Denis Lalanne

This article extends our 2023 ASSETS paper, “ A Large-Scale Mixed-Methods Analysis of Blind and Low-vision Research in ACM and IEEE, ” which provided a field-, technology-, and method-agnostic examination of blind and low-vision (BLV) research. Our mixed-methods approach combined quantitative bibliometric analyses with a qualitative analysis of the field, resulting in four high-level research areas. Building on this analysis, we further explore these areas by identifying and characterizing research themes and examining how the notion of interaction has been used in BLV research through an analysis of co-located terms. Our results highlight the rich diversity, overlap, and complementarity among these themes while highlighting potential areas for interdisciplinary collaboration. Moreover, our investigation into the terms co-located with interaction reveals a predominant focus on the modalities, technologies, and actions involved in interaction, rather than on the qualities of interaction. Our paper extends our previous findings by providing: (1) a finer-grained delineation within and between research areas; (2) a better understanding of the notion of interaction within BLV research; (3) an analysis of the research methods used when developing interactive computing systems for BLV users; and (4) a comparative analysis of prior systematic literature reviews of BLV research and possibilities for future survey contributions in our field.

Recent advances in personalized sensing and comfort feedback have spurred the development of data-driven comfort models tailored to individual needs. However, because current models treat sequential comfort feedback independently, they are subject to unstable predictions and limited interpretability, hindering their deployment in building management. This study introduces a dynamic modeling framework that utilizes a Neural Ordinary Differential Equations-based Continuous-time Markov Chain to model the transitions in comfort states over time. Our modeling approach, developed through a field study utilizing smart glasses and mobile app feedback, tracks occupants' comfort transitions across daily activities and contexts. The results demonstrate that this model not only predicts comfort states more accurately and stably than conventional classification models but also uniquely provides a representation of how the hazards of state transitions are influenced by changing ambient and contextual conditions. This approach, therefore, offers a new perspective on personalized building control, where predictions of comfort transition hazards can preemptively suggest building management interventions to avoid occupants experiencing discomfort. In addition, insights into how environmental and contextual characteristics relate to these hazards can guide holistic management strategies that dynamically balance comfort with energy targets in response to the occupants' activities and contexts.

This article provides an ethnomethodologically informed ethnographic investigation of visually recognisable aspects of shared work spots in co-working office rooms. We focus on the phenomenon of holding a place in such environments, and document the participants’ practices which constitute distinguishing between empty and taken places. Our investigation leads to a conceptualisation of designed and ad hoc places, noting that objective assessments of rooms’ occupation status are problematic. We propose the notion of markers of presence, i.e. the material objects and their configurations, which participants use to indicate to others that a certain place is taken. Finally, we identify an observation area within the office space which participants recurrently use to assess the availability of work spots. We conclude by pointing out that rather than being tied to static features of material objects, the evidently visible occupational status of shared work spots is dynamically re-produced in participants’ ongoing courses of action.