Vrije Universiteit Brussel Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences Department of Computer Science MindXpres Conceptual and Technical Foundations for Next Generation Presentation Solutions PhD Candidate: Promoter: Reinout Roels Prof. Dr. Beat Signer Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Sciences Members of the Jury Prof. Dr. Olga De Troyer Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Chair) Prof. Dr. Johan Loeckx Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Secretary) Prof. Dr. Beat Signer Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Promoter) Prof. Dr. Jo Tondeur Vrije Universiteit Brussel Prof. Dr. Kris Luyten Universiteit Hasselt Prof. Dr. Katrien Verbert KU Leuven May 2019 Abstract Presentation software such as PowerPoint, also known as slideware, has become a de facto standard as support for oral presentations. However, these tools were initially created as simulators for physical slides and have adopted many of their characteris- tics, including their limitations. These limitations include a strictly linear navigation of presentations, relatively static content and a tedious and time-consuming author- ing process. Presentation software was introduced over 30 years ago but these tools have changed very little since their inception. This is especially remarkable given the other technological advances that were made in the same timespan. Even though slideware may not be the optimal medium for all scenarios, the fact remains that it is used everywhere. Therefore, addressing existing shortcomings and unmet user needs can have a major impact. In this dissertation we start by investigating the existing shortcomings of presentation tools. By means of a literature study, observations, a survey and the programmatic analysis of more than 12 000 PowerPoint documents, we derive user needs and pinpoint issues that should be addressed. Our experiments resulted in a large dataset and a database of extracted metadata that will further help other researchers in the domain. As we show, existing presentation tools enforce specific (arguably outdated) paradigms which makes it difficult to address the observed shortcomings directly in existing tools. We motivate the need to revisit the concept of a presentation and to rebuild the conceptual and technical foundations that are required for improved presentation tools. This resulted in the MindXpres platform, a reusable presentation prototyp- ing platform that allows researchers and developers to easily implement and evaluate novel presentation functionality. We present a new conceptual framework, content model and presentation engine with the aim of enabling novel presentation solutions. Our underlying information system is based on advanced hypermedia concepts and provides core support for content reuse, collaborative authoring, user management, versioning, semantics and context awareness. The MindXpres presentation engine’s plug-in architecture is more flexible than existing presentation software, enabling a wide range of presentation styles, data visualisations, audience interactions and solu- tions that help presenters to deliver their content more effectively. Any component can easily be extended or replaced, and we support both existing presentation styles such as Prezi-like canvas presentations or PowerPoint’s classic slideshows, as well as some new presentation styles. The extensible architecture further provides support for content types that are not easily visualised in other presentation software, such as dynamic, interactive or audience-driven content. After providing the necessary conceptual and technical foundation we demonstrate the flexibility of the MindXpres platform by developing a number of proof-of-concept solutions for some of the identified shortcomings and unmet user needs. We dis- cuss various plug-in solutions related to the management of presentation content, a better involvement of the audience in presentations, interactive and dynamic data visualisation, providing feedback on the presenter’s performance and content, novel presenter views and some solutions that allow the presenter to create better con- tent with less effort. As a presentation platform, MindXpres offers the conceptual and technical foundations that allow developers and researchers to create well inte- grated and interoperable presentation solutions, and to realise currently unsupported next generation presentation concepts. Ultimately, our contributions and proof-of- concept solutions might pave the way for more efficient presentation authoring and more effective knowledge transfer via oral presentations. Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank the promoter of this thesis, Prof. Dr. Beat Signer. Beat has taught me a lot and I am very grateful for the countless hours he has spent on providing feedback. Every year I look back, and every year I see how Beat’s guidance has continued to improve my skills. Next I would like to thank the members of the jury: Prof. Dr. Olga De Troyer, Prof. Dr. Johan Loeckx, Prof. Dr. Jo Tondeur, Prof. Dr. Katrien Verbert and Prof. Dr. Kris Luyten. The effort that they put into reviewing my work resulted in fruitful discus- sions and their feedback has definitely improved this final version of the dissertation. During my PhD trajectory I supervised 2 Bachelor’s and 16 Master’s theses. Many of these were on the topic of MindXpres and I thank all these students for the contributions that they have made to this research project. A complete list of students can be found in Appendix A, and their contributions will be referenced in the relevant sections of this dissertation. I could not have finished my PhD without also having some fun, and for that Ithankall my friends and colleagues. The list is too long to thank everyone separately, but you know who you are. Whether it was help, discussions, game nights, drinking sessions, LAN parties, trying random new restaurants or painstakingly walking 100km, these moments have kept me sane and will never be forgotten. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to express my gratitude tomy family. I want to thank my parents, as their continuous support has gotten me where I am today. I thank my parents-in-law and sister-in-law for their help and for the immeasurable amounts of delicious food and orange juice that kept me fuelled. Most importantly, I thank Shirley, my life partner. Life with a newborn baby is not easy, and life with a newborn baby and a person finishing their PhD must be impossible. Yet, you always understood and you were always there for me. Your advice, patience and sacrifices have allowed us to get through this rough period, and I look forward to the other adventures we will have together. Contents I Introduction, Background and Related Work 1 1 Introduction 3 1.1 Context ................................. 3 1.2 Terminology ............................... 4 1.3 Problem Statement ........................... 5 1.4 Research Questions and Objectives ................... 6 1.5 Research Approach and Methodology .................. 8 1.6 Contributions .............................. 12 1.7 Publications ............................... 12 2 Background and Related Work 17 2.1 History of Presentation Software .................... 17 2.2 Commonly Used Presentation Software . 18 2.2.1 Commercial Presentation Software . 19 2.2.2 Markup Languages and Software Frameworks . 20 2.3 The Pros and Cons of Slideware .................... 20 2.3.1 Effect of Slideware on Learning Performance . 21 2.3.2 Effect of Slideware on Attitude and Perception . 22 2.3.3 Effect of Slideware on Attendance . 22 2.3.4 Effect of Slideware on Presentation Flow . 22 2.3.5 Effect of Slideware on Presentation Content . 23 2.3.6 Effect of Slideware on Presenter Skills . 25 2.4 State of the Art of Presentation Solutions . 25 2.4.1 Zoomable User Interfaces (ZUIs) . 26 2.4.2 Non-linear Navigation ...................... 27 2.4.3 Content Reuse and Collaboration . 28 2.4.4 Semantics ............................ 29 2.4.5 Dynamic and Interactive Content . 29 2.4.6 Audience Involvement ...................... 30 2.4.7 Presentation Skills ........................ 31 2.5 Conclusions Drawn from Related Work . 32 II Identifying Shortcomings and Unmet User Needs 35 3 User Needs, Preferences and Requirements 37 3.1 Literature Review ............................ 37 3.1.1 Need for Skilled Presenters and Good Presentations . 38 3.1.2 Need for Content Sharing, Reuse and Collaboration . 38 3.1.3 Need for Improved Content Support . 40 3.1.4 Need for Improved Slide Design Support . 40 3.2 Observations ............................... 41 3.3 Programmatic Analysis of PowerPoint Documents . 43 3.3.1 A Representative Sample of Presentations . 44 3.3.2 A Software Framework for Analysing the Sample . 45 3.3.3 Analysis Findings ......................... 47 3.4 Survey .................................. 55 3.4.1 Survey Findings ......................... 56 3.4.2 Survey Conclusions ....................... 68 3.5 Summary of User Needs, Preferences and Requirements . 69 III MindXpres: Conceptual and Technical Foundations 75 4 A Conceptual Framework for Next Generation Presentations 77 4.1 Next Generation Presentation Concepts and Functionality . 78 4.2 A Unifying Conceptual Framework ................... 81 5 A Hypermedia-based Content Model and Information System 87 5.1 Existing Document Formats and Content Models . 88 5.1.1 OOXML, ODF and Similar Presentation Document Formats . 88 5.1.2 Learning Material Content Models . 89 5.2 Towards a Unifying “Future-Proof” Content Model for