Spring semester 2021

Dark & Night Modes: In Combination with Light Environment - Karim Aebischer

full paper

The impact of digital displays on visual fatigue and on our sleep through short wavelength have been demonstrated in many studies. Moreover, in recent years, the screen time per individual has been increasing. In order to avoid sleep disturbance and visual fatigue, Big Tech companies have popularized solutions called "Dark Mode" and "Night Mode". Through this small systematic review of the literature, we aim to find out whether the claimed beneficial effects of these two modes are actually supported by research studies. The main relevant papers were extracted and synthesized to find the actual parameters involved in achieving the benefits from the two modes. However, the lack of appropriate research material from the point of view of Human Computer Interaction is rapidly becoming a limitation. In addition, a new controlled experiment has been described to show the way forward for further research studies in this topic. Inspired by the selected papers, this new experiment attempts to address the interaction of two modes in low light environment.

The Dark Mode: Psychological Impacts and Influences on Productivity - Dimitri Gurtner

full paper

This article is a literature review of the psychological and productivity impacts of dark mode interfaces. The dark mode consists of presenting light-colored text on a dark screen. We have chosen to focus on the effects of the dark mode on perception and productivity and have selected articles accordingly. The articles we considered suggest a potential impact on productivity when the dark mode is used in a low-light environment but no impact on productivity in daylight. Moreover, the black color associated with the dark mode might influence our perception. Notably, we might interpret messages more negatively when using the dark mode. More work needs to be undertaken in this area, as tiny differences in our perception can significantly impact our daily lives, and how we make crucial decisions. Therefore, we have proposed an experiment to determine the impact of the dark mode on our perception in the specific context of fiction reading, which is intrinsically subject to emotions.

Human tracking: Behaviour modification based on the awareness of being observed - Jazmin Fernandez

full paper

Human tracking inside a closed-space can be done following different methods. From body-centric devices to wireless sensors, there is a wide offer of alternatives to understand how individuals interact with their environment. But technology is not enough, there is also a human factor behind those methodologies that has an impact on the results and need to be considered. This article analyses how the acknowledgement of being observed could modify the behaviour of humans under observation inside a commercial building, while they are carrying out work activities. This work proposes an experiment to identify the influence that different methods could have on people under observation and how these variables could modify the observation results. An integral solution is proposed, where concepts as privacy and data security are considered, reducing the inference that some devices could have on humans.

Occupancy tracking: Can the right kind of people increase space usage? - Zanfina Gashi Sadriu

full paper

The use of occupancy tracking methods to reduce energy consumption has been at the forefront of many occupancy tracking solutions in buildings. But, a gap has been seen in the Human-Building Interaction. Can the same methods be used to detect interactions and other human-related activities? In this paper, an experiment has been proposed to evaluate if the presence of Multitasking Knowledge Workers in the Collaboration Room will increase the usage of this collaboration space and if Bluetooth Low Energy is the appropriate tracking method for people counting in the Collaboration Room and for detecting interactions between participants and Multitasking Knowledge Workers. A concise number of tracking methods and possible purposes of occupancy tracking have been reviewed before choosing Bluetooth Low Energy as the method to be used in the proposed experiment.

Videoconferencing Visual Fatigue - Mounir Khouja

full paper

The videoconferencing technologies has brought to office workers huge possibilities for collaboration. This has been confirmed during crisis times such as COVID-19. However, visual fatigue and discomfort are very common consequences of excessive usage of such technologies. The aim of our article is to study videoconferencing related visual fatigue in order to find healthy habits to persevere intellectual, psychological and biological capacities of the users. In this paper we report insights from our literature review of articles of different domains and disciplines. We explore various concepts and techniques with the goal of supporting users’ health and productivity in using video-conferencing technologies. This article addresses those issues and proposes a design model for assessing and reducing visual fatigue caused by videoconferencing usage.

Real-time hazard detection using smart glasses for visually impaired individuals - Stefan Stojkovski

full paper

This article presents an explorative study with an overview of existing papers in the area of AR smart glasses with object detection that help visually impaired individuals. We propose a novel hybrid audio and video AR smart glasses application, with priority object detection, to help people with peripheral vision loss not to get harmed while navigating in space. The priority on the object is determined based on the situation with the potential to harm the visually impaired individual. The solution is using a lightweight powerful architecture based on ResNet-50 with a dynamic data reconciliation filter (DDR). The proposed solution is tested in a laboratory experiment with 20 visually impaired individuals. The experiment contains an initial problem-determined survey, an intersection-like testing laboratory environment where users can test to pass an intersection, and a result evaluation.

Automatic lightning in the SCOTT headquarter - Valeria Schmidt

full paper

In this paper we look at ways to implement automatic lightning with the goal of reducing energy consumption without lessening user comfort. We first look at different implemented methods and the procedures to test their efficiency, concentrating on both aspects, energy consumption and user comfort. In a second time we analyze the automatic lighting system in the new SCOTT headquarter Building in Givisiez. Finally we present a test method for the building focusing on three aspects :m visual lighting parameter measurements, energy savings and user satisfaction.