Welcome to the February 2021 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.

Children's Screen Time Has Soared in the Pandemic, Alarming Parents, Researchers
The New York Times
Matt Richtel
January 16, 2021

Parents and researchers are concerned about the effects of increased screen time, which sometimes is a child's main source of socialization during the ongoing pandemic. Research from parental control software vendor Qustodio reveals that overall screen time for children ages 4 to 15 in May 2020 was double the amount spent during May 2019. Further, the study found that U.S. children spent an average of 97 minutes per day on YouTube in March and April 2020, up from 57 minutes in February and double that of the prior year. Stanford University's Keith Humphreys said, "There will be a period of epic withdrawal," which will require young people to "sustain attention in normal interactions without getting a reward hit every few seconds." However, this will become more difficult given the concept of "bundling," as devices are used for school, social life, gaming, and other activities central to life.

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Startups at CES Showed How Tech Can Help Elderly People, Caregivers
Tech Crunch
Catherine Shu
January 18, 2021

At CES 2021, a number of startups demonstrated technology that aim to help older adults and their caregivers. Startups that are part of the AARP Innovation Lab showcased technology to help people stay in their homes as they age. These include the Mighty Health app, which connects users to health coaches, certified trainers, and personalized nutrition plans, and the Zibrio scale, which measures a user's balance to determine if they are at risk for a fall. Other startups aim to help caregivers, with FallCall Solutions' Apple Watch apps sending alerts when a fall is detected, and the Ianacare app helping coordinate caregiving tasks. Among other things, CES's virtual show showcased the Nobi smart lamp, which automatically turns on when users stand and notifies family members of falls; the Rendever virtual reality platform, which aims to reduce isolation; and the Cutii companion robot.

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Level Up: Video Games Inspire 'Living Textbook' for Computational Sciences
University of Michigan News
January 27, 2021

A cloud-based interactive textbook platform developed by University of Michigan (UMich) researchers lets instructors build materials into videogame-like journeys for learners. UMich's Raj Nadakuditi said the Mynerva platform is "designed to stimulate deeper conversations between students and the material they are attempting to master," and enable "a dynamic, experiential conversation with the learner, where the material is revealed as the student progresses and is ready for it." Mynerva is structured as a codex presenting subject matter in a sequence of steps punctuated with evaluations that learners must complete, which can supply immediate feedback, autograded programming exercises, or free responses to open-ended questions. UMich's Travis DePrato said, "With Mynerva, you get to create this story for learners to go through and explore the data in really powerful ways that you don't get by just giving them, for example, a PDF or a link to a static Web page."

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Steering a Balloon With Sound Waves Could Be the Secret to Touching Objects in VR
Gizmodo
Andrew Liszewski
January 25, 2021

Researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan aim to make virtual reality (VR) more realistic through the use of steerable helium balloons that VR users can reach out and touch safely. The system features a 360-degree rig using ultrasonic phased array transducers that generate inaudible sound waves, which can move the free-floating balloon and control its motions with precision. A pair of high-speed stereo imaging cameras is used to track the position of the balloon and the VR user, with the balloon able to be repositioned quickly to align with a virtual object. Although the balloon does not feel the same as touching a virtual brick wall, for instance, the idea is that any touch would improve the believability of VR.

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Robot Maker to Produce Thousands of Lifelike Droids
Daily Mail (U.K.)
Shivali Best
January 25, 2021

Hong Kong's Hanson Robots plans to mass produce four models of humanoid robots this year, as the pandemic increases the need for automation to keep people safe. CEO David Hanson said these robots could be useful in the health care, retail, and airline industries, as well as providing company for people who are lonely and socially isolated as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns. Said Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Johan Hoorn, who has worked with Hanson's Sophia robot, "I can infer the pandemic will actually help us get robots earlier in the market because people start to realize that there is no other way." Robots have been rolled out by other industry players during the pandemic, with SoftBank Robotics' Pepper robot being used to detect people not wearing masks, and CloudMinds helping to build a robot-run field hospital during the outbreak in Wuhan, China.

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AI Can Grade Your Skill at Piano by Watching You Play
New Scientist
Matthew Sparkes
January 22, 2021

Researchers at the University of Nevada have developed a model that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to grade the skill of a pianist with near-human accuracy. After having an expert pianist manually grade nearly 1,000 YouTube videos of people playing piano, the researchers used half the videos and their grades to train a neural network to create the model, then used the remaining videos to test the model. The AI was 65% accurate on audio-only clips compared to the grades assigned by the expert pianist, 75% accurate on video-only clips, and 75% accurate on clips providing both audio and video. The university's Brendan Morris said the model eventually could be used for online music tutoring, as it would lower the costs and barriers to learning to play a musical instrument.

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Stressed Out? Blame Bad Technology
Reuters
Chris Taylor
January 12, 2021

Researchers from Dell Technologies and the neuroscience firm EMOTIV have found that stress related to tech issues, like passwords that do not work or Wi-Fi dropping out, has a lasting effect. The researchers put study participants through a series of bad tech experiences and measured their brainwaves to assess their reactions. EMOTIV's Olivier Oullier said, "The moment people started using bad technology, we saw a doubling of their levels of stress." Dell's Cile Montgomery said young people in particular were affected "because they expect technology to work." Further, Oullier said the effects likely are more severe in the real world because study participants knew they were being tested, which may have limited their reactions, and baseline stress levels already are high due to the pandemic. The research suggests companies should consider more upfront investment, work-from-home equipment upgrades, and ongoing tech support to help their employees.

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Car Crashes in World's Oldest Nation Spur Changes by Automakers
Bloomberg
Shiho Takezawa
January 18, 2021

Japanese automakers are spearheading upgrades amid a string of car crashes involving elderly drivers, and accompanying regulatory pressure to standardize advanced safety features. New vehicles sold in Japan from this year will require automatic braking systems, while manufacturers are using smart technology to improve cars' user-friendliness for seniors. Toyota in 2020 upgraded its Safety Sense software to keep drivers within their lane by detecting oncoming cars or pedestrians via windscreen cameras and bumper-mounted radar, and emitting audible and visual alerts; non-response by drivers may trigger automatic braking. Meanwhile, Subaru's EyeSight system employs stereo cameras to capture three-dimensional images of the road ahead and alerting drivers to dangers. Subaru aims to eliminate all fatal accidents by 2030 by melding cameras with artificial intelligence, assigning meaning to each upcoming object and inferring risk.

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Pizza Hut Hopes Drop Zones Can Help Bring Drone Delivery to Fruition
The Wall Street Journal
Katie Deighton
January 18, 2021

Pizza Hut Israel plans to launch a drone delivery trial in June, in which aerial drones will drop multiple orders at government-approved landing zones, where delivery drivers will collect the orders and take them to customers' homes. Dragontail Systems Ltd.'s Ido Levanon, whose firm is coordinating the trial, noted that "it's not realistic to think we're going to see drones flying all over the sky dropping pizzas into everyone's backyards anytime soon." Practical concerns that had prevented drone delivery from going mainstream sooner included the once-high cost of drone technology and the shorter battery life of earlier commercial drones. The University of the West of England's Stephen Wright said regulatory issues are now at the forefront. Israel's Ministry of Transportation, for instance, will allow Pizza Hut to test its drone technology only from one restaurant and within a designated "air bubble" measuring roughly 50 square miles in the north of the country.

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Microsoft Backs Development of Smart Cane for Visually Impaired
Seattle Times
Nate Lanxon
January 18, 2021

Microsoft is supporting development of an intelligent walking cane for the visually impaired by U.K. startup WeWalk. The smart cane, which is coupled with smartphones and employs ultrasonic object detection to detect obstacles, also is equipped with wireless networking, turn-by-turn global positioning system navigation, taxi-booking, public transit directions in various cities, and a voice assistant. WeWalk's Jean Marc Feghali said the company aims to create a product that combines components of gadgets like the FitBit or Apple Watch with hardware specifically engineered for users with low or no eyesight. He said he and his colleagues were especially interested in using Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to analyze individuals’ movement data collected by the cane. In addition to helping users diagnose their mobility characteristics, Feghali said, "We can now feed back to healthcare professionals and mobility trainers who work with visually impaired people."

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For Older Adults, Specific Facebook Activities More Important Than Overall Use
Penn State News
Matt Swayne
January 26, 2021

A team of researchers from the Pennsylvania State University and South Korea's Kookmin University found that specific actions performed by older adults on Facebook are more important than overall use of the site when it comes to their well-being. The team concluded that older adults who posted more pictures on Facebook felt more confident and experienced significantly higher levels of well-being. Those who frequently commented and received more responses to posts felt higher levels of relatedness and connection to others on the site, while those who customized their profiles had more of a sense of autonomy. However, overall Facebook use was tied to lower levels of well-being among older adults. The researchers suggested developers could make certain tasks on social media sites less complex, in order to help older users build confidence and promote well-being.

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More Than 80% of Americans Get News From Digital Devices
Pew Research Center
Elisa Shearer
January 12, 2021

A Pew Research Center survey found 86% of Americans receive news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet "often" or "sometimes," with 60% saying they do so often. Meanwhile, 68% and 40% respectively get their news from TV sometimes or often, while 16% often get news from radio, and 32% from print. Moreover, 52% of Americans said they prefer getting news digitally from a news website (26%), search (12%), social media (11%), or podcasts (3%); 35% favored TV, while 7% and 5% respectively preferred radio or print. Furthermore, 68% receive news at least sometimes via news websites or applications, 65% from search engines, 53% from social media, and 22% from podcasts. Americans 50 and older use both TV and digital devices for news at high rates, while younger demographics use digital devices as news sources almost exclusively; social media is the most common digital news platform for those 18 to 29 years of age.

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Your Smartwatch Could Detect Covid-19 Before You Do
TechRadar
Axel Metz
January 18, 2021

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City determined that the Apple Watch can detect changes in a wearer's heartbeat that may indicate they have contracted Covid-19 up to a week before becoming visibly symptomatic. In their study, participants wore Apple Watches with special applications that monitored heart rate variability (HRV) (the variation in intervals between each heartbeat), which also quantifies immune function. Icahn's Robert Hirten said HRV changes in response to inflammation, "and Covid is an incredibly inflammatory event." He added, "This technology allows us not only to track and predict health outcomes, but also to intervene in a timely and remote manner."

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Digitalization Did Not Increase Productivity as Expected
Aalto University (Finland)
January 11, 2021

Although digitalization was expected to drive productivity, Finnish researchers found significant sector-specific differences in productivity gains. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland's Heikki Ailisto said productivity in Finnish industry overall rose 22% over the past decade, compared to just 4% in the machinery and equipment industry and 8% in the construction sector during the same period. The Digital Disruption of Industry Consortium said the information, communication, and financial sectors have been pioneers in the use of digitalization. Researchers said integrating digitalization into a product or service can increase its value, and integrating digitalization into the production process can help increase efficiency. Said Aalto University's Timo Seppälä, "The time is now ripe for the digitalization of the manufacturing industry and construction, and through this for increasing productivity."

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