In this paper, we present PathSync, a novel, distal and multi-user mid-air gestural technique based on the principle of rhythmic path mimicry; by replicating the movement of a screen-represented pattern with their hand, users can intuitively interact with digital objects quickly, and with a high level of accuracy. We present three studies that each contribute (1) improvements to how correlation is calculated in path-mimicry techniques necessary for touchless interaction, (2) a validation of its efficiency in comparison to existing techniques, and (3) a demonstration of its intuitiveness and multi-user capacity 'in the wild'. Our studies consequently demonstrate PathSync's potential as an immediately legitimate alternative to existing techniques, with key advantages for public display and multi-user applications.

In this paper, we present PathSync, a novel, distal and multi-user mid-air gestural technique based on the principle of rhythmic path mimicry; by replicating the movement of a screen-represented pattern with their hand, users can intuitively interact with digital objects quickly, and with a high level of accuracy. We present three studies that each contribute (1) improvements to how correlation is calculated in path-mimicry techniques necessary for touchless interaction, (2) a validation of its efficiency in comparison to existing techniques, and (3) a demonstration of its intuitiveness and multi-user capacity 'in the wild'. Our studies consequently demonstrate PathSync's potential as an immediately legitimate alternative to existing techniques, with key advantages for public display and multi-user applications.

In HCI, the honeypot effect describes how people interacting with a system passively stimulate passers-by to observe, approach and engage in an interaction. Previous research has revealed the successive engagement phases and zones of the honeypot effect. However, there is little insight into: 1) how people are stimulated to transition between phases; 2) what aspects drive the honeypot effect apart from watching others; and 3) what constraints affect its self-reinforcing performance. In this paper, we discuss the honeypot effect as a spatiotemporal model of trajectories and influences. We introduce the Honeypot Model based on the analysis of observations and interaction logs from Encounters, a public installation that interactively translated bodily movements into a dynamic visual and sonic output. In providing a model that describes trajectories and influences of audience engagement in public interactive systems, our paper seeks to inform researchers and designers to consider contextual, spatial and social factors that influence audience engagement.

In this paper, we report on Encounters, an interactive public installation that provides a basis for studying the effect of dance performances on the emergence of creative, social experiences. Based on observations and interviews with dancers and participants, we identified a range of tensions that arise from integrating a staged performance with participatory interaction. These tensions occurred among both participants and performers, and influenced the social and performative experience. Based on our analysis, we propose several strategies to smoothen the integration of performative and participatory interaction. These strategies reconsider the role of the interactive installation, the effect of digital cues that draw on existing conventions, and mechanisms to direct gaze. We believe our findings and strategies are valuable to HCI researchers and performative artists seeking to design for public participation in interactive experiences.

Social videogaming provides opportunities for individuals not only to engage directly in active gameplay but also to interact indirectly from the sidelines. We present a study of the differentiated nature of participation in gaming based on field observations of six families playing physical videogames in their homes. Building on existing theoretical frameworks, we distinguish three kinds of durable roles: players, audience members and bystanders. Going beyond this, we also identify a rich variety of spontaneous and ephemeral roles among the audience: spectators, orchestrators, managers, coaches, directors, puppeteers, commentators, hecklers, supporters, documenters, shadow players, and cheerleaders. We argue that through this richer understanding of the differentiated nature of participation in videogaming, designers might expand the reach of their games and respond to the potential for new experiences in the broad situation of domestic gaming.

In the past half-decade, advances in voice recognition technology and the proliferation of consumer devices like the Microsoft Kinect have seen a significant rise in the use of voice interaction in games. While the use of player-to-player voice is widespread and well-researched, the use of voice as an input is relatively unexplored. In this paper we make the argument that notions of player and avatar identity are inextricable from the successful implementation of voice interaction in games, and consequently identify opportunities for future research and design.

Masquerade is a public interactive game that embraces the possibilities of (networked) public displays and natural user interfaces, as a means for people to socialize in public environments in fun and playful ways. The game challenges people to mirror body poses that others have recorded before them. In this presentation, we will describe our analysis of Masquerade from a socio-technical perspective, as we analyse the impact of public interaction and gameplay on the socialization processes within distinct (semi)-public spaces, as well as across these spaces. We emphasize the role of natural user interfaces, and body gestures in particular, in supporting gameplay in public environments, and their influence on social interaction.

Large video screens situated in public spaces are characteristic of the highly mediated public environment of contemporary cities. While screens are now able to support a range of content, including interactive applications, urban planning policy still treats them largely as commercial display surfaces only. This locks planning into a regulatory model based on minimizing the impact of advertising, and underestimates the possibilities for public screens to incubate innovative modes of urban communication. This chapter discusses a research project focusing on public use of interactive gaming on the Big Screen at Federation Square in Melbourne. The project was part of a larger research initiative exploring the impact of digital media technologies on how people interact with each other in public space. Material was gathered from a combination of observations and interviews. In addition to informing further development of similar interactive events at public sites, the findings raise important questions for urban planning in the context of pervasive digital media.

We explore relationships between habits and technology interaction by reporting on older people's experience of the Kinect for Xbox. We contribute to theoretical and empirical understandings of habits in the use of technology to inform understanding of the habitual qualities of our interactions with computing technologies, particularly systems exploiting natural user interfaces. We situate ideas of habit in relation to user experience and usefulness in interaction design, and draw on critical approaches to the concept of habit from cultural theory to understand the embedded, embodied, and situated contexts in our interactions with technologies. We argue that understanding technology habits as a process of reciprocal habituation in which people and technologies adapt to each other over time through design, adoption, and appropriation offers opportunities for research on user experience and interaction design within human-computer interaction, especially as newer gestural and motion control interfaces promise to reshape the ways in which we interact with computers.

We present Picco, a tiny situated display for drawings and simple animations, which are created on a dedicated tablet app. Picco was designed to support playful messaging in the workplace through a glanceable desktop device that would place minimal demands on users. Two studies of the device at work demonstrated how crafting was an expression of intimacy when the device was used to connect the workplace to the home, and a way of demonstrating skill and humor to a broad audience when messages were sent amongst co-workers. However, the level of skill needed to produce these messages became a barrier to entry for some co-workers. Our findings suggest that visible ownership of a situated device, which can be personalized in other ways, can underpin a secondary level of participation that is crucial in supporting a sense of involvement when the level of crafting required can stifle more direct participation.

Videogames are often played socially with both co-players and audiences. Audience members' experiences are not well understood, nor are the factors of videogaming sessions that influence their experience. We conducted a study to examine the effects of game physicality and turn anticipation on audience members' experiences in social videogaming sessions. Pairs of participants played games under three conditions of physicality (controller-based, Wii, and Kinect) and their expectation of turn-taking was manipulated. Their enjoyment, game engagement, social engagement and sense of participation were measured. We found that the introduction of turn-taking into the session had positive effects for audience members -- both anticipated and residual play effects -- and that Kinect gameplay resulted in a more enjoyable experience for audience members. We argue that audience members' experience changes as they become more active within a session, and suggest there are design opportunities between purely active 'players' and passive 'audience members'.

In this paper we argue that games and play research in the field of Human-Computer Interaction can usefully be understood as existing within 4 distinct research paradigms. We provide our rationale for developing these paradigms and discuss their significance in the context of the inaugural CHI Play conference.

Videogames are often played socially with both co-players and audiences. Audience members' experiences are not well understood, nor are the factors of videogaming sessions that influence their experience. We conducted a study to examine the effects of game physicality and turn anticipation on audience members' experiences in social videogaming sessions. Pairs of participants played games under three conditions of physicality (controller-based, Wii, and Kinect) and their expectation of turn-taking was manipulated. Their enjoyment, game engagement, social engagement and sense of participation were measured. We found that the introduction of turn-taking into the session had positive effects for audience members -- both anticipated and residual play effects -- and that Kinect gameplay resulted in a more enjoyable experience for audience members. We argue that audience members' experience changes as they become more active within a session, and suggest there are design opportunities between purely active 'players' and passive 'audience members'.

Social videogaming sessions present a variety of opportunities for interaction and engagement. While active play is the most obvious way that participants can interact during the gaming session, these sessions can also have audience members who are not actively playing. However, there is little understanding about the experience of audience members within a gaming context. We argue that in order to understand audience experience it is necessary to identify and measure its components. In this paper we present the development of an instrument specifically designed for studying the experience of audience members within social videogaming sessions. The instrument consists of a scale based on measures of game player experience, but designed to be more relevant to the game experience of non-players.

We present the concept of paraplay: playful activities that take place within the context of an interactive game or other play activity, but outside the activity itself. By critically examining work related to gaming and play goals and motivations we argue that the concept of playfulness should have a stronger role in our understanding of gaming sessions, and particularly social gaming sessions. In order to further understand the role of playfulness in social gaming we conducted an empirical field study of physical console gaming. Six families with a total of 32 participants were provided with an Xbox 360 console, Kinect sensor, and three casual physical video games to play together for a period of approximately two weeks. Participants were instructed to record their social gaming sessions. We conducted video analysis on these recordings as well as interviews with many of the participants. We found numerous types and examples of playfulness within the gaming session even from those who were not actively participating in the game. Drawing on the results of this study we present a taxonomy of paraplay and discuss the ways that playfulness can be exhibited in a social play session. We show that participants in a game situation act within a wider context of playfulness, according to a variety of significant roles ranging from active player through to audience member. We explore these roles and their attributes to provide a rich account of paraplay and its importance in understanding playful activities broadly.

Older adults are normally characterized as consumers, rather than producers, of digital content. Current research concerning the design of technologies for older adults typically focuses on providing access to digital resources. Access is important, but is often insufficient, especially when establishing new social relationships. This paper investigates the nature and role of digital content that has been created by older adults, for the purpose of forging new relationships. We present a unique field study in which seven older adults (aged 71-92 years), who did not know each other, used a prototype iPad application (Enmesh) to create and share photographs and messages. The findings demonstrate that older adults, even those in the \'1c"oldest old\'1d" age group, embraced opportunities to express themselves creatively through digital content production. We show that self-expression and social engagement with peers can be realized when socio-technical systems are suitably designed to allow older adults to create and share their own digital content.

Large video screens situated in public spaces are characteristic of the mediated public environment of contemporary cities. These screens are now able to support a range of new applications, including interactive gaming. However; urban planning policy frequently treats urban screens as if they were display surfaces only. This underestimates the possibilities for public screens to become sites that incubate innovative modes of urban communication. This paper discusses a research project focusing on public use of interactive gaming on the Big Screen at Federation Square in Melbourne. The project is part of a larger research initiative exploring the impact of new media technologies on how people interact with each other in public space. Material was gathered from a combination of observation and interviews. In addition to informing further development of interactive projects at public sites, the findings also raise important questions for urban planning in the context of pervasive networked media.

In this paper we describe a multi-faceted approach for engaging older adults in the design and evaluation of a tablet application. Our approach consisted of five key elements: 1) involving care providers in the research, 2) conducting social events, 3) supporting use of the technology through scaffolding, 4) providing multiple channels of communication between participants and researchers, and 5) progressively revealing the technology functions. We explored this approach with seven participants (aged 71-92) who used a prototype iPad application to engage in peer-to-peer communication. We found that each of the five elements contributed to successfully engaging older people in the development and evaluation process. This paper provides insights into suitable approaches for designing technologies with older users, illustrating the importance of creating a supportive environment and employing strategies that help to build participants' confidence, both in using the technology and in participating in the design and evaluation process.

We describe the evaluation of a build awareness system that assists agile software development teams to understand current build status and who is responsible for any build breakages. The system uses ambient awareness technologies, providing a separate, easily perceived communication channel distinct from standard team workflow. Multiple system configurations and behaviours were evaluated. An evaluation of the system showed that, while there was no significant change in the proportion of build breakages, the overall number of builds increased substantially, and the duration of broken builds decreased. Team members also reported an increased sense of awareness of, and responsibility for, broken builds and some noted the system dramatically changed their perception of the build process making them more cognisant of broken builds.