Welcome to the May 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.

Stroke-Recovery Device Using Brain-Computer Interface Receives FDA Market Authorization
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Tamara Bhandari
April 27, 2021

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted a Breakthrough Device designation and De Novo marketing authorization for a brain-computer interface (BCI)-enabled stroke-recovery device developed by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WashU) startup company Neurolutions. The IpsiHand Upper Extremity Rehabilitation System features a wearable robotic exoskeleton that attaches to a patient's hand and wrist, to assist with opening and closing the hand via mental control. The exoskeleton could help patients improve their upper extremity motor function and help them to recover critical skills like the ability to grasp objects. WashU's Eric Leuthardt said, "People have been trying for a long time to convert BCI from an experimental technology into something that will truly help patients. With this, we've shown that BCI is finally ready for prime time."

Full Article

Stanford Engineers Find Ankle Exoskeletons Can Greatly Increase Walking Speed
Stanford News
Taylor Kubota
April 22, 2021

An ankle exoskeleton developed by Stanford University engineers allows users to walk an average 42% faster than when they wear normal shoes. The device attaches around the shin and into a running shoe, with power provided externally by motors and controlled by an algorithm; its speed-optimized mode also lowers energy use by about 2% per meter traveled, although this reduction varies from person to person. "A 40% increase in speed is more than the difference between younger adults and older adults," said Stanford's Steve Collins. "So, it's possible that devices like this could not only restore but enhance self-selected walking speed for older individuals, and that's something that we're excited to test next."

Full Article

Pill-Dispensing Tech Makes the Medicine Go Down ... with Human Help, That Is
The Wall Street Journal
Julie Jargon
April 24, 2021

Pill-dispensing technologies ranging from smart bottlecaps that chirp when it is time to take medication to automatic dispensers can only work properly when humans are involved. The University of Minnesota's Joseph Gaugler said, "We don't have a good system for identifying and matching the right kind of technology with the specific caregiving situation. A lot of technology for seniors is marketed as being good for all." Andre Bierzynski at aging-technology startup incubator AARP Innovation Labs said the most promising solutions for easing pill-taking combine technology and human assistance. He cited Omcare, a company that intends to sell automated pill dispensers to senior-care providers, which would lease the devices to consumers and charge for the service. However, research has shown that neither electronic nor human pill-taking reminders work without the patient's motivation.

Full Article

Your Tech Devices Want to Read Your Brain. What Could Go Wrong?
The Washington Post
Dalvin Brown
April 27, 2021

The Boston-based startup Neurable plans to roll out brain-sensing headphones that can tell users when they are near peak productivity and when they are least likely to be productive. The headphones are based on a brain-computer interface developed in 2015 by Neurable's Ramses Alcaide, then a University of Michigan Ph.D. student. Mass adoption of such brain technology could enable people to use their minds to search the Internet or replace smartphones with smart glasses or contact lenses that display images based on their thoughts. However, there are concerns about the lack of regulations governing how brain tech can be used in consumer products, and about what tech companies could do with information captured from a person's brain.

Full Article

3D Holographic Head-Up Display Could Improve Road Safety
University of Cambridge (U.K.)
Sarah Collins
April 26, 2021

Researchers at the U.K.'s University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and University College London (UCL) have developed the first augmented reality head-up display based on LiDAR (light detection and ranging) to help improve road safety. The system uses LiDAR data to beam ultra-high-definition holographic representations of road objects directly to the driver's eyes, helping them see through visual obstructions. The researchers used LiDAR to scan Malet Street in central London, with millions of pulses sent from multiple positions along the street and combined with point cloud data to develop a three-dimensional (3D) model. UCL's Phil Wilkes said, "This way, we can stitch the scans together, building a whole scene, which doesn't only capture trees, but cars, trucks, people, signs, and everything else you would see on a typical city street."

Full Article

Algorithms Can Sway People Making Online Dating Decisions
New Scientist
Chris Stokel-Walker
April 21, 2021

Experimental evidence assembled by researchers at Spain's University of Deusto (UD) found that recommendation algorithms can sway people to prefer one political candidate, or dating partner, over another. UD's Helena Matute and Ujué Agudo conducted experiments in which participants were told they were engaging with a personality-judging algorithm, which was actually a mock-algorithm that responded identically regardless of the data it was fed. After participants had answered the mock-algorithm's questions, it presented them photos identified as potential partners they might date or political leaders they might support. In some cases, the mock-algorithm explicitly or implicitly nudged users to choose one of these individuals; participants were more likely to favor political candidates presented explicitly, and to prefer implicitly selected dates.

Full Article

Anthropomorphic Webcam Looks—and Moves—Like a Human Eye
New Atlas
Ben Coxworth
April 14, 2021

Researchers at Germany's Saarland University have developed a webcam that looks like a human eye, as part of the EU-funded InteractiveSkin project. Eyecam features a three-dimensionally (3D) printed polymer body, pigmented silicone skin, an eyebrow made of human hair implants, and an artificial eyeball. The electrical components include a Raspberry Pi Zero microcomputer, a 720p/60fps video camera, and six servo motors that move the eye back and forth, blink the eyelid, and raise the eyebrow. Lead researcher Marc Teyssier said, "The goal of our project is not to develop a 'better' design for cameras, but to spark a discussion. We want to draw attention to the fact that we are surrounded by sensing devices every day. That raises the question of how that affects us." The researchers will present their paper during the online ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Full Article

Amazon to Open First-Ever Hair Salon in London
CNBC
Sam Shead
April 20, 2021

Amazon announced plans to open its first hair salon in East London. Initially open only to Amazon employees, the Amazon Salon will test new technologies, including the use of augmented reality to let customers see how they look with different hair colors. The use of "point-and-learn" technology will allow customers to point at a product in the salon and view information on a display screen, after which they can scan a QR code that directs them to a product page on Amazon.co.uk where they can buy the item. Amazon's John Boumphrey said, "We want this unique venue to bring us one step closer to customers, and it will be a place where we can collaborate with the industry and test new technologies."

Full Article

U.S. Army Researchers Create Pioneering Approach to Real-Time Conversational AI
U.S. Army Research Laboratory
April 19, 2021

Researchers from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the University of Southern California have developed the means to have autonomous systems flexibly interpret and respond to soldier intent inferred from spoken dialogue. This forms the core dialogue-processing element of ARL's Joint Understanding and Dialogue Interface, a prototype bi-directional soldier-artificial intelligence (AI) conversational interaction system. ARL's Felix Gervits said, "We employed a statistical classification technique for enabling conversational AI using state-of-the-art natural language understanding and dialogue management technologies. The statistical language classifier enables autonomous systems to interpret the intent of a soldier by recognizing the purpose of the communication and performing actions to realize the underlying intent."

Full Article

UW Researchers Studying How to Make Online Arguments Productive
University of Washington
Sarah McQuate
April 19, 2021

University of Washington researchers studied how technology could help make online arguments more productive and focused on relationship-building. The study involved interviews of 22 adults in the Seattle area about the social media platforms they use and how they could help people have more productive conversations, followed by a survey of 137 Americans on the social media platforms they use, how many hours per week they use them, and whether they had arguments on those platforms. The researchers then developed 12 potential technological design interventions that could support difficult conversations, which were evaluated by 98 new participants. The most popular ideas involved democratizing, or upvoting constructive comments or content; humanizing, such as providing more information on users; and channel switching, or letting users move conversations to private spaces.

Full Article

Warm Feelings About Human-Looking Robots Can Turn Icy When Bots Blunder
Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business
April 7, 2021

Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) researchers determined that mistakes by humanoid robots used in service industries can provoke negative reactions in people. Penn State's Lisa Bolton said humanoid features may not automatically make people excuse a robot's gaffes, but rather amplify their annoyance at service failures—particularly those involving inattentive or slow service. The researchers examined the reactions of an online consumer panel to virtual reality-based service robot encounters, and found that people tended to expect more warmth from humanoid robots, but seemed more unhappy when the machines provided poor service, compared to non-humanoid robots. The researchers also found people were more likely to forgive humanoid robots that offered apologies for their errors.

Full Article

A Finger Phantom to Train Treatment of Trigger Finger Using Ultrasound Guidance
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Jeff Hansen
April 21, 2021

A three-dimensionally (3D) printed anatomical finger model developed by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of South Carolina was designed as a low-cost ultrasound simulation trainer, or phantom, for trigger finger injections. The phantom—which costs less than $20—is shaped like a brick, but the ultrasound image shows an interior that is anatomically and sonographically similar to a human finger. UAB's David Resuehr said, "Because the only area of the phantom that could be punctured was the ballistic gelatin outer portion, the 3D-printed bones and soft tissue components remain intact. Repeated needle insertions and injections create faint needle tract tracings after several injections, and the use of a hair dryer resolves the needle tracts."

Full Article