Beyond Performance: Considerations for End-User Comfort in the Design of In-Situ User Interfaces

Our reliance on computing technologies for making decisions or sense-making, has undergone a transformation from occurring in well-defined settings (such as on traditional PCs) to taking place in-situ, for supporting everyday activities. In-situ user interfaces, have emerged largely from improved mobile and mixed-reality technologies and rely on a number of input modalities, such as mid-air or gestural input, while on-the-go. Often, designers of in-situ user interfaces place an emphasis on enhancing end-user performance. However, we argue that supporting end-user comfort is as critical if in-situ interfaces are to become commonplace among the general population. In this talk, I will present some of our work on various aspects of end-user comfort for in-situ interactions. I will present our work on improving the contrast on see-through optical displays, on models for estimating arm fatigue induced by mid-air input, and on elements of social comfort. I will also provide examples where such considerations led to novel interactive approaches and end my presentation with a discussion of some of the open problems in this space.