Lynne Hall
University of Sunderland, Computing & Technology, Faculty Member
Aim/Purpose: This paper explores how professional doctorate candidates responded to the restrictions and changed context of COVID-19. Using connectivism as a theoretical framework, it explores the ways in which their patterns of study... more
Aim/Purpose: This paper explores how professional doctorate candidates responded to the restrictions and changed context of COVID-19. Using connectivism as a theoretical framework, it explores the ways in which their patterns of study were recalibrated in light of the restrictions caused by the pandemic. Specifically, this study aims to: explore the experience of the professional doctorate student during the pandemic; and demonstrate the ways in which networks are recalibrated and adapt to changing circumstances. Background: In 2020, in response to COVID-19 many countries, including the UK, went into lockdown resulting in most doctoral candidates being confined to their homes and restricted to online contact with peers and supervisors. Part-time students have a finely balanced pattern of work which was required to be recalibrated and refocused which required considerable adaptation on the part of the candidates. Methodology: A qualitative methodology was used comprising four focus g...
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We present a study that investigates the effect of incorporating memory in the interaction for a virtual robotic tutor in terms of helping children achieve a pedagogical goal and the perceived likeability and empathy of the tutor. The... more
We present a study that investigates the effect of incorporating memory in the interaction for a virtual robotic tutor in terms of helping children achieve a pedagogical goal and the perceived likeability and empathy of the tutor. The domain is a virtual robotic tutor who is guiding and helping learners through a mobile Treasure Hunt exercise that tests their map reading skills. The contribution described in this paper is the discovery that incorporating ‘memory’ through utterances that recall events from previous interactions significantly increases the learner’s ability to perform a pedagogical task. However, the virtual tutor with memory was perceived as less likeable and the instructions given as harder to follow than with a virtual tutor without memory. In addition, there was a significant drop in perceived empathy. This work has a large potential influence in the field of interaction design for agents as one cannot blindly add in human-like features, such as, memory that impro...
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The introduction of HCI to Bane Sabadell is described, providing a brief history. Attempts to improve application usability and to encourage a focus on HCI issues are detailed. Several applications are described, identifying the success... more
The introduction of HCI to Bane Sabadell is described, providing a brief history. Attempts to improve application usability and to encourage a focus on HCI issues are detailed. Several applications are described, identifying the success of the incorporation of HCI at Bane Sabadell. INTRODUCTION OF HCI TO BANC SABADELL Bane Sabadell is a medium sized Spanish bank, with 400 branches and 4000 employees. The inforrnatics division has 200 employees, who develop applications and provide user support. Programming is provided by external companies. Before 1990, there was a reliance on character based interfaces. In 1989, an application with a graphical interface, BOSS which provides transactional operations, was initiated. In its pre-introduction phase a human factors evaluation was performed. The resulting savings highlighted HCI potential and identified a need for HCI expertise. In 1994, an HCI specialist was employed fill-time. Since then, an HCI group, now consisting of 3 people, has evolved which provides support to Project Heads for usability issues, interface design and identification of user needs. BANC SABADELL NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS Bane Sabadell has a dual language policy, and applications are produced in Catalan and Spanish. In-house development permits the development of customised applications and to facilitate this we have purchased an interface design tool. @ Copyright on this material is held by the author(s) Application homogeneity is encouraged to reduce costs of training, development and maintenance, demanding HCI group effort in determining how varying user needs cam be supported with the same application. HCI AND APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT Knowledge transfer has been facilitated through producing interface design guidelines, an important issue as there is little HCI information in Catalan (the informatics division working language). Interface standards have been produced for applications which use software such as MicroSotl Access. A BOSS interface generator permits rapid development whilst ensuring consistency to in-house standards. To ensure high quality graphical design and a consistent corporate image for our InterNet web, a Page Editor has been developed which has a defined set of graphical elements and interaction standards. Recent activities include the use of iterative design and rapid prototyping. This enables project costing to remain acceptable, whilst permitting savings due to usability problem discovery early in the lifecycle. Prototyping has facilitated communication with users, improving input of constructive criticism and reducing misunderstandings. Channels for user ideas and improvements are provided through an “Initiative Competition. ” Suggestions vary from simple improvements to task structures up to ideas for full scale projects. Each suggestion is evaluated for improvement in productivity, quality (for clients and users) and costbenefits. Users are asked to rank applications monthly, helping to identify unsuccessfid applications which may need usability testing and modification. The HCI group is extending the project lifecycle to include issues such as usability goal setting, user testing
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Data modelling is an important skill tbr students undertaking university courses in computing and Infi~rnlation Systems. It is a complex task which is not currently well provided with tool based support. This paper describes extensions to... more
Data modelling is an important skill tbr students undertaking university courses in computing and Infi~rnlation Systems. It is a complex task which is not currently well provided with tool based support. This paper describes extensions to a learning environment for data modelling which is based on a text based virtual reality panldigm. This learning environment has been enhanced by the
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This paper considers user interaction with Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) systems from the perspective that end users primarily use DAI systems for problem solving and decision making tasks. Initially, human problem solving is... more
This paper considers user interaction with Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) systems from the perspective that end users primarily use DAI systems for problem solving and decision making tasks. Initially, human problem solving is considered using the framework provided by Newell and Simon, then pertinent factors from group problem solving are detailed and a classification of user-DAI system interaction is proposed. The role of the user in relation to a variety of systems and to DAI systems in particular is then discussed. ...
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The VICTEC (Virtual ICT with Empathic Characters) project provides an opportunity to explore the use of animated characters in a virtual environment for educational issues such as bullying behaviour. Our research aim was to evaluate... more
The VICTEC (Virtual ICT with Empathic Characters) project provides an opportunity to explore the use of animated characters in a virtual environment for educational issues such as bullying behaviour. Our research aim was to evaluate whether an early prototype of the VICTEC demonstrator could provide useful information about character and story believability, physical aspects of the characters and story comprehensibility. Results from an evaluation with 76 participants revealed high levels of bullying story believability and character conversation was rated as convincing and interesting. In contrast, character movement was poorly rated. Overall the results imply that poor physical aspects of characters do not have detrimental effects on story believability and interest levels with the demonstrator. It is concluded that even at this early design phase, the demonstrator provides a suitable means to explore how virtual environments in terms of character and storyline believability may a...
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PurposeThis paper aims to briefly outline the seamless evaluation approach and its application during an evaluation of ORIENT, a serious game aimed at young adults.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors detail a... more
PurposeThis paper aims to briefly outline the seamless evaluation approach and its application during an evaluation of ORIENT, a serious game aimed at young adults.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors detail a unobtrusive, embedded evaluation approach that occurs within the game context, adding value and entertainment to the player experience whilst accumulating useful data for the development team.FindingsThe key result from this study was that during the “seamless evaluation” approach, users were unaware that they had been participating in an evaluation, with instruments enhancing rather than detracting from the in‐role game experience.Practical implicationsThis approach, seamless evaluation, was devised in response to player expectations, perspectives and requirements, recognising that in the evaluation of games the whole process of interaction including its evaluation must be enjoyable and fun for the user.Originality/valueThrough using seamless evaluation, the ...
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In this paper we describe Traveller, an intercultural training tool for young adults. Traveller is based on an original theoretical framework which focuses on key concepts of intercultural training. By progressing through a creative... more
In this paper we describe Traveller, an intercultural training tool for young adults. Traveller is based on an original theoretical framework which focuses on key concepts of intercultural training. By progressing through a creative story, users are able to engage via a novel interaction paradigm with intelligent virtual characters that incorporate different simulated cultures which can lead to misunderstandings and sometimes conflicts. Through the use of an innovative evaluation approach, users will gain a greater understanding of the behavioural differences between these characters, and thereby learn to become more effective at dealing with misunderstandings due to differences in culture.
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This paper considers the potential of Virtual Learning Environments in schools focusing on 2 distinct user groups. Firstly, the children and teachers engaged in the learning situation, and secondly, the stakeholders, that is the policy... more
This paper considers the potential of Virtual Learning Environments in schools focusing on 2 distinct user groups. Firstly, the children and teachers engaged in the learning situation, and secondly, the stakeholders, that is the policy makers and educational authorities. Several ...
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Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Computer Graphics, Communication, Humanities, and 13 moreNarrative, Game Design, Medicine, Role-playing Game Theory, AI, Affect, Virtual Reality, Software, Narration, Autonomous Agents, Computer Assisted Instruction, Computer User Interface Design, and Design and Implementation
This paper discusses the development of a believable agent-based educational application designed to develop inter-cultural empathy for 13-14 year old students. It considers relevant work in cultural taxonomy and adaptation to other... more
This paper discusses the development of a believable agent-based educational application designed to develop inter-cultural empathy for 13-14 year old students. It considers relevant work in cultural taxonomy and adaptation to other cultures as well as work showing that users are sensitive to the perceived culture of believable interactive characters. It discusses how an existing affective agent architecture was developed
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When building agents and synthetic characters, and in order to achieve believability, we must consider the emotional relations established between users and characters, that is, we must consider the issue of "empathy". Defined... more
When building agents and synthetic characters, and in order to achieve believability, we must consider the emotional relations established between users and characters, that is, we must consider the issue of "empathy". Defined in broad terms as "An observer reacting emotionally because he perceives that another is experiencing or about to experience an emotion", empathy is an important element to
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Research Interests: Psychology, Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, Entertainment Computing, Interactive Narrative, and 9 morePuppetry as an Educational Tool, Empathy, Pervasive Game, Social and emotional learning, Communication and media Studies, Ethical Issues, Role play, Educational Tool, and Virtual agent
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This document constitutes Deliverable 6.3. 1 of the IST Project VICTEC, on the Specification of the Bullying Demonstrator. It relates the requirements that psychologists and experts on education have for the intended functionality of the... more
This document constitutes Deliverable 6.3. 1 of the IST Project VICTEC, on the Specification of the Bullying Demonstrator. It relates the requirements that psychologists and experts on education have for the intended functionality of the final version of the Demonstrator. Further, it proposes a technical approach that tries to provide solutions to achieve the described requirements. Finally, since the demonstrator is the final product of this project, it also shows the relationship between the other components of the project and the Demonstrator.
Abstract. This paper outlines Transmedia Evaluation and its application to the evaluation of TRAVELLER, a Technology Enhanced Learning application that aims to provide 18-25 year olds with improved cultural understanding and sensitivity.... more
Abstract. This paper outlines Transmedia Evaluation and its application to the evaluation of TRAVELLER, a Technology Enhanced Learning application that aims to provide 18-25 year olds with improved cultural understanding and sensitivity. TRAVELLER aims to enhance the users' intercultural communication through engaging users in multi-modal interaction with intelligent characters deployed in emergent narratives. Transmedia Evaluation will enable us to gather and analyse a wide range of complimentary user data in response to diverse ...
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... Ana Paiva INESC-ID Tagus Park, 2780-990 Porto Salvo, Portugal ana.paiva@inesc-id.pt ... I. DeCarolis, N. Carofiglio, V. (2003) From Greta's mind to her face: modelling the dynamics of affective states in a conversational embodied... more
... Ana Paiva INESC-ID Tagus Park, 2780-990 Porto Salvo, Portugal ana.paiva@inesc-id.pt ... I. DeCarolis, N. Carofiglio, V. (2003) From Greta's mind to her face: modelling the dynamics of affective states in a conversational embodied agent, International Journal of Human ...