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Museum exhibits encourage exploration with physical materials typically with minimal signage or guidance. Ideally children get interactive support as they explore, but it is not always feasible to have knowledgeable staff regularly present. Technology-based interactive support can provide guidance to help learners achieve scientific understanding for how and why things work and engineering skills for designing and constructing useful artifacts and for solving important problems. We have developed an innovative AI-based technology, Intelligent Science Exhibits that provide interactive guidance to visitors of an inquiry-based science exhibit. We used this technology to investigate alternative views of appropriate levels of guidance in exhibits. We contrasted visitor engagement and learning from interaction with an Intelligent Science Exhibit to a matched conventional exhibit. We found evidence that the Intelligent Science Exhibit produces substantially better learning for both scientific and engineering outcomes, equivalent levels of self-reported enjoyment, and higher levels of engagement as measured by the length of time voluntarily spent at the exhibit. These findings show potential for transforming hands-on museum exhibits with intelligent science exhibits and more generally indicate how providing children with feedback on their predictions and scientific explanations enhances their learning and engagement. 

Laptop webcams can be covertly activated by malware and law enforcement agencies. Consequently, 59% percent of Americans manually cover their webcams to avoid being surveilled. However, manual covers are prone to human error---through a survey with 200 users, we found that 61.5% occasionally forget to re-attach their cover after using their webcam. To address this problem, we developed Smart Webcam Cover (SWC): a thin film that covers the webcam (PDLC-overlay) by default until a user manually uncovers the webcam, and automatically covers the webcam when not in use. Through a two-phased design iteration process, we evaluated SWC with 20 webcam cover users through a remote study with a video prototype of SWC, compared to manual operation, and discussed factors that influence users' trust in the effectiveness of SWC and their perceptions of its utility. 

Improving end-users’ awareness of cybersecurity warnings (e.g., phishing and malware alerts) remains a longstanding problem in usable security. Prior work suggests two key weaknesses with existing warnings: they are primarily communicated via saturated communication channels (e.g., visual, auditory, and vibrotactile); and, they are communicated rationally, not viscerally. We hypothesized that wrist-based affective haptics should address both of these weaknesses in a form-factor that is practically deployable: i.e., as a replaceable wristband compatible with modern smartwatches like the Apple Watch. To that end, we designed and implemented Spidey Sense, a wristband that produces customizable squeezing sensations to alert users to urgent cybersecurity warnings. To evaluate Spidey Sense, we applied a three-phased ‘Gen-Rank-Verify’ study methodology with 48 participants. We found evidence that, relative to vibrotactile alerts, Spidey Sense was considered more appropriate for the task of alerting people to cybersecurity warnings. 

Bluetooth requires device pairing to ensure security in data transmission, encumbering a number of ad-hoc, transactional interactions that require both ease-of-use and "good enough" security: e.g., sharing contact information or secure links to people nearby. We introduce Bit Whisperer, an ad-hoc short-range wireless communication system that enables "walk up and share'" data transmissions with "good enough" security. Bit Whisperer transmits data to proximate devices co-located on a solid surface through high frequency, inaudible acoustic signals. The physical surface has two benefits: it limits communication range since sound travels more robustly on a flat solid surface than air; and, it makes the domain of communication visible, helping users identify exactly with whom they are sharing data without prior pairing. Through a series of technical evaluations, we demonstrate that Bit Whisperer is robust for common use-cases and secure against likely threats. We also implement three example applications to demonstrate the utility of Whisperer: 1-to-1 local contact sharing, 1-to-N private link sharing to open a secure group chat, and 1-to-N local device authentication. 

Morphing structures are often engineered with stresses introduced into a flat sheet by leveraging structural anisotropy or compositional heterogeneity. Here, we identify a simple and universal diffusion-based mechanism to enable a transient morphing effect in structures with parametric surface grooves, which can be realized with a single material and fabricated using low-cost manufacturing methods (e.g., stamping, molding, and casting). We demonstrate from quantitative experiments and multiphysics simulations that parametric surface grooving can induce temporary asynchronous swelling or deswelling and can transform flat objects into designed, three-dimensional shapes. By tuning the grooving pattern, we can achieve both zero (e.g., helices) and nonzero (e.g., saddles) Gaussian curvature geometries. This mechanism allows us to demonstrate approaches that could improve the efficiency of certain food manufacturing processes and facilitate the sustainable packaging of food, for instance, by creating morphing pasta that can be flat-packed to reduce the air space in the packaging.