Scott Bateman | The University of New Brunswick (original) (raw)

Papers by Scott Bateman

Research paper thumbnail of Mechanics of Camera Work in Mobile Video Collaboration

Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '15, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Social Feedback: Social Learning from Interaction History to Support Information Seeking on the Web

Research paper thumbnail of SonicData: Broadcasting Data via Sound for Smartphones

Research paper thumbnail of Combined Usage of Ontologies and Folksonomies in E-learning Environments

Research paper thumbnail of Leveraging the Social Semantic Web in Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2008

Today's technology enhanced ... more Today's technology enhanced learning practices cater to students and teachers who use many different learning tools and environments and are used to a paradigm of interaction derived from open, ubiquitous, and socially-oriented services. In this context, a crucial issue for education systems in general, and for ITSs in particular, is related to the ability of leveraging these new paradigms for creating, maintaining and sharing the knowledge that these systems embed. This will enable learning environments to benefit from shared ...

Research paper thumbnail of Improving player balancing in racing games

Research paper thumbnail of Physio@Home

Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the 32nd annual ACM conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI EA '14, 2014

ABSTRACT Patients typically undergo physiotherapy with the help of a physiotherapist who teaches,... more ABSTRACT Patients typically undergo physiotherapy with the help of a physiotherapist who teaches, guides, and corrects the patients as they perform exercises. It would be nice if people could repeat these exercises at home, potentially improving their recovery rate. However, without guidance and/or corrective feedback from a physiotherapist, the patient will not know whether they are doing their exercises correctly. To address this problem, we implemented a prototype that guides patients through pre-recorded exercise movements using visual guides overlaid atop a mirror-view of the patient on a wall-mounted display. We conducted informal evaluations and pilot studies to assess our prototype and identified some working designs and design characteristics. Collected data will assist us in developing future iterations of the system and designing improved guides for physiotherapy sessions at home.

Research paper thumbnail of The effectiveness (or lack thereof) of aim-assist techniques in first-person shooter games

Proceedings of the 32nd annual ACM conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI '14, 2014

ABSTRACT Aim-assistance techniques have been shown to work for player balancing in 2D environment... more ABSTRACT Aim-assistance techniques have been shown to work for player balancing in 2D environments, but little information exists about how well these techniques will work in a 3D FPS game. We carried out three studies of the performance of five different aim assists in an Unreal-based game world. The assists worked well in a target-range scenario (study 1), but their performance was reduced when game elements were introduced in a walkthrough map (study 2). We systematically examined the relationships between realistic game elements and assist performance (study 3). These studies show that two techniques -- bullet magnetism and area cursor -- worked well in a wide variety of situations. Other techniques that worked well were too perceptible, and some previously-successful techniques did not work well in any game-like scenario. Our studies are the first to provide empirical evidence of the performance of aim assist techniques in 3D environments, and the first to identify the complexities in using these techniques in real FPS games.

Research paper thumbnail of Using the Ecological Approach to Create Simulations of Learning Environments

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Social navigation for loosely-coupled information seeking in tightly-knit groups using webwear

Proceedings of the 2013 conference on Computer supported cooperative work - CSCW '13, 2013

ABSTRACT Many web-based information-seeking tasks are set in a social context where other people&... more ABSTRACT Many web-based information-seeking tasks are set in a social context where other people's knowledge and advice improves success in finding information. However, when tightly-knit contacts (friends, family, colleagues) are not available, information seeking becomes more difficult. Inspired by previous work in social navigation, we developed WebWear, a system that collects and displays traces of activity for tightly-knit groups. WebWear allows people to use contextual knowledge of contacts' interests and activities to interpret the meaning of the traces, improving their usefulness. In a comparative study, we found that WebWear helped people complete information-seeking tasks more accurately, without requiring additional effort. A one-week field trial found that WebWear was both usable and useful, and that privacy concerns were reduced in the small-group context. WebWear shows that small-scale social navigation systems are feasible, and that they can improve the effectiveness of information seeking on the World-Wide Web.

Research paper thumbnail of E-Learning meets the Social Semantic Web

2008 Eighth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, 2008

Abstract The social semantic Web has recently emerged as a paradigm in which ontologies (aimed at... more Abstract The social semantic Web has recently emerged as a paradigm in which ontologies (aimed at defining, structuring and sharing information) and collaborative software (used for creating and sharing knowledge) have been merged together. Ontologies provide an effective means of capturing and integrating knowledge for feedback provisioning, while using collaborative activities can support pedagogical theories, such as social constructivism. Both technologies have developed separately in the e-learning domain; ...

Research paper thumbnail of Personal Visualization and Personal Visual Analytics

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2015

Data surrounds each and every one of us in our daily lives, ranging from exercise logs, to archiv... more Data surrounds each and every one of us in our daily lives, ranging from exercise logs, to archives of our interactions with others on social media, to online resources pertaining to our hobbies. There is enormous potential for us to use these data to understand ourselves better and make positive changes in our lives. Visualization (Vis) and visual analytics (VA) offer substantial opportunities to help individuals gain insights about themselves, their communities and their interests; however, designing tools to support data analysis in non-professional life brings a unique set of research and design challenges. We investigate the requirements and research directions required to take full advantage of Vis and VA in a personal context. We develop a taxonomy of design dimensions to provide a coherent vocabulary for discussing personal visualization and personal visual analytics. By identifying and exploring clusters in the design space, we discuss challenges and share perspectives on future research. This work brings together research that was previously scattered across disciplines. Our goal is to call research attention to this space and engage researchers to explore the enabling techniques and technology that will support people to better understand data relevant to their personal lives, interests, and needs.

Research paper thumbnail of Determining the Important Ideas in Sub-Groups of Interest in Social Software Networks

Citeseer

Page 1. Determining the Important Ideas in Sub-Groups of Interest in Social Software NetworksScot... more Page 1. Determining the Important Ideas in Sub-Groups of Interest in Social Software NetworksScott Bateman CMPT 810 ssb609@mail.usask.ca ABSTRACT Social networking websites allow users to connect, organize and share information and ideas online. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Why Expressiveness Matters in Command & Control Visualizations

ABSTRACT Crisis command centres often gather data from disparate locations and collect it for vis... more ABSTRACT Crisis command centres often gather data from disparate locations and collect it for visualization on a large, shared screen. However, the resulting visualization often lacks expressiveness: it fails to express nuanced mediating characteristics about the information, such as specificity, urgency, awareness, or reliability. We suggest that our previous work on creating expressive realtime embodiments can inform the design of crisis management embodiments on large displays, improving communication and decision-making. We make several recommendations for future research directions.

Research paper thumbnail of Collaborative tagging: folksonomy, metadata, visualization, e-learning

University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Analysis and comparison of target assistance techniques for relative ray-cast pointing

ABSTRACT Pointing at displays from a distance is becoming a common method of interacting with com... more ABSTRACT Pointing at displays from a distance is becoming a common method of interacting with computer applications and entertainment systems, using devices such as the Wii Remote, the PlayStation Move controller, or the Microsoft Kinect. These systems often implement relative forms of ray-cast pointing, in which the user simply points a hand-held input device towards targets on the screen. Ray-casting interaction is easy for novices to learn and understand, but this technique often suffers from accuracy problems: for example, hand jitter, arm fatigue, calibration drift, or lack of skill can all reduce people’s ability to acquire and select on-screen targets. In this paper, we analyse and evaluate the idea of target assistance as a way to address the accuracy problems of ray-cast pointing. Although several assistance schemes have been proposed for mouse-based pointing, these ideas have not been tested in distant-pointing settings, and there is little knowledge available to guide design in this increasingly common interaction scenario. To establish this basic design knowledge, we carried out four studies of relative ray-casting using three different target assistance techniques—two motor-space techniques (sticky targets and a novel form of target gravity), and one acquisition-feedback technique that combined visual, tactile, and auditory feedback. Our first three studies tested each assistance technique separately, to explore how different parameters for each method affected performance and perceptibility. Our fourth study carried out a direct comparison of the best versions of each technique, and also examined the effects of distractor objects placed in the path to the target. Our studies found that the two motor-space techniques were extremely effective in improving selection accuracy without being highly obvious to users, and that the new gravity-based technique (which attracts the cursor even when it is not over the target) performed best of all. There was no observed effect on performance when the combined acquisition-feedback technique was used. Our studies are the first to comprehensively explore the optimization, performance, and perceptibility of target assistance techniques for relative ray-casting—our results provide designers with clear guidelines about what methods to use, how to configure the techniques, and what effects can be expected from their use.

Research paper thumbnail of The search dashboard: how reflection and comparison impact search behavior

Research paper thumbnail of Useful junk?: the effects of visual embellishment on comprehension and memorability of charts

Research paper thumbnail of Target assistance for subtly balancing competitive play

Research paper thumbnail of Seeing things in the clouds: the effect of visual features on tag cloud selections

Abstract Tag clouds are a popular method for visualizing and linking socially-organized informati... more Abstract Tag clouds are a popular method for visualizing and linking socially-organized information on websites. Tag clouds represent variables of interest (such as popularity) in the visual appearance of the keywords themselves-using text properties such as font size, weight, or colour. Although tag clouds are becoming common, there is still little information about which visual features of tags draw the attention of viewers.

Research paper thumbnail of Mechanics of Camera Work in Mobile Video Collaboration

Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '15, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Social Feedback: Social Learning from Interaction History to Support Information Seeking on the Web

Research paper thumbnail of SonicData: Broadcasting Data via Sound for Smartphones

Research paper thumbnail of Combined Usage of Ontologies and Folksonomies in E-learning Environments

Research paper thumbnail of Leveraging the Social Semantic Web in Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2008

Today's technology enhanced ... more Today's technology enhanced learning practices cater to students and teachers who use many different learning tools and environments and are used to a paradigm of interaction derived from open, ubiquitous, and socially-oriented services. In this context, a crucial issue for education systems in general, and for ITSs in particular, is related to the ability of leveraging these new paradigms for creating, maintaining and sharing the knowledge that these systems embed. This will enable learning environments to benefit from shared ...

Research paper thumbnail of Improving player balancing in racing games

Research paper thumbnail of Physio@Home

Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the 32nd annual ACM conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI EA '14, 2014

ABSTRACT Patients typically undergo physiotherapy with the help of a physiotherapist who teaches,... more ABSTRACT Patients typically undergo physiotherapy with the help of a physiotherapist who teaches, guides, and corrects the patients as they perform exercises. It would be nice if people could repeat these exercises at home, potentially improving their recovery rate. However, without guidance and/or corrective feedback from a physiotherapist, the patient will not know whether they are doing their exercises correctly. To address this problem, we implemented a prototype that guides patients through pre-recorded exercise movements using visual guides overlaid atop a mirror-view of the patient on a wall-mounted display. We conducted informal evaluations and pilot studies to assess our prototype and identified some working designs and design characteristics. Collected data will assist us in developing future iterations of the system and designing improved guides for physiotherapy sessions at home.

Research paper thumbnail of The effectiveness (or lack thereof) of aim-assist techniques in first-person shooter games

Proceedings of the 32nd annual ACM conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI '14, 2014

ABSTRACT Aim-assistance techniques have been shown to work for player balancing in 2D environment... more ABSTRACT Aim-assistance techniques have been shown to work for player balancing in 2D environments, but little information exists about how well these techniques will work in a 3D FPS game. We carried out three studies of the performance of five different aim assists in an Unreal-based game world. The assists worked well in a target-range scenario (study 1), but their performance was reduced when game elements were introduced in a walkthrough map (study 2). We systematically examined the relationships between realistic game elements and assist performance (study 3). These studies show that two techniques -- bullet magnetism and area cursor -- worked well in a wide variety of situations. Other techniques that worked well were too perceptible, and some previously-successful techniques did not work well in any game-like scenario. Our studies are the first to provide empirical evidence of the performance of aim assist techniques in 3D environments, and the first to identify the complexities in using these techniques in real FPS games.

Research paper thumbnail of Using the Ecological Approach to Create Simulations of Learning Environments

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Social navigation for loosely-coupled information seeking in tightly-knit groups using webwear

Proceedings of the 2013 conference on Computer supported cooperative work - CSCW '13, 2013

ABSTRACT Many web-based information-seeking tasks are set in a social context where other people&... more ABSTRACT Many web-based information-seeking tasks are set in a social context where other people's knowledge and advice improves success in finding information. However, when tightly-knit contacts (friends, family, colleagues) are not available, information seeking becomes more difficult. Inspired by previous work in social navigation, we developed WebWear, a system that collects and displays traces of activity for tightly-knit groups. WebWear allows people to use contextual knowledge of contacts' interests and activities to interpret the meaning of the traces, improving their usefulness. In a comparative study, we found that WebWear helped people complete information-seeking tasks more accurately, without requiring additional effort. A one-week field trial found that WebWear was both usable and useful, and that privacy concerns were reduced in the small-group context. WebWear shows that small-scale social navigation systems are feasible, and that they can improve the effectiveness of information seeking on the World-Wide Web.

Research paper thumbnail of E-Learning meets the Social Semantic Web

2008 Eighth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, 2008

Abstract The social semantic Web has recently emerged as a paradigm in which ontologies (aimed at... more Abstract The social semantic Web has recently emerged as a paradigm in which ontologies (aimed at defining, structuring and sharing information) and collaborative software (used for creating and sharing knowledge) have been merged together. Ontologies provide an effective means of capturing and integrating knowledge for feedback provisioning, while using collaborative activities can support pedagogical theories, such as social constructivism. Both technologies have developed separately in the e-learning domain; ...

Research paper thumbnail of Personal Visualization and Personal Visual Analytics

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2015

Data surrounds each and every one of us in our daily lives, ranging from exercise logs, to archiv... more Data surrounds each and every one of us in our daily lives, ranging from exercise logs, to archives of our interactions with others on social media, to online resources pertaining to our hobbies. There is enormous potential for us to use these data to understand ourselves better and make positive changes in our lives. Visualization (Vis) and visual analytics (VA) offer substantial opportunities to help individuals gain insights about themselves, their communities and their interests; however, designing tools to support data analysis in non-professional life brings a unique set of research and design challenges. We investigate the requirements and research directions required to take full advantage of Vis and VA in a personal context. We develop a taxonomy of design dimensions to provide a coherent vocabulary for discussing personal visualization and personal visual analytics. By identifying and exploring clusters in the design space, we discuss challenges and share perspectives on future research. This work brings together research that was previously scattered across disciplines. Our goal is to call research attention to this space and engage researchers to explore the enabling techniques and technology that will support people to better understand data relevant to their personal lives, interests, and needs.

Research paper thumbnail of Determining the Important Ideas in Sub-Groups of Interest in Social Software Networks

Citeseer

Page 1. Determining the Important Ideas in Sub-Groups of Interest in Social Software NetworksScot... more Page 1. Determining the Important Ideas in Sub-Groups of Interest in Social Software NetworksScott Bateman CMPT 810 ssb609@mail.usask.ca ABSTRACT Social networking websites allow users to connect, organize and share information and ideas online. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Why Expressiveness Matters in Command & Control Visualizations

ABSTRACT Crisis command centres often gather data from disparate locations and collect it for vis... more ABSTRACT Crisis command centres often gather data from disparate locations and collect it for visualization on a large, shared screen. However, the resulting visualization often lacks expressiveness: it fails to express nuanced mediating characteristics about the information, such as specificity, urgency, awareness, or reliability. We suggest that our previous work on creating expressive realtime embodiments can inform the design of crisis management embodiments on large displays, improving communication and decision-making. We make several recommendations for future research directions.

Research paper thumbnail of Collaborative tagging: folksonomy, metadata, visualization, e-learning

University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Analysis and comparison of target assistance techniques for relative ray-cast pointing

ABSTRACT Pointing at displays from a distance is becoming a common method of interacting with com... more ABSTRACT Pointing at displays from a distance is becoming a common method of interacting with computer applications and entertainment systems, using devices such as the Wii Remote, the PlayStation Move controller, or the Microsoft Kinect. These systems often implement relative forms of ray-cast pointing, in which the user simply points a hand-held input device towards targets on the screen. Ray-casting interaction is easy for novices to learn and understand, but this technique often suffers from accuracy problems: for example, hand jitter, arm fatigue, calibration drift, or lack of skill can all reduce people’s ability to acquire and select on-screen targets. In this paper, we analyse and evaluate the idea of target assistance as a way to address the accuracy problems of ray-cast pointing. Although several assistance schemes have been proposed for mouse-based pointing, these ideas have not been tested in distant-pointing settings, and there is little knowledge available to guide design in this increasingly common interaction scenario. To establish this basic design knowledge, we carried out four studies of relative ray-casting using three different target assistance techniques—two motor-space techniques (sticky targets and a novel form of target gravity), and one acquisition-feedback technique that combined visual, tactile, and auditory feedback. Our first three studies tested each assistance technique separately, to explore how different parameters for each method affected performance and perceptibility. Our fourth study carried out a direct comparison of the best versions of each technique, and also examined the effects of distractor objects placed in the path to the target. Our studies found that the two motor-space techniques were extremely effective in improving selection accuracy without being highly obvious to users, and that the new gravity-based technique (which attracts the cursor even when it is not over the target) performed best of all. There was no observed effect on performance when the combined acquisition-feedback technique was used. Our studies are the first to comprehensively explore the optimization, performance, and perceptibility of target assistance techniques for relative ray-casting—our results provide designers with clear guidelines about what methods to use, how to configure the techniques, and what effects can be expected from their use.

Research paper thumbnail of The search dashboard: how reflection and comparison impact search behavior

Research paper thumbnail of Useful junk?: the effects of visual embellishment on comprehension and memorability of charts

Research paper thumbnail of Target assistance for subtly balancing competitive play

Research paper thumbnail of Seeing things in the clouds: the effect of visual features on tag cloud selections

Abstract Tag clouds are a popular method for visualizing and linking socially-organized informati... more Abstract Tag clouds are a popular method for visualizing and linking socially-organized information on websites. Tag clouds represent variables of interest (such as popularity) in the visual appearance of the keywords themselves-using text properties such as font size, weight, or colour. Although tag clouds are becoming common, there is still little information about which visual features of tags draw the attention of viewers.