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The Importance of Personalization and Household Dynamics for Notifications in the TV Ecosystem
Abstract
Notifications are frequently used in mobile devices and smart environments as a mechanism to deliver personalized messages. However, in the context of the TV ecosystem, notifications are not yet widely used. Hence, this research aims to explore the potential of that context to disseminate important information, recommend content and encourage interactions between individuals. The article presents the results from a survey of studies using notifications, which led to the design of relevant use scenarios focused on the TV. Six thematic scenarios were discussed in a focus group with potential users: 1) CONTENT (TV and over-the-top), 2) SOCIAL (telecommunications and social media), 3) SERVICES (shopping apps and coupons), 4) HEALTH (monitoring and well-being recommendations), 5) CALENDAR (appointments and events), 6) INFO (useful information). The studies from the survey highlighted healthcare alerts, smart home experiences and target advertising as contexts of research. The aim of socialization was addressed in fewer studies but was well received and shown potential. Therefore, one of the scenarios discussed in the focus group included the social dimension. The results shown that focus group participants responded well to general notifications on the TV (e.g. weather, content recommendation and services), whereas shown apprehension regarding personal notifications (e.g. calendar appointments, social media or health alerts), mainly for privacy issues. Nevertheless, they pointed out the scenarios with personal notifications as the most useful for the elderly, which led to a second focus group with this target audience. The insights from this research will allow the development and testing of prototypes in field trials with the support of a Portuguese Pay-TV provider.KeywordsNotificationsiTVFocus groupUse scenarios
Push notifications provide news outlets with direct access to audiences amid concerns around information overload, disinformation, and heightened competition for reader attention. Such news distribution is relevant because it (a) bypasses social media and news aggregators, reaching readers directly; (b) alters the agency and
control of temporal news personalisation; and (c) reinforces mobile as the locus of contact between news organisations and audiences. However, push notifications are a relatively under-researched topic. We explore news organisations’ use of alerts, considering whether they attempt to integrate with existing mobile-user behaviour patterns or seek to be a disruptive element, garnering attention when audiences are not typically using devices. Through quantitative content analysis, this study examines the temporality of push notifications (n ¼ 7092) from nine Northwestern European countries,
comprising 34 news outlets. These data allow for comparisons at two levels: publisher type and national context. The study shows how the temporal patterns of push notifications’ dissemination align with existing news consumption behaviours; concepts of content-snacking and audiences’ rhythms and rituals are a useful lens through which these immediate, concise texts can be considered. Our findings show that news organisations use the mobile channel for attracting and maintaining users’ attention, with varying interpretations of temporal customizability.
With the growing number of mobile devices receiving daily notifications, it is necessary to manage the variety of information produced. New smart devices are developed every day with the ability to generate, send, and display messages about their status, data, and information about other devices. Consequently, the number of notifications received by a user is increasing and their tolerance may decrease in a short time. With this, it is necessary to develop a management system and notification controls. In this context, this work proposes a notification and alert management system called PRISER. Its focus is on user profiles and environments, applying data privacy criteria.
The design of interaction models for Voice User Interfaces is changing. The increasing number of home assistants, mobile devices and televisions supporting natural language interaction that are transforming and introducing voice interaction in multiple home scenarios is leading to important changes in the design of its interaction models. In the TV context, voice interaction is being introduced with multimodal interaction, supported on graphical interfaces or voice-first devices.
In the world, many older adults are living alone for most of the day. This work propose the use of the television set, a medium well known by seniors, to improve the way that seniors and their caregivers can track daily activities such as medication intakes reminders. Two evaluations were held, a heuristic usability assessment early on the design process and an evaluation of the technology adoption. Both evaluations generated initial evidence that the system supported elders in achieving a better quality of life.
One of the goals of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions is to extend the time that elderly people can live independently in their preferred environments by using ICT technologies for personal healthcare. However, in order to be optimal, remote monitoring services and health-related interventions should be strongly personalised to specific individuals’ requirements, preferences, abilities and motivations, which can vary among the elderly, and even dynamically evolve over time for the same person depending on changing user needs and context-dependent conditions. In this paper we present an End User Development (EUD) tool for the personalisation of context-dependent assistance by non-technical users in the AAL domain. In particular, we have considered applications for remotely monitoring and assisting elderly people at home through sending multimedia messages and reminders, as well as changing the state of various domestic appliances (e.g. lamps, heating system, TV) and devices available in the context surrounding the user. The design and development of the tailoring environment has been carried out in an iterative manner, informed by the feedback that was gathered through empirical evaluations done with older adults and caregivers.
Users are confronted with more and more notifications in their lives. Multiple device types in the users' environment use visual, tactile and auditory cues to inform them about messages, events, and updates. All these devices differ in the used modalities to inform the users and in the offered configuration options for these modalities. Prior work investigated the distracting effects of notifications and how people interact with notifications. However, related work often only focuses on one platform at a time. Instead, we use interviews to investigate how users experience and deal with notifications generated by their different devices in their everyday lives. Our results show that users developed strategies to deal with notifications on their devices such as disabling (or not enabling) notifications, uninstalling applications, using do-not-disturb functionality, muting devices or even putting devices away. Only few users change the notification settings on their devices. As a consequence, the default settings selected by the device manufactures can drastically change how notifications are affecting users.
The pervasive access to media options seriously challenges users’ self-regulatory abilities. One example of deficient self-regulation in the context of media use is procrastination—impulsively ‘giving in’ to available media options despite goal conflicts with more important tasks. This study investigaes procrastinatory media use across 3 types of media (TV, computer, smartphone) from a dual-systems perspective, taking both person-level and situation-level predictors into account. Results from a 14-day long diary study (N = 347) suggest that procrastinatory media use is driven by automatic media selection, which is facilitated by strong media habits (person level) and low motivation for behavioral control (situation level). The results underline the value of a dual-systems perspective on media choices in our media-saturated environment.
This paper proposes a fall severity analytic and post-fall intelligence system with three interdependent modules. Module I is the analysis of fall severity based on factors extracted in the phases of during and after fall which include innovative measures of the sequence of body impact, level of impact, and duration of motionlessness. Module II is a timely autonomic notification to relevant persons with context-dependent fall severity alert via electronic communication channels (e.g., smartphone, tablet, or smart TV set). Lastly, Module III is the diagnostic support for caregivers and doctors to have information for making a well-informed decision of first aid or postcure with the chronologically traceable intelligence of information and knowledge found in Modules I and II. The system shall be beneficial to caregivers or doctors, in giving first aid/diagnosis/treatment to the subject, especially, in cases where the subject has lost consciousness and is unable to respond.
Many countries are confronted with aging societies. With the increasing need for elder care, it is necessary to investigate how technology can support aging in place. In this paper, we propose an ambient smart calendar system that supports the self-sufficiency and activeness of older adults. We report the results of a survey of older adults on their use of physical and digital calendars. Based on the results, we developed Caloo (Calendar of opportunities) - a prototypical smart wall calendar which supports older users by generating awareness about their daily schedules as well as supporting them in remaining active in their lives through event suggestions. We evaluated Caloo in a study with retired older adults. Overall, we received positive feedback and identified data sources for events, which the smart calendar can suggest to the user. Our results indicate the potential of deploying an ambient and pervasive smart calendar system that supports aging in place.
Notifications are among the core mechanisms of most smart devices. Smartphones, smartwatches, tablets and smart glasses all provide similar means to notify the user. For smart TVs, however, no standard notification mechanism has been established. Smart TVs are unlike other smart devices because they are used by multiple people - often at the same time. It is unclear how notifications on smart TVs should be designed and which information users need. From a set of focus groups, we derive a design space for notifications on smart TVs. By further studying selected design alternatives in an online survey and lab study we show, for example, that users demand different information when they are watching TV with others and that privacy is a major concern. We derive according design guidelines for notifications on smart TVs that developers can use to gain the user's attention in a meaningful way.
As overaging is becoming a main societal challenge, the development of AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) systems has become the centre of many research projects the last years. Our own work is targeted towards the development of an AAL system -called CARE- that provides assistance in form of recommendations helping its users overcome typical difficulties of everyday life, and contributes positively to their well-being. To inform the design of the envisioned CARE system we recruited two peer groups of potential users, a group of 20 Greek seniors, and a group of 27 German seniors, and conducted structured interviews which were focused on the seniors' life-style, medical needs, attitude towards AAL technologies, and, more specifically, on desired functions and system configurations of a recommendation-giving CARE system. We discuss outcomes of the conducted interviews and sketch a first CARE prototype which appears as an augmented digital picture frame that interleaves the display of photos with recommendations and interventions to improve the seniors' life-style and well-being.
Notifications are extremely beneficial to users, but they often demand their attention at inappropriate moments. In this paper we present an in-situ study of mobile interruptibility focusing on the effect of cognitive and physical factors on the response time and the disruption perceived from a notification. Through a mixed method of automated smartphone logging and experience sampling we collected 10372 in-the-wild notifications and 474 questionnaire responses on notification perception from 20 users. We found that the response time and the perceived disruption from a notification can be influenced by its presentation, alert type, sender-recipient relationship as well as the type, completion level and complexity of the task in which the user is engaged. We found that even a notification that contains important or useful content can cause disruption. Finally, we observe the substantial role of the psychological traits of the individuals on the response time and the disruption perceived from a notification.
This paper presents the usability evaluation of the AAL@MEO, an application running in a commercial service of Internet Protocol TV that integrates technological solutions to support home care. The evaluation methodology comprises the application of usability assessment instruments (the Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire and the International Classification of Functioning based Usability Scale), performance tests and analysis of critical incidents. The results show that elderly users had a high degree of satisfaction towards the interaction with the TV set, but some of the interaction mechanisms based on a remote control with multiple functions need further developments.
As technological devices surrounding the television are changing, so are viewers’ habits. When the interactive Television industry turns its focus to the development of second-screen applications, this paper reports on a study aiming to analyse the impact, on users, of notifications in second-screen scenarios. As part of the study, the research team developed a prototype that simulated an application able to deliver synchronized information related with TV content, notifying the user – through visual, audio and haptic stimuli - whenever new content was displayed in the tablet. The study included observation sessions, conducted in laboratory settings, with participants (N=12) being invited to watch a 15-minute film while using the application. Tests were conducted under a cognitive walk-through methodology, and data collected through direct observation and questionnaires. Results show that to achieve a balanced user experience in second-screen scenarios notifications on tablet should be combined with visual notifications on TV.
Commonly, users’ attention is divided between multiple devices like the consumption of television content and the use of another device, such as smartphones. In this case, users tend to use mobile phones while ads are being advertised. The Smartly project aims to explore the potential o using multiple screens to enhance the TV experience by allowing users to receive on their smartphones promotion coupons related to the television content they watched. Following the development of the backend system and the mobile application, the project advanced for a test phase. During this phase, several data gathering techniques were used, such as questionnaire surveys, interviews, and direct observation of users interacting with the application. The user experience results allowed to get the instrumental, non-instrumental, and emotional impact of the application. To assess the system’s user experience, the SUS scale, the AttrakDiff questionnaire, and the SAM scale were used. The results obtained through interviews allowed to find that the Smartly user experience was positive and met the main application goals.
Hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV) is a standardization initiative aimed at harmonising the broadcast and broadband delivery of entertainment services to consumers through connected TVs, set-top boxes, and multiscreen devices. A smart home (SH) is a suitable home setup where appliances and devices can be automatically controlled remotely from any Internet-connected device. For the seamless integration of a variety of devices within the SH, HbbTV solutions are gaining a pivotal role, acting as a central hub for audio and video broadcasting services, home automation and other devices, including smartphones, tablets and Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled devices. In this context, a standard, compliant and platform independent, solution is preferred as it can enable dynamic environment where heterogeneous devices contribute to the overall user experience. This paper proposes an architecture for the seamless integration of a SH environment with a HbbTV-enabled television set and consumer's handled devices, such as smartphones and tablets, using the HbbTV 2.0.1 Companions Screen and Multimedia Synchronization framework. A complete architectural design and its hardware implementation have been developed and deployed as a proof of concept. Subjective tests based on mean opinion score (MOS) have been conducted to assess the benefits of the proposed system in terms of Quality of Experience (QoE). Results are encouraging and show that the accurate design of hybrid services through HbbTV could lead to satisfactory QoE perceived by users in the fruition of unified TV and SH services. Based on the obtained results, a preferred common configuration of notifications in terms of position, duration, and sound was indicated.
Telemonitoring is a branch of telehealth that aims at remotely monitoring vital signs, which is important for chronically ill patients and the elderly living alone. The available standalone devices and applications for the self-monitoring of health parameters largely suffer from interoperability problems; meanwhile, telemonitoring medical devices are expensive, selfcontained, and are not integrated into user-friendly technological platforms for the end user. This work presents the technical aspects and usability assessment of the telemonitoring features of the HEREiAM platform, which supports heterogeneous information technology systems. By exploiting a service-oriented architecture (SOA), the measured parameters collected by off-the-shelf Bluetooth medical devices are sent as XML documents to a private cloud that implements an interoperable health service infrastructure, which is compliant with the most recent healthcare standards and security protocols. This Android-based system is designed to be accessible both via TV and portable devices, and includes other utilities designed to support the elderly living alone. Four usability assessment sessions with quality-validated questionnaires were performed to accurately understand the ease of use, usefulness, acceptance, and quality of the proposed system. The results reveal that our system achieved very high usability scores even at its first use, and the scores did not significantly change over time during a field trial that lasted for four months, reinforcing the idea of an intuitive design. At the end of such a trial, the user experience questionnaire achieved excellent scores in all aspects with respect to the benchmark. Good results were also reported by general practitioners who assessed the quality of their remote interfaces for telemonitoring.
Testing the usability level of technologies is a basilar step to achieve solutions with real importance to its end users. This is even more important when solutions targeted to a public with special needs and specific desires, such as the older population, are under development. This paper reports a study assessing the evolution of usability and usefulness of an iTV platform developed to promote the info-inclusion and quality of life of Portuguese seniors through the delivery of informative contents about public and social services. The tests occurred in two different moments, with two different samples, among which improvements in the prototype under development were implemented. The evaluation focused on usability and utility related problems. The results showed a high level of usability on the platform, and it also seemed consensual that this platform will represent an added value to elderly.
The smart house proposes home services for the inhabitant using different equipment and technologies to facilitate and improve his daily life. The proposed solutions are user's profile based. His needs and preferences, like temperature, security and TV preferences, constitute the profile on which services are defined. With the internet of Things, the connections between all household equipment are possible offering new services. The TV can be used as a control interface for each service in the house. Also, different notifications can be displayed on the TV screen to remind or inform the user for important things. In the following, we propose a home-box that offers to the user, using the TV screen, the management and control of different services in the house. He can be notified of different reminders. Also, we take in consideration the user's preferences to recommend to him the best program per his TV profile. The solution proposes also a TV recommendation program for a group of users.
The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and services and their integration in Ambient Intelligence (AmI) Environments revealed a new range of roles that TVs are expected to play so as to improve quality of life. This work introduces AmITV, an integrated multimodal system that permits end-users to use the TV not only as a traditional entertainment center, but also as (i) a control center for manipulating any intelligent device, (ii) an intervention host that presents appropriate content when they need help or support, (iii) an intelligent agent that communicates with the users in a natural manner and assists them throughout their daily activities, (iv) a notification medium that informs them about interesting or urgent events, and (v) a communication hub that permits them to exchange messages in real-time or asynchronously. This paper presents two motivational scenarios inspired from Home and Hotel Intelligent Environments and the infrastructure behind AmITV. Additionally, it describes how it realizes the newly emerged roles of TVs as a multimodal, intelligent and versatile interaction hub with the ambient facilities of the entire technologically-augmented environment.
Notifications represent a key element in smart devices. In fact, a device could be considered “smart” if it is able to provide different type of messages or notifications to the users. In this way, people who use smart devices receive a significant number of notifications daily. However, how many notifications can a user receive and attend daily? If the number of notifications increases a lot, it is possible that the user experience decrease. In this article, a study is carried out on the level of user’s satisfaction related to the number of notifications received in different smart devices. To achieve this goal, a survey was applied taking into consideration the following devices: smart speaker, smart fridge, smart TV, smart watch, smart phone, and car’s integrated computer system. The study comprises the participation of 439 people from 8 countries.
Elderly who suffer from hearing impairment usually have difficulties talking on a phone due to the absence of face-to-face signals. This difficulty gradually weakens the connection between the elderly and their beloved family living remotely. To assist these hearing-impaired elderly, we propose VisualLink, a visual aids system for them to better receive and comprehend a call. Specifically, VisualLink notifies elderly of a call using notifications on large screen (TV) and wearable device with haptic feedback. The elderly then pick up the call via a VisualLink phone with a traditional-look, which automatically uses speech recognition to transcribe the call and show the caption on the screen, with interactive visual content such as images authored by the caller. In the evaluation of the prototype, participants gave VisualLink positive feedback for its ease of use and usefulness for making them better connected to their family's life.
Social isolation, common in old age, leads to a decrease of both physical and psychological skills and, consequently, to a decreased quality of life and even to a higher mortality risk. Social Network Services, like Facebook, have the potential to increase the amount of online and offline social interactions of older adults. However, because of the huge diversity of characteristics of this user group, the lack of inclusive design principles concerning existing Social Network Services, and the inappropriate ways of interaction available, older adults still resist adopting these services. In this paper we present the “You, me & TV”, a television-based multimodal Facebook prototype enhanced with TV shows sharing functionalities, a new feature for sharing printed photos, and multiple interaction modalities – remote control, voice and gestures–. We present three in-depth case studies of the use of this prototype by three older adults aged between 65 and 73 years with distinct levels of experience using Facebook, during a period between 3 and 6 weeks. Results indicate that participants accepted the prototype, rated it highly in terms of usability, and that it improved their interaction with relatives, increasing both online and offline interactions. This was particularly visible for participants that were not Facebook users before the study. We also provide relevant conclusions about the relevancy of photos and how they can easily trigger interactions between older adults and their family, and how using TV as platform for deploying access to Facebook proved to be a contributing factor to their adoption. Finally, we show how adaptation and personalization concepts were perceived and received distinctly among participants.
The growing use of second-screen devices stresses the importance of finding a balance between engagement, distraction, and disturbance of its users, while simultaneously watching television. In this framework, this article reports on a study designed to analyze the efficiency, impact, and interference of different notification strategies aiming to identify the best approach to be used when an alert is needed in second-screen scenarios.
A prototype able to deliver synchronized information related with TV content, with intervals of 10, 30 and 60 s, followed by individual or combined notifications (e.g., audio, visual, and haptic—on the tablet and visual—on the TV) was developed. A laboratory adapted to replicate a living room was set up and a test that involved watching three segments of a 20-min clip while using the prototype was carried with 30 participants, under a cognitive walk-through protocol.
Quantitative and qualitative results show that receiving notifications while watching TV is effective in alerting users about new information, despite its inherent cognitive disturbance for the TV viewing experience. It was also possible to highlight that in an HCI perspective, the most suitable strategy for integrating notifications (considering type and cadence) should be based on a combination of a visual notification (displayed only on the TV screen) along with a haptic notification (vibration on the tablet); spaced by an interval of at least 30 s.