Looking Glass

In this paper we present our findings from a lab and a fieldstudy investigating how passers-by notice the interactivity ofpublic displays. We designed an interactive installation thatuses visual feedback to the incidental movements of passersbyto communicate its interactivity. The lab study reveals:(1) Mirrored user silhouettes and images are more effectivethan avatar-like representations. (2) It takes time to noticethe interactivity (approximately 1.2s). In the field study, threedisplays were installed during three weeks in shop windows,and data about 502 interaction sessions were collected. Ourobservations show: (1) Significantly more passers-by interactwhen immediately showing the mirrored user image (+90%)or silhouette (+47%) compared to a traditional attract sequencewith call-to-action. (2) Passers-by often notice interactivitylate and have to walk back to interact (the landingeffect). (3) If somebody is already interacting, others begininteraction behind the ones already interacting, forming multiplerows (the honeypot effect). Our findings can be usedto design public display applications and shop windows that
more effectively communicate interactivity to passers-by.