Interactions

Using technology to improve communication in panels

Posted: Fri, September 30, 2022 - 11:34:03

Panels can be fun to develop—they can also be much more effectively executed. This spring I was on two large panels that were the best organized of any I’ve participated in. Technology was used in advance to reduce psychological uncertainties, which increased interaction and kept us focused on our message. Expectations were exceeded. Both of the panels were in person,…

An American Zen Buddhist’s reflections on HCI research and design for faith-based communities

Posted: Tue, August 16, 2022 - 4:29:20

Computer science seems in opposition to Zen Buddhism, a spiritual practice best described (if it must be) as “without reliance on words or letters, directly pointing to the heart of humanity” [1]. Yet with so much of today’s human experience bound up in computing, some words, and pixels and bits, to address their overlap seem necessary. My aim in sharing…

Designing for religiosity: Extracting technology design principles from religious teachings

Posted: Thu, August 04, 2022 - 3:16:31

Religious beliefs have a profound influence on billions of people across the globe, affecting nearly every aspect of their lives, including the use of technology. While there is a continuous rise in atheism, the majority of people in many countries still believe in a deity, self-identify with a religion, and regularly participate in religious practices such as prayer. For example,…

Faith informatics: Supporting development of systems of meaning-making with technology

Posted: Mon, July 25, 2022 - 3:23:37

In seeking to apply HCI to faith, religion, and spirituality, we turn to existing work in theology and psychology—in particular, work that studies the development of faith in individuals and communities. James Fowler is a pioneer in faith development, having developed a stage-based model after conducting over 300 interviews with individuals from a variety of religions [1]. In his work,…

Stream switching: What UX, Zoom, VR, and conflicting truths have in common

Posted: Wed, July 20, 2022 - 12:08:28

I use the term stream switching to refer to people simultaneously processing multiple streams of input information, each of which has its own context and background knowledge. This definition sounds similar to multitasking, but multitasking research usually focuses on a single individual, divided attention, and working memory capacity. Stream switching focuses on multiple people’s interactions and their mental models of…

Unavailability: Food for thought from Protestant theology

Posted: Tue, July 19, 2022 - 9:45:16

The past two years of living in pandemic times have accelerated the spread of technology into all areas of life. This was also evident in the context of religious communities and churches, where the number of applications and users has increased enormously. Not only individual communities but also the great church institutions had to expand their presence in the digital…

Breaking stereotypes: Islamic feminism and HCI

Posted: Thu, July 14, 2022 - 9:28:33

As HCI matures into a richer discipline interlacing with the humanities and social sciences, there has been a growing consciousness to embrace pluralist [1] and intersectional approaches in understanding and addressing systems of oppression within computing [2]. Islamic feminism and intersectional feminism are highly complementary approaches to understanding oppression and power. While both focus on gender, each brings its own…

Faith, modernity, and urban computing

Posted: Fri, July 08, 2022 - 12:17:25

Cities have long been a center of attention for modernization projects, so it is no surprise that most of today’s computing ventures are choosing cities as the main avenue for demonstrating their prowess. The idea of a “smart city,” for example, has been attracting a wide range of academics and practitioners in computer science and related fields whose works concern…

Reflections on the politics of African ‘limitations’ in HCI research

Posted: Tue, July 05, 2022 - 10:46:44

Last year, I read Shaimaa’s reflection on how Indigenous cultures and folk heritage may act as a steppingstone for sustainability in the absence of resources [1]. This led to extensive correspondence with her on how lessons from Saeed El Masry’s book [2] can reframe the common dualities of scarcity and sufficiency found in African perspectives on innovation in HCI. We…

Speech is human and multifaceted. Our approach to studying it should be the same.

Posted: Wed, June 22, 2022 - 9:57:27

Whether it’s the friendly virtual assistant in your smart speaker, the auto-generated captions on your YouTube video, or the software that physicians use to dictate clinical notes, voice AI has already become a fixture of modern life. It’s the promise of hands-free convenience: Simply speak naturally, and the computer listens, analyzes, and recognizes what you’re saying. With things like voice-controlled…