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Complex Contexts and Subtle Actions: Design and Evaluation of a Virtual Coach for Utilitarian Cycling

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Book cover Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021 (INTERACT 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12936))

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Abstract

The role of HCI to support cyclists has been researched for many years. However, there has been relatively little work on the interaction with and acting within real-world traffic situations. We collaborated with professional cycling instructors to understand experiences of (novice) cyclists in complex real-world urban traffic situations and existing coaching and teaching strategies. Building on this understanding, we designed a system informed by these strategies: an on-the-bike Virtual Cycling Coach (VCC), a system aware of its user’s actions and context that delivers coaching interventions in appropriate moments. In a qualitative in-the-wild study with 25 participants we evaluated if the VCC – as Wizard-of-Oz prototype – can offer a coaching experience. Our findings show that the VCC enables processes such as reflection and learning comparable to conventional coaching settings. We discuss limitations and implications for similar designs in complex, highly context-dependent realms.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.bikeleague.org/ridesmart, last accessed at Feb 2021.

  2. 2.

    https://www.nast.at/leistungsspektrum/verkehrsmanagement-und-verkehrssteuerung/verkehrsdaten/, https://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Transportation/gettingaroundcambridge/bikesincambridge/biketrends, both last accessed at Feb 2021.

  3. 3.

    The earphones did not block outside noise. The volume of the VCC was set to a level so that participants were able to hear traffic while the VCC was talking to them. This setup with a low audio volume was chosen for obvious safety reasons and participants did not find it distracting. However, at times they could not hear messages from the VCC.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Agnis Stibe, Alexandra Millonig and Stefan Seer for their help in conducting this study. We thank Petr Slovak for his feedback and input for both the study and early drafts on this paper.

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  1. TU Wien, 1040, Vienna, Austria

    Matthias Wunsch & Geraldine Fitzpatrick

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  1. Matthias Wunsch
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  2. Geraldine Fitzpatrick
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Correspondence to Matthias Wunsch .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Carmelo Ardito

  2. Computer Science Department, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Rosa Lanzilotti

  3. Computer Science Department, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Alessio Malizia

  4. Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, UK

    Helen Petrie

  5. Computer Science Department, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Antonio Piccinno

  6. Computer Science Department, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Giuseppe Desolda

  7. Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, USA

    Kori Inkpen

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Wunsch, M., Fitzpatrick, G. (2021). Complex Contexts and Subtle Actions: Design and Evaluation of a Virtual Coach for Utilitarian Cycling. In: Ardito, C., et al. Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021. INTERACT 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12936. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85607-6_9

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