Ubiquitous Computing Capabilities and User-System Interaction Readiness: An Activity Perspective

Abstract

Based on mobile computing technologies, ubiquitous systems enable people to access information anywhere and anytime. In addition to the capability of interactivity concerning inquiry processing based on user input through interfaces, ubiquitous systems may offer contextualization and personalization dealing with information filtering based on task contexts and user preferences, which help relieve user effort on the move. This study investigates how different combinations of these major ubiquitous computing capabilities affect user behavior. Using the unifying framework of Activity Theory, it conceptualizes user-system interaction as a tool-mediated activity, the different aspects of which are facilitated by interactivity, personalization and contextualization. It is hypothesized that such capabilities shape user experiences including sense of control, perceived understanding and motive fulfillment, which lead to how ready people are to interact with ubiquitous systems. The results from an experiment support the hypothesized relationships, and suggest that different capabilities interact with each other in their effects. The findings yield insights on how to take a systematic and balanced approach of ubiquitous system design to enhance user experiences.

How Can Organizations Design Purposeful Human-AI Interactions: A Practical Perspective From Existing Use Cases and Interviews

“…As the AI agent interacts with users based on their individual preferences, users feel understood and consider their motives as fulfilled. Having these positive experiences, an AI agent successfully meets users' expectations resulting in increased acceptance and trust [28]. However, personalization can also negatively influence interactions.…”

A Techno-Business Platform to Improve Customer Experience Following the Brand Crisis Recovery: A B2B Perspective

“…In this layer, producers and consumers interact with the platform using a variety of human-machine interfaces (Zutshi and Grilo, 2019 ), such as visualisation. Human-machine interaction is a tool-mediated activity which is facilitated by interactivity, contextualisation and personalisation capabilities and user experiences such as sense of control, motivation fulfilment and apparent comprehension are shaped by such capabilities, which influence how willing people are to interact with systems (Sun, 2020 ). In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of apps that can interact with humans and understanding human behaviour is a key aspect in their success (Feng et al, 2020 ).…”

Ubiquitous Tourist System Based on Multicriteria Decision Making and Augmented Reality

“…Systems designed based on this concept enable tourists to access the service at any time and location without the need for interpretation. This is achieved via the use of context, which includes userand environment-related information, and enables the system to adapt accordingly [9,10]. Furthermore, in tourism applications, new methods such as augmented reality (AR) can be used to enhance the visualization and display of information to users.…”