Camera-Based Closed-Loop Fingertip Deflection Guidance: Pilot Demonstrations in Target Acquisition and Object Retrieval

2026-04-13

Many eyes-free guidance systems convey direction through symbolic cues that require interpretation, potentially increasing cognitive load and competing with critical sensory channels. This work builds on prior studies of fingertip deflection as a physically-grounded guidance cue previously demonstrated in controlled 1D and 2D settings using an instrumented testbed. Here, a camera is integrated onto the actuation ring to enable object-referenced, closed-loop guidance during free reach. Using ArUco targets, the system estimates target displacement in the camera frame and maps this error into continuous fingertip deflection cues in real time. Two pilot demonstrations illustrate feasibility: (1) a Fitts-style touchscreen target acquisition task with trajectory visualization, and (2) an object-retrieval task with video-based evidence of guided approach and grasp. These vignettes ground a forthcoming study with participants who are blind and vision-impaired, and invite discussion on how ring-mounted sensing can best support embodied, eyes-free guidance in everyday interactions.

Restoring Human Authenticity in AI-Mediated Communication

2026-04-13

People now connect, collaborate, and maintain relationships through technologies far more complex than early computer-mediated communication (CMC). Beyond text, audio, and video, today’s tools include social robots, tangible interfaces, and virtual reality, all of which actively shape routines and relationships. The rapid rise of AI further changes the picture: it now edits, augments, and even generates messages, transforming how people express intentions and emotions. These capabilities promise assistive gains but also raise concerns about authenticity, over-automation, and interaction quality. This workshop invites interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners to explore the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI into communication technologies. We view communication as a layered social practice involving the negotiation of presence and connectedness, attention to partners and contexts, and self-presentation while attuning to others’ emotions. Our goals are to: (1) co-develop design agendas grounded in these practices, (2) identify recurring opportunities and risks of AI integration, and (3) propose sustainable directions that respect autonomy, authenticity, and social well-being. Participants will share experiences and uncover design opportunities through short talks and interactive sessions. Together, we aim to deepen understanding of CMC in the age of AI and reimagine technologies that foster meaningful interaction.

Demonstrating Eyes-Free Object Retrieval via Fingertip Deflection Guidance Using the NURing

2026-04-13

Many eyes-free guidance systems convey directional information through symbolic cues requiring interpretation, potentially increasing cognitive load and competing with existing sensory channels. We present an interactive demonstration of fingertip deflection as a continuous, physically-intuitive guidance cue that gently biases the arm during reach. Motivated by a challenge frequently reported by individuals with blindness — that of safely retrieving small objects within arm’s reach — we developed an eyes-free, object-retrieval task. Building on our prior NURing, we extend fingertip deflection beyond instrumented testbeds by integrating a camera on the actuation ring. This allows the NURing to detect ArUco-tagged objects, estimate their pose relative to the camera, and drive continuous closed-loop deflection cues toward the target in real time. This demonstration invites attendees to experience this embodied guidance firsthand and to explore how fingertip deflection could support future assistive and collaborative systems that guide action through physical intuition rather than cognitive translation.

AI constructs gendered struggle narratives: Implications for self-concept and systems design.

2025-06-23 · 2 citations

Personal narratives are key to developing self-concept which influences how we see and value ourselves.As adolescents who are still developing their self-concept increasingly use generative AI to write personal narratives, our knowledge of how AI constructs personal narratives is limited.Through a mixed-methods algorithmic audit of 160 AI-generated college application essays created in OpenAI ("o1" and "4o"), we find that prompts referencing marginalized gender identities more often yield narratives focused on overcoming societal bias or contributing to in-group communities.We also observe that the newer model sometimes refuses to provide a direct essay, especially when prompted from a first-person perspective.Our content analysis, informed by narrative psychology theory, highlights how these AI responses can both reflect and reinforce prevailing social biases, thereby shaping adolescents' emerging self-concepts.While AI holds promise in democratizing narrative coaching, it also poses risks of perpetuating stereotypes and displacing authentic self-expression.Future design for narrative identity-relevant AI models should focus on reducing reliance on stereotypes by enhancing training data diversity to support identity development and ensuring equitable access to educational features across paid and free models.

Pressure to use AI for college admissions: implications for adolescent self-concept and intelligent coaching design

2025-06-22 · 1 citations

AI That Helps Us Help Each Other: A Proactive System for Scaffolding Mentor-Novice Collaboration in Entrepreneurship Coaching

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · 2025-10-16

Entrepreneurship requires navigating open-ended, ill-defined problems: identifying risks, challenging assumptions, and making strategic decisions under deep uncertainty. Novice founders often struggle with these metacognitive demands, while mentors face limited time and visibility to provide tailored support. We present a human-AI coaching system that combines a domain-specific cognitive model of entrepreneurial risk with a large language model (LLM) to proactively scaffold both novice and mentor thinking. The system proactively poses diagnostic questions that challenge novices' thinking and helps both novices and mentors plan for more focused and emotionally attuned meetings. Critically, mentors can inspect and modify the underlying cognitive model, shaping the logic of the system to reflect their evolving needs. Through an exploratory field deployment, we found that using the system supported novice metacognition, reduced mentors' cognitive load, and improved meeting depth, intentionality, and focus--while also surfaced key tensions around trust, misdiagnosis, and expectations of AI. We contribute design principles for proactive AI systems that scaffold metacognition and human-human collaboration in complex, ill-defined domains, offering implications for similar domains like healthcare, education, and knowledge work.

What Remotely Matters? Understanding Individual, Team, and Organizational Factors in Remote Work at Scale

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · 2025-10-16 · 1 citations

Although knowledge workers are increasingly able to adopt remote and hybrid working arrangements and work productively, many organizations continue to question the effectiveness of remote work and focus on its concerns and challenges. Previous CSCW research shows that remote workers have limited awareness of other workers, require more explicit coordination, and feel excluded from in-person colleagues. Research also shows that adopting work practices and technologies that are remote work-friendly can offset many of these challenges. Identifying which effective practices and challenges are most helpful or hurtful to remote workers-and how workplace attributes (e.g., team structure; communication frequency; tool use) affect them-could strengthen organizations' strategies and policies for remote work. Through a theoretically-informed survey of 1,526 U.S. knowledge workers, we find many factors prior research has argued as essential to remote work, such as knowing your teammates personally, to be the least important for remote workers, and show how workplace attributes influence those perceptions. We provide theoretical and practical implications for future research for organizations that wish to support remote and hybrid work modalities.

NURing: A Tendon-Driven Wearable Ring for On-Demand Kinesthetic Haptic Feedback

2025-07-08 · 2 citations

Generating salient and intuitively understood haptic feedback on the human finger through a non-intrusive wearable remains a challenge in haptic device development. Most existing solutions either restrict the hand and finger's natural range of motion or impede sensory perception, quickly becoming intrusive during dexterous manipulation tasks. Here, we introduce NURing (Non-intrUsive Ring), a tendon-actuated haptic device that provides kinesthetic feedback by deflecting the finger. The NURing is easily donned and doffed, enabling on-demand kinesthetic feedback while leaving the hand and fingers free for dexterous tasks. We demonstrate that the device delivers perceptually salient feedback and evaluate its performance through a series of uniaxial motion guidance tasks. The lightweight NURing device, measuring approximately 220 g, can generate guidance cues at up to 1 Hz, enabling participants to identify target directions in under 3s with a 1.5° steady-state error, corresponding to a fingertip deviation of less than 11mm. Additionally, it can guide users along complex, smooth trajectories with an average trajectory error of 7°. These findings highlight the effectiveness of fingertip deflection as a kinesthetic feedback modality, enabling precise guidance for real-world applications such as sightless touchscreen navigation, assistive technology, and both industrial and consumer augmented/virtual reality systems.

CROSSROADS—Designing Institutions for Applied Impact: Lessons from Engineering for Organizational Research

Organization Science · 2025-09-01 · 2 citations

Organizational researchers increasingly call for applied impact, yet institutional structures continue to privilege theoretical novelty over practical relevance. In contrast, engineering fields have built mechanisms that legitimize rigorously validated, usable contributions—often publishing proven solutions before fully developed theories. Drawing on our experiences in both engineering and organizational research, we examine how institutional design—not just individual motivation—shapes what counts as legitimate scholarship. We identify structural levers that support applied impact across three institutional pillars: cognitive (what counts as knowledge), normative (what confers prestige), and regulative (what gets published and rewarded). By analyzing how engineering disciplines use diverse publication formats, evaluation rubrics, and inclusive authorship norms, we outline feasible reforms for organizational research. We propose a framework for institutional redesign that expands the definition of scholarly value while preserving rigor. History: This manuscript is part of the five-piece crossroads collection "Organization Research as an Applied Science," edited by Gokhan Ertug and Stephen Zhang. The companion pieces are Zhang and Ertug (2025) , Croson and Croson (2025) , Berry (2025) , and Yoeli and Rand (2025) . Funding: E. Gerber gratefully acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). C. Eesley gratefully acknowledges funding from the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP).

Overcoming challenges to personal narrative co-writing with AI: A participatory design approach for under-resourced high school students

2024-05-11

Our proposed research seeks to design co-writing AI systems to preserve the writer’s personal voice and maintain evaluation integrity with under-resourced high school students applying to college.