Welcome to the July 2023 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.

When AI Overrules the Nurses Caring for You
The Wall Street Journal
Lisa Bannon
June 15, 2023

Nurses increasingly are concerned about flaws in artificial intelligence-powered clinical decision support tools and the lack of flexibility in their implementation. A study of 1,042 registered nurses published by National Nurses United found that of the 24% of nurses who disagreed with a clinical algorithm's recommendation, only 17% were allowed to override the algorithm, and 34% needed a doctor or supervisor's permission to do so. Such concerns prompted a team led by researchers at Columbia University to develop Concern, a predictive algorithm that quantifies and uses nurses' intuition. When a patient is flagged by the algorithm as "yellow" (at risk) based on patterns of nursing activity, nurses must use critical-thinking skills to identify the problem. Tests at Mass General Brigham found Concern warns of patient deterioration 5 to 26 hours earlier than monitoring vital signs.

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Why Data Communication Needs to Pay Attention to Novice Users
University of Massachusetts Amherst
July 5, 2023

Computer scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) found a lack of consensus among data-visualization experts about the makeup of novice users of their products. Such knowledge is vital because "More and more, everyday people are relying on data visualizations to make decisions about their lives," said UMass Amherst's Narges Mayhar. The researchers mined three decades of visualization research to find 79 studies distributed across seven academic journals that defined novice users in a wide variety of ways. Mayhar said the research was aimed at changing “the way that visualization researchers think about novices, address their needs, and design tools that work for everyone." The work won a Best Paper Award at ACM's Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI).

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Smart Gloves 'Could Allow Stroke Patients to Play the Piano Again'
Express (UK)
Shane Jarvis; Nilima Marshall
June 29, 2023

Scientists at Florida Atlantic University, the University of Florida College of Medicine, and Boise State University collaborated on the development of a pair of exoskeleton gloves powered by artificial intelligence that could enable stroke patients to relearn to play the piano. The gloves use actuators to provide “hand guidance” that emulates natural hand movements while an array of touch sensors in each fingertip allows users to feel objects. The researchers taught the gloves to play the tune "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on the piano using preprogrammed movements; when users wore the gloves, they could detect incorrect movements, allowing them to "understand their performance and make improvements."

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We Waste 20% of Our Time on Computer Problems
University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
June 28, 2023

A study by researchers at Denmark's University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University found that users waste 11% to 20% of their time, on average, on computer systems that either don't work or are too difficult for them to understand. The researchers asked 234 study participants who spend six to eight hours daily on a computer to report the malfunctions and frustrations they experienced. The most common complaints included that the system was slow, froze, or crashed, and that "is difficult to find things." Of the episodes reported, respondents said 84% had occurred before and they suspected 87% of those incidents could happen again.

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App Can Transform Smartphones into Thermometers That Detect Fevers
University of Washington News
Stefan Milne
June 21, 2023

The FeverPhone application developed by researchers at the University of Washington and Canada's University of Toronto gives smartphones the capability of thermometers to accurately detect fevers. The app uses the phone's touchscreen and battery temperature sensors to collect data that a machine learning model converts into people's core body temperatures. FeverPhone monitors how quickly the phone heats up, then uses touchscreen data to factor in how much heat is coming from the person touching the phone. When tested on 37 patients in an emergency department, the researchers found the app calculated core body temperatures with an average error of approximately 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (0.23 degrees Celsius), which is within the clinically acceptable range.

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Hundreds Attend Church Service Generated by ChatGPT
Associated Press
Kirsten Grieshaber
June 10, 2023

Over 300 people attended St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fuerth, Germany, on June 9 for a 40-minute experimental service generated almost completely by ChatGPT. Jonas Simmerlein at the University of Vienna in Austria said 98% of the service was produced by ChatGPT. Four different avatars led the service. Simmerlein said, "I told the artificial intelligence, 'We are at the church congress, you are a preacher ... what would a church service look like?'" Some attendees said the resulting service lacked heart and soul, noting that the avatars were emotionless, lacked body language, and talked fast and in monotonous voices. Simmerlein said the goal is for artificial intelligence to assist religious leaders in their everyday work, rather than replace them.

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Lack of Simulations Hampering Driverless Vehicle Revolution
University of Leeds (U.K.)
June 20, 2023

Researchers from the U.K.'s University of Leeds have developed a simulation of human behavior on the roads that aims to address the lack of algorithms that accurately depict road user behavior. The researchers integrated key cognitive theories in a psychological model that was shown to reflect pedestrian and driver behavior in common road scenarios and which can accurately predict human behavior in a virtual reality simulator. University of Leeds' Gustav Markkula said, "We can model—in much more detail than previously possible—how humans interact in road traffic, for example as drivers or pedestrians, including phenomena such as hesitation and interpretation of others' intentions."

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Focusing on Virtual Reality
Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering News
Krista Burns
June 6, 2023

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers have generated natural focal blur in a virtual reality headset using the Split-Lohmann multifocal display method. CMU's Aswin Sankaranarayanan said the technique involves "a lens that can simultaneously position pixels of a display at different distances from the eye." The display splits a Lohmann lens by positioning two cubic plates in different sections of the optical system, while a phase modulator sandwiched between them facilitates optical translation. The underlying configuration also allows different amounts of translations to be imposed on different parts of the scene. Explained CMU's Yingsi Qin, "We can create a virtual 3D [three-dimensional] scene that satisfies the eye's accommodation without resorting to high-speed focus stacks. And everything operates at real time, which is very favorable for near-eye displays."

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Robot Keeps Dementia Patients Company in Japan
Nikkei Asia (Japan)
Shotaro Mori
June 19, 2023

A long-term care provider in Japan is using artificial intelligence (AI) to ameliorate symptoms in dementia patients by having a robot in the form of a boy talk to them when staff is otherwise occupied. Nursing home operator The Harmony has deployed the roughly 30-centimeter (about 12-inch)-tall robot, called Dai-chan, at all five of its communities in Fukuoka prefecture since April. The Harmony hired engineers from information technology companies to develop Dai-chan after an off-the-shelf conversational robot with standard AI proved ineffective. Dai-chan uses artificial intelligence to steer conversations with residents and asks follow-up questions if the person seems engaged or moves on to another topic if they do not. The Harmony CEO Kazuya Takahashi said use of the robot "has reduced the number of people showing symptoms such as agitation."

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Apps for Visually Impaired Users Provide Virtual Labels for Controls
University of Michigan News
Emily France
June 12, 2023

Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) have developed apps to assist visually impaired iPhone users. VizLens leverages optical character recognition technology to allow users to read control panels on home appliances, public kiosks, other interfaces by taking a picture using their smartphone cameras. U-M's Anhong Guo explained, "They can move their finger on the physical appliance control panel, and the app will speak out the button under the user's finger." Meanwhile, ImageExplorer helps users explore the content of uploaded images. The app provides a general image overview, including objects detected, relevant tags, and a caption, and allows users to explore the spatial layout and content using a touch-based interface. Said Guo, "ImageExplorer helps users understand the content of an image even though they cannot see it."

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Advanced Universal Control System May Revolutionize Lower Limb Exoskeleton Control
Kessler Foundation
June 15, 2023

Researchers at the Kessler Foundation and the New Jersey Institute of Technology used deep reinforcement learning to develop a new method for controlling lower limb exoskeletons, allowing for robust and more natural walking control. The researchers used reinforcement learning to train an exoskeleton control system to employ natural walking patterns, resulting in a robust walking controller that can navigate different levels of human-exoskeleton interactions without requiring parameters to be retuned. Tests in real-world conditions indicated that the exoskeleton and controller could improve walking stability and ease user fatigue. The Kessler Foundation’s Ghaith Androwis said, "We are excited about the potential of this new system to improve the quality of life for people with lower limb impairments. By enabling more natural and intuitive walking patterns, we hope to help users of exoskeletons to move with greater ease and confidence."

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