IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - July 2018 - 30

Users log into the 3-D VW and
navigate, look for, and choose a
free RO to start a recommendation
session by means of the activate
button in the panel.
1) Collaborative critiquing (action D): With this action, the
host user is in charge of making the agreed-upon critique.
As a result, the host and guest users may update their user
models and receive a new product recommendation,
which is shown to them in the corresponding RO.
2) I leave (action E): At any time, a guest user is free to continue the process of searching for a suitable product alone.
To this end, users activate the "I leave" collaborative element in the RO of the host user and return to state 1 (the
individual recommendation state). Note that the host user
also returns to the individual recommendation state when
there are no guest users.
3) Buy it (action F): This action is activated when collaborators have found a suitable product to finish the recommendation process and are moved to state 3 (the buying state).
When a host user performs this action, all guest users are
returned back to state 1 and continue with an individual
recommendation process.
4) Abandon (action G): This action is activated by means of
a shopping element in an RO. It occurs when the host user
explicitly finishes the recommendation process because he

1
2
3
4
5
6

or she did not find a suitable product. Then, he or she returns
to state 0 (the initial state), where a new recommendation
can begin. When a host user performs this action, all guest
users are returned back to state 1, where they continue with
an individual recommendation process.

STATE 3: BUYING STATE
In this state, the user pays for the selected product. After this
action (action H), the user moves back to state 0, where the
user may begin a new recommendation process.

CCR IMPLEMENTATION
IMPLEMENTATION IN A 3-D VW
The RO in a 3-D collaborative space client can be represented by several methods [24]. The implementation discussed
in this article represents the RO through a 3-D panel, which
consists of several visual and interactive elements. Figure 3
shows the elements labeled with numbers as follows.
▼ Number 1 points to a graphical representation of the current recommended product. Despite the 3-D nature of the
interface and due to the lack of a database of 3-D scanned
images, this prototype displays the image of the recommended product. The visualization of 3-D actual-size
products would improve the users' experience [1].
▼ Number 2 points to representations of visual affordances
displaying the features of the current recommended product with the value of the feature to its right.
▼ Number 3 points to a display that shows one of two icons:
(12, i.e., different than) or (+, −) that users touch for critiquing a product's features (i.e., the critique elements in the
conceptual architecture). The "12" button is used to change
nominal features, e.g., the manufacturer, and the "+" or "−"
buttons are for critiquing numerical features (i.e., "I want a
cheaper (−) camera or more expensive (+) one").
▼ Number 4 points to representations of the names of guest
users collaborating with the host user.
▼ Number 5 points to representations of the buttons for the
collaborative actions (e.g., the "I like" and "I leave" collaborative elements described in the "Overview of the CCR
Framework" section).
▼ Number 6 points to representations of the buttons for the
shopping actions (i.e., the activate, buy it, and abandon
shopping elements described the "Overview of the CCR
Framework" section).

AN INTERACTION WALK-THROUGH
FIGURE 3. A screenshot of the recommendation panel. Number 1
is a graphical representation of the current recommended product. Number 2 indicates visual affordances displaying the features
of the current recommended product. Number 3 shows one of
two icons that users touch for critiquing a product's features.
Number 4 represents guest users who are collaborating with the
host user. Number 5 shows the buttons for the collaborative
actions. Number 6 shows the buttons for the shopping actions.
RAM: random access memory; CPU: central processing unit; OS:
operating system.

30 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

July 2018

A sample collaboration between three users and those users'
states as they move through the CCR framework is discussed
in this section. Users log into the 3-D VW (state 0 in Figure 2)
and navigate, look for, and choose a free RO to start a recommendation session by means of the activate button in the panel
(number 6 in Figure 3). Figure 4 summarizes a hypothetical
interaction walk-through featuring three users (Tester 1, Tester 2, and Tester 3) in a time line. Figure 5 depicts this interaction using three recommendation panels.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - July 2018