Welcome to the February 2020 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.

Mind-Reading Technology Lets You Control Tech with Your Brain—It Actually Works
CNBC
Julia Boorstin
January 10, 2020

Wearable brain-computer interfaces showcased at CES 2020 can record brain signals from sensors implanted in the brain or on the scalp and convert them into digital signals to command other devices. Examples include a headset from neurotechnology startup NextMind that measures activity in the wearer's visual cortex with a sensor on the back of their head, which translates decisions of where to focus their eyes into digital instructions. The headset's applications include TV remote control functions, but NextMind CEO Sid Koudier expects entertainment and gaming to be the technology's best use case. Meanwhile, BrainCo's FocusOne headband measures focus via forehead sensors that read frontal cortex activity; the company hopes educators will use the product to determine whether students are attentive.

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Predictive Touch Response Mechanism is a Step Toward Tactile Internet
Optical Society of America
January 23, 2020

Researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia have developed a way to enhance haptic feedback experiences in human-to-machine applications. The researchers say their artificial neural network can predict suitable feedback for the material touched. An optimum human-to-machine app may require a network response time as fast as one millisecond based on the dynamic property of the interaction. Melbourne's Elaine Wong said methods for decoupling the distance between humans and machines from the response time are needed to realize a Tactile Internet. The researchers trained the Event-based HAptic SAmple Forecast reinforcement learning algorithm to guess haptic feedback before the correct feedback is established, and accelerated the process with a touch response based on a probabilistic forecast of the material with which the user is interacting.

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U.K. Engineers Prototype 3D-Printed Prosthetic Arm for Toddlers
University of Lincoln
Elizabeth Allen
January 13, 2020

A research team at the University of Lincoln in the U.K. has created a prototype for a sensor-operated prosthetic arm for toddlers under two years old using three-dimensional (3D) printing. The SIMPA (Soft-Grasp Infant Myoelectric Prosthetic Arm) is less expensive to produce than conventional prostheses since it is 3D-printed, which also permits it to be accurately sized to fit the child. The new device also has been shown to reduce the risk of rejection during early fittings. Said Lincoln's Khaled Goher, "Our proposed system would utilize a seven-channel pediatric armband with motion sensors allowing infants to benefit from and become familiar with active prosthetics, with evidence showing that the earlier the exposure, the more likely for the prosthetics to be accepted and used throughout life."

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Older Americans Flock to Video Games
CBS News
Khristopher J. Brooks
January 1, 2020

An AARP survey found that more than 10 million Americans age 50 and up have become active video gamers over the past three years. The number of senior U.S. gamers totaled about 51 million last year, up from 40 million in 2016. This increase is partly driven by people who use gaming to spend quality time with grandchildren, but many also find video games appealing for their excitement and intellectual challenge. "It's stress release, connecting socially, and staying mentally sharp," said AARP's Alison Bryant. Consulting firm AT Kearney's Greg Portell said video games that offer a sense of online community and interaction are popular with older players as a relief from isolation.

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Microsoft's Project Tokyo Helps Visually Impaired Users 'See' with AI, AR
VentureBeat
Kyle Wiggers
January 28, 2020

Microsoft's Project Tokyo—a partnership of researchers in the U.S., U.K., China, Japan, and India to explore technologies to help those with impairments interact with the world around them—has developed a device that provides information about people within the wearer's surroundings. The device is a modified version of Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality headset. The researchers added algorithms to the headset and trained them by following athletes and spectators with varying levels of vision on a trip from the U.K. to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and observing how they interacted with other people in their various activities. A scaled-down version of the technology has been used to help blind and low-vision children develop social interaction skills.

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Doctors Average 16 Minutes on the Computer for Every Patient
Reuters
Lisa Rapaport
January 13, 2020

A study of roughly 100 million patient encounters with about 155,000 doctors from 417 health systems found physicians spend an average 16 minutes per patient on computers accessing electronic health records (EHRs). Clinicians spent the most time with EHRs performing chart reviews, which constituted about 33% of total time using the records; about 24% was concentrated on documentation, and 17% focused on things like laboratory tests. EHR deployment was meant to enhance chart review overall, as more complete charts and more rigorous review was linked to improved patient outcomes. Julie Adler-Milsten of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine said computers are transforming how doctors work in ways that could impact patient interactions, adding that "patients should feel empowered to speak up if they feel that they have not been given the opportunity to share all pertinent information with their doctor or feel that their doctor might have missed something because their attention was directed elsewhere."

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Panicking About Your Kids' Phones? Research Says Don't
The New York Times
Nathaniel Popper
January 17, 2020

Studies appear to contradict widespread assumptions that intensive use of smartphones and social media has driven an increase in anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems among teenagers. A review of about 40 studies by the University of California, Irvine's Candice L. Odgers and the University of North Carolina's Michaeline R. Jensen found connections between social media use and depression and anxiety among adolescents to be small and inconsistent. Scientists are concerned a focus on keeping children away from screens is limiting opportunities for constructive dialogue about making phones more useful for low-income people, or protecting the privacy of teenagers who share their lives online. Researchers also question claims of a link between phone use and spikes in adolescent mental health issues, suggesting other issues—like increasing income inequality and climate change—may be more relevant.

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NHS May Use People's Phone Data to Predict Mental Health Issues
New Scientist
Adam Vaughan
January 27, 2020

The U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS) tested an algorithm to predictively identify people who might suffer a mental health crisis, and is considering its use to monitor mobile phone calls, messages, and locations to enhance accuracy. Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Spanish telecom firm Telefonica's Alpha unit explored the algorithm's potential benefits. Alpha created a machine learning program trained on five years of historical patient data to predict who could face an imminent crisis. Every three weeks, four community mental health teams were presented with 25 people identified as being at highest risk of a mental health crisis within the next 28 days, and the clinicians found the tool helpful in about 64% of those cases. A Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said, "We envisage the algorithm could be used to enhance our existing care and risk management processes."

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Memes Still Aren't Accessible to People Who Are Blind. What's Being Done About It?
Time
Rachel E. Greenspan
January 27, 2020

Attempts to address the inaccessibility of Internet memes to visually impaired users are falling short. Although Facebook and Twitter offer shortcut keys to make programs easier to use for the visually impaired, and allow users to add image descriptions on their platform, not everyone posting on social media would bother to add alternative text (alt-text) to images. Aser Tolentino of the nonprofit Society for the Blind thinks artificial intelligence to automatically generate alt-text is viable—although Facebook has such an algorithm, and the program cannot identify gender and is less descriptive than human-authored alt-text. Meanwhile, an algorithm from Carnegie Mellon University recognizes image-macro memes featuring an image overlaid with text, and furnishes an audio template to translate meme variants.

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Caltech's Brain-Controlled Exoskeleton Will Help Paraplegics Walk
IEEE Spectrum
Evan Ackerman
January 6, 2020

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) researchers are applying the latest research in robotic walking to engineer a bipedal medical exoskeleton that will let users balance and walk free of crutches. The project is underway through Caltech's Robotic Assisted Mobility Science (RoAMS) program, with plans to demonstrate dynamic walking via neurocontrol interfaces this year. Caltech's Joel Burdick is developing a spinal stimulator to create an artificial linkage between leg muscles and the brain. The RoAMS program hopes to use this tool to leverage the user's nerves and muscles to assist with movement and control of the exoskeleton—even for paraplegic patients. Caltech intends to implement this research within a clinical environment, by directly connecting brain or spine interfaces to an exoskeleton from designer Wandercraft and facilitate stable dynamic walking with integrated neurocontrol for the first time.

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Skin-Like Sensors Bring Human Touch to Wearable Tech
University of Toronto Engineering News
Liz Do
January 8, 2020

Researchers at University of Toronto (U of T) Engineering in Canada have created a stretchable, transparent, self-powering sensor that records human skin's tactile sensations. The artificial ionic skin (AISkin) is fabricated from hydrogels, making the sensor affordable, biocompatible, and highly adhesive. The hydrogel has a sensing junction on its surface formed by overlaid negative and positive ions; strain, humidity, or temperature changes cause AISkin to produce controlled ion movements across this junction, which can be measured as electrical signals like voltage or current. AISkin also can stretch up to 400% of its length without breakage, with potential applications ranging from wearable touchpads to soft robotics to muscle rehabilitation monitors. U of T Engineering's Xinyu Liu said, "If we further advance this research, this could be something we put on like a 'smart bandage.'"

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