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Using audio to support animated route information in a hospital touch-screen kiosk

Using audio to support animated route information in a hospital touch-screen kiosk
Using audio to support animated route information in a hospital touch-screen kiosk
It can be difficult for both patients and staff to find particular locations within large, modern hospital building complexes. Interactive way-finding information on a touch-screen kiosk might remedy this, but numerous design issues face those developing appropriate interfaces. This paper discusses the decisions underlying a design which provided routes to 16 destinations in the UK’s third largest hospital, for both stair users and those wishing to avoid stairs. All routes included an animated map, photographs and text boxes with optional spoken output. Assessment methods included unobtrusive observation of kiosk users, analysis of computer logs, and interviews with reception staff who normally answered way-finding queries. Observation confirmed that people using the touch-screen reached their destinations. The computer logs over 10 weeks showed a stable daily average of 82 people interacting with the kiosk. Most way-finders (72%) retained the voice output but 28% turned it off, suggesting that modality choice is needed in multimedia interfaces for the public. This study highlighted beneficial side-effects of interactive way-finding kiosks, such as enabling patients to access relevant route information before visiting the hospital. This information could be provided via the internet or by including a printout of the relevant route with the appointment letter.
Animated maps Pedestrian navigation Public information kiosks Route information Spoken text Way-finding
0747-5632
753 - 759
Wright, Patricia
553f5be8-e0fc-41be-ac24-8ffb21cfca82
Soroka, Anthony
41d0ddd0-0aa4-456c-bb33-dbbf2b26ea09
Belt, Steve
b3c396a3-fbe2-492c-b318-93c25a75f62b
Pham, Duc T.
81e7131a-d946-4adb-baaf-5c93457fb4fc
Dimov, Stefan
762d7f20-e222-4c51-a13e-b9fa4d155386
De Roure, David
02879140-3508-4db9-a7f4-d114421375da
Petrie, Helen
f185d872-3d0d-4224-90ce-1cb3190b454c
Wright, Patricia
553f5be8-e0fc-41be-ac24-8ffb21cfca82
Soroka, Anthony
41d0ddd0-0aa4-456c-bb33-dbbf2b26ea09
Belt, Steve
b3c396a3-fbe2-492c-b318-93c25a75f62b
Pham, Duc T.
81e7131a-d946-4adb-baaf-5c93457fb4fc
Dimov, Stefan
762d7f20-e222-4c51-a13e-b9fa4d155386
De Roure, David
02879140-3508-4db9-a7f4-d114421375da
Petrie, Helen
f185d872-3d0d-4224-90ce-1cb3190b454c

Wright, Patricia, Soroka, Anthony, Belt, Steve, Pham, Duc T., Dimov, Stefan, De Roure, David and Petrie, Helen (2010) Using audio to support animated route information in a hospital touch-screen kiosk. Computers in Human Behaviour, 26 (4), 753 - 759.

Record type: Article

Abstract

It can be difficult for both patients and staff to find particular locations within large, modern hospital building complexes. Interactive way-finding information on a touch-screen kiosk might remedy this, but numerous design issues face those developing appropriate interfaces. This paper discusses the decisions underlying a design which provided routes to 16 destinations in the UK’s third largest hospital, for both stair users and those wishing to avoid stairs. All routes included an animated map, photographs and text boxes with optional spoken output. Assessment methods included unobtrusive observation of kiosk users, analysis of computer logs, and interviews with reception staff who normally answered way-finding queries. Observation confirmed that people using the touch-screen reached their destinations. The computer logs over 10 weeks showed a stable daily average of 82 people interacting with the kiosk. Most way-finders (72%) retained the voice output but 28% turned it off, suggesting that modality choice is needed in multimedia interfaces for the public. This study highlighted beneficial side-effects of interactive way-finding kiosks, such as enabling patients to access relevant route information before visiting the hospital. This information could be provided via the internet or by including a printout of the relevant route with the appointment letter.

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More information

Published date: 11 February 2010
Additional Information: Emerging and Scripted Roles in Computer-supported Collaborative Learning
Keywords: Animated maps Pedestrian navigation Public information kiosks Route information Spoken text Way-finding
Organisations: Electronics & Computer Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 271000
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/271000
ISSN: 0747-5632
PURE UUID: bc7de3ef-5035-465d-a507-5e3678a00cdb
ORCID for David De Roure: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9074-3016

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 05 May 2010 16:41
Last modified: 08 Jan 2022 11:54

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Contributors

Author: Patricia Wright
Author: Anthony Soroka
Author: Steve Belt
Author: Duc T. Pham
Author: Stefan Dimov
Author: David De Roure ORCID iD
Author: Helen Petrie

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