Specification and Usability Evaluation of an Attention-aware Remote Control designed in a Physical Prototype

Abstract

This paper defines requirements for entering text in interactive digital TV, based on theories of shared attention, in order to make a prototype of a remote control which enables more natural user interaction. The physical prototype of this newly created device features movement recognition and sensory feedback as modalities of interaction. In usability tests, data on users’ performance and satisfaction was collected, as well as data on their cognitive load (attention) and state of meditation (relaxation) captured through an Electroencephalogram device. The results showed that the solution, analyzed for a sample of 18 users, increased performance for typing long texts by 26.5%, raised satisfaction scores by 15%, relaxation scores by 29.4%, and maintained the users’ cognitive load when compared to use of an infrared remote control.