Carmelo Ardito
Publications
Papers in International Journals
- ARDITO C., COSTABILE M., DE ANGELI A., PITTARELLO F. (in print). Navigation help in 3D Worlds: some empirical evidences on use of sound. Accepted to MULTIMEDIA TOOLS and APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Kluwer.
Abstract.
The concept of Interaction Locus (IL) has been introduced to help the users to orient, navigate, and identify relevant interaction areas in 3D Virtual Environments (VEs). The IL is a multimodal concept: it adds to the 3D visual scene parallel information channels that are perceived by other senses. In particular, the IL emphasizes the role of music as a navigation aid in a VE. This paper reports three user-evaluations of different IL enriched virtual worlds, and in particular of the role of the IL auditory component. Results suggest that audio in 3D plays not only an aesthetic role, which the users greatly appreciate, but also a functional role simplifying navigation and helping the users to recognise scenes in the environment. Such a functional role however is subordinated to a proper understanding of the link between music and virtual space. While these experiments refer to desktop virtual reality environments, their findings are general enough to inform the design of navigational tools for other segments of the mixed reality domain.
Keywords: Auditory interfaces - Experimental evaluations - Interaction locus - Usability - Virtual environments
Chapters in International Collections
- ARDITO C., BUONO P., COSTABILE M. (2005). The Challenge of Visualizing Patient Histories on a Mobile Device. In COSTABILE M., PATERNO' F. Human-Computer Interaction - INTERACT 2005. (vol. LNCS 3585, pp. 942-945). ISBN: 3-540-28943-7. BERLIN: Springer (GERMANY).
Abstract.
This paper presents a tool to display patient histories and
to visually query patient data, stored in the hospital database, using
a mobile device. Employing Information Visualization techniques, the
developed tool is able to accommodate on the screen a good amount of
information that physicians require in their analysis of the clinical cases.
This work has been motivated by specific requests of physicians of a
pediatric hospital treating children with neurological diseases.
- ARDITO C., COSTABILE M., DE MARSICO M., LANZILOTTI R., LEVIALDI S., PLANTAMURA P., ROSELLI T., ROSSANO V., TERSIGNI M. (2004). Towards Guidelines for Usability of e-Learning Applications. In CHRISTIAN STARY AND CONSTANTINE STEPHANIDIS EDS. User-Centered Interaction Paradigms for Universal Access in the Information Society. (vol. LNCS 3196, pp. 185-202). HEIDELBERG: Springer-Verlag (GERMANY).
Abstract.
One present goal of researchers and developers is to design software tools that make learning materials available online in an educationally effective manner. We face the twofold challenge of implementing advanced e-learning functionalities, though designing their interface so as to provide an easy interaction grasping the students’ interest. A poorly designed interface makes students spend more time in learning it than in mastering the provided knowledge, so becoming a barrier to effective learning. In this context, both User-Centered Design (UCD) and Learner-Centered Design (LCD) guidelines are needed; it is also important to devise suited evaluation tools, able to help in identifying usability, and, more in general, accessibility flaws. Such tools must be designed bearing in mind the specific characteristics of e-learning applications. Traditional heuristic evaluation appears too general and subjective. In this paper, we propose a set of guidelines and criteria for e-learning platforms (containers) and for educational modules (contents), to be used within the SUE (Systematic Usability Evaluation) inspection. We point out that human factors experts can primarily evaluate “syntactic” aspects of applications. Experts of education science and domain experts are to be involved for a more comprehensive evaluation.
Proceedings of International Conferences
- ARDITO C., BUONO P., COSTABILE M., LANZILOTTI R. (2006). Two Different Interfaces to Visualize Patient Histories on a PDA. MobileHCI '06, Espoo, Finland. September 12-15, 2006. (pp. 37-40).
Abstract.
PHiP (Patient History in Pocket) is a tool designed for a mobile device that displays patient histories and permits to visually query patient data stored in the hospital database. It exploits Information Visualization techniques and it is able to accommodate on the screen a good amount of information that physicians require in their analysis of clinical cases. Two different user interfaces for PHiP have been implemented and informal user testing has been performed to compare their impact on users.
Keywords: Mobile Devices, Information Visualization, Overview+detail interface, Zoomable interface, Healthcare.
- ARDITO C., LANZILOTTI R., BUONO P., PICCINNO A. (2006). A Tool to Support Usability Inspection. International Conference on Advanced Visual Interface 2006 (AVI 2006), Venice, Italy, May 23-26, 2006. (pp. 278-281).
Abstract.
SUIT (Systematic Usability Inspection Tool) is an Internet-based tool that supports the evaluators during the usability inspection of software applications. SUIT makes it possible to reach inspectors everywhere, guiding them in their activities. Differently from other tools that have been proposed in literature, SUIT not only supports the activities of a single evaluator, but permits to manage a team of evaluators who can perform peer reviews of their inspection works and merge their individual reports in a single document on which they agree.
Keywords: Usability Evaluation, Inspection, Web-based Tool.
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