publications

2023

1. Feel the Force, See the Force: Exploring Visual-tactile Associations of Deformable Surfaces with Colours and Shapes

   Steer, Cameron, Dinca, Teodora, Jicol, Crescent, Proulx, Michael J, and Alexander, Jason

   In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2023

   Abs

   Deformable interfaces provide unique interaction potential for force input, for example, when users physically push into a soft display surface. However, there remains limited understanding of which visual-tactile design elements signify the presence and stiffness of such deformable force-input components. In this paper, we explore how people correspond surface stiffness to colours, graphical shapes, and physical shapes. We conducted a cross-modal correspondence (CC) study, where 30 participants associated different surface stiffnesses with colours and shapes. Our findings evidence the CCs between stiffness levels for a subset of the 2D/3D shapes and colours used in the study. We distil our findings in three design recommendations: (1) lighter colours should be used to indicate soft surfaces, and darker colours should indicate stiff surfaces; (2) rounded shapes should be used to indicate soft surfaces, while less-curved shapes should be used to indicate stiffer surfaces, and; (3) longer 2D drop-shadows should be used to indicate softer surfaces, while shorter drop-shadows should be used to indicate stiffer surfaces.

2022

1. Can’t Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era

   Pearson, Jennifer, Bailey, Gavin, Robinson, Simon, Jones, Matt, Owen, Tom, Zhang, Chi, Reitmaier, Thomas, Steer, Cameron, Carter, Anna, Sahoo, Deepak Ranjan, and others,

   In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2022
2. Light-In-Light-Out (Li-Lo) Displays: Harvesting and Manipulating Light to Provide Novel Forms of Communication

   Seunarine, Krishna, Kalarikalayil Raju, Dani, Thomas, Gethin, Thomas, Suzanne K, Pockett, Adam, Reitmaier, Thomas, Steer, Cameron, Owen, Tom, Meena, Yogesh Kumar, Robinson, Simon, and others,

   In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2022

2019

1. PickCells: A Physically Reconfigurable Cell-composed Touchscreen

   Goguey, Alix, Steer, Cameron, Lucero, Andrés, Nigay, Laurence, Sahoo, Deepak, Coutrix, Céline, Roudaut, Anne, Subramanian, Sriram, Tokuda, Yutaka, Neate, Timothy, Pearson, Jennifer, Robinson, Simon, and Jones, Matt

   In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Proceedings 2019

2018

1. A Liquid Tangible Display for Mobile Colour Mixing

   Steer, Cameron, Robinson, Simon, Pearson, Jen, Sahoo, Deepak, Mabbett, Ian, and Jones, Matt

   In To appear in the proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services 2018

2017

1. Designing Mobile Deformable Controls for Creation of Digital Art

   Steer, Cameron

   In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services 2017
2. Deformable Paint Palette: Actuated Force Controls for Digital Painting

   Steer, Cameron, Pearson, Jennifer, Robinson, Simon, and Jones, Matt

   In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2017

2015

1. Growth, Change and Decay: Plants and Interaction Possibilities

   Steer, Cameron, Robinson, Simon, and Jones, Matt

   In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2015

   Abs

   Our work explores using plants as an interaction material to extend and disrupt existing notions of HCI. We focus in particular on how the affordances and properties of plants can be utilised for enhanced physical and emotional interaction between people and computers, with our core motive being to find methods of enriching user engagement. Moreover, we investigate whether plants could offer a new dimension of interaction and emotional attachment to computer interfaces. We conducted a study to observe people’s interactions with prototype plant-based systems, and also interviewed them about future usage of plants in HCI. Our early findings indicate that using a plant-based interface triggered emotive connections, making interactions more enjoyable. In this work-in-progress, we discuss the results of this study, and consider the future potential for using plants as an interaction medium.