Kinetic Inter-acting: A System for Visual Analysis of Interaction Dynamics

Interactions are central to our endeavours. Whether in a face-to-face session with a doctor or via one of Web 2.0 applications, the way interactions unfold has an impact on the final outcome of the session. This paper addresses the problem of the development of a visual language and analysis system, enabling visual reasoning about the quality of interactions. The paper presents a system of encoding the way interactions unfold. It presents the foundations of KIA (Kinetic Inter-Acting) visual language and the visual analysis system with this language. The language is then evaluated through comparison with expert judgments when applied to cases in health care. KIA (the language and the analysis system) enables both humans and machines to utilise information about how interactions unfold in order to improve interactions and the processes that depend on them.