Squeeze, rock, and roll; can tangible interaction with affective products support stress reduction?

Abstract

Affective computing focuses on the interpretation of users emotions via physiological and behavioral inputs. Irrelevant gestures with a pen were found to increase when users were given a mentally demanding task. Accordingly, an embedded tangible interface was developed which afforded and measured a rolling behavior, and guided the user towards reaching a balanced state of movement. During informal evaluations users acknowledged how the device could contribute to stress reduction. Conclusion, tangible interfaces appear to offer a non-obtrusive means towards interpreting and reducing stress in the office work context.

Of pages and paddles: Children’s expectations and mistaken interactions with physical–digital tools

“…As sensors are getting cheaper and smaller, augmenting physical objects and enabling them to react to physical manipulation has become easier (e.g., Alonso et al, 2008;Chatting, 2008). It is therefore becoming increasingly important to study in detail how these devices are used and whether they achieve the aim of intuitive interaction.…”

“…The BBC-Jam project was an online education service by the BBC (the UK's public service broadcaster), offering free interactive online learning services for 5 to 16 year olds. 1 As part of this project, one of the BBC's R&D groups was briefed to produce materials for primary literacy education that would use Augmented Reality technologies and could be distributed online. Amongst other projects, this resulted in the AR-Jam, a set of AR books made available for parents and children in the UK.…”

“…The AR-Jam commissioners considered Augmented Reality to be especially suited for the literacy agenda for this age group, making stories more memorable. 1 The remit of the BBC Jam was to offer a free interactive online learning service for 5 to 16 year olds, reflecting the school curricula in the UK. The HitLabNZ research team became involved as an outside party at this point after the AR-Jam was rolled out.…”

Mood measurement with Pick-A-Mood: review of current methods and design of a pictorial self-report scale

“…Affect (stress and relaxation) can be detected from keyboard (Hernandez et al, 2014), pen (Alonso et al, 2008), mouse (Sun et al, 2014), or smartphone usage behaviours (LiKamWa et al, 2013).…”

“…For example, airline companies like Virgin Atlantic and Singapore Airlines use dynamic ambient light in an attempt to influence passengers' moods (Holland, 2011), and the CitizenM hotel in Amsterdam provides their guests with an ambient controller to personalise their room's lighting, temperature, curtain and soundtrack settings according to their mood (Figure 1b;Mood-Pad;Philips, 2008). a -Influence mood (Van de Garde, 2014) b -Mood ambiance (Philips, 2008) c -Capture mood (Alonso et al, 2008) d -Express mood (Stylios & Yang 2013) Many mood-inspired design explorations utilize some form of real-time mood measurement, either via sensors that measure (psycho-) physiological signals with wearable devices like wristbands or rings, or through behavioural expressions, such as body posture, mouse movements, or hand movement when using a pen ( Figure 1c; Alonso et al, 2008). Using digital technology, such dynamic mood data is transformed into meaningful expressions; examples include coloured light in garments ( Figure 1d; MoodWear; Stylios & Yang 2013), and dynamic surface textures in interior architecture (Textile Mirror, Davis et al, 2013).…”