Stine Lundgaard, who is visiting the lab from Aalborg University, and Denitza Vlaeva from the School of English, will give talks this week.
In this talk, I will outline some of my work centered around designing interaction with sound zones in homes. Sound zones are physically confined regions in which specific sounds can be included or excluded. In my Ph.D. project, I am interested in answering the following questions: 1) Which interaction design challenges emerge as a result of modifying a soundscape with sound zone technology from a user perspective, and 2) How can the interaction between user and soundscape be designed with the intention of using sound zone technology? The presentation will cover a brief description of studies and results, including a design ethnography, a qualitative experiment investigating personal sound technologies and an overview of identified interaction design challenges.
In video self-modelling (VSM), video footage is manipulated to show a person successfully performing a skill that they have not yet mastered in real life. By helping viewers to experience their own future success, VSM is said to boost self-confidence and lead to rapid learning gains. This talk reports on a small qualitative study that explored the motivational impact of VSM on foreign-language learners. While findings indicate that VSM can be a powerful tool for boosting motivation in this context, equally interesting were participants' suggestions for increasing motivation by creating even more striking, more interactive and more immersive self-observation experiences, including by using AI to create fully proficient versions of learners. As I begin my PhD into language-learning motivation, I am keen to better understand the potential of mixed-reality methods to positively influence learners' self-perception and motivation, and would be grateful for any thoughts from the MRL in this direction.
University of Nottingham School of Computer Science Nottingham, NG8 1BB
email: mrl@cs.nott.ac.uk