IEEE VIS 2024 Content: Visualizations on Smart Watches while Running: It Actually Helps!

 Honorable Mention

Visualizations on Smart Watches while Running: It Actually Helps!

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 Sarina Kashanj - University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

 Xiyao Wang - University of Victoria, Victoira, Canada. Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands

Charles Perin - University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

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Exemplar figure, described by caption below — The two Data Page layouts we used to study the effectiveness of visualization for running. The data pages show Elapsed Time (left), Pace (top), Distance (right) and Heart Rate (bottom). Pace, Distance and Heart Rate are represented either with TEXT or with VISUALIZATION. The data page on the left shows Elapsed Time and Heart Rate with TEXT, and Pace and Distance with VISUALIZATION; the data page on the right shows Elapsed Time, Pace and Distance with TEXT, and Heart Rate with VISUALIZATION.

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Keywords

Running, Visualization, Smartwatch visualization.

Abstract

Millions of runners rely on smart watches that display running-related metrics such as pace, heart rate and distance for training and racing—mostly with text and numbers. Although research tells us that visualizations are a good alternative to text on smart watches, we know little about how visualizations can help in realistic running scenarios. We conducted a study in which 20 runners completed running-related tasks on an outdoor track using both text and visualizations. Our results show that runners are 1.5 to 8 times faster in completing those tasks with visualizations than with text, prefer visualizations to text, and would use such visualizations while running — if available on their smart watch.