Welcome to the March 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.

Personalizing Wearable Devices
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Leah Burrows
February 28, 2018

Researchers from Harvard University's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied and Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed a machine-learning algorithm that rapidly personalizes control strategies for wearable exosuits. "Using this method, we achieved a huge improvement in metabolic performance for the wearers of a hip-extension assistive device," says SEAS postdoctoral fellow Ye Ding. The team used human-in-the-loop optimization, which uses real-time measurements of human physiological signals to adjust the device's control parameters. As the algorithm zeroed in on the best parameters, it instructed the exosuit on when and where to assert its assistive force. Together, algorithm and suit lowered metabolic cost by 17.4 percent versus walking without the device, representing a more than 60-percent improvement compared to earlier work. "Extending these ideas to consider more expressive control strategies and people with diverse needs and abilities will be an exciting next step," notes SEAS professor Scott Kuindersma.

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Custom Carpentry With Help From Robots
MIT News
Adam Conner-Simons
February 28, 2018

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory researchers say they have developed AutoSaw, a system that lets non-experts customize different carpentry items that can be built with robotic assistance. AutoSaw users employ the existing computer-aided design system OnShape to customize their furniture, with the final design sent to robots to assist in the cutting process using jigsaws and chop-saws. The MIT team used motion-tracking software and small mobile robots to cut lumber, with the machines handling the actual saws. "We added soft grippers to the robots to give them more flexibility, like that of a human carpenter," notes MIT's Jeffrey Lipton. "This meant we could rely on the accuracy of the power tools instead of the rigid-bodied robots." When testing AutoSaw, simulations demonstrated that the researchers could build a chair, shed, and deck. The team also used the system to make a table with human-comparable accuracy.

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Companion Robots Could Help Our Rural Schools
University of Auckland (New Zealand)
February 15, 2018

An investigation conducted by researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that companion robots could be used in rural schools to comfort students and encourage them to study science and technology. The researchers studied 207 rural students and 22 teachers by having them engage in 30-minute sessions with the fluffy Paro robot and the more utilitarian iRobiQ robot. They found 84 percent of the students would like to have Paro at school, while 80 percent preferred iRobiQ. In addition, 83 percent of the students said Paro got them more interested in science, and 77 percent of students said the same about iRobiQ. About two-thirds (68 percent) of the teachers said they would like to have Paro at school. "Both teachers and children saw Paro as a pet and as useful for providing comfort," the researchers noted.

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SEAT Center Keeping Future Special Ed Students One Step Ahead
Illinois State University News
Rachel Hatch
February 27, 2018

Illinois State University's Special Education Assistive Technology (SEAT) Center is working to keep special education teacher candidates abreast of the latest advances in education software. The College of Education bundles SEAT Center resources into special education training classes, so students can receive hands-on experience with assistive technology (AT) devices. "We try to weave awareness of the technology throughout the program," says SEAT Center coordinator Jodi Nibbelin. The idea is to make students comfortable with the resources available to them in the field. "When these students get out in their own classrooms, they will be able to connect solutions to problems," Nibbelin notes. "They could say, 'I have a student struggling with spelling. I remember this software that might help.'" Nibbelin says few special education programs bother to integrate AT across the curriculum. "The result does more than give students insights into what can benefit their classrooms, it also makes Illinois State students competitive when they enter the workforce," she notes.

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Upstanding by Design: Built-in Encouragement to Call Out Cyberbullies
Cornell Chronicle
Susan Kelley
February 21, 2018

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a way to encourage people to intervene against cyberbullying. The team created a simulated social networking website and designed its interactions to make users feel more responsible for what they read on the site. They used this setup to test the hypothesis that greater social transparency would induce users to feel more accountability and personal responsibility, making them more willing to intercede when witnessing cyberbullying. Said Cornell's Dominic DiFranzo, “Our results showed that by making people feel a little more observed, they feel more accountable and responsible for what they see and do online, and they would be more likely to intervene when they saw these bullying messages.” The team's research will be presented in April at the ACM Computer-Human Interaction Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2018) in Montreal, Canada.

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New App Replaces Passwords With Gestures
Northwestern University Newscenter
Amanda Morris
February 23, 2018

Northwestern University researchers are developing RiskCogs, a dynamic authentication system for mobile devices that does not use sensitive data and is nearly hacker-proof. Northwestern professor Yan Chen says RiskCogs gathers data from a smartphone's motion sensors, and applies machine learning to determine how its owner handles the device, so it can determine whether the device is being handled by its owner or someone else; it will only unlock for the owner. The researchers trained the machine-learning program on motion sensor data from more than 1,500 users, and RiskCogs currently operates with 95-percent accuracy. The app can familiarize itself with its owner's motions in only a few weeks, and then can make real-time access decisions. Chen envisions the app being especially useful in devices such as smart watches, which lack embedded cameras for facial recognition or adequate surface area for fingerprint identification.

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Experimenting With the Future of Play at the LEGO World Expo
Queen's University (Canada)
February 12, 2018

Researchers at Queen's University in Canada have co-developed interactive miniature drones that enhanced play for visitors at the recent LEGO World expo in Copenhagen, Denmark. The system lets children configure LEGO bricks into a shape of their choice and the drones fly to imitate the structure's shape and color structure in mid-air. "We believe this technology has the potential to take experiential learning to an entirely new level," says Queen's University professor Roel Vertegaal. "We have created a technology that works to blend the digital and physical worlds together right before children's eyes." The system uses tiny sensors and gyroscopes to track how children move, twist, and bend their designs so the drones can replicate any modifications as an in-air animation. "With this technology, we are able to simulate the physics of the natural world...giving children a chance to see what they have long learned from textbooks and two-dimensional depictions, in a real physical environment," Vertegaal notes.

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Grafter 3D Software Lets You Remix and 3D Print Working Mechanical Parts
3D Printing Industry
Rushabh Haria
February 19, 2018

The University of Potsdam's Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany has developed the Grafter 3D software system to enable the remixing and printing of three-dimensional (3D) models as working mechanisms. The software both identifies groups of mechanical elements that interoperatively function and automates the process of extracting and recombining mechanical elements within machines. Grafter initially annotates the mechanisms in the parent models, a process that can take between 10 and 60 minutes for each model. The remixing is done in minutes, after which final models can be 3D printed. The user directs Grafter to extract the relevant mechanisms, and then drags and drops them into other models to create a new machine. When the user looks for a specific element, the software semi-automatically identifies the appropriate part. Grafter enables users to reuse the knowledge and engineering experience that went into modeling original mechanisms, sparing them from modifying, testing, and prototyping the mechanism until it works.

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Just Putting It Out There--How #MeToo, Awareness Months, and Facebook Are Helping Us Heal
Drexel Now
February 15, 2018

Drexel University researchers have studied how and why women decide to report pregnancy loss on Facebook to gain insights into how social media is easing such personal, painful, and often stigmatizing disclosures. The team suggests this new openness partly stems from social media becoming an important element of the healing process. They also cite the benefits of sharing with a large network, as many women viewed it as a highly efficient way to share a painful story once instead of repeating it over and over in individual dialogues. The researchers also note many women who shared their loss publicly via social media first disclosed it on an anonymous forum, indicating "the distinct and complementary roles of anonymous online spaces, such as Reddit, and identified spaces, such as Facebook." Their work will be presented in April at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2018) in Montreal, Canada.

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New Malleable 'Electronic Skin' Self-Healable, Recyclable
CU Boulder Today
Jim Scott
February 9, 2018

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) say they have developed a malleable, self-healing, and fully recyclable electronic skin (e-skin) with embedded sensors to measure pressure, temperature, humidity, and air flow. The device features a covalently bonded dynamic network polymer (polyimine) impregnated with silver nanoparticles to enhance mechanical strength, chemical stability, and conductivity. "The chemical bonding of polyimine we use allows the e-skin to be both self-healing and fully recyclable at room temperature," notes CU Boulder professor Jianliang Xiao. The researchers also note the e-skin easily conforms to curved surfaces such as human arms and robotic hands via the application of moderate heat and pressure without introducing excessive stresses.

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Your Gadget's Next Power Supply? Your Body
UB News Center
Cory Nealon
February 9, 2018

The State University of New York at Buffalo and the Chinese Academy of Science's (CAS) Institute of Semiconductors are developing a device to generate electricity from the human body via a small metallic tab. Their triboelectric tab is built from two thin layers of gold, with silicon-based polymer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sandwiched in between, and one layer is stretched so it crumples upon release. When force is applied, for example from a finger bending, the motion induces friction between the layers of gold and PDMS. "This causes electrons to flow back and forth between the gold layers," says CAS professor Yun Xu. "The more friction, the greater the amount of power is produced." The researchers have made a tab that delivers a maximum voltage of 124 volts, a maximum current of 10 microamps, and a maximum power density of 0.22 millwatts per square centimeter. The team also is devising a portable battery to store energy produced by the tab.

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New '4-D Goggles' Allow Wearers to be 'Touched' by Approaching Objects
UC San Diego News Center
Kim McDonald
February 8, 2018

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and San Diego State University have developed a pair of "4-D goggles" to enable wearers to be physically "touched" by a movie when they see a looming object on the screen. The device was based on a study to map brain areas that combine the sight and touch of a looming object; it can be synchronized with entertainment content, such as movies, music, games and virtual reality, to deliver immersive multisensory effects near the face and enhance the sense of presence.

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