Welcome to the August 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.

Colleges Tap Tech to Calm Students Paying for Remote Classes
Bloomberg
Maya Tribbitt
July 27, 2020

Many colleges are implementing new technology to improve the virtual learning experience as the Covid-19 pandemic continues. Without technological updates that make the online classroom more accessible and enjoyable, schools fear students may choose to take a year off from their studies. The University of Michigan is offering stronger Wi-Fi and new cloud storage accounts to encourage students to learn on campus while social distancing. The university also hopes a partnership with Zoom and learning management system Canvas to enable automated transcription of videoconferenced classes will help students with their virtual studies. Meanwhile, virtual reality labs are being rolled out for some science courses at the University of Southern California, and laptops, webcams, and headphones will be distributed to thousands of students in need at the University of California at Berkeley through its Student Technology Equity program.

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The NBA Is Using AI, Tap-to-Cheer App Feature to Help Fans Stuck at Home Get in the Game
CNN
Leah Asmelash; Jack Guy
July 30, 2020

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is allowing fans at home to participate in games remotely with technology such as a virtual tap-to-cheer application. Fans can use this app to cheer on their teams, with total cheers counted and displayed on a scoreboard at the end of the game. Meanwhile, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Microsoft Teams has a mode that shows fans on arena screens on the sidelines, which courtside players could see. According to Microsoft, the basketball courts used by the NBA have 17-foot-tall LED screens wrapping around three sides of the arena that display 300 cheering fans at a time, ported in using the Together Mode. The company said the solution employs artificial intelligence to "bring people together into a shared background like a conference room, coffee shop, or arena."

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Press a Button and This Plane Lands Itself
The Wall Street Journal
Andy Pasztor
July 18, 2020

Garmin has developed advanced avionics software and sensor systems that enable aircraft to land autonomously, without human input. Garmin's auto-land system, designed for scenarios in which pilots are incapacitated, can take over at the push of a button, or if pilots do not respond to computer prompts checking on their condition. The solution can handle plane speed and engine performance, and automatically descend toward the nearest suitable airport. Its computers communicate with air traffic controllers, align with the correct runway, and extend landing gear while avoiding storms or unfriendly terrain. Former Federal Aviation Administration head Randy Babbitt says the Garmin system “opens the door to more confidence for less-experienced pilots, or maybe inviting fewer pilots required, for some commercial operations.”

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Dutch Army Equipped With Vibrating Belts for Hands-Free Navigation
New Scientist
David Hambling
July 17, 2020

The Royal Netherlands Army has purchased 20 Mission Navigation Belts from the Dutch firm Elitac Wearables that will allow soldiers to receive hands-free directions through vibrations. This would eliminate the need for soldiers to look down at lighted screens or receive audio instructions. The belt, which connects to existing smart vests outfitted with a radio, GPS, and battery, features seven "tactors," vibrational motors that indicate the direction to the next waypoint, changing the location of the vibration as the solider turns. Additional signals could be added to the belt later on. The belts were tested in land and water vehicles and on foot, and the haptic signals remained clear when running or navigating rough terrain.

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Amazon Unveils Shopping Cart That Knows What You're Buying
Associated Press
Joseph Pisani
July 14, 2020

Amazon has unveiled a smart shopping cart equipped with cameras, sensors, and a scale to automatically detect which items shoppers put into it, keeping a count and then charging their account when they leave the store. Unlike smart shopping carts being tested in stores, the Amazon Dash Cart requires no scanning. A screen near the handle lists the items being charged, and the cart can detect when something is removed, deleting it from the bill. Amazon said the cart is designed to offer shoppers the means to bypass any lines at checkout. The Amazon Dash Cart will be deployed at a new Los Angeles supermarket later this year, while future deployments could include Amazon's Whole Foods grocery chain or other stores.

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Kao Weaves Craft Techniques with On-Skin Tech
Cornell Chronicle
E.C. Barrett
July 14, 2020

Cindy (Hsin-Liu) Kao, director of Cornell University's Hybrid Body Laboratory, combined ancient weaving techniques with cutting-edge technology to advance the research, design, and manufacture of on-skin interfaces. Kao and her students developed the WovenSkin fabrication process and invited textile artists from Luna Fiber Studio to use the process to create their own interfaces. The weavers selected interface functions and the patterns they desired to create; one weaver wove conductive wires that were connected to a circuit, which operated a Bluetooth unit. Kao said, "My long-term goal is to think about how we can democratize on-skin interfaces, so that anyone can make them and decide what they look like, rather than a few people in Silicon Valley or in advanced labs deciding our future."

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Pour by Phone: Coca-Cola Introduces Contactless Technology to Pour Your Beverage
USA Today
Coral Murphy
July 13, 2020

Coca-Cola is rolling out a contactless soda dispenser that will allow customers to dispense drinks by scanning a QR code. The Coca-Cola Freestyle dispenser enables customers to hold their smartphone cameras up to the display to auto-scan a QR code that connects to the cloud, which then permits them to select from the full menu of brands and flavors. Although customers are not required to create an account or download an app, users of the Coca-Cola Freestyle app can scan the QR code in the app and pour pre-saved mixes. Said Coca-Cola, "The software will be pushed to more than 10,000 Coca-Cola Freestyle dispensers later this summer, and all Freestyle dispensers will be contactless-compatible before the end of year."

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Gaze-Controlled Robotic Arm for the Speech, Motor Impaired
Indian Institute of Science
Anoushka Dasgupta
July 13, 2020

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science's Center for Product Design and Manufacturing have developed a robotic arm that can be manipulated by a computer interface controlled by eye movement, to help people with severe speech and motor impairment (SSMI) perform various tasks. Rather than use a head-mounted system, the robotic arm is controlled using a webcam and a computer. The researchers analyzed live feeds of facial video from study participants using computer vision and machine learning algorithms to estimate where they were looking. This data was coupled with an augmented reality application to allow the user to pick up and place objects using the robotic arm. The researchers said the technology also could be used by children with SSMI to move toys, and modifications could enable its use for e-learning.

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Your Necklace Will Know You Binged on Chunky Monkey
Northwestern Now
Marla Paul
July 8, 2020

Northwestern University researchers have developed a wearable device that passively records the user's eating habits. The NeckSense device incorporates a tiny camera pendant to validate what it is sensing, allowing the team to visually confirm users' dietary behavior and meals in real-world settings. The camera will eventually be removed, and the data recorded by the necklace will be supplemented with self-reported details like how hungry or satiated the user feels, or how depressed or anxious they are. NeckSense and other wearables are to be tested and validated against standard 24-hour recall in a U.S. National Institutes of Health-funded trial involving 60 obese participants. Northwestern's Nabil Alshurafa envisions clinicians giving patients wearable sensors to help doctors "determine their problems and design a customized intervention based on real data."

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Deepfakes Are Becoming the Hot Corporate Training Tool
Wired
Tom Simonite
July 7, 2020

Advertising giant WPP plans to roll out deepfake-style corporate training videos that use artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize their messages. The company used technology from London startup Synthesia, which offers diverse avatars that speak the employee's language and address them by name. These videos can be made quickly and cheaply while circumventing the restrictions on conventional video shoots due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Using video footage of a real person, Synthesia's algorithms can generate new video frames to match the movements of the person's face to the words of a synthesized voice. The startup has addressed some concerns about deepfakes by posting its ethics rules online, vetting customers and their scripts, and requiring formal consent from a person before synthesizing their appearance. However, Arizona State University's Subbarao Kambhampati raises questions about whether companies using such AI technology may use diverse, synthetic models instead of real people from minority communities.

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London Hospital Starts Virtual Ward Rounds for Medical Students
The Guardian (U.K.)
James Tapper
July 4, 2020

The U.K.'s Imperial College conducted the world's first virtual ward round for medical students at St. Mary's hospital in London, enabling a class of 350 students to observe a consultant examining patients via augmented reality (AR). The physician wore Microsoft HoloLens mixed reality glasses, which streamed video to students' computers while two microphones allowed the class to hear doctor and patient as they conversed. Teachers also could pin virtual pictures like x-rays or drug charts to the AR display, or draw lines to highlight key findings. The virtual ward rounds can be recorded, allowing universities to compile a case library and help more students see patients with rare conditions and better understand symptoms and patient behavior. Imperial's Amir Sam said, "Teaching with the HoloLens allows us to guarantee a level of exposure for our students to a far greater range of patients and conditions than ever before."

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Science Fiction Becomes Fact to Create Live Musical Performance
University of Plymouth (U.K.)
Alan Williams
July 2, 2020

Alexis Kirke of the Interdisciplinary Center for Computer Music Research at the University of Plymouth in the U.K. has demonstrated that a musician can communicate directly with a quantum computer via teleportation. Kirke used the Multi-Agent Interactive qgMuse system, in which an IBM quantum computer executed Grover's Algorithm, allowing the dynamic solving of musical logical rules which, for example, could prevent dissonance or keep to 3/4 rather than common time. When played the theme from "Game of Thrones" on the piano, the 14-quantum-bit IBM computer rapidly generated accompanying music that was transmitted back in response.

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Taking Steps Toward Ankle Rehabilitation Using Soft Robotics
ASU Now
Erik Wirtanen
July 2, 2020

Arizona State University (ASU) researchers have designed a soft robotic exosuit to assist with ankle rehabilitation, which earned the top prize in the WearRA Innovation Challenge at the Wearable Robotics Association Conference 2020. ASU's Carly Thalman began the project by developing, modeling, and creating a fabric-based contracting actuator, which helps users achieve multiple degrees of freedom for ankle mobility. She later enhanced the soft robotic ankle-foot orthosis (SR-AFO) with supportive actuators to prevent lateral buckling. ASU's Marielle Debeurre said, "Due to the materials and simplicity of soft robots, we are able to design and manufacture the SR-AFO for a fraction of the cost of some rigid exoskeletons, and still see benefits for the user."

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MIT Dream Research Interacts Directly With an Individual's Dreaming Brain, Manipulates the Content
SciTechDaily
Sarah Beckmann
July 27, 2020

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School have introduced Targeted Dream Incubation (TDI), a protocol for recording dream reports and manipulating dream content. Implemented through an app that works with a wearable sleep-tracking sensor device, TDI could enable controlled experimentation in dream studies and enhance creativity. The researchers developed the Dormio device, which tracks the earliest sleep stage of hypnagogia and delivers audio cues based on physiological data at precise times during the sleep cycle to guide dreams toward particular themes. Said MIT's Pattie Maes, "this work has the potential to lead to new commercial technologies that go beyond sleep tracking to issue interventions that affect sleep onset, sleep quality, sleep-based memory consolidation, and learning."

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