Mobile =
● Technological perspective = portable (vague)
● Body-centric perspective = input/output performed relative to body
Mobile computing = human-computer interaction by which a computer is expected to be
transported during normal usage, which allows for transmission of many different live data feeds
Stages
1. Mainframes → One computer used by many
2. Personal computing → One computer used by one
3. Mobile computing → Many devices used by one
The 7 waves of mobile computing
1. Portability
2. Miniaturization
3. Connectivity
4. Convergence = many features in one devices
a. Example application: using mobile phone as camera has many uses including
note-taking, scanning, augmented reality, etc.
5. Divergence = specialized devices (that are really good at doing one thing)
a. For example: MP3-player
6. Apps
7. Digital ecosystems = i.e. “The Internet of Things”, fully interactive ecosystems for
devices
Wearable computers = miniature electronic devices that are worn under, with or on top of
clothing
Mobile interaction = study of interaction between mobile users and computers; it is an aspect
of human-computer interaction that emerged when computers became small enough to enable
mobile usages (90s).
Mobile interaction design = area of interaction design concerned with the creation of user
experiences with interactive products, devices, systems, and services that are mobile (people
can take with them)
● Concerned with the totality of mobile interaction design
● Observations
○ Screens are getting smaller
○ They are getting closer
, ○ Used in different locations and contexts
Mobile devices context factors
● Physical environment
○ Location
○ Infrastructure
○ Physical conditions
● Human factors
○ Information about user
○ Social environment
○ User’s tasks
Challenges
● In systems development and design = creating fit between systems and context
● In usability evaluation = understand system role in its scope
● In implementation = capturing, formalizing and modeling this attribute in computational
data models and using those models
● In user experience research = understand what impact rich and dynamic user contexts
have using the technology
➤ Lecture Enabling technologies
Screens
● Based on the size of the screen and viewing distance, you can determine to what degree
a certain resolution is noticeable.
● Resolution
○
○ dp = sqrt(hp^2 + vp^2)
○ ppi = dp / di
● Retina display = according to Apple, a higher resolution than Retina would not be
noticeable at the expected distance of use
● Human FoV: 120 degrees
● Human FoV focused: 60 degrees
, ● Still active field of research
● Conclusions
○ Technological advancements
○ Human cognitive abilities better than expected
○ Good interface design helps
○ Interaction remains a problem
Sensors
● Humans experience the world via senses. Sensors can help make mobile usage
experience more interactive.
● Mapping
○ Vision/Sight → Camera/Screen
○ Hearing/Sound → Microphone/Speakers
○ Smell → None (but possible / might be useful for AR/VR)
■ Usage unclear yet
○ Taste → None
○ Touch → Screens (Touch) / Vibration
■ Vibration used for Notification, Response
■ Issues: battery life, annoying, inappropriate
○ Proprioception (sense of relative position) → Magnetometer/compass, GPS,
Accelerometer/gyroscope
■ Accelerometer = measures acceleration relative to gravity; device
orientation relative to earth
■ Examples of interaction with tilting: Menu selection, Pie menu selection,
Map browser, Scrolling by tilting
, ■ Gyroscope = measures rate of rotation around axis; more accurate than
accelerometer, but drift over time
■ Magnetometer = compass i.e. measures strength and direction of earth
magnetic field
■ Absolute location = location in the world (GPS)
■ Relative location = location with respect to user
■ Orientation of device relative to world by magnetometer
■ Orientation of device relative to itself by accelerometer and gyroscope
Takeaways
● Technological advancements to cope with many issues
● They will not be able to resolve interaction issues
● But can be used for better interaction designs
➤ Lecture Touch-based interaction
Command Line Interface (CLI) = terminals and keyboards
Graphical User Interface (GUI) = keyboard, mouse, etc
● Indirect = input and output space separated (mouse, keyboard, screen)
● Direct = touch screen for example
Direct manipulation interface = allows user to directly act on a set of objects in the interface
(used to be used to distinguish GUI and CLI interfaces)
Gorilla arm = fatigue in arms when using touch-screens on PCs and other non-mobile devices
Touch-based screens revival due to popularity in mobile devices.
Touch-screens in mobile phones
● Advantages
○ Portable, easy to hold
○ Direct manipulation
○ No gorilla arm because of small form factor
○ No need for external hardware
○ Maximizes screen real estate
○ Multi-touch
● Disadvantages
○ Keyboard (size and haptic feedback)
Touch screen types
● Capacitive = layer of conductive material holding charge (only fingers)