Perception of rhythmic agency for conversational labeling

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank participants in the experiments described. This work was supported by the Cambridge Commonwealth European and International Trust Scholarship, and the student research grant from the Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge.

Declaration of interest statement

The authors have no financial interest or benefit to declare.

Notes

¹ While the HCI field has explored conversational interaction design using Grice’s Maxims for human-human conversation (Grice, 1975), existing research places more focus on the logic or content of the interaction (i.e. quality, quantity, relevance, and manner) (Brennan & Hulteen, 1995; Kehler, 2000). Our research is concerned with whether or not the temporal coordination (or the “turn-taking”) aspect in interpersonal conversation can also inform HCI design.

² Though rhythm is often used interchangeably with the term periodicity (Patel, 2010), “being periodic” is a stricter criterion than “being rhythmic”: while any series of events in time can comprise a rhythm, only the series that has an underlying beat structure is periodic. In other words, all periodic processes are rhythmic, but not all rhythmic processes are periodic.

³ In CR condition, the system intervals were strictly periodic, of which the standard deviation was 0, hence the cross-correlation formula (see Boker et al., 2002) was not applicable to CR condition.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust[PhD Scholarship]; Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge[Student research grant].

Notes on contributors

Christine Guo Yu

Christine Guo Yu, completed her PhD at the Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge. Her research explores how timing as a factor can affect users’ agency perception when they interact with intelligent systems. The resulting insights can inform the design of mixed-initiative interfaces with inference components. With a background in ergonomics and social psychology, her early work looked into the effects of HCI on users’ attitudes and prosocial behaviors, such as energy conservation and cross-cultural adaptation. She now works at Accenture Interactive UK as a User Experience Lead. She is also the Chief Product Officer at Kidovation, a global organization that brings innovative educational experiences to children and young adults (especially those from underprivileged backgrounds), empowering them with the critical skills they need to grow and thrive in society.

Alan F. Blackwell

Alan Blackwell, is Professor of Interdisciplinary Design at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, having prior qualifications in professional engineering, computing and experimental psychology. He has 12 years’ experience in designing industrial systems, electronic and software products. He has taught design courses and supervised postgraduate design research students in Computing, Architecture, Psychology, Languages, Music and Engineering. He is a fellow of Darwin College, and a Council member of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and co-Director of the Cambridge Global Challenges strategic research initiative.

Ian Cross

Ian Cross, is based in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge. He is Professor and Director of the Centre for Music and Science, where his group explores music, its materials and its effects from a wide range of scientific perspectives. His early work helped set the agenda for the study of music cognition; he has since published widely in the field of music and science, from the psychoacoustics of violins to the evolutionary roots of musicality. His current research explores whether music and speech are underpinned by common interactive mechanisms, and assesses the effects of children’s engagement in group musical activities on the development of their capacity for empathic social interaction. He is Editor-in-Chief of SAGE’s new Open Access journal Music & Science, is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge and is also a classical guitarist.