Joosun Yum , Yong Won Choi , Seoyoung Kang , Young Yim Doh
{"title":"Players’ museum authoring game experience based on art expertise level: Case study of Occupy White Walls","authors":"Joosun Yum , Yong Won Choi , Seoyoung Kang , Young Yim Doh","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103698","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103698","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores differences in the virtual museum authoring game Occupy White Walls based on players’ art expertise levels. We identified key distinctions between novice and expert players through thematic analysis of behavior observation, think-aloud, and semi-structured interviews with 12 players. Four themes emerged: authoring focus, authoring autonomy, asset recommendations, and asset manipulation. Experts spent more time on exhibition planning, emphasizing storytelling and autonomy in displaying artwork. In contrast, novices focused more on constructing virtual museum spaces, facing challenges in planning and curation while investing significant effort in spatial design. These differences highlight the role of art expertise in shaping gameplay experiences. The study underscores the need for expertise-sensitive game design in virtual museum-authoring environments. By analyzing player interactions in OWW, we propose recommendations for adaptive design strategies to foster engagement and personalization, ensuring a more inclusive and rewarding experience for players of varying expertise levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103698"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145624451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Noemi Mauro, Fabio Ferrero, Liliana Ardissono, Federica Cena
{"title":"Human-centered AI for inclusive tourism: enhancing travel planning for adults with autism spectrum disorder","authors":"Noemi Mauro, Fabio Ferrero, Liliana Ardissono, Federica Cena","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103696","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103696","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Travel experiences can challenge individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) before embarking on a trip, because of the complexity of planning, but also during the trip, due to sensory overstimulation while visiting places. Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help overcome some obstacles. However, it might represent a barrier for people with mid-functioning autism if their needs for assistance are not considered when designing tourism applications. Moreover, most trip planners fully control the generation of solutions, undermining users’ decision autonomy.</div><div>To address these challenges, we explored the development of itinerary planning technologies through a human-centered approach. We aimed to balance guiding users in their decision-making with empowering them to plan tours independently. The result is CARES, an Artificial Intelligence-driven trip planner designed for autistic adults, which we present in this article. CARES applies a collaborative approach to developing itineraries, based on the exploitation of (i) AI technologies for information filtering and interactive itinerary planning that are robust to the data scarcity characterizing the autism domain; (ii) a user interface that reduces information overload and decision fatigue in information exploration.</div><div>We tested CARES with 14 autistic adults, gathering insights to guide future design and improve the usability of Artificial Intelligence for neurodivergent users. The results indicate that our approach provides an accessible solution for enhancing the travel experiences of mid- to high-functioning autistic adults. In doing so, it contributes to more inclusive tourism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103696"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145624453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Designing mediated social touch for mobile communication: From hand gestures to touch signals","authors":"Qianhui Wei , Jun Hu , Min Li","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103684","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103684","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The advanced haptic technology in smartphones makes mediated social touch (MST) possible and provides rich mobile communication between people. This paper presents a generation method for MST signals on smartphones. We translate MST gesture pressure to MST signal intensity, specifically by varying frequency through a function that maps pressure to frequency. We set the duration and provide different compound waveform compositions for MST signals. We conducted two user studies, each with 20 participants. The pilot study explored how likely the designed MST signals could be understood as intended MST gestures. We screened 23 MST signals that were suitable for intended MST gestures. Then, we conducted a recognition task in the main study to explore to which extent the designed MST signals could be recognized as intended MST gestures. The recall results exhibited a range of 13.3–71.7 %, while the precision results varied from 15.1 to 55.1 %. These results can be referenced when designing MST signals. Our design implications include adjusting signal parameters to better match MST gestures and creating context-specific signals for different expressions. We suggest controlling the number of signals, using varied compound waveform composition forms, and adding visual stickers with vibrotactile stimuli. MST signals should also be evaluated in specific contexts, especially for mobile communication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"207 ","pages":"Article 103684"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145529191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Heart rate changes with visual flow speed in virtual reality cycling","authors":"Carla Luttmann, Petra Jansen","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103718","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103718","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Virtual reality has emerged as a helpful tool in exercise facilitation and performance enhancement. As a highly immersive medium, it enables diversion of attention, embodiment of virtual avatars, and display of false performance feedback. These mechanisms can reduce strain, improve affective responses, and influence behaviour or performance. While the role of avatar design in these relations has been extensively studied, other areas of virtual reality require further investigation. Especially scene configurations bear the potential to enable realistic first-person scenarios of exercise, for instance, by showing action feedback such as visual flow during locomotion. The present study aims to investigate the impact of unmatching visual flow speed on heart rate and subjective effort during moderate intensity cycling in virtual reality. Both were expected to decrease with increasing visual flow speed. Eighty university sports students cycled at a self-chosen cadence for ten minutes, viewing a virtual cycling track at one of two velocities (0.5*actual speed or 1.5*actual speed). Each participant experienced both velocity conditions in counterbalanced order. Heart rate and perceived exertion were recorded continuously. Linear mixed model analyses revealed a significant main effect of visual flow speed on heart rate but not on perceived exertion. This suggests a dissociation between physiological and perceived effort, which calls for future research to identify the specific sources of effort ratings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103718"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bibhushan Raj Joshi , Ana Lucia Diaz de Leon Derby , Jennifer J. Llewellyn , Kristina Llewellyn , Jennifer Roberts-Smith , Oliver Schneider
{"title":"Feel–Play–Imagine: Structured introduction and imagination of haptics with storytellers","authors":"Bibhushan Raj Joshi , Ana Lucia Diaz de Leon Derby , Jennifer J. Llewellyn , Kristina Llewellyn , Jennifer Roberts-Smith , Oliver Schneider","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103631","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103631","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Haptic technology offers new opportunities for interaction, yet remains inaccessible to people unfamiliar with the technology due to challenges in rapid prototyping and the absence of a widely understood vocabulary, making early-stage design communication difficult. To address these challenges, we developed Feel–Play–Imagine (FPI), a method for haptics experts to involve team members and stakeholders in the early stages of design, and explored its use in the context of storytelling. FPI involves introducing people to haptics through experiencing polished haptic experiences in context (Feel) and experimenting with alternative modalities (Play), then engaging in discussions using stories to imagine designed experiences (Imagine). We report on the results of using FPI in an ongoing co-design project and a lab study with 10 expert storytellers from various backgrounds. Our findings include the value of hands-on and playful experiences to learn about haptic technologies, the ability of FPI to support design decisions, the ability of our developed Worksheet to structure discussion in some contexts, and the need to support multimodal and gestural communication when discussing haptic and tangible interaction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103631"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hyunseung Lim , Dasom Choi , DaEun Choi , Sooyohn Nam , Hwajung Hong
{"title":"Feed-O-Meter: Investigating AI-generated mentee personas as interactive agents for scaffolding design feedback practice","authors":"Hyunseung Lim , Dasom Choi , DaEun Choi , Sooyohn Nam , Hwajung Hong","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103687","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103687","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Effective feedback, including critique and evaluation, helps designers develop design concepts and refine their ideas, supporting informed decision-making throughout the iterative design process. However, in studio-based design courses, students often struggle to provide feedback due to a lack of confidence and fear of being judged, which limits their ability to develop essential feedback-giving skills. Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) suggest that role-playing with AI agents can allow learners to engage in multi-turn feedback without the anxiety of external judgment or the time constraints of real-world settings. Yet prior studies have raised concerns that LLMs struggle to behave like real people in role-play scenarios, diminishing the educational benefits of these interactions. Therefore, designing AI-based agents that effectively support learners in practicing and developing intellectual reasoning skills requires more than merely assigning the target persona’s personality and role to the agent. By addressing these issues, we present Feed-O-Meter, a novel system that employs carefully designed LLM-based agents to create an environment in which students can practice giving design feedback. The system enables users to role-play as mentors, providing feedback to an AI mentee and allowing them to reflect on how that feedback impacts the AI mentee’s idea development process. A user study (N=24) indicated that Feed-O-Meter increased participants’ engagement and motivation through role-switching and helped them adjust feedback to be more comprehensible for an AI mentee. Based on these findings, we discuss future directions for designing systems to foster feedback skills in design education.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103687"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chia-Hsin Lee , Hsuen-Chi Chiu , Tzu-Ching Lai , Chien Wen Yuan
{"title":"Who has your back? Countering dark patterns in online shopping using interpersonal and AI-delivered support","authors":"Chia-Hsin Lee , Hsuen-Chi Chiu , Tzu-Ching Lai , Chien Wen Yuan","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103697","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103697","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Online shopping interfaces often employ dark patterns to influence user behavior, leading to impulsive buying decisions. This study aims to enhance consumer protection by exploring how interventions incorporating various support sources (interpersonal, AI-delivered, or self) with message types (cognitive vs. affective) can mitigate the impact of dark patterns on impulsive buying behavior. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study theorizes intervention designs through a 3 × 2 between-subjects experiment (<em>n</em> = 363), examining how different sources and formats of support influence user responses to manipulative design. Mediators like emotional state, argument quality, and image appeal were included in the model. The findings indicate that AI-delivered support can reduce impulsive buying intentions, particularly when persuasive content and appealing visuals are integrated, highlighting the potential of well-designed machine-mediated interventions. Practically, the findings inform the development of AI-driven interventions that can be embedded into shopping platforms to promote more ethical consumer experiences. This research advances theory by demonstrating that AI outperforms interpersonal supports in reducing shopping impulses, offering insights for interface design for addressing dark pattern influences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103697"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Why and how to act through multiple avatars in virtual reality","authors":"Andreea Muresan, Kasper Hornbæk, Teresa Hirzle","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103676","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103676","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In virtual reality (VR), users typically control one virtual body — their avatar. Previous works enable users to act through multiple avatars simultaneously. These works, though, lack a systematic account of <em>why</em> users want to interact with multiple avatars and do not explain <em>how</em> users can manipulate and generate avatars. To address this, we run six workshops with 12 VR experts and develop a design space that captures four fundamental dimensions for acting through multiple avatars in VR: <em>Appearance</em>, <em>Context</em>, <em>User-Avatar Mapping</em>, and <em>Motion Control</em>. Researchers can use the design space to generate novel interaction opportunities involving multiple avatars or analyze existing work. We then run a usability study with 17 participants to understand the practicalities of an interface that integrates parts of the design space, which reveals conceptual and technical challenges that we address through design recommendations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103676"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Transforming data clutter into cultural experiences: an evaluation framework for accessibility in cultural big data platforms","authors":"Qitong Zhou, Yinman Guo, Zixiang Fan, Tie Ji","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103685","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103685","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The large-scale digitization of cultural heritage has enhanced public access to massive online resources; however, issues such as redundant data and inconsistent design standards across platforms often compromise user experience. This study investigates the accessibility factors of cultural big data platforms and aims to evaluate the digital user experience of platforms. Accessibility is explicitly defined here as the comprehensive ability of users to access, interpret, and utilize cultural data without barriers. A multi-stage mixed-method approach was adopted. First, a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis were conducted to derive a preliminary indicator framework. Second, qualitative refinement of the framework was carried out using grounded theory based on interviews with three user groups (the public, researchers, and creative practitioners). Finally, the Delphi method and fuzzy AHP were employed for expert validation and weight calculation. Consequently, a weighted evaluation framework comprising four primary dimensions and twenty-two secondary indicators was established. The findings indicate that platform usability constitutes the foundation of accessibility, cultural data quality ensures reliability, cultural data presentation facilitates user engagement, and cultural data interaction deepens cultural understanding. Moreover, the study highlights the necessity of tailoring platforms to specific user needs and discusses strategies for enhancing the accessibility of digital cultural resources through interaction design. This research provides both theoretical insights and practical guidance for the design and optimization of cultural big data platforms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103685"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Enricoandrea Laviola, Michele Gattullo, Antonio Emmanuele Uva
{"title":"A comprehensive on-site authoring tool for creating augmented reality technical documentation (STAAR-TECH)","authors":"Enricoandrea Laviola, Michele Gattullo, Antonio Emmanuele Uva","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103722","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103722","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aims to validate STAAR-TECH, an Augmented Reality (AR) authoring tool for technical documentation designed for end users without expertise in AR development. Previous research on AR authoring tools has primarily focused on simplifying interfaces and interactions to enhance usability. However, these tools are inadequate for applying the Minimal AR authoring approach, according to which the information provided through AR visual assets should be the minimum needed to accomplish the task. The focus of this study is to propose an authoring tool that comprehensively adheres to this approach, ensuring the selection and customization of visual assets and their properties, which are essential for optimally conveying all information types according to the literature. To validate its effectiveness, we conducted a comparative user study with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides as baseline, involving 32 participants using HoloLens. We measured the authoring performance, the perceived workload, and the user experience while using both tools. Our findings confirmed that STAAR-TECH is a highly suitable tool for AR manual creation. Participants appreciated its extensive visual asset customization and flexibility, reinforcing its potential as an effective solution for AR authoring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 103722"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}