Quality of Experience in Relation to Wearables A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Nadia Hussain Department of Information Systems and Computing, Brunel University January 2020 ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to apply the concept of Quality of Experience (QoE) to wearables. QoE is inextricably linked to the user experience of multimedia computing and, although QoE has been explored in relation to other types of multimedia devices, thus far its applicability to wearables has remained largely ignored. Given the proliferation of wearable devices and their growing use to augment and complement the multimedia user experience, the need for a set of QoE guidelines becomes imperative. The study which forms the focus of this PhD meets that need and puts forward a set of guidelines tailored exclusively towards wearables’ QoE. Accordingly, an extensive experimental investigation has been undertaken to see how wearables impact users’ QoE in both multimedia and multiple sensorial media (mulsemedia) contexts. Based on two exploratory studies, the findings have shown that the haptic vest (KOR-FX) enhanced user QoE to a certain extent. In terms of adoption, participants reported they would generally incorporate the heart rate (HR) monitor wristband (Mio Go) into their daily lives as opposed to the haptic vest. Other findings revealed that human factors play a part in user’s attitudes towards wearables and predominantly age was the major influencing factor across both of the studies. Moreover, the participants’ HR varied throughout the experiments, suggesting an enhanced level of engagement whilst viewing the multimedia video clips. Furthermore, the results suggest that there is a potential future for wearables, if the QoE is a positive one and also if the design of such devices are appealing as well as unobtrusive. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, praise to the Almighty Allah that has showered me with many blessings in this life, without which this journey would be impossible. I would like to express my gratitude and special thanks to my late mother who has always supported me towards my education and because of her I have been able to come this far and complete my PhD. I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Professor George Ghinea, for his incredible help and support during my PhD research. I was very lucky to have him as a supervisor; he has constantly assisted me every step of the way. I also want to thank my sister for all her love and support. I would also like to thank the University of Oxford which I work for, for supporting me during this precious time, and for granting me a time of absence in order to be able to dedicate more time to my research, which was a great help for me. Finally, I would like to thank all my colleagues, friends, students and anyone else who helped by participating in my experiments, for their valuable time. Thank you all! DECLARATION The following papers have been published (or submitted for publication) as a direct result of the research discussed in this thesis: Peer-reviewed Conferences 1. Hussain, N., Mesfin, G., Covaci, A. and Ghinea, G. (2018) ‘Towards Augmenting Multimedia QoE with Wearable Devices: Perspectives from an Empirical Study’, IEEE International Conference on Multimedia & Expo Workshops (ICMEW), San Diego, July, pp.1-6. 2. Mesfin, G., Hussain, N., Covaci, A. and Ghinea, G. (2018) ‘Inverse and Transitivity of Cross-Modal Correspondence in Mulsemedia’, IEEE International Conference on Multimedia & Expo Workshops (ICMEW), San Diego, July, pp.1-6. 3. Covaci, A., Mesfin, G., Hussain, N., Kani, E, Andres, F. and Ghinea, G. ‘A Study on the Quality of Experience of Crossmodal Mulsemedia’, The 10th International Conference on Management of Emergent Digital EcoSystems, Tokyo, Japan, Sep. Journals 1. Mesfin, G., Hussain, N., Covaci, A. and Ghinea, G. (2019) ‘Using Eye Tracking and Heart Rate Activity to Examine Crossmodal Correspondences QoE in Mulsemedia’, ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications, 15(2), 34. 2. Covaci, A., Estêvão, S., Mesfin, G., Hussain, N., Kani, E. and Ghinea, G. (2019) ‘How Do We Experience Crossmodal Correspondent Mulsemedia Content?’, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, pp.1-10. 3. Mesfin, G., Hussain, N., Kani, E., Covaci, A., Estêvão, S. and Ghinea, G. (2019) ‘QoE of cross-modally mapped mulsemedia: an assessment using eye gaze and heart rate’, Multimedia Tools and Applications, accepted for publication. 4. Kani, E., Hussain, N., Mesfin, G. and Ghinea, G. (2019) ‘On the Influence of Human-Factors in Cross-Modal Mulsemedia QoE’, submitted under review. ABBREVIATIONS ACR Absolute Category Rating AI Artificial Intelligence ANOVA Analysis of Variance APP Application APPS Applications AR Augmented Reality BPM Beats Per Minute CAGR Compound Annual Growth CG Control Group ECG Electrocardiogram EDA Electrodermal Activity EEG Electroencephalography EG Experimental Group EKG Electrocardiography EMG Electromyography GPS Global Positioning System GSR Galvanic Skin Response HCI Human Computer Interaction HMD Head Mounted Display HR Heart Rate IDC International Data Corporation IDT Innovation Diffusion Theory IF Influence Factor IPTV Internet-based Protocol Television LED Light Emitting Diode MOS Mean Opinion Score Mulsemedia Multiple Sensorial Media NFC Near Field Communication OLED Organic light-emitting diode QoE Quality of Experience QoS Quality of Service SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SUS System Usability Scale TAM Technology Acceptance Model TEL Technology Enhanced Learning TPB Theory of Planned Behaviour TRA Theory of Reasoned Action UEQ User Experience Questionnaire UX User Experience VoD Video on Demand VoIP Voice over IP VR Virtual Reality TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................... 1 1.1 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................ 1 1.2 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................... 1 1.3 A BRIEF HISTORY OF WEARABLES ......................................................... 2 1.4 THE MARKET GROWTH FORECASTS OF WEARABLES .............................. 7 1.5 RESEARCH PROBLEM ............................................................................. 9 1.6 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES......................................................... 10 1.7 THESIS STRUCTURE ............................................................................. 11 1.8 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Literature Review ......................................................................... 13 2.1 OVERVIEW .......................................................................................... 13 2.2 USER EXPERIENCE ............................................................................... 14 2.3 ADOPTION THEORIES ........................................................................... 15 2.4 WEARABLES ....................................................................................... 19 2.4.1 Smart Jewellery ................................................................................. 19 2.4.2 Wrist-Worn Devices ........................................................................... 23 26 2.4.3 Virtual and Augmented Reality Devices ............................................. 27 2.4.4 Smart Clothing .................................................................................. 30 2.4.5 Fashion ............................................................................................. 30 2.4.6 Healthcare and Fitness ...................................................................... 32 2.5 LIMITATIONS ....................................................................................... 36 2.6 QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE .................................................................... 37 2.6.1 Quality of Experience vs Quality of Service ....................................... 40 2.6.2 Measures ........................................................................................... 41 2.7 MULSEMEDIA AND QOE ...................................................................... 43 2.8 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 43 Chapter 3: Research Methodology .................................................................. 45 3.1 OVERVIEW .......................................................................................... 45 3.2 RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE: POSITIVISM .................................................. 45 3.2.1 Positivistic paradigm and this study................................................... 47 3.2.2 Measurement, and systematic empiricism .......................................... 50 3.3 FIXED RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................... 51 3.4 INSTRUMENTATION ............................................................................. 53 3.5 INTERNAL - EXTERNAL VALIDITY - RANDOMIZATION AND GENERALISABILITY ......................................................................................... 53 3.6 STRUCTURED AND UNSTRUCTURED EXPERIMENTS ............................... 55 3.7 EXPERIMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRES ....................................................... 56 3.7.1 System Usability Scale (SUS) Questionnaire ...................................... 56 3.7.2 User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ)