James A. Landay

Stanford University | SU · Department of Computer Science

Voice-first ambient interfaces (VFAIs), such as Alexa, can uniquely meet the health needs of older adults. However, inequitable technology may worsen health disparities and decrease independence, calling for participatory methods to increase the agency of older adults in the design processes of these technologies. We adapt and conduct a participato...

Digital forms help us access services and opportunities, but they are not equally accessible to everyone, such as older adults or those with sensory impairments. Large language models (LLMs) and multimodal interfaces offer a unique opportunity to increase form accessibility. Informed by prior literature and needfinding, we built a holistic multimod...

Resource limitations make it challenging to provide all students with one of the most effective educational interventions: personalized instruction. Reinforcement learning could be a pivotal tool to decrease the development costs and enhance the effectiveness of intelligent tutoring software, that aims to provide the right support, at the right tim...

Social virtual reality (VR) is an emerging set of platforms where users interact while embodying avatars. Given that VR headsets track real physical movements and map them onto one’s avatar body, the nature of one’s digital representation is an important aspect of social VR. However, little is known about how the visual proximity of an avatar to th...

Intelligent workplace systems that support well-being offer the potential to reduce stress and burnout, promote physical activity, or increase creativity and collaboration while at work. However, such systems rely on the collection of sensitive personal information that can pose significant privacy risks to users. In this chapter, we investigate ho...

Multimodal interactions have been shown to be more flexible, efficient, and adaptable for diverse users and tasks than traditional graphical interfaces. However, existing multimodal development frameworks either do not handle the complexity and compositionality of multimodal commands well or require developers to write a substantial amount of code...

Resource limitations make it hard to provide all students with one of the most effective educational interventions: personalized instruction. Reinforcement learning could be a key tool to reduce the development cost and improve the effectiveness of, intelligent tutoring software that aims to provide the right support, at the right time, to a studen...

Stories are a core way human beings make meaning and sense of the world and our lived experiences, including our behaviors, desires, and goals. Narrative structures, both visual and textual, help us understand and act on information, while also evoking strong emotions. Focusing on the health context, this research examines the effectiveness of narr...

Machine learning practitioners often end up tunneling on low-level technical details like model architectures and performance metrics. Could early model development instead focus on high-level questions of which factors a model ought to pay attention to? Inspired by the practice of sketching in design, which distills ideas to their minimal represen...

Health behaviors are inextricably linked to health and well-being, yet issues such as physical inactivity and insufficient sleep remain significant global public health problems. Mobile technology—and the unprecedented scope and quantity of data it generates—has a promising but largely untapped potential to promote health behaviors at the individua...

Because algorithm audits are conducted by technical experts, audits are necessarily limited to the hypotheses that experts think to test. End users hold the promise to expand this purview, as they inhabit spaces and witness algorithmic impacts that auditors do not. In pursuit of this goal, we propose end-user audits-system-scale audits led by non-t...

The computational systems we interact with are increasingly intelligent and dynamic, as they learn from user interactions and are updated over time. Principles of good design highlight the importance of understanding user mental models and providing feedback to expose the internal state of the system. In the context of intelligent systems situated...

Increasing evidence suggests the built environment can impact occupants’ attitudes, behavior, and health. However, few studies have examined these links with large samples in controlled settings. To address this gap, we conducted an experiment (N = 413) with varied physical features (i.e., materials, windows, and artwork representing diverse identi...

Background: There is some initial evidence suggesting that mindsets about the adequacy and health consequences of one's physical activity (activity adequacy mindsets [AAMs]) can shape physical activity behavior, health, and well-being. However, it is unknown how to leverage these mindsets using wearable technology and other interventions. Objecti...

We can create Virtual Reality (VR) interactions that have no equivalent in the real world by remapping spacetime or altering users' body representation, such as stretching the user's virtual arm for manipulation of distant objects or scaling up the user's avatar to enable rapid locomotion. Prior research has leveraged such approaches, what we call...

There has been growing interest among scholars regarding the role of the built environment on occupant wellbeing. Across five studies conducted online from January 2018 to July 2021, we investigate the impact of design interventions (materials, light, and decor representing diverse identities) on several constructs indicative of wellbeing (sense of...

Designers have long known the benefits of iteration and rapid prototyping. Many experienced photographers follow a similar process, in particular of iterating in camera: trying out different angles and compositions, varying lighting, adjusting a subject’s pose, etc. However, amateurs often do not realize the benefits of capturing variations of a si...

Algorithmically-mediated content is both a product and producer of dominant social narratives, and it has the potential to impact users' beliefs and behaviors. We present two studies on the content and impact of gender and racial representation in image search results for common occupations. In Study 1, we compare 2020 workforce gender and racial c...

Chronic stress has been associated with a variety of pathophysiological risks including developing mental illness. Conversely, appropriate stress management, can be used to foster mental wellness proactively. Yet, there is no existing method that accurately and objectively monitors stress. With recent advances in electronic-skin (e-skin) and wearab...

The current literature on developing tools for early childhood computer science education focuses primarily on the content of the lessons and how to embed that content into educational technologies. However, in considering “CS For All” it is critical to understand how the environment and approach surrounding the technology itself can best serve bot...

In the coming era of ubiquitous robotics we envision the need for the effortless design of contextually-aware interactions with robots. Ubiquitous robots create a number of challenges for designers. Firstly, due to their dynamic nature, prototyping requires skillful programming and is often time consuming. Moreover, these devices are often context-...

Self-tracking practices enable users to record and analyze their personal data. In recent years, non-digital forms of manual self-tracking, such as bullet journaling, have gained popularity. We conduct a survey (N = 404) and follow-up interviews (N = 18) to better understand users' motivations for physical tracking, the challenges they face with th...

Numerous technologies now exist for promoting more active lifestyles. However, while quantitative data representations (e.g., charts, graphs, and statistical reports) typify most health tools, growing evidence suggests such feedback can not only fail to motivate behavior but may also harm self-integrity and fuel negative mindsets about exercise. Ou...

Commutes provide an opportune time and space for interventions that mitigate stress-particularly stress accumulated during the workday. In this study, we test the efficacy and safety of haptic guided slow breathing interventions of short duration while driving. We also present design and experimental implications for evolving these interventions fr...

To better understand the issues designers face as they interact with developers and use developer tools to create websites, we conducted a formative investigation consisting of interviews, a survey, and an analysis of professional design documents. Based on insights gained from these efforts, we developed Poirot, a web inspection tool for designers...

Concern about algorithmically-curated content and its impact on democracy is reaching a fever pitch worldwide. But relative to the role of social media in electoral processes, the role of search results has received less public attention. We develop a theoretical conceptualization of search results as a form of media-search media-and analyze search...

Augmented Reality (AR) has the potential to expand our capability for interacting with and comprehending our surrounding environment. However, current AR devices treat electronic appliances no different than common non-interactive objects, which substantially limits the functionality of AR. We present InfoLED, a positioning and communication system...

Lack of physical activity has been shown to increase disease and reduce life expectancy. In response, mobile devices are increasingly being used to support people's health and fitness by tracking physical activity. Prior work shows that the type of feedback, either ambient or via notification, affects users' behavior towards their physical activity...

Digitization of education has brought a tremendous amount of online materials that are potentially useful for language learners to practice their reading skills. However, these digital materials rarely help with conversational practice, a key component of foreign language learning. Leveraging recent advances in chatbot technologies, we developed Bo...

To better understand the issues designers face as they interact with developers and use developer tools to create websites, we conducted a formative investigation consisting of interviews, a survey, and an analysis of professional design documents. Based on insights gained from these efforts, we developed Poirot, a web inspection tool for designers...

Quadcopters have been used as hovering encountered-type haptic devices in virtual reality. We suggest that quadcopters can facilitate rich haptic interactions beyond force feedback by appropriating physical objects and the environment. We present HoverHaptics, an autonomous safe-to-touch quadcopter and its integration with a virtual shopping experi...

Advances in conversational AI have the potential to enable more engaging and effective ways to teach factual knowledge. To investigate this hypothesis, we created QuizBot, a dialogue-based agent that helps students learn factual knowledge in science, safety, and English vocabulary. We evaluated QuizBot with 76 students through two within-subject st...

This is the first on-road study testing the efficacy and safety of guided slow breathing interventions in a car. This paper presents design and experimental implications when evolving from prior simulator to on-road scenarios. We ran a controlled study (N=40) testing a haptic guided breathing system in a closed circuit under stress and not-stressed...

We present the use of in-car virtual reality (VR) as a way to create calm, mindful experiences for passengers and, someday, autonomous vehicle occupants. Specifically, we describe a series of studies aimed at exploring appropriate VR content, understanding the influence of car movement, and determining the length and other parameters of the simulat...

As drone-based entertainment becomes more popular, researchers have explored different forms of expression and systems to support drone performances. However, most of these systems are pre-programmed and do not interact with the body movement of dancers in real-time. In response, some have presented drone performances using bulky camera systems to...

Interactive maps have become ubiquitous in our daily lives, helping us reach destinations and discovering our surroundings. Yet, designing map interactions is not straightforward and depends on the device being used. As mobile devices evolve and become independent from users, such as with robots and drones, how will we interact with the maps they p...

In this paper, we explore the delivery of fast breathing interventions in a driving context, given the proven effects of high-paced breathing on autonomic arousal. Through in-lab simulator studies, we demonstrate the feasibility of using haptic guidance to increase breathing rate, intensity, and heart rate as well as subjective perceptions of alert...

We interact with dozens of web interfaces on a daily basis, making inclusive web design practices more important than ever. This paper investigates the impacts of web interface design on ambient belonging, or the sense of belonging to a community or culture. Our experiment deployed two content-identical webpages for an introductory computer science...

This SIG focuses on new definitions of Natural User Interface (NUI). With the adoption of wearable devices, VR & AR displays, affective computing, and voice user interface, we think it's necessary to review our understanding and definition of NUI. This SIG aims to expand discussion and development related to NUI in two areas: first, what experience...

In this paper, we explore the delivery of fast breathing interventions in a driving context, given the proven effects of high-paced breathing on autonomic arousal. Through in-lab simulator studies, we demonstrate the feasibility of using haptic guidance to increase breathing rate, intensity, and heart rate as well as subjective perceptions of alert...

We developed a set of 17 usability heuristics for speech-based smart devices. An expert evaluation of three popular devices shows that these heuristics can be used to uncover existing usability problems as well as help design new interfaces.

Motivated by the idea that slow breathing practices could transform the automobile commute from a depleting, mindless activity into a calming, mindful experience, we introduce the first guided slow breathing intervention for drivers. We describe a controlled in-lab experiment (N=24) that contrasts the effectiveness and impact of haptic and voice gu...

Today's most common user interfaces represent an incremental change from the GUI popularized by the Apple Macintosh in 1984. Over the last 30 years the dominant hardware has changed drastically while the user interface has barely moved: from one hand on a mouse to two fingers on a panel of glass. I will illustrate how we are building on-body interf...

Stress affects the lives of millions of people every day. In-situ sensing could enable just-in-time stress management interventions. We present the first work to detect stress using the movements of a car's existing steering wheel. We extend prior work on PC peripherals and demonstrate that stress, expressed through muscle tension in the limbs, can...

With the ubiquity of mobile touchscreen devices like smartphones, two widely used text entry methods have emerged: small touch-based keyboards and speech recognition. Although speech recognition has been available on desktop computers for years, it has continued to improve at a rapid pace, and it is currently unknown how today's modern speech recog...

Background The daily commute could be a right moment to teach drivers to use movement or breath towards improving their mental health. Long commutes, the relevance of transitioning from home to work, and vice versa and the privacy of commuting by car make the commute an ideal scenario and time to perform mindful exercises safely. Whereas driving sa...

Personal drones are becoming more mainstream and are used for a variety of tasks, such as delivery and photography. The exposed blades in conventional drones raise serious safety concerns. To address this, commercial drones have been moving towards a safe-to-touch design or have increased safety by adding propeller guards. The affordances of safe-t...

Haptic interfaces are ideal in situations where visual/auditory attention is impossible, unsafe, or socially unacceptable. However, conventional (vibrotactile) wearable interfaces often possess a limited bandwidth for expressing information. We explore a novel form of tactile stimulation through brushing, and demonstrate BrushTouch, a wearable prot...

As drones become ubiquitous, it is important to understand how cultural differences impact human-drone interaction. A previous elicitation study performed in the USA illustrated how users would intuitively interact with drones. We replicated this study in China to gain insight into how these user-defined interactions vary across the two cultures. W...

This demo presents an instance of Inquire, a tool designed to support qualitative researchers in the early stages of research. The tool enables the search over millions of users' records to extract early insights to aid in the formulation of research strategies. The tool presents the work described in the Inquire paper by Paredes, et. al. [12] in t...

BACKGROUND The daily commute could be a right moment to teach drivers to use movement or breath towards improving their mental health. Long commutes, the relevance of transitioning from home to work, and vice versa and the privacy of commuting by car make the commute an ideal scenario and time to perform mindful exercises safely. Whereas driving sa...

We present a system to capture video footage of human subjects in the real world. Our system leverages a quadrotor camera to automatically capture well-composed video of two subjects. Subjects are tracked in a large-scale outdoor environment using RTK GPS and IMU sensors. Then, given the tracked state of our subjects, our system automatically compu...