Welcome to the November 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.

Wearable Device Controls Individual Fingers for Sign Language, Music
UChicago News
Rob Mitchum
October 19, 2021

The wearable DextrEMS device developed by University of Chicago (UChicago) researchers integrates electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) and mechanical brakes to control the movement of individual fingers. EMS electrodes on the forearm move fingers to a desired position, while three ratchet brakes at the finger joints lock them in a target gesture and limit unwanted movement by other fingers. UChicago's Romain Nith said, "One advantage of this design is that a lot of exoskeletons today just create a shape and lock it in place, but ours react as the environment changes. So in virtual applications such as a whack-a-mole game or a bouldering simulation, we can create motion where you actually feel a virtual object pushing against your finger.”

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AI Can Change Fashion Model's Pose, Alter Their Clothes to Match
New Scientist
Chris Stokel-Walker
October 22, 2021

Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University have developed a neural network that can repose fashion models and change their clothing in photographs. This involves breaking a source image into constituent body parts, with the location of key joints and limbs identified by the neural network. After being fed the target pose, the neural network determines the new positions of the relevant body parts. A generative adversarial network is used to reposition the model's face or clothes onto the new pose. The technology uses a technique in which the face and clothes are flattened into a two-dimensional image, and an ultraviolet color-coded heat map is used to wrap them back around the reposed body in the correct position. Niki Martinel at Italy's University of Udine called the technology "a mind-blowing use of style-guided and human-conditioned image generation" that "could give huge possibilities to fashion design and retailers."

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Monitoring Protects SARS-CoV-2 Patients
Technical University of Munich (Germany)
October 6, 2021

Researchers at Germany's Technical University of Munich (TUM) found that telemedicine can be used for safe at-home care of SARS-Cov-2 patients. The study involved 150 patients with risk factors for severe progression of the novel coronavirus who were given an ear sensor worn like a hearing aid to monitor their body temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, and oxygen saturation in 15-minute intervals. The data was sent to the TUM university hospital's telemedicine center, and patients were contacted at the first sign their condition was deteriorating. About 1 in 8 patients were hospitalized during the study. TUM's Georg Schmidt said, "To our knowledge, this is the first study worldwide to continuously monitor patients in home isolation remotely and to prompt immediate hospitalization in the event of critical health deterioration."

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Game Helps Users Identify, Avoid Online Echo Chambers
Penn State News
Jessica Hallman
October 15, 2021

The ChamberBreaker game developed by researchers at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and South Korea's Hanyang University enables players to evaluate their awareness of online content that could result in echo chambers (users consume only one-sided news and political arguments and eventually come to distrust opposing views). ChamberBreaker tasks players to misinform an audience by randomly assigning them a scenario focusing on health, political, or environmental issues; they choose tweets that could cause others to fall into an echo chamber while upholding their trust. Psychological principles underpin the game, including inoculation, through which the researchers suggest mental “antibodies” against misinformation can be realized in a similar manner to biology.

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Power Walk
University of Utah Mechanical Engineering
October 11, 2021

Lower-limb amputees have tested an experimental exoskeleton developed by engineers at the University of Utah (UoU)'s Bionic Engineering Laboratory. The device wraps around the user's waist and leg, and employs battery-driven electric motors and embedded microprocessors so amputees can walk with less strain. The exoskeleton supplies extra power to make walking feel natural again; it includes an electromechanical actuator linked to the wearer's thigh above the amputation, while a waist-circling harness contains electronic systems, microcontrollers, and sensors running control algorithms. UoU's Dante A. Archangeli said, "The exoskeleton's [artificial intelligence] understands how the person moves and assists how the person moves," adding that the actuator can accommodate either leg.

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Researchers Breathe Life Into Paper Books with Magic Bookmark
University of Surrey (U.K.)
October 11, 2021

The Magic Bookmark system developed by researchers at the U.K.'s University of Surrey can give printed book readers access to related multimedia content simply by placing a bookmark on a page. The intuitive electronic technology uses optical contrast sensors to pinpoint barcode patterns printed next to the book's spine along page margins, and a detachable physical bookmark with embedded sensors. The sensors can read various marks, allowing barcodes to be concealed within images or almost invisible to the eye, yet detectable using a special off-white ink from Swiss printing ink developer Printcolor. The lack of embedded electronics in the paper minimizes costs, and enables end-of-life recycling.

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Visit From Social Robot Improves Hospitalized Children's Outlook
UCLA Health
October 8, 2021

Visits from a human-controlled robot can foster optimism and improve medical interactions for hospitalized children, according to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers. Their social companion robot Robin can move, talk, and play with others under remote control. Experts from the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital’s Chase Child Life Program conducted hour-long video visits with children using the robot over a six-month period. Ninety percent of parents who had a visit with Robin were "extremely likely" to request another, versus 60% of parents whose children interacted with a tablet. Children noted a 29% increase in positive affect and a 33% reduction in negative affect after Robin's visit; positive and negative affect decreased 43% and 33%, respectively, with tablet visits. Specialists overseeing visits with Robin observed greater intimacy and interactivity among children during play, more control over their hospital experience, and the cultivation of trusting friendships.

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The Fear of Missing Out: Large Amount of Phone Use Takes Place on the Lock Screen
London School of Economics and Political Science (U.K.)
October 4, 2021

Maxi Heitmayer at the U.K.'s London School of Economics and Political Science found smartphone users spend significant time checking their phones' lock screen, in fear of missing out on something when they are otherwise engaged. Heitmayer had participants wear glasses affjxed with cameras to record their phone interactions, and recorded over 200 hours of use encompassing 894 smartphone sessions, including 221 locked-screen interactions. Locked-screen use amounted to 25% of participants' phone interactions, which were more likely to occur when they were engaged in focused tasks. Over half of the interactions were prompted by contextual factors and often occurred automatically, without users realizing. Heitmayer concluded that such behavior "leads to routine and automatic engagement patterns, which means we can end up with the device in hand much more frequently than we want."

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Smart Displays That Show Information Through Fabric May Be Next Wave of Wearable Tech
University of Waterloo News (Canada)
October 12, 2021

Researchers at Canada's University of Waterloo have developed a display that shines through fabrics to show emails, messages, time, weather, and other basic information. The PocketView display, which uses LED lights, could be incorporated into existing or next-generation smart devices or serve as a standalone technology. The researchers developed Bluetooth-enabled prototypes in various shapes and sizes, mimicking smartphones, pens, key fobs, and other devices that could be placed in a pocket. Waterloo's Daniel Vogel said, “Obviously, we’re focused on the tech and programming side of the invention, but even just as a fashion accessory, it’s something people told us they want. People could use it at clubs or in sports or in so many other ways. It’s such a simple thing but also such a radical idea that has so much potential.”

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Are Women Worse Than Men at Salary Negotiation?
University of Southern California
October 6, 2021

A study by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) found that men and women are equally bad at salary negotiations. The researchers developed a gender-blind virtual agent to test the negotiation skills of 440 participants offered a software engineering position. Participants were required to specify a minimum salary and explain whether they most valued salary, stock options, or bonuses. The researchers found that 43% of participants did not negotiate, and participants left 20% of value on the table. Researchers observed no significant difference between men and women in negotiating behaviors, though women generally valued stocks less than men. Those who negotiated against the virtual agent received an average $13,000 more in compensation.

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Google Rolls Out Emission-Curbing Tools for Nest Thermostat
The Wall Street Journal
Dieter Holger; Kimberly Chin
October 6, 2021

New features rolled out by Google will allow users of its Nest smart thermostat to adjust their energy use automatically to take advantage of more renewable power like wind and solar. Nest Renew will be offered by invitation only until Google launches it nationwide. Users will have access to an app showing the grid's electricity sources on a scale ranging from "at its least clean" to "very clean," and may opt to adjust heating and cooling automatically to favor cleaner energy. They also may be able to choose to operate larger energy-hungry appliances at peak times for wind and solar power.

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Fibers Can Make Breath-Regulating Garments
MIT News
David L. Chandler
October 15, 2021

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Sweden's Uppsala University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology have engineered "robotic" fibers that can be made into augmented clothing. The OmniFibers contain a central fluid channel that can be stimulated to act as an artificial muscle via a fluidic system, while elastic sensors can detect and measure how much the fibers are stretched. The material's quick response time and the strength and heterogeneity of the forces it can relay support a rapid feedback system for training or remote communications using haptics. The researchers fashioned an undergarment that singers can wear to monitor and replay their respiratory muscle movement, or deliver feedback to refine their posture and breathing patterns.

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Online Tool Helps Keep College Campuses Smoke, Tobacco Free
UC Davis Health
October 21, 2021

The new online Tobacco Tracker tool, which crowdsources reporting of tobacco use and related litter on college campuses, effectively supports smoke- and tobacco-free (STF) policies, according to research by the University of California and California State University. In determining the effectiveness of the online tool, the researchers surveyed current students, faculty, and staff at two California public universities, each with 100% smoke- and tobacco-free policies in place. Said the University of California, Davis' Elisa Tong, “What we found is that the Tobacco Tracker is effective in helping ingrain smoke-free policies into campus life.” Tong said reluctance to confront individual smokers serves a barrier to effective social enforcement of STF policies, which is why the online tool is an effective alternative.

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