Audience Funnel

Figure: The Audience Funnel framework
(Michelis, Müller (2011) International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction  Volume 27, Issue 6)

Paper Abstract

Data are presented from observations of Magical Mirrors, a set of four large public displays with gesture-based interaction installed in downtown Berlin, Germany. The displays show a mirror image of the environment in front of them and react with optical effects to the gestures of the audience. Observations of audience behavior revealed recurring behavioral patterns, like glancing at a first display while passing it, moving the arms to cause some effects, then directly approaching one of the following displays and positioning oneself in the center of the display. This was often followed by positioning oneself in the center of the other displays to explore the possibilities of the different effects, and sometimes by taking photographs or videos. From these observations a framework of interaction with gesture-based public display systems was deduced. It describes the phases of passing by a display, viewing & reacting, subtle interaction, direct interaction, multiple interactions, and follow-up actions. Quantitative data of these behavioral phases was collected by observing 660 passers-by on 2 weekend evenings. This article shows how many passers-by pass the thresholds between these phases. This “Audience Funnel” should provide a framework to encourage systematic investigation of public display systems and enable comparability between different studies.

Download full text on the publisher’s website.

Evaluating Natural User Interfaces for Public Displays in the Wild

by Jörg Müller, Daniel Michelis, Chris Kray
Position Paper, Workshop Natural User Interfaces, CHI 2010

Abstract

One major application area of Natural User Interfaces are public displays, which are often not intended to help the user fulfill a certain task, but rather to be engaging, inspiring and entertaining. A key issue in this area is how to evaluate these systems and their user interfaces. Based on the case study of Magical Mirrors, we identify challenges that occur with evaluating such systems and propose ways to address these evaluation challenges. Challenges include the lack of a welldefined task, the difficulty of describing and observing audience behavior, the briefness and sparseness of typical interactions, and the public nature of the space.

Introduction

Public Displays are by definition provided for a very broad user base, many of whom will not have encountered the display before. For such situations, Natural User Interfaces (NUIs), which aim to be learnable very quickly, are ideally suited. Such NUIs can involve touch [5] or gestures [4]. Typically, people pass by such displays at a distance, where gestures are well suited to initiate interaction. Rather than to support the user in a specific task, we argue that the most interesting application of such public displays may be to engage, inspire and entertain the audience. The fun of interaction may be an end in itself. We deployed Magical Mirrors, a set of public displays where passers-by can interact with gestures, and manually observed how the public interacted with the displays. We report on the challenges we encountered while evaluating the system and indicate ways to address these challenges.

Collaborative Interaction with Public Displays

In interacting, groups exhibit a very special dynamic. If a group of two or more people pass by the public displays, most often just one person becomes the active one who starts the interaction. This person pauses, then actively participates in the interaction drawing the attention of the other group members toward him or herself. Typically the others initially stand by and hesitantly observe the interaction.

In the parts of the investigation in which more than one display was available the other members of the group began to use the free displays and explore the interaction possibilities. Little by little the entire group participated in the interaction. In the cases in which there was only one display, the group became impatient and the most active person was encouraged to rejoin the group and move on.

Book presentation / Buchpräsentation

In the following weeks I will present the contents of my books “Interactive Displays in Public Space” at the following two events in Germany and Switzerland.

• viscom tec 09 conference, Düsseldorf, Germany, September, 30th  — Focus: design elements of interactive displays.
• 5-10-20: Inside-Out-of-Home-Displays, Luzern, Switzerland, October, 21st — Focus: User behavior in public space.

Please, let me know any questions, special interests etc. in advance.

Evaluating Interaction with Display Applications in Public Space

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As published ealier in this blog, interactive display analysis has already yielded data related to the public use of and interaction with displays. In order to develop a “Framework for Evaluating Interaction with Multi-Display Applications in Public Space”, I expanded the previous post.

Initial investigations of public interactions with large-scale displays can provide valuable insights into the process of usage and interaction. As a starting point Brignull and Rogers divide this process in their “two-thresholds framework” into peripheral, focused activities, and direct interaction (1). In a similar approach, Vogel and Balakrishnan’s “four-phase framework” differentiates between ambient display, implicit, subtle, and direct interaction (3). Last but not least, Streitz et al.’s “three-phase framework” focuses on the areas in which interaction takes place rather than the interaction process itself. (2).

Book Preview at Google Books

I just came across my book “Interactive Displays in Public Space – A theoretical analysis of intrinsically motivating design elements” at Google Books (only in German language).

English Abstract:

“Interactive large format displays have presently found their way into many places in public space. After a long phase of experimenting with prototypes only recently have technically mature applications been observed that are used in an increasing number of potential areas. This dissertation examines the motivations behind the use of these applications.

Serving as the point of departure are four large format displays of the installation Magical Mirrors, developed as prototypes by the author of this work, and which allowed the first experiences with the use of interactive large format displays in public space to be collected even before the beginning of the investigation. These initial experiences were taken into consideration in developing the research questions and design.
At the center of the work is an analysis of theoretical motivations in which five motivational factors are determined according to previous research work and in consideration of the demands specific to interactive large format displays. In the analysis of these factors a set of tools of fundamental motivations are identified from which design elements for interactive large format displays in public space can be derived. The results of the analysis are subjected to an empirical examination. In 15 partial experiments the observed user behavior of a total of 4640 passersby is analyzed.
On the basis of this empirical investigation this dissertation presents – as one of the first scholarly works in this area – a contribution to the understanding of the fundamental motivations behind the use of interactive large format displays in public space.”