Remote emotional connection and internal emotional regulation play a critical role in addressing emotional isolation and mental stress in modern society. This study presents "Ga'u Echo," a wearable device grounded in biosensing and affective computing technologies, specifically developed to facilitate remote emotional connection and support individual emotional regulation. Functioning as a "digital ga'u box" for the user, "Ga'u Echo" transforms the physiological rhythms of distant loved ones and the user's own internal states into tangible tactile feedback. This enables individuals to form deeper, more authentic emotional connections with both others and themselves.
We introduce VisRing, the first smartring incorporating a bendable 160 x 32 4-bit grayscale organic light-emitting diode display. VisRing stands out by displaying nano visualizations while maintaining a compact design and minimal weight of 6.6 g, with an overall cost of around $35. We exploit opportunities for a system-on-a-chip architecture to tightly integrate an inertial measurement unit, a photoplethysmograph sensor, a temperature sensor, Bluetooth, a microcontroller, and a display unit that spans 270 degrees to 360 degrees, depending on finger size. Our contributions include the hardware design and implementation of VisRing, along with a software library that supports visualizing various data types. A qualitative study with 12 participants demonstrated the comfort, likability, and social acceptance of VisRing's hardware and software. The participants liked the visualizations and found the ring lightweight, but also pointed out possible improvements. All materials are shared under an open-source license to enable the community to extend and improve VisRing.
This paper introduces a novel authoring method for swarm user interfaces that combines hands-on shape manipulation and speech to convey intent for generative motion and interaction. We refer to this authoring method as shape-aware generative authoring, which is generalizable to actuated tangible user interfaces. The proof-of-concept Shape n' Swarm tool allows users to create diverse animations and interactions with tabletop robots by hand-arranging the robots and providing spoken instructions. The system employs multiple script-generating LLM agents that work together to handle user inputs for three major generative tasks: (1) thematically interpreting the shapes created by users; (2) creating animations for the manipulated shape; and (3) fexibly building interaction by mapping I/O. In a user study (n = 11), participants could easily create diverse physical animations and interactions without coding. To lead this novel research space, we also share limitations, research challenges, and design recommendations.
Large language models (LLMs) enable the rapid generation of data wrangling scripts based on natural language instructions, but these scripts may not fully adhere to user-specified requirements, necessitating careful inspection and iterative refinement. Existing approaches primarily assist users in understanding script logic and spotting potential issues themselves, rather than providing direct validation of correctness. To enhance debugging efficiency and optimize the user experience, we develop ViseGPT, a tool that automatically extracts constraints from user prompts to generate comprehensive test cases for verifying script reliability. The test results are then transformed into a tailored Gantt chart, allowing users to intuitively assess alignment with semantic requirements and iteratively refine their scripts. Our design decisions are informed by a formative study (N=8) that explores user practices and challenges. We further evaluate the effectiveness and usability of ViseGPT through a user study (N=18). Results indicate that ViseGPT significantly improves debugging efficiency for LLM-generated data-wrangling scripts, enhances users' ability to detect and correct issues, and streamlines the workflow experience.
We present UltraEdit, an in-situ design environment that enables users to directly edit ultrasound haptic sensations in VR using barehand interactions. UltraEdit represents haptic sensations as tangible objects, called blobs, which users can modify or apply to 3D objects through intuitive hand gestures. Users can create, edit, copy, and apply blobs, allowing them to work with multiple haptic sensations to design virtual objects with diverse tactile feedback. Additionally, UltraEdit allows users to create spatial and temporal haptic patterns using time blobs and spatial drawing features. Users can draw custom-shaped haptic patterns directly on their hands, adapting to comprehensive design scenarios. To evaluate UltraEdit, we conducted an exploratory user study assessing its usability, effectiveness, and ease of learning. We also compared its performance to an existing desktop-based haptic editing tool. Participants found UltraEdit intuitive to learn, enjoyable to use, and effective for adding haptic feedback to virtual objects.
