Welcome to the August 2018 SIGCHI edition of ACM TechNews.

ACM TechNews - SIGCHI Edition is a sponsored special edition of the ACM TechNews news-briefing service focused on issues in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). This service serves as a resource for ACM-SIGCHI Members to keep abreast of the latest news in areas related to HCI and is distributed to all ACM SIGCHI members the first Tuesday of every month. ACM TechNews is a benefit of ACM membership and is distributed three times per week on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays to over 100,000 ACM members from over 100 countries around the world. ACM TechNews provides timely coverage of established and emerging areas of computer science, the latest trends in information technology, and related science, society, and technology news. For more information on ACM TechNews and joining the ACM, please click. The Interactions mobile app is available for free on iOS, Android, and Kindle platforms. Download it today and flip through the full-color magazine pages on your tablet or view it in a simplified low-bandwidth text mode on your phone. And be sure to check out the Interactions website, where you can access current and past articles and read the latest entries in our ever-expanding collection of blogs.

Tech Takes on Cigarette Smoking
Case Western Reserve University
July 31, 2018

Case Western Reserve University researchers are using wearable sensor technology to create an automatic alert system to help smokers quit. The researchers developed a smartphone application that automatically texts video messages to smokers when sensors detect the specific arm and body motions associated with smoking. The system combines an existing online platform with mindfulness training and a personalized plan for quitting, along with two armband sensors that can detect smoking motions with more than 98% accuracy, and a personalized text messaging service that reminds the user of the health and financial benefits of quitting smoking. Said Monica Webb Hooper of the university’s Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, “We were interested in translating one of our programs into a video-based mobile application, but the motion sensors made this even more amazing.”

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It's Time to 3D Sketch With Air Scaffolding
KAIST
July 25, 2018

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a three-dimensional (3D) sketching workflow method that permits both hand and pen input. KAIST's Seok-Hyung Bae and his team created Agile 3D Sketching with Air Scaffolding to permit designers to use hand motions in the air to produce rough 3D configurations to be used as scaffolds, and then add details with pen-based 3D sketching on a tablet. The method is based upon an algorithm that differentiates descriptive from transitory hand motions, and discerns intended shapes from unconstrained hand motions based on air scaffolds from the identified motions. The team sees applications for the tool in the automobile industry, home appliances, animation and other filmmaking, and robotics. They say it also can be tied into smart production technology, such as 3D printing, to speed up manufacturing processes.

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Machine Learning Experiment Can Image-Match Your Pose
Tech Xplore
Nancy Owano
July 21, 2018

Google researchers have created technology designed to make machine learning more accessible to programmers by demonstrating ways of using computer-vision techniques. The Move Mirror matches a user's movements to hundreds of images of people performing similar motions in similar poses. Move Mirror finds matching images by leveraging pose information and scanning sites for images matching the positions of 17 body parts. Google Creative Lab's Irene Alvarado explains, “With Move Mirror, we're showing how computer vision techniques like pose estimation can be available to anyone with a computer and a webcam. We also wanted to make machine learning more accessible to coders and makers by bringing pose estimation into the browser—hopefully inspiring them to experiment with this technology." Said SlashGear’s JC Torres, “Move Mirror may seem like a frivolous, but fun, AI demo, but it does have positive implications for AI.”

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Video Games, Combined with Virtual Fitness Coach, Can Improve Obese Children's Health
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
July 20, 2018

The use of video games in conjunction with fitness coaching and a step tracker can help overweight children become more healthy, according to a study from Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center. In the GameSquad study, 46 obese or overweight children were randomly assigned to a "gaming" group or to a control group. Gaming group members were encouraged to perform one hour of daily physical activity by playing exergames (video games that require physical activity) for six months. They also were given a "challenge book" to complete three weekly 60-minute gaming sessions and a Fitbit to track their steps, and participated in regular video chats with a fitness coach. Children in the gaming group reduced their body mass index (BMI) by about 3%, while children in the control group saw their BMIs increase by 1%. Said Pennington’s Amanda Staiano, "When you don't intervene with kids who are overweight, often their health risk factors and health behaviors worsen over time. So, unfortunately, we weren't surprised to see that kids in the control group increased blood pressure and cholesterol and decreased physical activity over the six-month period."

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Smart Bandage Sees When Wound Is Infected, Treats It Automatically
New Scientist
Leah Crane
July 19, 2018

University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have developed a smart bandage for chronic wounds that can detect and automatically treat infection and inflammation. The bandage is equipped with a pH sensor that can detect the bacterial infection of a wound, signaled by its pH transitioning from acidic to alkaline, along with a temperature sensor that can determine if the area is getting hot and inflamed. Both sensors are incorporated into a sheet of hydrogel that absorbs any blood seeping from the wound. The hydrogel can be impregnated with tiny capsules containing antibiotics or other medication, which could be released when the bandage is warmed in response to infection detection. Tests using infected human cells demonstrated that the bandage successfully killed more than 90% of bacteria and returned the cells' pH to normal.

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Ready Player One: Video Games and the Navy Future Force
Office of Naval Research
Warren Duffie Jr.
July 19, 2018

The U.S. Office of Naval Research is funding research on an online platform of Navy-themed games and simulations to determine whether such tools can help recruits find military jobs they will like. The Navy Life platform pairs potential recruits with enlisted positions based on their skills, abilities, and interests, while also presenting a realistic look at the Navy's career development pathway. On their first visit to Navy Life, potential sailors will view a list of Navy-enlisted jobs and can pick the ones that interest them. They then can play a video game consisting of a three-dimensional simulation of a Naval vessel's interior, in which they conduct damage control tasks and navigate other challenges. The platform's algorithms gauge players' situational awareness and reactions to evolving threats, their task prioritization, decision-making capabilities, and completion speed, and then produces a list of jobs for which they qualify.

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Humans Show Racial Bias Towards Robots of Different Colors: Study
IEEE Spectrum
Evan Ackerman
July 18, 2018

A study by an international research team suggests different-colored robots can trigger feelings of prejudice in humans, especially if the robots are humanoid. The implication is that humans perceive robots with anthropomorphic features to have race, and that the same race-related biases that people experience extend to robots. The researchers observed that the color white can also be a social trigger that evokes a perception of race, especially when presented in an anthropomorphic context, such as the color of the outer shell of a humanoid robot. The same issue also applies to black-hued robots, according to the study. Christoph Bartneck of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand says the team's findings "make a case for more diversity in the design of social robots so that the impact of this promising technology is not blighted by a racial bias."

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Smart Buildings That Keep Us Comfy and Content Might Happen Sooner Than You Think
USC News
Eric Lindberg
July 16, 2018

University of Southern California (USC) researchers under the guidance of Joon-Ho Choi envision an automated indoor environment that calibrates the ideal temperature and other conditions for residents. Their current area of concentration is supplying heating and cooling units at workstations that generate microclimates for individual workers, as well as calculating the optimal temperature setting for all employees in a shared workspace. The team is using wearable devices to gauge temperature, perspiration, and other indicators to ascertain workers' comfort levels, as well as computer webcams with an infrared filter to spot facial skin temperature. Once they have developed statistical models for real-time biological measurements, the researchers aim to test the system at a company in downtown Los Angeles. In addition to temperature-controlling devices, the team is investigating lighting designs that instantly fine-tune themselves using indicators such as pupil size.

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Wearable Device Can Predict Older Adults' Risk of Falling
University of Illinois Institute for Genomic Biology
Emily Scott
July 12, 2018

In a study conducted by the University of Illinois' Bruce Schatz and colleagues, 67 women over 60 years of age wore motion sensors to measure their walking patterns for seven days in order to gauge their risk of falling. The researchers found the data gleaned from the devices accurately predict their risk of falling, as confirmed by physical examinations of unsteadiness in standing and walking. Earlier studies determined older adults typically fall due to instability, and the accelerometers measured each user's walking patterns and their degree of instability; that measurement was combined with the individual's fall history to predict the risk of falling in the future. Schatz says the study's results indicate that more wearable devices, or even smartphone applications, will be able to measure walking patterns and warn users of their risk of falling.

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UI Researchers Turn Exercise into a Game, See Encouraging Results
Iowa Now
Lee Hermiston
July 12, 2018

Researchers at the University of Iowa (UI) have designed a Web-based game to encourage anyone with a smartphone and a Fitbit to exercise. The game, MapTrek, involves users syncing data from their Fitbits with the game, which uses Google Maps to move a virtual avatar along a map in proportion to the number of steps the player has taken. Users can employ Google's street view function to see the avatar’s location in real time, and MapTrek also transmits text messages to participants every day to remind them to carry their Fitbits. Participants were divided into two groups, both of which carried Fitbits, but only one of which participated in the MapTrek game. The researchers found the Fitbit/MapTrek cohort walked 2,092 more steps daily, and were 11 minutes more active than the Fitbit-only group. UI's Lucas Carr said, "If a person can maintain a daily 2,000-step increase, that could result in a clinically significant improvement in their overall health."

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Automated VR Therapy Helps People Overcome Phobia of Heights
The Guardian
Nicola Davis
July 11, 2018

In a study assessing the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) for helping people overcome a fear of heights without the intervention of a trained therapist, participants who undertook at least one VR session with an avatar coach exhibited a significant improvement in their fear. The study, by Daniel Freeman and colleagues at the University of Oxford in the U.K., involved 100 participants, of which 49 used VR to interact with an avatar while the others experienced no special treatment or training. The VR-using group reported their fears had been reduced by 68% on average, which Freeman described as “better than what you would expect if you saw a therapist face to face.” The researchers reported the benefits of the VR therapy could still seen two weeks later. The University of Manchester’s Warren Mansell suggested the VR therapy could be useful beyond phobias, possibly for the treatment of some anxiety disorders or psychosis.

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