and interact, which makes the learning process easier and more fun. Based in this we have decided to build an AR prototype to introduce the user to the fabulous world of astronomy, in particular to the Solar System. Planet-AR-ium will enable the user to discover the existing planets of the Solar System using 3D models of the planets which are made to scale and which he can manipulate in various ways: zoom in and out, rotate and compare. This prototype is intended for all types of users although its main goal is to be used in schools, where children would have the opportunity to interact freely with the planets. 2 Designing and Building the Prototype Once we had decided the type of application we wanted to build, the first step was to decide which libraries we were going to use to build our prototype. After having some trouble with other libraries we were introduced to we decided to use Processing [1] in combination with an adaptation Jaime Solis Martinez, Alfonso Urban Fernandez Usability Report. Planet-AR-ium: The Solar System in your hands Vol. II No. 7 (March 2011). ISSN: (print) (online).

18 Jaime Solis Martinez, Alfonso Urban Fernandez of the NyARtoolkit library made by C. Botha [2]. Processing is an open source programming language mainly used for graphics manipulation and as it is very similar to Java it was easy to use. A processing sketch was programmed in order to show a window with a background image representing outer space instead of showing the video that was being captured bythewebcam;bymeansofthistechniqueweweretryingtohidethe image of the user moving a marker in order to make our software more impressive. Atthetimethesketchwasbeingprogrammedwehadtodecidewhich planets we were going to include in our prototype. Due to the big difference in size between some of the planets in the Solar System and to the limitation introduced by the fact of showing the planets to scale in our prototype, we decided to make 3D models of the planets which have little difference between their sizes: the Earth, Venus, Mars and Mercury; we also decided to include a model of the Moon so it can be compared with the Earth. The models were made using Swift3D [4] which is a very simple 3D desgin program and we also applied some textures to the models [5] so that they looked as similar as possible to the real planets. Figure 1: Models of the Moon and Mars being made with Swift3D The final step in the building process was to make the QR codes used as markers for the planets. Using an online QR code generator [6] we generated codes which were made with the text of each of the planets. Once the codes were made they were introduced into the marker design and they were printed and pasted on cardboard to try to reduce the vibrations of the models which appeared when using normal paper for the markers. Once everything was ready, the sketch was configured to recognise the generated QR codes and the MRI3DS library [3] was used to enable the visualization of the planets on the screen. This library was chosen for this task because it is very simple to use as the only thing needed for the planet to be drawn is a call to the draw method. 126

19 Usability Report. Planet-AR-ium: The Solar System in your hands 3 Usability Tests When the prototype was complete usability tests where carried out in order to collect information from real users and use this data to extract conclusions and establish the future work that should be done. The usability tests where carried out be 3 volunteers from the PUMUO program of the University of Oviedo. The volunteers where people over 50 years old which had the opportunity to interact with our application for at least 5 minutes. Figure 2: One of the volunteers testing planet-ar-ium The usability tests that were carried out began with a little introduction to what we have done as well as familiarizing the user with the computer and the markers that were going to be used in the testing. Once the users were informed about this, the test had two main goals: the first one was to make the user able to show one planet on the screen of the application and give him the opportunity to get used to the interaction with our software and in second place we wanted the user to cope with having two planets on the screen at once and compare them in size. Throughout the test we noticed the users had some problems spotting the laptop s camera and placing the markers in the correct place so that the camera could recognize them. Once they got used to the testing environment they were able to use the software correctly although they mentioned some things they were having trouble with: 1. Themovementoftheplanetsalongthex-axiswasoppositetothe movement of the markers, as the camera captures a mirror image of the user. 2. The names of the planets were placed on the same side as the markers so when the user was showing a marker to the camera he could not see the name of the planet on the card. 127

20 Jaime Solis Martinez, Alfonso Urban Fernandez 3. The planets where shown on the screen but there was no information given about the planets. 4 Future Work Once the test was over we had a debate in order to analyze all the user feedback we had obtained and decide what our future work should be. Considering the points made by the users during and after the tests and considering also some of the comments done by our teacher and colleagues we have determined that our future work is going to be the following: 1. Build the 3D models of the rest of the planets 2. Modify the x-axis movement to make our application more intuitive 3. Include information about the planet that is being shown on the screen (size, distance to the sun, etc.) 4. Change the audio stream included in the software for some sort of audio guide of the Solar System. 5. Use an external camera to improve the user s interaction with the system References [1] Processing. [2] NyARtoolkit by Carl Botha. [3] MRI3DS library. [4] Swift3D program. [5] Textures for the 3D models. [6] QR code generator