Welcome to the February 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.

Faith in the Metaverse: A VR Quest for Community, Fellowship
Associated Press
Luis Andres Henao
January 31, 2022

People are using virtual reality (VR) technology increasingly to attend religious services and spiritual meditations in the metaverse. The VR Church, for example, was founded in 2016 as an inclusive Christian church community existing "entirely in the metaverse." The technology allows people to travel through virtual pastures, rocky cliffs, and rivers, with an avatar of a pastor guiding them through computer-generated illustrations of Biblical passages. VR Church's D.J. Soto predicts, "the future of the church is the metaverse." Meanwhile, EvolVR allows attendees to participate in virtual meditation sessions, and VRChat provides worship and counseling services for young adults. Among other benefits, Interfaith Youth Core's Paul Raushenbush said VR enables people to gather in an environment without judgment regardless of their physical ability or appearance.

Full Article

Three Little Words to Send a Lamborghini on Its Way
The New York Times
Robert C. Yeager
January 27, 2022

New Lamborghini Huracán models this year will come equipped with the What3words navigation application, which incorporates Amazon's voice-activated Alexa virtual assistant. What3words splits the world into 57 trillion 10-foot (3- by 3-meter) squares, each with an individual three-word address code randomly selected from a customized standard dictionary. Users summon an image of their intended destination on the What3words screen, say the corresponding square's three-word code, then follow Alexa's directions. Designed to improve car navigation speed and accuracy, "What3words allows greater focus on the pure driving experience—without the distraction of being uncertain whether or not you will arrive at the correct destination," said Lamborghini's Luca Giardino.

Full Article

Human, Robot Chemists Work Better Together Than Alone
New Scientist
Matthew Sparkes
January 24, 2022

Researchers at Canada's University of Toronto have developed a system to enable human and robot chemists to collaborate more efficiently. RouteScore calculates the overall cost of different approaches to synthesizing a certain molecule, accounting for the time required for various processes to be performed by humans and robots, material costs, the amount of equipment to be cleaned, material disposal, and machine and labor costs. The researchers found that RouteScore could identify the optimum process for synthesizing a known molecule, as well as determining which of more than 3,000 possible molecules would be easiest to synthesize. The researchers indicated that a hybrid approach in which humans handle processes that are difficult for robots, and vice versa, could be most efficient.

Full Article

Model Town Shows Real-Life COVID-19 Spread
University of Delaware
Amy Cherry
January 24, 2022

A Web-based educational model developed by researchers at the University of Delaware (UD) uses a tiny town to illustrate community spread of COVID-19. The model could be used in high school biology or health classes to educate students about virus transmission when science-based prevention measures are used and not used. The researchers analyzed data on mask-wearing and social distancing using artificial intelligence algorithms to determine how these behaviors impact transmission of COVID-19. The virtual town features a library, grocery store, and hospital, and users set parameters for vaccination rates, mask compliance, and other factors. UD's Richard Suminski said, "You can see what would happen if people go about their daily business. Let's say they are not mask-compliant at all…and then you can look and see what happens to the infection rate, hospitalizations, death rates, and so forth."

Full Article

One Step Closer to Lifelike Avatars
ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
Rahel Künzler
January 25, 2022

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH Zurich) have developed algorithms to automatically render animated avatars in all possible poses by observing three-dimensional (3D) images of humans in just a few poses. The model developed by ETH Zurich's Xu Chen computes the trajectory from template to moving poses, allowing the algorithms to learn better movement generalization methods. The avatars currently are limited to the individual scanned in the original 3D images, while ETH Zurich's Marcel Bühler develops algorithms to personalize and alter avatar faces. The algorithms produce new animated faces by combining a 3D face model with a set of portrait photos, and can realistically render faces from the side, above, and below.

Full Article

'Smart Saddle' Could Help Equestrians Hit Their Stride
American Chemical Society
January 26, 2022

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China's Inner Mongolia University and Inner Mongolia University of Technology have developed a prototype "smart saddle" that aims to improve equestrians' biomechanics and issue wireless alerts when they take a fall. The self-powered smart saddle features an array of lightweight triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) to detect pressure differences in various areas of the seat. The TENGs, which convert pressure into electrical signals, can show whether a rider is leaning forward or backward, sitting in an upright position, or standing up and sitting down. The smart saddle has a 16-millisecond response time, which ultimately could provide real-time statistical data and fall detection to equestrians and their coaches.

Full Article

'Hey, Alexa! Are You Trustworthy?'
MIT News
Adam Zewe
January 14, 2022

A team led by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that families are more likely to trust voice-user interfaces that exhibit humanlike social behaviors. The researchers found that devices that move to look at the person speaking or exhibit other human social cues are deemed more competent and emotionally engaging. Researchers also found that family members interacted more frequently with one another, and engaged with the device as a group, if the device had a higher level of social embodiment. The researchers recommended voice-user interface developers should create warm, outgoing, and thoughtful personalities; understand how the wake word influences user acceptance; and use movement to convey nonverbal social cues.

Full Article

Improving Reading Skills Through Action Videogames
University of Geneva (Switzerland)
January 17, 2022

Scientists at Switzerland's University of Geneva and Italy's University of Trento (UNITN) have demonstrated that interaction with an action videogame improved children's reading abilities. UNITN's Angela Pasqualotto said players, accompanied by a flying creature, carry out missions to save planets and progress by collecting useful resources; they also must execute tasks, like remembering symbol sequences, within a time limit. The team enlisted 150 schoolchildren to play either the action videogame or the code-teaching game Scratch, which requires planning, reasoning, and problem-solving. After six weeks, Pasqualotto said the action-game group's attentional control, reading speed, and accuracy had improved significantly compared to the control group. Follow-up tests at six, 12, and 18 months post-training showed the improvements were sustained.

Full Article

App Helps Preemie Parents Feel Confident Caring for Their Newborns
Northwestern Now
Kristin Samuelson
January 20, 2022

Northwestern University researchers found that the NICU2Home smartphone app increased the confidence of parents caring for their premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Parents who used the app also reported higher self-efficacy up to 30 days after being discharged, compared to parents who did not use the app. The researchers also identified a link between how often parents used the app and their reported level of confidence. Said Northwestern's Dr. Craig Garfield, "As a clinician, I might only have a limited amount of time to talk to a family about an issue with their child or they may be overwhelmed, but with the information offered in the app, being connected to the electronic medical record and being able to access the app for a full year after leaving the NICU, we think it's a really useful tool for parents in the NICU."

Full Article

Program Uses Data From Wearable Tech to Detect Depression
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
January 24, 2022

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have invented a machine learning algorithm that accesses data from wearable technology to predict depression among individuals. The Ycogni model screens for depression by analyzing physical activity, sleep patterns, and circadian rhythms extrapolated from wearables that measure steps, heart rate, energy expenditure, and sleep data. The researchers based the Ycogni model on data collected from 290 working adults in Singapore who wore Fitbit Charge 2 devices for two weeks, and completed polls that screened for depression. Experiments showed the algorithm was 80% accurate in identifying individuals at a high risk of depression, and those not at risk.

Full Article

'Smart' FFP2 Facemask Sends Mobile Alert When CO₂ Limits Are Exceeded
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
February 2, 2022

Scientists and engineers at Spain's Universidad de Granada (UGR) have designed a "smart" FFP2 facemask that alerts the wearer through their smartphone when carbon dioxide (CO₂) inside the mask exceeds permitted levels. The researchers developed a wireless, real-time, portable gas-detection system that monitors CO₂ concentrations within the mask. The system is a flexible "sensing tag" that the UGR team said "comprises an innovative, custom-developed opto-chemical CO₂ sensor, together with the necessary signal-processing electronics." The smartphone's near-field communication link wirelessly powers the tag, using a custom-made Android application that also provides data processing, alert management, and alert display/sharing capabilities.

Full Article

Oral Sampling Robot Can Save Medical Staff From Your Grossness
IEEE Spectrum
Evan Ackerman
February 2, 2022

Researchers at China's Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society have developed a robot that can perform oropharyngeal-swab sampling. Having a robot obtain such samples aims to protect medical staff and free them up for other tasks. The robotic system uses a UR5 arm with a disposable soft micropneumatic actuator attached to a force sensor to perform the in-throat swabbing procedure. It also features a vision sensor to determine where to prod. To ensure the safety of the patient, excessive force on the actuator stops the robot's movements. The researchers found that the robot's effectiveness in sampling for PCR tests was on par with that of a human professional.

Full Article

Apple Heart Study Shows Older Adults Outpacing Younger Adults
CNet
Jessica Rendall
January 31, 2022

Preliminary findings from Apple's Heart and Movement Study indicated seniors 65 and older were more likely than younger adults to log at least 150 weekly minutes of active exercise. The researchers analyzed over 18 million workouts logged using Apple Watches during the pandemic, with participants clocking the most activity via walking, cycling, and running. Principal investigator Calum MacRae said the higher numbers of workout minutes logged by older adults could be partly explained by the "availability of time in retirement or unexpected impacts of the pandemic. One of the great things about this study is the active engagement with participants enables us to iteratively explore this finding and better understand the elements that contribute to this observation."

Full Article