Welcome to the January 2022 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.

Man with ALS Tweets Using Brain Implant that Translates Thoughts into Text
Futurism
Victor Tangermann
December 23, 2021

Philip O'Keefe, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-induced paralysis, used a brain implant developed by Australian brain computer interface (BCI) company Synchron to convert his thoughts into tweets. "I just think about where on the computer I want to click, and I can email, bank, shop, and now message the world via Twitter," O'Keefe said. Last year he received the Stentrode BCI, a stent-mounted electrode array implanted through the jugular. Synchron claims his initial tweets represent the first time someone has written texts on social media via a BCI. Synchron CEO Thomas Oxley said, "They highlight the connection, hope, and freedom that BCIs give to people like Phil who have had so much of their functional independence taken away due to debilitating paralysis."

Full Article

Digital Therapy for Prenatal Insomnia May Prevent Postpartum Depression
University of California, San Francisco
Jess Berthold
December 15, 2021

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) found that digital cognitive behavioral therapy (dCBT) could help prevent postpartum depression and reduce insomnia and anxiety in women up to six months after giving birth. UCSF's Jennifer Felder said, "We were particularly excited to see the benefits lasted to six months not just for insomnia, but for mental health more broadly." Half of the study participants received dCBT treatment via Sleepio, a self-paced sleep app that was used 20 minutes at a time for up to six sessions. Felder attributed the success of dCBT to being more individualized and addressing known factors associated with insomnia.

Full Article

Swedish Company Offers COVID Pass That Gets Under the Skin
Yahoo! News (UK)
December 22, 2021

Swedish implantable microelectronics developer DSruptive Subdermals is marketing its subcutaneous chips as potential COVID vaccination passes. DSruptive's Hannes Sjoblad said he has such an implant, "and I have programmed the chip so that I have my COVID passport on the chip," so "when I read my chip, I just swipe my phone on the chip and then I unlock and it opens up." Sjoblad said while many people envision chip implants as a sinister surveillance technology, they should really be viewed as merely identification tags. He explained, "They don't have a battery, they cannot transmit the signal by themselves, so they're basically asleep, they can never tell your location, they are only activated when you touch them with your smartphone."

Full Article

Want to Get Humans to Trust Robots? Let Them Dance
Scientific American
Sam Jones
December 16, 2021

A performance collaboration between researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), dancers at Kennesaw State University, and a group of robots, called FOREST, aims to build trust between humans and robots. Georgia Tech researchers programmed robotic arms to convey emotion through motion and sound. The robots were trained using a dataset created by asking singers and guitarists which sounds best convey particular emotions, which the researchers linked to movements. These movements were refined by the dancers, and algorithms were developed to enable the robots to match the movements. Said computer scientist Harold Soh at the National University of Singapore, “Conveying emotion and social messages via a combination of sound and motion is a compelling approach that can make interactions more fluent and natural.”

Full Article

CU Boulder Alum Leading Effort to Improve Web Image Descriptions for the Blind
CU Boulder College of Engineering & Applied Science
Josh Rhoten
December 13, 2021

A multi-university study led by the University of Colorado, Boulder's Abigale Stangl is designing training materials that humans and artificial intelligence (AI) can use to produce better Web image descriptions for blind people. The researchers determined the blind prefer image description changes based on the scenario in which they are encountering the image. "For alt-text to be accurate, both human and AI systems will need training to author image descriptions that are responsive or context-aware to the user's information goal along with where the image is found," Stangl said. The research also suggested there are certain types of information that blind people desire for an image across all scenarios, so it may be possible to ascertain what content should be included in descriptions.

Full Article

3D Printing Leads to Lightweight Knee Brace for the Elderly
The Hill
Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech
December 15, 2021

Singapore engineering company Delsson and researchers at Nanyang Technological University collaborated on a knee brace produced using a three-dimensional (3D) printer and comprised of lightweight plastic and assistive springs. The X-Brace is about 30% lighter than traditional metal knee braces and can be customized to help physicians and physiotherapists treat different knee conditions. Said Ho Chaw Sing of Singapore’s National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster, which supported the collaboration, "With a fast-aging global population, light-weight assistive orthotics enabled by 3D printing, such as personalized knee braces, will increasingly become an essential tool in geriatrics, to achieve better elderly patient care and outcomes."

Full Article

Digital Silver Lining Seen in Failed COVID-19 Drug Trial
UW Medicine
December 20, 2021

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine found that the results of a failed clinical drug trial supports the viability of remote studies, suggesting they can expand clinical research to broader populations and reduce time, travel, and costs for participants. The fully remote study aimed to determine whether the drugs hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin could help patients with mild cases of COVID-19 who were self-treating at home. The researchers were concerned about the potential for the drugs to cause a heart rhythm disorder that can result in cardiac arrest, so participants were given handheld rhythm-monitoring devices to send digital electrocardiograms (ECG) to researchers on a daily basis in real time. The study of 218 patients found that 85% followed the protocol to submit one ECG per day for 14 days, supporting the feasibility of remote self-monitoring for arrhythmia.

Full Article

Japan's Seniors Discover a Way to Stay Young: Competitive Videogaming
The Wall Street Journal
Megumi Fujikawa
December 8, 2021

Senior esports teams are emerging in Japan as the world's oldest nation promotes initiatives to keep older people thinking younger. The Matagi Snipers, formed in September, is a 14-person esports team with an average age of 68. The team's 28-year-old coach, Yoshito "Lemon" Suda, said some members initially did not know how to use computers or play videogames. Suda stressed to team members that their age is an advantage, noting that older players have better communication and teamwork skills. Said Suda, "There is a huge difference in social experience between people who have lived only 20 years versus 60 years."

Full Article

Robot Offers Freedom for Girl at Madison Elementary
The Spokesman-Review (WA)
Jim Allen
December 10, 2021

Madelyn Schible, a fourth-grader at Madison Elementary School in Spokane, WA, was unable to return to the classroom when COVID-19 restrictions were eased due to her cerebral palsy. She now is able to attend classes and connect with fellow students via the VGo robot, thanks to the Wishing Star Foundation's Rolling Stars program. The three-foot-tall robot allows Schible to navigate the school’s hallways virtually. The VGo, which is operated by Schible on her keyboard, features real-time audio and video communications, and displays her face on a Webcam screen about the size of a cellphone. Said Wishing Star's Cindy Guthrie-Tripp, "We are excited to be able to offer our Wish Kids this unique opportunity to actually be in school in real time and stay connected with their friends and teachers. It is definitely a game-changer."

Full Article

Smartphone Use Contributes to Teacher 'Technostress' in India
Cornell University Chronicle
Jana Wiegand
December 9, 2021

Researchers at Cornell University found that teachers in India are feeling more stress and burnout due to increased smartphone use. The study of hundreds of teachers in grades 6-10 found that almost 60% of teachers felt burned out more than once per month, with half of them feeling burnout weekly. The researchers found that this "technostress" was related to 68% of the extreme emotions reported, regardless of age, gender, or school type. The study determined these teachers spent an average of 19 hours per week completing school-related work on their smartphones, as well as using the devices in the classroom, and as family phones at home. Cornell's Rama Adithya Varanasi said there is a need for new technology applications to control certain stressors, for policy-related changes to promote healthier behaviors, and for management to ensure these tools work together.

Full Article

How Hologram Tech May Soon Replace Video Calls
BBC News
Andrea Murad; Will Smale
December 12, 2021

The coronavirus pandemic has spurred interest in the use of holograms as an alternative to video calls. Los Angeles-based hologram firm Portl builds eight-foot-tall, glass-fronted booths, inside which life-sized holograms appear. Portl's David Nussbaum said demand is such that "We can't make our portals fast enough." Said Nussbaum, "There is almost no latency [delay]. And were it not for the sheet of glass in front of the hologram, you'd think the person was actually [standing] there." Despite the $60,000 starting price, Nussbaum believes such portals will "become a regular way of communicating between offices." In contrast, Microsoft's hologram technology, based on the HoloLens 2 headset, is far less expensive at $3,500 per unit, but the holograms are not lifelike, instead appearing as cartoon-like avatars.

Full Article

A Tesla Safety Concern: Drivers Can Play Video Games in Moving Vehicles
The New York Times
Neal E. Boudette
December 7, 2021

Tesla has added three video games that can be played on the large dashboard-mounted touchscreen in most of its cars while driving, raising concerns about the vehicles' safety. The games were added in an over-the-air software update this summer. Prior to this update, the video games in Tesla's software package could be played only when the vehicle was in park. The issue comes after years of criticism of Tesla's Autopilot system for allowing drivers to remove their hands from the steering wheel for long periods and failing to ensure drivers keep their eyes on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recorded at least 12 traffic deaths since 2016 linked to Tesla vehicles operating in Autopilot mode. The agency said it was investigating the video game feature and is in discussions with Tesla.

Full Article

Mind-Controlled Robots Now One Step Closer
Tech Xplore
December 16, 2021

A computer program developed by researchers at Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) uses electrical signals emitted by the human brain to control a robot. The system could help tetraplegic patients, who cannot speak or move on their own. The new algorithm, connected to a headcap equipped with electrodes, can adjust a robot's movements based on the patient's thoughts. An "error message" emitted by the patient's brain when a wrong move is made is fed into the algorithm, and inverse reinforcement learning is used to teach the robot the correct response. Said EPFL's Iason Batzianoulis, "We associated the tasks with individual robot controls so that the robot does what the patient has in mind."

Full Article