Frameworks such as Direct Manipulation or Instrumental Interaction have been an important force in HCI research. Evaluating the impact of frameworks can identify whether and how a framework was used, how it has evolved, and what trends have developed over time. However, studying the impact of such theoretical contributions requires consideration of various perspectives and level of impact. As a case study for investigating the impact of theoretical work in HCI, we present our evaluation of the impact of the Reality Based Interaction (RBI) framework, introduced by the authors in 2008. We provide our findings about the impact of the framework both on contemporary research, through content-based citation analysis, and in HCI education, through a survey we conducted on emerging interaction frameworks. The article contributes a comprehensive methodology for evaluating the impact of frameworks through our twofold approach: content-based citation analysis, including the design of a new citation typology; and a survey on the use of frameworks in education using a taxonomy of learning goals. We also consider the role of frameworks in HCI as well as the future of the RBI framework.

Objectives. Internships can bring a host of professional and academic benefits to students. Then, how do User Experience (UX) internships influence Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) graduate students’ professional and academic growth? What are the challenges experienced by HCI graduate students during internships? We explored these two research questions. Participants. Our study participants were 42 HCI graduate students who completed UX internships. They came from computing and related disciplines, including computer science, information technology, psychology, and design. Some of the participants’ internship titles were Interaction Designer, Design Researcher, UX Programmer, and Business Intelligence Analyst. Study Method. We conducted a thematic analysis on 42 graduate students’ UX internship reports that were collected over 6 years to uncover themes in relation to our two research questions. Findings. As for UX internship benefits, we found that students learned about the workplace culture (e.g., academia vs. industry/government on research design processes) and core UX technical (e.g., research, design, programming) and people skills (e.g., teamwork, empathy toward end-users); they also realized what they wanted in future careers after completing their internships. We also found internship challenges that were related to the internship program (e.g., the availability of internship opportunities), the host organizations (e.g., the quality of mentorship received), and remote working (e.g., difficulty over conducting remote usability testing). Conclusions. We make practical recommendations for HCI educators, UX practitioners, and HCI graduate students on how they can work collaboratively to create a meaningful UX internship experience. These recommendations include researching the host organization prior to internships, providing comprehensive onboarding, and being transparent with internship constraints.

We present Papertab, a paper computer with multiple 10.7" functional touch sensitive flexible electrophoretic displays. Papertab merges the benefits of working with electronic documents with the tangibility of paper documents. In Papertab, each document window is represented as a physical, functional, flexible e-paper screen called a displaywindow. Each displaywindow is an Android computer that can show documents at varying resolutions. The location of displaywindows is tracked on the desk using an electro-magnetic tracker. This allows for context-aware operations between displaywindows. Touch and bend sensors in each displaywindow allow users to navigate content.

We present vARitouch, a back-of-the-finger wearable that can modify the perceived tactile material properties of the uninstrumented world around us: vARitouch can modulate the perceived softness of a rigid object through a vibrotactile compliance illusion. As vARitouch does not cover the fingertip, all-natural tactile properties are preserved. We provide three contributions: (1) We demonstrate the feasibility of the concept through a psychophysics study, showing that virtual compliance can be continuously modulated, and perceived softness can be increased by approximately 30 Shore A levels. (2) A qualitative study indicates the desirability of such a device, showing that a back-of-the-finger haptic device has many attractive qualities. (3) To implement vARitouch, we identify a novel way to measure pressure from the back of the finger by repurposing a pulse oximetry sensor. Based on these contributions, we present the finalized vARitouch system, accompanied by a series of application scenarios.