Browsing by Author "Doucette, Andre"

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    A Comparison of Techniques for In-place Toolbars
    (ACM, 2010) Doucette, Andre; Gutwin, Carl; Mandryk, Regan L.
    Selections are often carried out using toolbars that are located far away from the location of the cursor. To reduce the time to make these selections, researchers have proposed in-place toolbars such as Toolglasses or popup palettes. Even though in-place toolbars have been known for a long time, there are factors influencing their performance that have not been investigated. To explore the subtleties of different designs for in-place toolbars, we implemented and compared three approaches: warping the cursor to the toolbar, having the toolbar pop up over the cursor, and showing the toolbar on the trackpad itself to allow direct touch. Our study showed that all three new techniques were faster than traditional static toolbars, but also uncovered important differences between the three in-place versions. Participants spent significantly less time in the direct-touch trackpad, and warping the cursor's location caused a time-consuming attentional shift. These results provide a better understanding of how small changes to in-place toolbar techniques can affect performance.
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    The Effects of Graphical Fidelity on Player Experience
    (ACM, 2013) Gerling, Kathrin M.; Birk, Max; Mandryk, Regan L.; Doucette, Andre
    Graphical assets in video games have become increasingly complex over the years, but little is known about their effect on player experience (PX). In this paper, we present results of a controlled study with 48 participants comparing how abstract and stylized graphics influence player experience in casual games. Our results show that high-fidelity graphics result in a more positive impression of the game. However, we also show that many effects are only present in the game with a more challenging mechanic. This shows that casual games can be compelling and enjoyable to play despite simplistic graphics, suggesting that small game developers and researchers need not focus on elaborate visuals to engage players.
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    The effects of tactile feedback and movement alteration on interaction and awareness with digital embodiments
    (ACM, 2013) Doucette, Andre; Mandryk, Regan L.; Gutwin, Carl; Nacenta, Miguel; Pavlovych, Andriy
    Collaborative tabletop systems can employ direct touch, where people's real arms and hands manipulate objects, or indirect input, where people are represented on the table with digital embodiments. The input type and the resulting embodiment dramatically influence tabletop interaction: in particular, the touch avoidance that naturally governs people's touching and crossing behavior with physical arms is lost with digital embodiments. One result of this loss is that people are less aware of each others' arms, and less able to coordinate actions and protect personal territories. To determine whether there are strategies that can influence group interaction on shared digital tabletops, we studied augmented digital arm embodiments that provide tactile feedback or movement alterations when people touched or crossed arms. The study showed that both augmentation types changed people's behavior (people crossed less than half as often) and also changed their perception (people felt more aware of the other person's arm, and felt more awkward when touching). This work shows how groupware designers can influence people's interaction, awareness, and coordination abilities when physical constraints are absent.
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    Effects of view, input device, and track width on video game driving
    (Canadian Human-Computer Communications Society, 2011) Bateman, Scott; Doucette, Andre; Xiao, Robert; Gutwin, Carl; Mandryk, Regan L.; Cockburn, Andy
    Steering and driving tasks -- where the user controls a vehicle or other object along a path -- are common in many simulations and games. Racing video games have provided users with different views of the visual environment -- e.g., overhead, first-person, and third-person views. Although research has been done in understanding how people perform using a first-person view in virtual reality and driving simulators, little empirical work has been done to understand the factors that affect performance in video games. To establish a foundation for thinking about view in the design of driving games and simulations, we carried out three studies that explored the effects of different view types on driving performance. We also considered how view interacts with difficulty and input device. We found that although there were significant effects of view on performance, these were not in line with conventional wisdom about view. Our explorations provide designers with new empirical knowledge about view and performance, but also raise a number of new research questions about the principles underlying view differences.
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    Games as neurofeedback training for children with FASD
    (ACM, 2013) Mandryk, Regan L.; Dielschneider, Shane; Kalyn, Michael R.; Bertram, Christopher P.; Gaetz, Michael; Doucette, Andre; Taylor, Brett A.; Orr, Alison Pritchard; Keiver, Kathy
    Biofeedback games help people maintain specific mental or physical states and are useful to help children with cognitive impairments learn to self-regulate their brain function. However, biofeedback games are expensive and difficult to create and are not sufficiently appealing to hold a child's interest over the long term needed for effective biofeedback training. We present a system that turns off-the-shelf computer games into biofeedback games. Our approach uses texture-based graphical overlays that vary in their obfuscation of underlying screen elements based on the sensed physiological state of the child. The textures can be visually customized so that they appear to be integrated with the underlying game. Through a 12-week deployment, with 16 children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, we show that our solution can hold a child's interest over a long term, and balances the competing needs of maintaining the fun of playing, while providing effective biofeedback training.
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    Sometimes when we touch: how arm embodiments change reaching and collaboration on digital tables
    (ACM, 2013) Doucette, Andre; Gutwin, Carl; Mandryk, Regan L.; Nacenta, Miguel; Sharma, Sunny
    In tabletop work with direct input, people avoid crossing each others' arms. This natural touch avoidance has important consequences for coordination: for example, people rarely grab the same item simultaneously, and negotiate access to the workspace via turn-taking. At digital tables, however, some situations require the use of indirect input (e.g., large tables or remote participants), and in these cases, people are often represented with virtual arm embodiments. There is little information about what happens to coordination and reaching when we move from physical to digital arm embodiments. To gather this information, we carried out a controlled study of tabletop behaviour with different embodiments. We found dramatic differences in moving to a digital embodiment: people touch and cross with virtual arms far more than they do with real arms, which removes a natural coordination mechanism in tabletop work. We also show that increasing the visual realism of the embodiment does not change behaviour, but that changing the thickness has a minor effect. Our study identifies important design principles for virtual embodiments in tabletop groupware, and adds to our understanding of embodied interaction in small groups.