Attentive user interfaces: the surveillance and surveillance of gaze-aware objects

• Published in: Social science information (1967) 2008-09, Vol.47 (3), p.275
• Main Authors: Vertegaal, Roel, Shell, Jeffrey S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Communication; Social sciences; Surveillance; User interface
• ISSN: 0539-0184; 1461-7412

Attentive user interfaces are user interfaces that aim to support users' attentional capacities. By sensing users' attention for objects and people in their everyday environment and by treating user attention as a limited resource, these interfaces avoid today's ubiquitous patterns of interruption. Focusing upon attention as a central interaction channel allows development of more sociable methods of communication and repair with ubiquitous devices. Our methods are analogous to human turn-taking in group communication. Turn-taking improves the user's ability to conduct foreground processing of conversations. Attentive user interfaces bridge the gap between foreground and periphery of user activity in a similar fashion, allowing users to move smoothly in between. The authors present a framework for augmenting user attention through attentive user interfaces. We propose 5 key properties of attentive systems: to (1) sense attention, (2) reason about attention, (3) regulate interactions, (4) communicate attention and (5) augment attention. We conclude with a discussion of privacy considerations of attentive user interfaces. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]