R3-A: Improving Interface Performance Efficiency between AAC/IT Systems

This project will address the following goals: 1) systematically identify user interface design problems encountered by users of AAC devices interacting with IT, 2) determine the features needed to efficiently and effectively access a computer through AAC systems, and 3) develop and evaluate a generic framework that employs usability inspection techniques to AAC and/or AT interfaces to help improve user efficiency

We are currently seeking individuals who use AAC systems and computer to participate in a short online survey. The goal of this survey is to identify interface problems faced by people who use their AAC device to operate a computer. We will use this information as the basis of user testing where we will test out "fixes" we have for these identified problems.

Click here to participate in the survey.

R3-B: Communication Performance Assessment: Monitoring/Simulating AAC

This project will measure and model the interactions of AAC users to better understand how they use AAC devices and to identify ways in which AAC devices may limit human-human interaction (HHI). Specifically, the project will:

• Compare communication performance across different tasks and device interfaces
• Determine how to optimize devices for face to face communication
• Demonstrate how different communication modalities and participant strategies function within augmented human communication interaction (HCI) and HHI
• Validate the scope and measures associated with automatic data logging (ADL) by examining the influence of multimodality, interaction, and partner characteristics
• Determine how ADL can be productively used for clinical assessment and simulation
• Use simulation and its results to prototype new device configurations and language content

For more information about this project, contact Jeff Higginbotham.