PAPACUI: Proficiency Awareness in Physical ACtivity User Interfaces

Computers are now everyday companions to physical activity.

Interactive artefacts can enhance the experience of sports, but they may also have negative effects, e.g. distraction.Novice technology users in sports need different information than advanced users.

Current systems do not adapt their feedback as the user progresses in a sport, which may lead to abandonment and limiting the benefits of exercise.

Thus, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) must understand how to build long-term technology-enhanced physical activity experiences.

This project studies proficiency-aware user interfaces (UIs) in sports, a new generation of systems which offer a continuously engaging experience of physical activity.

We propose building proficiency-aware UIs for running and gym exercises, the most commonly practised dynamic and static activity forms.

We will first conduct an inquiry into feedback possibilities at different levels of proficiency in running and gym exercises along with a study of how users define and measure proficiency.Next, we will use models of proficiency assessment to prototype and evaluate two proficiency-aware systems-a wearable running system and a system deployed in a gym on campus.The project will identify key design guidelines for proficiency-aware UIs in sports.

We will build a conceptual understanding of how systems for physical activity can evolve with the user and key principles for assessing proficiency, communicating proficiency to users, and adapting feedback.