Category: Articles

A Review of Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I Apps): Are They Designed for Engagement?

There are different ways to deliver Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), of which in-person (face to face) is the traditional delivery method. However, the scalability of in-person therapy is low. Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (dCBT-I) is an alternative and there are tools on the market that are validated in clinical studies. In this paper, we provide a review of the existing evidence-based CBT-I apps and a summary of the published usability-oriented studies of these apps. The goal is to explore the range of interaction methods commonly applied in dCBT-I platforms, the potential impact for the users, and the design elements applied to achieve engagement. Six commercially available CBT-I apps tested by scientifically valid methods were accessed and reviewed. Commonalities were identified and categorized into interactive elements, CBT-I-related components, managerial features, and supportive motivational features. The dCBT-I apps were effectively assisting the users, and the type of interactions promoted engagement. The apps’ features were based on design principles from interactive product design, experience design, online social media, and serious gaming. This study contributes to the field by providing a critical summary of the existing dCBT-I apps that could guide future developers in the field to achieve a high engagement.

ViBreathe: Heart Rate Variability Enhanced Respiration Training for Workaday Stress
Management via an Eyes-free Tangible Interface

Slow breathing guiding applications increasingly emerge, showing promise for helping knowledge workers to better cope with workaday stress. However, standard breathing guidance is non-interactive, with rigid paces. Despite their effects being proved, they could cause respiratory fatigue, or lack of training motivation, especially for novice users. To explore new design possibilities, we investigate using heart rate variability (HRV) data to mediate breathing guidance, which results in two HRV-enhanced guidance modes: (i) responsive breathing guidance and (ii) adaptive breathing guidance. These guidance modes are implemented on a soft haptic interface named “ViBreathe”. We conducted a user test (N = 24), and a one-week field deployment (N = 4) with knowledge workers, to understand the user experience of our design. The HRV-enhanced modes were generally experienced to reduce tiresome and improve engagement and comfort. And Vibreathe showed great potential for seamlessly weaving slow breathing practice into work routines. We thereby summarize related design insights and opportunities.

Fostering fantasy play for young children through augmented reality has the potential to support 21st century learning activities by stimulating creativity, communication, and flexibility. We present a design exploration of MathMythos AR, an augmented reality card-based math addition game that enables children to engage in basic math tasks embedded in fantastical narratives. We provide insights into our design process, the effects of fantasy and everyday narratives, and discuss implications for AR card games that show potential to foster motivation for learning math. The presented insights are the foundation for the the next iteration of MathMythos AR, where we aim to create compelling and immersive AR narratives for learning.

The well-being of people with dementia (PWD) living in long-term care facilities is hindered due to disengagement and social isolation. Animal-like social robots are increasingly used in dementia care as they can provide companionship and engage PWD in meaningful activities. While most previous human–robot interaction (HRI) research studied engagement independent from the context, recent findings indicate that the context of HRI sessions has an impact on user engagement. This study aims to explore the effects of contextual interactions between PWD and a social robot embedded in the augmented responsive environment. Three experimental conditions were compared: reactive context-enhanced robot interaction; dynamic context-enhanced interaction with a static robot; a control condition with only the dynamic context presented. Effectiveness evaluations were performed with 16 participants using four observational rating scales on observed engagement, affective states, and apathy related behaviors. Findings suggested that the higher level of interactivity of a social robot and the interactive contextualized feedback helped capture and maintain users’ attention during engagement; however, it did not significantly improve their positive affective states. Additionally, the presence of either a static or a proactive robot reduced apathy-related behaviors by facilitating purposeful activities, thus, motivating behavioral engagement.

Eye contact is crucial in social interactions, linking with sincerity and friendliness. However, blind people cannot see and make eye contact when they communicate with sighted people. It influences the involvement of blind people in blind-sighted conversations. Based on this context, we implemented Social glasses with an eye-tracking system, aiming to improve the communication quality between blind and sighted people in face-to-face conversations. Social glasses attempts to simulate the appropriate gaze for blind people, especially establishing the “eye contact” in blind-sighted conversations. To evaluate the impact of the interactive gaze displayed on the Social glasses, we performed dyadic conversation tests under four experimental conditions (No Gaze, Constant Gaze, Random Gaze, and Interactive Gaze) for 40 participants. Quantitative results showed that the Interactive gaze has a positive impact on improving the communication quality between blind and sighted people, which were consistent with a qualitative analysis of the participants’ comments.

Mementoes act as emotional companions that anchor stories. Older adults typically have a rich knowledge of family mementoes. However, storytelling and preservation of mementoes are still problematic for them: their mementoes are still mostly in physical format, which is difficult to share and preserve. Additionally, digital applications and websites for sharing mementoes usually are inaccessible for them. As a result, they spend much time collecting mementoes, but spend less time on telling and recording the related stories. In response to this, we report our study driven by the research questions: Rq1: What are the characteristics of older adults’ intergenerational memento storytelling? And Rq2: In which ways could a tangible display facilitate intergenerational memento storytelling for older adults? We designed a tangible device named Slots-Memento. We first conducted a preliminary evaluation to refine the prototype. In the field study, eight pairs of participants (each pair consisting of an older adult and his/her child) were recruited to use the prototype for around 1 week. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted both with the older adults and their children. Subsequently, mementoes collected were categorized and analyzed. Stories collected were firstly transcribed, then were conducted with structural and interactional analysis. In the concluding discussion, we present abstract implications for the research questions: two tables summarizing characteristics of their intergenerational memento storytelling, and related strategies of designing a tangible display individually.

Chao Wang, Jacques Terken, Jun Hu, and Matthias Rauterberg

Driving is a social activity: Drivers need to coordinate and cooperate with each other to share the infrastructure. The relationship between drivers influences their driving behavior and experience. Lights, horn and speed are the most frequently used means to exchange information, limiting both the range and the bandwidth of the connectivity and leading to isolation, loneliness, and competition. We present “iSticker” and “MusicHound”, two concepts that aim to establish a connection by presenting similarity information between drivers. The two concepts were prototyped and evaluated with users in a driving simulator. The results showed that iSticker and MusicHound enhance drivers’ social closeness with each other and belongingness during the journey.