DIS2020
More than Human Centred Design
Demonstrations
IoT Communicator: A Physical Interface for Expressing Situational Info of an IoT System
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Yaliang Chuang, Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Corresponding email(s): yaliang@ijdesign.org
- Research group webpage
- ACM DL Link: Extended Abstract
- ACM DL Link: Associated Paper or Pictorial
IoT is becoming popular and ubiquitous. However, they seldom provide direct communication. Users often need to check a mobile app to know what is going on. In this study, we invented an IoT communicator interface. It uses light and sound to express individual device and group system's intentions and behaviors. We applied Disney's animation principles to design alternative group light patterns. The result of our study shows that group light behaviors could evoke meanings that are highly similar to the intents of the system. When the acoustic accompaniments were provided, participants could better perceive the presence of devices and get situational awareness easily.
Who is the target audience and why design for them? Interaction designers, HCI researchers, IoT developers, smarthome lovers or users
What were the challenges or limitations encountered in this project? IoT products and systems are becoming popular and ubiquitous. However, much of the IoT is opaque. The covert operations of digital devices and systems often lead to a "black box," which is difficult to understand its intentions and behaviors. In most of the existing systems, users are forced to interact with smart products through mediated representations, such as the App on a mobile device. The products seldom provide direct communications to people in the context.t.
What are the opportunities and next steps for this project? We could use the IoT communicator modules to create a superior user experience with smart products and systems. Designers and researchers can use the vocabularies of point LED lights and acoustic accompaniments to convey the intentions of individual devices and a system. It could facilitate direct communication and surprising experiences.
To the Demo Visitors: You could refer to my full paper to the detail of the design rationale, user study, and the findings. The link is http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395450. The paper title is Designing the Expressivity of Multiple Smart Things for Intuitive and Unobtrusive Interactions.
The expressivity of IoT devices with LED lights shown on the top. They provide direct human-system communication and interaction, such as adjusting the volume of a sound system or adding a device to the family.
The explanation of the group light behaviors developed in this study.
The subtle expressivity of the IoT communicator.
The direct interaction between human and an IoT system.