We present an actuated-interface that is not only a tangible interface but also an autonomous object, designed as an independent entity that takes a similar role to the user's role in an anagram word game. We highlight two leading interaction paradigms: Turn-taking-actuation and Joint-actuation, and evaluate both in a qualitative interaction study with the autonomous actuated-interface. Our findings reveal that all participants perceived the interaction as a social experience. The different interaction paradigms led to different interpretations: Turn-taking-actuation was interpreted as a competitive experience, while Joint-actuation was interpreted as a collaborative experience. The interaction paradigms also influenced the intensity of emotions and perception of control, with Joint-actuation leading to more intense emotions and higher sensitivity to control in the interaction. To conclude, our findings show that it is possible to design an actuated-interface that users perceive both as a tangible interface and as a social entity with its own intent.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445468
The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (https://chi2021.acm.org/)