For decades, researchers have been creating and evaluating socalled media spaces. Most of those were virtual spaces that bridge physical distance in order to create a common shared space. In the tradition of these spaces, upstairs supports peripheral awareness between non-colocated spaces but follows a different approach. Instead of creating a large unifying space, it makes use of the metaphor of wall-diffused noises commonly known from neighbors living upstairs or next door. When sharing a space, people are subconsciously aware of other people’s activities, mainly because of their interaction with the environment. We designed upstairs to extend today’s telepresence and social presence systems (i. e. most notably the telephone and videoconferencing solutions) that mostly focus on the transmission of the conscious part of communication and thereby enrich these systems by supporting peripheral awareness to allow for a permanent connection without distracting too much. In this paper we present the design decisions that led to realized system, the technical setup and the study we conducted over a two week time frame in the homes of couples in long distance relationships.

As driving is mainly a visual task, auditory displays play a critical role for in-vehicle interactions.To improve in-vehicle auditory interactions to the advanced level, auditory display researchers and automotive user interface researchers came together to discuss this timely topic at an in-vehicle auditory interactions workshop at the International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD).The present paper reports discussion outcomes from the workshop for more discussions at the AutoUI conference.

Touch can convey emotions on a very direct level. We propose feelabuzz, a system implementing a remote touch connection using standard mobile phone hardware. Accelerometer data is mapped to vibration strength on two smartphones connected via the Internet. This is done using direct mapping techniques, without any abstraction of the acceleration signal. By this, feelabuzz can be used for implicit context communication, i.e. the background monitoring of the natural movements of the users themselves or their environments, as well as for direct communication, i.e. voluntary and symbolic signalling through this new channel. We describe the system and its implementation, discuss its possible implications and verify the system’s ability to recognizably transmit different actions in a preliminary user study.

In order to support drivers in adopting a more fuel efficient driving style, there currently exists a range of fuel economy displays, providing drivers feedback on instantaneous and long-term fuel consumption. While these displays rely almost completely on visual components for conveying relevant information, we argue that there are significant benefits in using auditory interfaces for providing feedback while driving. We review existing literature and discuss various design strategies for auditory displays that are applicable for supporting a fuel-efficient driving style. Exploring one of these design strategies, we furthermore introduce several prototypical sonification designs.

In this paper, we present our work towards an auditory display that is capable of supporting a fuel-efficient operation of vehicles. We introduce five design approaches for employing the auditory modality for a fuel economy display. Furthermore, we have implemented a novel auditory display based on one of these approaches, foussing on giving feedback on the engine's optimal rpm range, which is a major factor for eco-driving. Finally, we report on the development of a simple but physically realistic car simulator, which allows for a reproducible evaluation of prototype auditory displays as well as a comparison to state-of-the-art visual fuel efficiency indicators.

In recent years, graphical user interfaces have become almost ubiquitous in form of notebooks, smartphones and tablets. These systems normally force the user to attend to an often very specific and narrow screen and thus squeeze the information through a chokepoint. This ties the users’ attention to the device and affects other activities and social interaction. In this paper we introduce Blended Sonifications as sonifications that blend into the users’ environment without confronting users with any explicitly perceived technology. Blended Sonification systems can either be used to display information or to provide ambient communication channels. We present a framework that guides developers towards the identification of suitable information sources and appropriate auditory interfaces. We aim at improving the design of interactions and experiences. Along with the introduction and definition of the framework, this paper presents interface examples, both for mediated communication and information display applications.

In recent years, graphical user interfaces have become almost ubiquitous in form of notebooks, smartphones and tablets. These systems normally force the user to attend to an often very specific and narrow screen and thus squeeze the information through a chokepoint. This ties the users’ attention to the device and affects other activities and social interaction. In this paper we introduce Blended Sonifications as sonifications that blend into the users’ environment without confronting users with any explicitly perceived technology. Blended Sonification systems can either be used to display information or to provide ambient communication channels. We present a framework that guides developers towards the identification of suitable information sources and appropriate auditory interfaces. We aim at improving the design of interactions and experiences. Along with the introduction and definition of the framework, this paper presents interface examples, both for mediated communication and information display applications.

Although most of us strive to develop a sustainable and less resource-intensive behavior, this unfortunately is a difficult task, because often we are unaware of relevant information, or our focus of attention lies elsewhere. Based on this observation, we present a new approach for an unobtrusive and affective ambient auditory information display to become and stay aware of water and energy consumption while taking a shower. Using the interaction sound of waterdrops falling onto the bathtub as a carrier for information, our system supports users to be in touch with resource-related variables. We explore the usage of an affective dimension as an additional layer of information and introduce our 4/5-factor approach to adapt the auditory display’s output so that it supports a slow but steady adjustment of the personal showering habit over time. We present and discuss several alternative sound and interaction designs.

Interfaces supporting bi-manual interaction offer great benefits. In recent years, a variety of multi-touch systems have even shown new possibilities for multi-finger input. However, multi-finger interactions do not always show better performance. We propose an interface consisting of a large amount of minimal tangible objects called tangible grains combined with a visual projection. The system is intended to add passive physical feedback to increase performance and improve the quality of the interface. In this paper we present the concept, the implementation and first small-scale user studies of a tangible grain interface for the organization and, especially, the sorting and tagging of images.

Interfaces supporting bi-manual interaction offer great benefits. In recent years, a variety of multi-touch systems have even shown new possibilities for multi-finger input. However, multi-finger interactions do not always show better performance. We propose an interface consisting of a large amount of minimal tangible objects called tangible grains combined with a visual projection. The system is intended to add passive physical feedback to increase performance and improve the quality of the interface. In this paper we present the concept, the implementation and first small-scale user studies of a tangible grain interface for the organization and, especially, the sorting and tagging of images.

Touch can create a feeling of intimacy and connectedness. This work proposes feelabuzz, a system to transmit movements of one mobile phone to the vibration actuator of another one. This is done in a direct, non-abstract way, without the use of pattern recognition techniques in order not to destroy the feel for the other. The tactile channel enables direct communication, i. e. what another person explicitly signals, as well as implicit context communication, the complex movements any activity consists of or even those that are produced by the environment. This paper explores the potential of this approach, presents the mapping use and discusses further possible development beyond the existing prototype to enable a large-scale user study.

Touch can create a feeling of intimacy and connectedness. This work proposes feelabuzz, a system to transmit movements of one mobile phone to the vibration actuator of another one. This is done in a direct, non-abstract way, without the use of pattern recognition techniques in order not to destroy the feel for the other. The tactile channel enables direct communication, i. e. what another person explicitly signals, as well as implicit context communication, the complex movements any activity consists of or even those that are produced by the environment. This paper explores the potential of this approach, presents the mapping use and discusses further possible development beyond the existing prototype to enable a large-scale user study.

This paper presents novel interaction modes for Model-Based Sonification (MBS) via interactive surfaces. We first discuss possible interactions for MBS on a multi-touch surface. This is followed by a description of the Data Sonogram Sonification and the Growing Neural Gas Sonification Model and their implementation for the multi-touch interface. Modifications from the original sonification models such as the limited space scans are described and discussed with sonification examples. Videos showing interaction examples are provided. Furthermore, the presented system provides a basis for the implementation of known and novel sonification models. We discuss the available interaction modes with multi-touch surfaces and how these interactions can be profitably used to control spatial and non-spatial sonification models.

In this work we present a method to intuitively issue control over devices in smart environments, to display data that smart objects and sensors provide, and to create and manipulate flows of information in smart environments. This makes it easy to customize smart environments by linking arbitrary data sources to various display modalities on the fly. Touchscreen smartphones - as readily available multi-purpose devices - are used to overlay real objects with virtual controls. We evaluated this system with a first qualitative user study.

Auditory Augmentations are building blocks supporting the design of data representation tools, which unobtrusively alter the auditory characteristics of structure-borne sounds. The system enriches the structure-borne sound of objects with a sonification of (near) real time data streams. The object’s auditory gestalt is shaped by data.driven parameters, creating a subtle display for ambient data streams. Auditory augmentation can be easily overlaid to existing sounds, and does not change prominent auditory features of the augmented objects like the sound’s timing or its volume. In a peripheral monitoring situation, the data stays out of the users’ attention if they want to concentrate on other items. However, a characteristic change will catch the users’ attention.

Our living and work spaces are becoming ever more enriched with all kinds of electronic devices. Many of these are too small to provide the possibility to control or monitor them. Ambient intelligence is integrating many such devices in what are called smart environments to form a network of interweaved sensors, data displays and everyday devices. We present a method to intuitively issue control over smart objects in such an environment, to display data that smart objects provide and to manage the flow of information between objects in a smart environment. This is achieved by using touch-enabled mobile phones as readily available multi-purpose devices which are used to overlay real objects with virtual controls. We evaluated the system with a first qualitative user study.