Welcome to the October 2019 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.

Paralyzed Man Moves in Mind-Reading Exoskeleton
BBC News
James Gallagher
October 4, 2019

Researchers at France's Clinatec biomedical center and the University of Grenoble have enabled a quadriplegic man to move all four of his paralyzed limbs with a mind-controlled exoskeleton suit, after implanting electrodes on the surface of his brain. The electrodes read the patient's brain signals and transmit them to a computer, where software translates thoughts into instructions for controlling the exoskeleton, in real time. The patient is strapped into the robotic suit, and has been 71% successful in performing tasks where he had to touch specific objects by moving his upper and lower arms, and rotating his wrists. The system is limited by the amount of data the computer can read from the brain implants; only half of the electrodes in the implants are currently being used. More powerful computers and artificial intelligence could potentially translate brain signals into finer movements.

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From Your Mouth to Your Screen, Transcribing Takes the Next Step
The New York Times
John Markoff
October 2, 2019

Recent improvements in software technology have made automatic speech transcription possible. By collecting vast databases of human speech, neural network programs can be trained to recognize spoken language with accuracy rates of up to 95%. It is now possible, thanks to improvements in speech technology and the falling cost of storing data, to use human language in new and exciting ways. This fall, for example, at the University of California, Los Angeles, students who require assistance in note taking, such as those who are hearing-impaired, are being equipped with an automated transcription system. However, such technology has raised privacy concerns. Said Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, “Computers have a much greater ability to organize, access, and evaluate human communications than do people.”

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McDonald's Enlists Alexa, Google to Help With Hiring
Associated Press
Dee-Ann Durbin
September 25, 2019

McDonald's is allowing job seekers to begin a job application via voice command with Amazon's Alexa or Google's Assistant. If a user asks Alexa to “help me get a job at McDonald’s,” Alexa will ask which country they want to work in; the user then shares their phone number, and receives a link to continue the application process. The service is available in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. While some recruitment companies have built voice recognition systems on Google and Amazon platforms, McDonald's is the first direct employer to use the platforms in this way. McDonald's developed the technology itself, dubbed McDonald's Apply Thru. David Fairhurst, McDonald's executive vice president, said the initiative is part of a broader effort to use technology to streamline every part of the company, which includes implementing digital ordering kiosks and mobile ordering for customers, online scheduling for workers, and virtual reality to train store managers.

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Getting the 737 Max Flying Again Will Require Boeing to Make MCAS System Less Confusing for Pilots
CNBC
Phil LeBeau
September 27, 2019

Recertification of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft hinges on the company proving that its revamped Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) will not confuse pilots when it is triggered. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said crews on 737 Maxes that crashed, killing 346 people, failed to react as Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration anticipated, and repeated engagement of MCAS was suspected to be a factor. Boeing officials said the MCAS software redesign ensures the system's anti-stalling feature will not repeatedly lower the nose of the plane as pilots attempt to pull it up. Company executives also think computer-based training will ensure pilots clearly understand these modifications, although aviation regulators from different countries and regions may mandate additional pilot training in 737 Max simulators.

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British Employees Sabotaging Workplace Robots Over Fears Machines Will Take Their Jobs, Study Claims
The Daily Mail
Milly Vincent
September 29, 2019

A study by researchers at De Montfort University in the U.K. found employees in that country are sabotaging workplace robots out of fear of losing their jobs to automation. The study of robotics in healthcare noted that U.K. workers oppose the introduction of the machines into the workplace; in comparison, the study found in Norway, workers welcome co-working robots and often give them affectionate names. According to De Montfort's Jonathan Payne, U.K. businesses are less likely to clearly explain to workers their reasons for using the robots, which can fuel more resentment toward the machines.

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Virtual Assistants with Personality Can Help with Mental Illness
Waterloo News
September 17, 2019

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed a technique that could help automated virtual assistants (VAs) provide greater assistance to people suffering from a mental illness through more natural interaction and consistent personalities. SMERTI (similarity masking, entity replacement, and text infilling) gives VAs the ability to apply natural language and emotional cues, which can change as the patient relationship and situations develop. Waterloo's Steven Feng said, "Enabling virtual assistants, based on the situation, to tweak the words or sentences used to match the personalities could lead to on-demand chatbots available to talk to people with mental illness and cognitive disabilities whenever they require." Said Waterloo’s Jesse Hoey, “What we were mainly focused on was the fluency and semantic exchange aspects to show that the task is possible and measure the emotional preservation, which was decently high. The next step is to research how to preserve personality or persona, rather than just emotion, which is more complicated.”

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University Graduate Wins ‘Junior Nobel’
University of Auckland (New Zealand)
September 27, 2019

Harry She, a student at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, was named to receive the Global Undergraduate Award in the computer science category for his research on designing a high-intensity exercise game. The HIITCopter "exergame" combines a heart rate monitor with a rowing machine and a digital feedback mechanism that allows users to keep their heart rate at 70% to 90% of maximum. Said She, “Gyms can be a bit intimidating for a lot of people, particularly if they feel self-conscious about their weight or lack of fitness, so giving them the ability to do this type of exercise via gameplay can be really helpful.”

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Smartphone Typing Speeds Catching Up with Keyboards
Aalto University
October 2, 2019

A study by researchers at Aalto University in Finland, the University of Cambridge in the U.K., and ETH Zurich in Switzerland found that typing speeds on smartphones are catching up with those of full-sized keyboards. The study, which analyzed the performance of over 37,000 volunteers in an online typing test, found that users typing only with their thumbs achieved a speed of 38 words per minute (wpm) on average, which is only about 25% slower than speeds observed in a similar large-scale typing study using physical keyboards. Said ETH Zurich’s Anna Feit, “While one can type much faster on a physical keyboard, up to 100 wpm, the proportion of people who actually reach that is decreasing. Most people achieve between 35-65 wpm.”

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Why Connecting Your Brain to a Computer May Create a Huge Headache for Everyone
ZDNet
Steve Ranger
September 10, 2019

A report by the U.K.'s Royal Society urges the British government to explore implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), predicting the technology could restore mobility to paralysis victims, alleviate depression, or help treat disorders like Alzheimer's in a few decades. The study said, "Linking human brains to computers using the power of artificial intelligence could enable people to merge the decision-making capacity and emotional intelligence of humans with the big data processing power of computers, creating a new and collaborative form of intelligence." The Royal Society report also emphasized the need to consider ethical concerns and address potential abuse, like intrusive corporate or government eavesdropping on intimate thoughts, as well as preventing the monopolization of BCI technologies by major corporations.

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Full-Body Interaction Videogames Could Enhance Social Initiation Skills Among Children with Autism
Pompeu Fabra University (Spain)
September 26, 2019

Researchers at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain have developed a videogame based on full-body interaction that encourages social communication among participants. Specifically, the "Pico's Adventure," videogame seeks to facilitate the social interaction of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a series of fun, collaborative experiences. The researchers found the videogame fosters more social initiation than free play in children with ASD when they played alone or in pairs. In addition, when the children played with their parents, the videogame was as effective as free play in promoting social initiation. The researchers say the videogame could lead children with ASD to a greater number of social behaviors, and could be used as a tool to promote social initiation skills.

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