Tactowel: A Subtle Sports Performance Display for Giving Real-Time Performance Feedback in Tennis

Sports technology enhances athletes’ performance by providing feedback. However, interaction techniques of current devices may overwhelm athletes with excessive information or distract them from their performance. Despite previous research, design knowledge on how to interact with these devices to prevent such occasions are scarce. To address this gap, we introduce subtle displays as real-time sports performance feedback output devices that unobtrusively present low-resolution information. In this paper, we conceptualize and apply subtle displays to tennis by designing Tactowel, a texture changing sports towel. We evaluate Tactowel through a remote user study with 8 professional tennis players, in which they experience, compare and discuss Tactowel. Our results suggest subtle displays could prevent overwhelming and distracting athletes through three distinct design strategies: (1) Restricting the use excluding duration of performance, (2) using the available routines and interactions, and (3) giving an overall abstraction through tangible interaction. We discuss these results to present design implications and future considerations for designing subtle displays.

[1]  Brandon Berry,et al.  Adapting Heuristics for Notification Systems , 2003 .

[2]  Gerhard Tröster,et al.  Non-interrupting user interfaces for electronic body-worn swim devices , 2009, PETRA '09.

[3]  Aykut Coskun,et al.  Understanding the Lonesome Tennis Players: Insights for Future Wearables , 2017, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[4]  Andrea Bunt,et al.  Data representations for in-situ exploration of health and fitness data , 2017, PervasiveHealth.

[5]  John Zimmerman,et al.  Video sketches: exploring pervasive computing interaction designs , 2005, IEEE Pervasive Comput..

[6]  Gareth Irwin,et al.  Reflective practice and the origins of elite coaching knowledge , 2004 .

[7]  D. Sharma,et al.  Effectiveness of knowledge of result and knowledge of performance in the learning of a skilled motor activity by healthy young adults , 2016, Journal of physical therapy science.

[8]  Sean A. Munson,et al.  Beyond Abandonment to Next Steps: Understanding and Designing for Life after Personal Informatics Tool Use , 2016, CHI.

[9]  Aykut Coskun,et al.  Specifying Relevant Textural Properties for Unobtrusive Feedback on Sports Performance , 2019, Tangible and Embedded Interaction.

[10]  Elise van den Hoven,et al.  Peripheral interaction: characteristics and considerations , 2014, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.

[11]  R. Riener,et al.  Augmented visual, auditory, haptic, and multimodal feedback in motor learning: A review , 2012, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

[12]  Carman Neustaedter,et al.  Ziklo: bicycle navigation through tactile feedback , 2014, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[13]  Tony Morris,et al.  Flow state in self-paced and externally-paced performance contexts: An examination of the flow model , 2013 .

[14]  Hiroshi Ishii,et al.  Emerging frameworks for tangible user interfaces , 2000, IBM Syst. J..

[15]  Jacob P. Somervell,et al.  A model for notification systems evaluation—assessing user goals for multitasking activity , 2003, TCHI.

[16]  Natasha D. Schüll.  Data for life: Wearable technology and the design of self-care , 2016, BioSocieties.

[17]  Craig Alexander Wisneski,et al.  The Design of Personal Ambient Displays , 1999 .

[18]  Aykut Coskun,et al.  Designing the Next Generation of Activity Trackers for Performance Sports: Insights from Elite Tennis Coaches , 2019, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[19]  P. Mayring.  Qualitative Content Analysis: Demarcation, Varieties, Developments , 2019 .

[20]  Saskia Bakker,et al.  Plux: Exploring Light Settings through Hybrid Control , 2018, Tangible and Embedded Interaction.

[21]  Kristof Van Laerhoven,et al.  Using Wrist-Worn Activity Recognition for Basketball Game Analysis , 2018, iWOAR.

[22]  Paul van Schaik,et al.  The Short-Term Effects of Real-Time Virtual Reality Feedback on Motor Learning in Dance , 2011, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[23]  Martin Ludvigsen,et al.  TacTowers: an interactive training equipment for elite athletes , 2010, Conference on Designing Interactive Systems.

[24]  Albrecht Schmidt,et al.  My painting shows my stats: towards a personal colorful activity display , 2017, MUM.

[25]  Florian Mueller,et al.  Running with technology: where are we heading? , 2014, OZCHI.

[26]  Baris Akgün,et al.  Flow State Feedback Through Sports Wearables: A Case Study on Tennis , 2018, Conference on Designing Interactive Systems.

[27]  T. Takeuchi,et al.  Auditory Information in Playing Tennis , 1993, Perceptual and motor skills.

[28]  Larissa Hjorth,et al.  Understanding physical activity through 3D printed material artifacts , 2014, CHI.

[29]  G. R. J. Hockey,et al.  Applied Attention Theory , 2009 .

[30]  Koen van Boerdonk,et al.  Moving Tangible Interaction Systems to the Next Level , 2013, Computer.

[31]  Lorcan Coyle,et al.  On Ambient Information Systems: Challenges of Design and Evaluation , 2009, Int. J. Ambient Comput. Intell..

[32]  D. Leutner,et al.  Assessment of Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning with Dual-Task Methodology: Auditory Load and Modality Effects , 2004 .

[33]  Danhua Wu.  Applying User Testing Practices on a Wearable Device , 2016 .

[34]  R. Singer.  Performance and human factors: considerations about cognition and attention for self-paced and externally-paced events , 2000, Ergonomics.

[35]  Joëlle Carpentier,et al.  When change-oriented feedback enhances motivation, well-being and performance: A look at autonomy-supportive feedback in sport , 2013 .

[36]  F. Paas,et al.  Measurement of Cognitive Load in Instructional Research , 1994, Perceptual and motor skills.

[37]  B. Pluim,et al.  Intensity of tennis match play , 2006, British Journal of Sports Medicine.

[38]  Christian Koehler,et al.  Why we use and abandon smart devices , 2015, UbiComp.

[39]  Ian M Franks,et al.  Advances in the application of information technology to sport performance , 2002, Journal of sports sciences.

[40]  Jaakko Hakulinen,et al.  Conducting a Wizard of Oz Experiment on a Ubiquitous Computing System Doorman , 2001 .

[41]  Bongshin Lee,et al.  Reducing legacy bias in gesture elicitation studies , 2014, INTR.

[42]  Ritch Macefield,et al.  How to specify the participant group size for usability studies: a practitioner's guide , 2009 .

[43]  Susanne Geister,et al.  Effects of Process Feedback on Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance in Virtual Teams , 2006 .

[44]  R. Brislin.  Back-Translation for Cross-Cultural Research , 1970 .

[45]  Dale H. Schunk,et al.  Self-efficacy, motivation, and performance , 1995 .

[46]  H. Kwakernaak,et al.  Feedback Systems , 2009, Encyclopedia of Database Systems.

[47]  C. Shea,et al.  Principles derived from the study of simple skills do not generalize to complex skill learning , 2002, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[48]  Brian Henson,et al.  Materials’ tactile testing and characterisation for consumer products’ affective packaging design , 2009 .

[49]  Arnold Baca,et al.  Rapid Feedback Systems for Elite Sports Training , 2006, IEEE Pervasive Computing.

[50]  Chris Harrison,et al.  Texture displays: a passive approach to tactile presentation , 2009, CHI.

[51]  Antonio Krüger,et al.  ClimbAware: Investigating Perception and Acceptance of Wearables in Rock Climbing , 2016, CHI.