AuraOrb: using social awareness cues in the design of progressive notification appliances

Authors:
Mark Altosaar;Roel Vertegaal;Changuk Sohn;Daniel Cheng
Affiliations:
Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario;Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario;Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario;Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
Venue:
OZCHI '06 Proceedings of the 18th Australia conference on Computer-Human Interaction: Design: Activities, Artefacts and Environments
Year:
2006

Citing 23
Cited 4

Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces

CHI '90 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
The future of ubiquitous computing on campus

Communications of the ACM
ambientROOM: integrating ambient media with architectural space

CHI 98 Cconference Summary on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Tradeoffs in displaying peripheral information

Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Eye gaze patterns in conversations: there is more to conversational agents than meets the eyes

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Digital family portraits: supporting peace of mind for extended family members

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Making sense of sensing systems: five questions for designers and researchers

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
The InfoCanvas: information conveyance through personalized, expressive art

CHI '01 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
LumiTouch: an emotional communication device

CHI '01 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Introduction

Communications of the ACM
Interacting with groups of computers

Communications of the ACM
Models of attention in computing and communication: from principles to applications

Communications of the ACM
Attuning notification design to user goals and attention costs

Communications of the ACM
Heuristic evaluation of ambient displays

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
EyePliances: attention-seeking devices that respond to visual attention

CHI '03 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
A model for notification systems evaluation—assessing user goals for multitasking activity

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI)
ECSGlasses and EyePliances: using attention to open sociable windows of interaction

Proceedings of the 2004 symposium on Eye tracking research & applications
If not now, when?: the effects of interruption at different moments within task execution

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
A toolkit for managing user attention in peripheral displays

Proceedings of the 17th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
Evaluating an ambient display for the home

CHI '05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Investigating the effectiveness of mental workload as a predictor of opportune moments for interruption

CHI '05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Predicting human interruptibility with sensors

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI)
Scope: providing awareness of multiple notifications at a glance

Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces

Effective use of the periphery in game displays

Future Play '07 Proceedings of the 2007 conference on Future Play
Mobile Interfaces in Tangible Mnemonics Interaction

Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Part III: Ubiquitous and Intelligent Interaction
Fast track article: Designing an extensible architecture for Personalized Ambient Information

Pervasive and Mobile Computing
ADLib: an Arduino communication framework for ambient displays

Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

One of the problems with notification appliances is that they can be distracting when providing information not of immediate interest to the user. In this paper, we present AuraOrb, an ambient notification appliance that deploys progressive turn taking techniques to minimize notification disruptions. AuraOrb uses social awareness cues, such as eye contact to detect user interest in an initially ambient light notification. Once detected, it displays a text message with a notification heading visible from 360 degrees. Touching the orb causes the associated message to be displayed on the user's computer screen. When user interest is lost, AuraOrb automatically reverts back to its idle state.We performed an initial evaluation of AuraOrb's functionality using a set of heuristics tailored to ambient displays. We compared progressive notification with the use of persistent ticker tape notifications and Outlook Express system tray messages for notifying the user of incoming emails. Results of our evaluation suggest that progressive turn taking techniques allowed AuraOrb users to access notification headings with minimal impact on their focus task.