HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION (OLD) SEMINARS -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 7th October 2008 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Social and cognitive aspects in appropriation of everyday technologies Speaker: Antti Salovaara (http://www.hiit.fi/u/asalovaa) Institution: Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, Finland (http://www.hiit.fi/uix) Host: Russell Beale Abstract: It is a widely acknowledged fact that users often use technologies to purposes not predicted by designers. This practice of inventing new uses (also called "appropriating technology") is a positive phenomenon that should be advocated in design, in order to increase technology's fit to its context. But how should it be understood in HCI/CSCW, in order to support the "design for appropriation"? In my talk, I will address this question, first by reviewing recent research that often has focused on the phenomenon's social aspects only, and then developing a complementary (but not a competing) agenda for cognitively oriented research. Finally, I'll present how I have addressed the agenda in my own research on everyday technologies, particularly digital cameras and mobile phone applications. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 14th October 2008 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: 3D-in-2D Displays for Air Traffic Control (ATC): Mis-guided innovations? Speaker: Professor William Wong Institution: Head, Interaction Design Centre, Middlesex University, London. Abstract: In this talk, I will describe the work in our project "3D-in-2D displays for ATC", funded by EUROCONTROL to investigate future visualisation and interaction designs that could support or even modify the way future ATM under SESAR (Single European Skies ATM Research) would operate. The SESAR programme is expected to radically change how ATC is managed when implemented in 20 to 25 years time. I will demonstrate some of these concepts and discuss the issues and considerations of how these ideas were developed in a future design context where there are no experts in a future operational concept who might reflect on their expertise. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr B.L. William Wong is Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at Middlesex University, London, UK. He has conducted research into naturalistic decision making, situation awareness, and representation design in emergency ambulance control in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. Together with colleagues at University of Queensland, he had been involved with research into the design of control interfaces for hydro-electricity generation in a deregulated energy market in Australia. His current research, funded by EUROCONTROL, investigates 3D-in-2D displays, collaobrative technologies for ATCOs and pilots, and 4D (time and space) representation design for ATC displays. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 21st October 2008 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Location-Based Photography as Sense-Making Speaker: Chris Baber -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 28th October 2008 at 16:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Building Profiles of Mobile Applications Speaker: Andy Brown Abstract: Mobile devices have recently become substitutes for traditional PCs, allowing users to download and execute third-party applications from vendors they do not trust. Whilst mechanisms exist to mediate this relationship in a mobile context, they cannot guarantee the quality or security of the code a program will execute. Anti-virus software can partially achieve this, but is less-feasible for systems with limited computing power and storage. Execution monitoring is a lightweight technique that can prevent software deviating from its intended behaviour. In this talk, we address the barriers to its adoption for malware defence, by introducing: 1. A high-level policy language called ABML, in which judgements about program executions can be specified in an abstract fashion; 2. A more powerful class of execution monitor capable of manipulating data abstractions in order to determine an event's context more precisely; 3. An on-line compiler from an ABML policy into an execution monitor. Our approach bridges the gap between what an end-user is able to express and the system required to enforce their policy. We use the BlackBerry platform to demonstrate these developments, showing how our framework can defend devices against unseen exploits more effectively that its existing security measures can. Why is this talk of interest to HCI researchers? An execution monitor can enforce many types of policy, not just those which reason about security requirements. Our additions to the technique allow a more precise measurement of application behaviour and can attribute patterns of interaction to a context. It is conceivable that this work could be applied to develop interfaces which accurately adapt to their user. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 4th November 2008 at 16:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Projected Cognition Speaker: William Edmondson & Russell Beale Abstract: In this talk, we introduce the notion of Projected Cognition as an extension to Distributed Cognition. Distributed Cognition is a conceptual framework which can be useful in studying human interactions with artefacts; the idea is that of cognition not bounded by the cranium but instead perfusing artefacts in ways that are recoverable. We argue that this analysis has not been fully understood in relation to the behaviour of humans with artefacts in that the intentionality in behaviour has been ignored. We argue that we need to view the human as sometimes projecting their intention in behaviour onto the artefacts they use, and suggest that this conception permits greater clarity in the study of user behaviour with artefacts such as computers. We illustrate the development with case studies of two users of complex configurations of computers as well as examples drawn from the published literature. We conclude with consideration of some design implications and discussion of related domains in HCI where Projected Cognition could be influential. (Note that you will probably gain more from this seminar if you read a brief introduction to distributed cognition before you come: this pdf is good - http://mcs.open.ac.uk/yr258/papers/dcog/dcog-brief-intro.pdf ) -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 11th November 2008 at 16:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: TBA Speaker: Lachlan MacKinnon -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 18th November 2008 at 16:00 Location: 124, School of Computer Science Title: Mobiles in Museums: Two projects that enhanced the visitor experience Speaker: Pete Lonsdale Institution: School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham Abstract: I will give an overview of 2 projects I have worked on that successfully used mobile devices to enhance visitor experiences to museum settings. The CAGE project used ultrasound tracking and PDAs to provide visitors to Nottingham Castle's Gallery with enhanced information about the paintings, and we explored the issue of patterns of visitor behaviour and how this might be changed using mobile technologies. We saw evidence of increased engagement with the paintings and a number of opportunities for further improvement of context-aware devices that offer handheld guide functionalities for visitors. The MyArtSpace project, developed by The SEA and evaluated by the University of Birmingham, allows school children to create virtual collections of artefacts as they move around a museum, using mobile phones, and then use these collections to create themed presentations for post-visit lessons. The service was successful in giving the children a tangible product from their museum visit, thus creating an effective 'bridge' between the school and museum settings. I will present results from these field trials of mobile technologies for enhancing museum visitor experiences, and consider their implications for future designs and evaluations of similar systems. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 2nd December 2008 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Building games-based learning environments -embedding versus gameplay Speaker: Prof Lachlan MacKinnon Institution: University of Abertay, Dundee Abstract: Abertay has an international reputation for excellence in computer games education and is recognised by the Computer games industry through the SkillSet accreditation awards. This talk will look at HCI issues, education & computer science and other aspects relevant to building games-based environments for learning. The seminar will be of interest to HCI people, computer scientists, and educationalists. -------------------------------- Date and time: Saturday 17th January 2009 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Child-Computer Interaction - Where's the fun in that? Speaker: Janet Read (www.chici.org) Institution: University of Central Lancashire () Host: Russell Beale Abstract: This lively and engaging seminar will introduce attendees to the aspects of child-computer interaction that make it different, fun, and rewarding. Using interactive methods attendees will discover new insights into how children think about and report on technologies. Drawing from a wide range range of examples, this seminar is ideally suited to people interested in interaction with children but also to any people interested in interaction with users at the edge of the design space. Suitable for MSc students, PhD students, academic staff - anyone with a lively mind. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 20th January 2009 at 16:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Mobile Africa: Design For the Developing World Speaker: Russell Beale Abstract: Designing systems for the developing world requires a different set of criteria and offers interesting challenges for the HCI community. The field of technology to support international development (IT4D) is a growing movement, and it offers the potential to make significant differences to the health, education, economy, politics and happiness of many people. There are many different challenges and a whole range of different preconceptions and principles that are required, and this talk introduces some of these. It could alternatively have been called "What I did in my summer holidays" (or rather, what I did on sabbatical) - I spent a couple of months in South Africa working on these issues, and I'll relate my experiences with some of the projects I got involved in. The talk will give some idea of the challenges, opportunities and differences in using computers in the developing world, and is accessible to all. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 17th February 2009 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: The synergy between empirical studies and formal reasoning about human error and its application in cognition-centred security Speaker: Paul Curzon Institution: Queen Mary University of London Abstract: Humans make mistakes. Such errors can have a variety of causes. Some, such as slip errors, are systematic having known cognitive causes. The design of interactive computer systems can make such slips more or less likely. We will overview the work of the Human Error Modelling Project (HUM) which has explored the way formal analysis and empirical experimentation can mutually inform each other to give deeper understanding of the causes of such errors. We will also describe initial work on cognition centred security, looking at how systematic human error can lead to security vulnerabilities. This highlights the need for HUM-style analysis techniques that can predict when the design of a security system is prone to systematic human error. Biography Paul Curzon is a Reader in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London. He gained his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge where he then worked as a Research Associate. Before joining Queen Mary in 2004 he was a member of the Interaction Design Centre at Middlesex University. His current research interests include formal models of human behaviour, formal verification and human error, cognition centred security and public engagement in science. He has won 2 Queen Mary Drapers' awards for teaching and also won the 2007 EPSRC non-professional Computer Science writer award. He created the EPSRC funded webzine and magazine for kids, www.cs4fn.org, with Peter McOwan. He also founded with Antonio Cerone the Formal Methods for Interactive Systems (FMIS) series of International Workshops. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 3rd March 2009 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Human Centred Innovation and Commercialisation Speaker: Tom McEwan Institution: Senior Lecturer, Centre for Interaction Design, Edinburgh Napier University Abstract: For ten years we have been attempting to follow a human centred design (HCD) approach to knowledge transfer (McEwan, Benyon, & Turner, 2003). This has been in keeping with philosophies from ISO 13407, the reflective practitioner (Schn, 1983), "expertise sharing" (Ackerman, Pipek, & Wulf, 2003) rather than "technology transfer", and informed by models of technology diffusion (Gaines & Shaw, 1986) (Griliches, 1957) (Moore, 1999). This has been largely successful in that companies with which we have worked have added substantial value, on occasions resulting in the owners capitalising on this eg our work with Memory Corp (Harrison, 2000) and Vibtech (Friedli, 2006) both reportedly resulted in multimillion dollar sales. In recent years we have turned our attentions to applying HCD approaches to commercialisation, for example in the creation of university spin-out companies. We think university entrepreneurship is still trapped in the MIT/Stanford approaches that were successful in the 1990s but which don't seem to chime , at least within Europe, with the rise of human-centred approaches. An industry now exists to service would-be UK university entrepreneurs. Indeed there is possibly more entrepreneurialism advising them, than resulting from their efforts, with an array of consultants offering motivational and business training courses, business plan preparers, feisty chief executive officers for hire (at 100k+ salaries), to add reality to academics' other-worldliness, public sector departments offering training, advice and grants. Ultimately this industry focuses on individual professors, lecturers, research associates and fellows who have ambitions within their discipline, career and family life. Our observations are that at best this industry supports to disguise or shift academics' aspirations and at worst forces them down paths which may not match their values or deliver success. This presentation summarises the steps we have taken recently to commercialise research, and evaluates this work from an HCD perspective. References Ackerman, M., Pipek, V., & Wulf, V. (. (2003). Beyond Knowledge Management: Sharing Expertise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Danziger, P. N. (2004). Why People Buy Things They Don't Need: Understanding and Predicting Consumer Behavior. Kaplan Publishing. Earthy, J. (1998). Usability Maturity Model: Human Centredness Scale. EC Telematics Applications Project IE. 2016. Friedli, D. (2006, October 10). Vibtech sale nets rewards for backers. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from The Scotsman: http://business.scotsman.com/businesstechnology/Vibtech-sale-nets-rewards-for.2815037.jp Gaines, B., & Shaw, M. (1986). A learning model for forecasting the future of information technology. Future Computing Systems , 31-69. Gowan, W. (2000, November 21). MP3 without a PC. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from About.com: http://pcworld.about.com/news/Nov212000id35406.htm Griliches, S. (1957). Hybrid Corn: An Exploration in the Economics of Technological Change. Econometrica. 25(4) , 501-522. Harrison, L. (2000). Memory Corp splots in twain and changes name. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/05/04/memory_corp_splits_in_twain/ Hulya, U. (2007). R&D, innovation and output: evidence from OECD and nonOECD countries. Applied Economics , 291-307. Light, A. (2004). HCI 2004 hears the New Rules of Design. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from Usability News: http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article1933.asp McEwan, T., Benyon, D., & Turner, S. (2003). Channelling expertise from Napier's HCI group - human-centred knowledge transfer. In Gray, P., Johnson, H., & O'Neill, E. (Eds) Proceedings of HCI2003: designing for society Volume 2. Bristol: Research Press. Moore, G. (1999). Crossing The Chasm, 2nd Edn. Oxford: Capstone Publishing. Mootee, I. (2007, August 27). Human Centered Design (HCD) Is Innovation's New Secret Weapon. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog: http://blog.futurelab.net/2007/08/human_centered_design_hcd_is_i.html Preston, J. (2003, June). Building success into a high-tech start-up. The Industrial Physicist , pp. 16-18. Schn, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple Smith. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 10th March 2009 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Interacting with information Speaker: Ann Blandford (www.uclic.ucl.ac.uk/annb/) Institution: UCL Interaction Centre () Abstract: We live in an information age, but information is only useful when it is interpreted by people in the context of their goals and activities. The volume of information to which people have access is growing rapidly, vastly outstripping peoples ability to find, assimilate and manage it. In order to design technologies that better support information work, it is necessary to understand the details of that work. In this talk I will discuss how people interact with information in terms of an information journey, in which people iteratively: recognise a need for information; find information; interpret and evaluate that information in the context of their goals; and use the information to support their broader activities. Peoples information needs may be explicit and clearly articulated, or exploratory and evolving. Widely used tools supporting information access support clearly defined information requirements well, but provide limited support for other information needs. Most other stages of the information journey are poorly supported at present. Novel design solutions are unlikely to be purely digital, but to exploit the rich variety of information resources, digital, physical and social, that are available. Understanding of information interaction and sensemaking can highlight new design possibilities that augment human capabilities. In this talk, I will discuss relevant theories and findings for understanding information behaviours, to both assess existing tools and identify requirements for the future. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 17th March 2009 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Social Networking: Introducing Social Psychology Perspective Speaker: Julie Christian, School of Psychology -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 24th March 2009 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: The Nanobiotact project - Nano-engineering biomimetic tactile sensors Speaker: Alan Wing (http://www.nanobiotact.org/?q=node/2) Abstract: more details at: http://www.nanobiotact.org/?q=node/2 -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 31st March 2009 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Impact of computing, networking and file sharing on the creativity, production, distribution and consumption of music Speaker: Pete Webb Institution: Sociology -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 7th April 2009 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Michael Harrison Speaker: -------------------------------- Date and time: Friday 21st August 2009 at 13:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Designing for Customs of Doing & Saying in the Developing World (Bidwell) AND Namibian Local Communities Knowledge Management System (Kapuire) Speaker: Dr Nicola Bidwell, Mr Gereon Koch Kapuire Institution: Centre for ICT for Development, University of Cape Town; Polytechnic of Namibia Host: Russell Beale Abstract: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: These seminars will be ~40-45 minutes each, accessible to a very wide audience. If you want to see how computing can be used to support the developing world, and how to design appropriate systems for very different cultures, please come along. Please forward this to interested colleagues. No need to book, just turn up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Designing for Customs of Doing & Saying in the Developing World _____________________________________________________________________ To realise the opportunities that new media and platforms can offer rural people in sharing local information we need to respond to the ways that knowledge is created and recreated beyond the market of contemporary communication, with its heritage in text and indirect orality. My talk distils themes from my research with people who live in low technology ambiance and according to social systems, beliefs and values that differ from those in the West. These include the Xhosa tribe of the Khonowajo in South Africa’s Eastern Cape; peoples of the Quirimbas Archipelago north Mozambique; the Herero in Namibia; and, Indigenous people in far-north Australia. I discuss aspects of the methods I have used to situate design directions in the local community’s priorities, customary power relations and practices and refer to data in ordinary and extraordinary activities and situated socio-technical ‘experiments’. Without generalizing across communities I distil some concepts that can inspire the design of systems to support information sharing, from social networking to storytelling, suited to local social structures in remote, rural places. ----- Nic Bidwell is Senior Research Fellow, Centre for ICT for Development, University of Cape Town and Senior Lecturer James Cook University. Over the past 6 years Nic established research in contexts that are not yet widely covered in HCI-design, because most of technology design is done in urban areas. She focuses on designing interactions with mobile devices and other information environments for rural and often geographically remote contexts. This encompasses remote and tropical settings, Australian indigenous and African cultural views and work with ecologists, geographers and leisure-walkers/tourists. She also established the Games Design Programme at JCU. Nic has interleaved education and research at Universities of Stirling, London, Sussex, Cambridge, Australian National and Queensland with extensive travel and prolonged periods living in the Middle East, Cambodia, Greece and Africa. IN CONJUNCTION WITH Namibian Local Communities Knowledge Management System _____________________________________________________________________ In this talk I will describe our endevours in developing an Indigenous Knowledge Management System with Namibian Rural Communities. I will depict local life- in the rural and remote villages and how, until recently, traditional Indigenous knowledge has been transferred within the community, from my own perspective as a Herero man. The preservation and dissemination of important knowledge on plants, for example for medicine, and animal husbandry has become endangered by changes in life-style, urban migration and the death of elderly community members. Thus our work is to design and develop a community-generated central repository based on traditional knowledge structures and communication practices which enables villagers to access and share knowledge. I will summarise our activities to date, such as the collection of video by villagers, and outline some of the key challenges, such as conceptual modeling. Gereon Koch Kapuire Gereon Kapuire is a lecturer in Computer Science at the Polytechnic of Namibia and a post-graduate student at The University of Cape Town. He grew up in the rural Omaheke region and his research focuses on ways he can apply Information Technology appropriately in rural contexts. -------------------------------- Date and time: Thursday 20th May 2010 at 17:00 Location: UG40, School of Computer Science Title: The Power of Regret: Cognitive and Computational Models Speaker: Alan Dix (http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/~dixa/) Institution: University of Lancaster () Host: Russell Beale Abstract: Regret seems such a negative emotion and one we often wish we could turn off. However, the roots of regret are adaptive, helping us to learn. It has fascinated me because it involves a rich interplay between analytic/rational thinking and more emotional/imaginative insight and links into other areas of interest such as understanding creativity. These oppositions also have parallels in symbolic/sub-symbolic approaches in AI. I will present a simple and tentative cognitive model of regret and then describe how this was used to inspire a computational model. Initial results suggest that adding regret can speed up simple machine learning just as human regret functions as a learning mechanism for us. However, analysing more deeply the results of the computational model itself suggests insights into the nature of human regret. BIOGRAPHY Alan Dix is Professor of Computing at Lancaster University and a Director of LUBEL, the University's IP management company. As well as working at several universities, he has been an executive director of two Internet companies and is currently on the advisory board for the open-data platform of Talis, one of the UK's leading semantic web companies. His academic roots are in mathematics (still his academic first love); he was part of the British Team to the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1978 before studying an accelerated BA in Mathematics and a second post-graduate degree on Mathematical Statistics. Since 1984, his main research has been in Human-Computer Interaction, starting with his PhD on "Formal Methods and Interactive Systems" at York in 1987. He is an author (with Russell) of one of the principal international textbooks in the area as well as over 350 technical publications and other books. His work typically includes formal or conceptual modelling to derive user interaction understanding or architectural design. Applications of this include collaborative aspects of web and mobile computation, ubiquitous interaction and designing experience. His interests are eclectic: formalisation and design, physicality and digitality, the economics of information, structure and creativity, and the modelling of dreams. Recently he and a colleague have developed technology for autonomous pixels that can be configured in turn any surface or space into a two or three dimensional display. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 6th July 2010 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Producing live TV: interaction, collaboration and mobile technology in real-time video-based media Speaker: Dr Mark Perry (http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~cssrmjp/Site/About_me.html) Institution: Brunel University (http://www.brunel.ac.uk) Host: Jonathan Melhuish Abstract: Abstract: Producing live television is an extremely challenging social and technical accomplishment, whilst at the same time it is extremely culturally and economically important. It is perhaps surprising that little is known about this process and that the involvement from the HCI community in this domain has been very limited to date. This seminar will present some of our recent research on the production practices and processes in live TV, drawing from empirical studies of video mixing, camera work and instant replay. Design implications to support video production are developed, exploring how we might build on recent innovations in professional-format broadcast technologies, as well as mobile technologies and user-generated content. Speaker: Mark Perry is an interdisciplinary researcher with interests spanning cognitive science, computing and social science, and when forced into a corner describes himself as a 'user studies' researcher. His recent research revolves around the use of mobile information and communications technology, and in the use and design of ubiquitous computing and networked information appliances. He has worked on HCI and CSCW-related research areas as diverse as ethnographic studies of nomadic work, communication in the home and the development of an architecture for ubiquitous multi-modal interaction, exploring waste, waiting and the use of space along the way. Mark is on sabbatical from Brunel University (2009-2010), holding positions as a Visiting Professor at the Mobile Life centre in Stockholm and a Research Fellow at Bristol University. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 27th July 2010 at 15:00 Location: 245, School of Computer Science Title: Human behaviour as bounded optimality: Implications for predicting user behaviour Speaker: Andrew Howes (http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/howesa/default.htm) Institution: University of Manchester (http://www.manchester.ac.uk) Host: Jonathan Melhuish Abstract: Abstract Recent work on adaptive interaction has emphasised that HCI design must be sensitive to the extreme flexibility of human performance but also to the bounds on this performance. The talk will describe a new computational modelling approach to understanding how people adapt their use of interfaces given limits on cognition and the task environment (Howes, Lewis, Vera, 2009; Vera, Howes, McCurdy, Lewis, 2004). The approach will be illustrated with work including a study of how people interleave the use of mobile devices while driving (Brumby, Howes, Salvucci, 2007); studies of how people adapt visual search to the layout of search engine results (Tseng and Howes, 2010; Tseng and Howes, submitted); how they adapt memory use in service of personal information management (Howes, Duggan, Kalidindi, Tseng, Lewis, submitted). and how strategies for collaboration are adapted to the behavior of others in a community (Phelps, Nevarez and Howes, 2009; Binder, Howes and Sutcliffe, 2009). Speaker Andrew Howes is a Cognitive Scientist with an interest in Human-Computer Interaction. He is a co-director of the Decision and Cognitive Sciences Research Centre at the University of Manchester and his current work involves collaborations with NASA Ames Research Centre and the Federal Aviation Authority. References Binder, J., Howes, A. & Sutcliffe, A. (2009). The problem of conflicting social spheres: Effects of network structure on experienced tension in social network sites. In Proceedings Of The Twenty-Seventh Annual SIGCHI Conference On Human Factors In Computing Systems CHI’09. (pp. 965-974). ACM Press. Brumby, D.P. & Howes, A. (2008). Strategies for guiding interactive search: An empirical investigation into the consequences of label relevance for assessment and selection. Human-Computer Interaction, 23, 1-46. Noted in the top 5 most cited in the journal for 2007-2010. Brumby, D.P., Howes, A., & Salvucci, D.D. (2007). A cognitive constraint model of dual-task trade-offs in a highly dynamic driving task. In S.J. Payne and B. Begole (Eds.) Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2007) (pp. 233-242). New York, NY: ACM Press. Acceptance rate 22%. *Best of CHI Award: Honorable Mention Paper, awarded by SIGCHI - top 5% of submissions* Eng, K., Lewis, R.L., Tollinger, I., Chu, A., Howes, A. & Vera, A. (2006). Generating automated predictions of behavior strategically adapted to specific performance objectives. In Proceedings of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI'06, (pp. 621-630). Montreal, Quebec, Canada. *Best of CHI Award: Honorable Mention Paper, awarded by SIGCHI - top 5% of submissions* Howes, A., Duggan, G., Kalidindi, K., Tseng, Y.C. & Lewis, R.L. (submitted). Bounded optimality in a cognitive utility learning paradigm. Howes, A., Lewis, R.L. & Vera, A. (2009). Rational adaptation under task and processing constraints: Implications for testing theories of cognition and action. Psychological Review, 116, 4, 717-751. Howes, A., Vera, A., Lewis, R.L. & McCurdy, M. (2004). Cognitive constraint modeling: A formal approach to reasoning about behavior. In K. D. Forbus, D. Gentner & T. Regier (Eds.), 26th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci’04. (pp. 595-600). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Phelps, S., Nevarez, G. & Howes, A. (2009). The effect of group size and frequency of encounter on the evolution of cooperation. European Conference on Artificial Life, 2009. Tollinger, I., Lewis, R.L., McCurdy, M., Tollinger, P., Vera, A., Howes, A. & Pelton, L. (2005). Supporting efficient development of cognitive models at multiple skill levels: Exploring recent advances in constraint-based modeling. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors and Computing Systems, CHI'05. (pp. 411-420). Portland, Oregon. (Best paper nomination – top 5% of submissions.) Tseng, Y.C., Howes, A. & Lewis, R.L. (submitted) Bounded optimal information gathering in a visual image search task. Vera, A., Howes, A., McCurdy, M. & Lewis, R.L. (2004). A constraint satisfaction approach to predicting skilled interactive performance. In CHI’04: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. (pp. 121-128). New York, NY: ACM Press. Waldron, S., Duggan, G., Banbury, S., Howes, A., Patrick, J. (2005). Adaptive information fusion for situation awareness in the cockpit. In the Proceedings of the 49th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. (pp. 49-53). Special Session in Honour of Christopher Wickens. (ISBN 0-945289-26-X). -------------------------------- Date and time: Monday 22nd November 2010 at 16:00 Location: UG40, School of Computer Science Title: Developing Digital Pervasive Monuments: Using mobile devices for interacting with a difficult past Speaker: Rolf Wiesemes (https://www.horizon.ac.uk/pervasive-monuments.html) Institution: School of Education () Host: Dr Chris Bowers Abstract: In this presentation, I will talk about how an interdisciplinary team of researchers and developers at the University of Nottingham are starting to develop two sets of so-called Pervasive Monuments as part of the Horizon Digital Economy project. The team is currently exploring potential uses of web-based and mobile technologies for commemorating atrocities, collecting related data, presenting data to users for information and for learning and teaching. The project has two strands. The first strand, Spomenik (Slovenian for ‘monument’) explores how digital monuments can be built as a means to develop a clearer understanding of a difficult (and mostly ignored) part of Slovenian post-World War 2 history, which saw the systematic and large scale killing of anti-communist fighters and civilians in the immediate aftermath of World War 2. This strand focuses on making information available to mobile technology users in Slovenia. The 2nd strand, Urwibutso (Kinyarwandan for ‘monument’), explores how mobile devices and related data collection platforms can be developed for collecting data about the 1994 Rwandan genocide by local population. This strand will also explore how users can then interact with the data collected. This research is conducted in close partnership with local partners such as the National Library of Slovenia, Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre and Kigali Institute of Education in Rwanda. I will present the background to the project, its current stage of development and how the research and development team are using participatory and user-led approaches for the design and development of digital Pervasive Monuments. For further information about the project see: http://pervasivemonuments.org/ and https://www.horizon.ac.uk/ -------------------------------- Date and time: Monday 7th February 2011 at 16:00 Location: UG40, School of Computer Science Title: Investigating Collaboration Around the TableTop: a comparative user study and observations of visitors using a museum touchtable Speaker: Eva Hornecker (http://www.ehornecker.de/) Institution: Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde () Host: Ben Cowan Abstract: In this talk I will provide an overview of some of my tabletop-related research from the past years. First, I will discuss research conducted with my collaborators at the Pervasive Interaction Lab at the OU on collaboration and tabletop interaction. It is still a research question how best to support group interaction around interactive tabletops, and the effects of different configurations of input devices and setups. To investigate this, we conducted an experimental study. The study has two parts, investigating firstly the effect of touch interaction versus mice on awareness, and secondly the effects of touch versus mice as well as number of access points (one/multiple mice/touch) on equity of participation. Overall, our findings indicate that interactive touch surfaces facilitate collaboration through enabling more fluid work. Our analysis highlights the importance of allowing groups to handle interferences as they occur (in contrast to avoiding interference). The second part of my talk presents findings from an ethnographic-style observation of museum visitors' interactions around an interactive surface that supports browsing through interesting information related to evolution and animals. -------------------------------- Date and time: Monday 14th February 2011 at 16:00 Location: UG40, School of Computer Science Title: R&D projects of WiSeNet Lab Speaker: Mikhail Komarov Institution: Moscow State Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MSIEM) Host: Chris Bowers Abstract: The presentation will cover the following topics: applied projects in the field of Wireless Sensor Networks, motion capture system for Virtual Reality, Interactive Technologies( Smart Chalk system) and Energy Balancing (EB for static and mobile WSNs) -------------------------------- Date and time: Monday 28th March 2011 at 16:00 Location: UG40, School of Computer Science Title: Information Visualisation of Social-* data Speaker: Professor Aaron Quigley (http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~aquigley/) Institution: University of St Andrews (http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk) Host: Russell Beale, Benjamin Cowan, Chris Bowers Abstract: Information Visualisation is a research area that focuses on the use of graphical techniques to present data in an explicit form. Such static (pictures) or dynamic presentations help people formulate an understanding of data and an internal model of it for reasoning about. Such pictures of data are an external artefact supporting decision making. While sharing many of the same goals of Scientific Visualisation, Human Computer Interaction, User Interface Design and Computer Graphics, Information Visualisation focuses on the visual presentation of data without a physical or geometric form. As such it relies on research in mathematics, data mining, data structures, algorithms, graph drawing, human-computer interaction, cognitive psychology, semiotics, cartography, interactive graphics, imaging and visual design. In this talk I will present a brief history of social-* analysis (where * are networks, media, streams, search activity and records of information dissemination etc) and visualisation, introduce layout algorithms we have developed for visualising such data. I will complete with a detailed case study on the layout of evolving or “dynamic graphs” extracted through SNAP, our Social Network Assembly Pipeline. SNAP operates on the premise of “social network inference” and we have studied it experimentally with the analysis of 10,000,000 record sets without explicit relations. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 29th March 2011 at 14:00 Location: Rm124, School of Computer Science Title: Introducing SMUT: Subversive Manifesto for Underground Technology Speaker: Mark Clayton Host: Chris Bowers Abstract: This is not your typical seminar but an open discussion. Mark will be presenting SMUT (Subversive Manifesto for Underground Technology). An approach to engaging the communities in and around the campus. The goal of SMUT is to present science, technology, engineering and mathematics research results and questions in an artistic, participatory, and compelling manner to encourage the local community to interact and engage with research. More information is available here [http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~cpb/SMUTISE.pdf] . -------------------------------- Date and time: Monday 23rd May 2011 at 16:00 Location: UG40, School of Computer Science Title: Rethinking multi-user interfaces: tabletops in the wild Speaker: Yvonne Rogers Institution: The Open University Abstract: We are witnessing the beginnings of a new movement in HCI: ‘in the wild’. Researchers are decamping from their usability labs and moving into the wild; carrying out in-situ user studies, sampling experiences and probing people in their homes, in public settings and on the streets. The emphasis has been very much on understanding ordinary living and designing technologies that extend this. It differs from previous ethnographic approaches by focussing on creating and evaluating new technologies in situ, rather than observing existing practices and then suggesting general design implications or system requirements. A key concern is how people react, change and integrate these in their everyday lives. One innovative technology that we have been studying as it moves out of the lab and into the wild is multi-touch tabletops. We have discovered quite different ways of 'group' working compared with our previous results from the lab. In my talk, I will present salient findings from our in-the-wild studies. I will discuss the implications of such situated group interactions for designing collaborative tabletop applications for use in real world settings, ending with questioning the very idea of multi-user interfaces. Bio Yvonne Rogers is a professor of Human-Computer Interaction in the Computing Department at the Open University (UK), where she directs the Pervasive Interaction Lab. She will be joining UCL from September 2011 as director of UCLIC. The third edition of her textbook, Interaction Design Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, co-authored with Helen Sharp and Jenny Preece has just been published. -------------------------------- Date and time: Friday 1st July 2011 at 15:00 Location: UG05, Learning Centre Title: Human Computer Interaction and Language Technology Research at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Speaker: Dr. Alvin W. Yeo (www.fcsit.unimas.my/alvin) Institution: Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). (http://www.fcsit.unimas.my/) Host: Russell Beale Abstract: The talk will encompass Human Computer Interaction and Language Technology work we have carried out on : * multi-modal integration, integration of speech and sketch modality in mapping systems, using spatial and temporal relations * gaze-based interaction systems: eye-gaze drawing * language preservation projects: such as crowd-sourcing in cultural preservation, development of WordNet in indigenous languages, Time permitting, I will also provide an overview of ICT4D (ICT for Development) work in 10 remote sites in Borneo and West Malaysia involving 9 rural indigenous communities. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 18th October 2011 at 16:00 Location: LG32, Learning Centre Title: A Human Factors Study of Technology Acceptance of a Prototype Mobile Augmented Reality System for Science Education Speaker: Dr Theodoros N. Arvanitis (http://www.eee.bham.ac.uk/arvanitt/) Institution: School of Engineering Department of Electronic, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Birmingham (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/eece/index.aspx) Host: Chris Bowers Abstract: This presentation discusses a novel implementation of an extended technology acceptance model to gain insights into user perceptions, attitudes and beliefs toward a mobile augmented reality system for science education. Results were collected during the initial testing of a prototype system with the specific intent to diagnose mis-specifications of user requirements, and receive appropriate feedback and integrate it within the design lifecycle of the product. The research model used in this study monitored several affective, motivational and cognitive factors of user acceptance. Findings from the study show that the augmented technology acceptance model accurately represents student evaluation and reactions, even after a short initial experience of hands-on usage of the system. Empirical evidence supports moderating effects upon the core perceptual constructs by taking into account wearability aspects across dimensions of user comfort and exertion, and gender differences as well. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 8th November 2011 at 16:00 Location: LG32, Learning Centre Title: Understanding Strategic Adaptation in Dual-­Task Situations as Cognitively Bounded Rational Behavior Speaker: Christian P. Janssen (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/uclic/people/c_janssen/) Institution: University College London Interaction Centre (UCLIC) (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/uclic/) Host: Andrew Howes Abstract: Multitasking often involves making trade-offs about the level of performance on each task, as expressed in for example speed and accuracy of performance (e.g., Norman & Bobrow, 1975; Navon & Gopher, 1979). Given these trade-offs, multiple strategies for interleaving the tasks are often available. In a given setting, what strategy do people settle on? In this talk I will outline a modeling approach that gives a functional explanation of people’s strategy choice. Following Howes, Lewis & Vera’s (2009) work on Cognitively Bounded Rational Analysis, we hypothesize that participants attempt to select a strategy that optimizes their performance objective (as captured in a payoff score), given the constraints that are put on performance by the task environment and cognition. Examples will be drawn from studies on performing side-tasks while steering a simulated car, and from tracking a cursor while also typing in digits. Limitations and implications will be discussed. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 15th November 2011 at 16:00 Location: LG32, Learning Centre Title: Designing text entry interfaces for society Speaker: Per Ola Kristensson (http://pokristensson.com/) Institution: School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews (http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/) Host: Mirco Musolesi Abstract: Text entry interfaces are culture-preserving devices of tremendous importance for society. However, despite this we are still stuck with suboptimal solutions for a range of use-scenarios. In this talk I will first outline the central research questions for text entry research that strives to have an impact on our society. Thereafter I will give an overview of our recent progress in speech recognition, multimodal signal processing, and augmentative and alternative communication. Bio: Per Ola Kristensson is a Lecturer in Human Computer Interaction and an EPSRC Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. Previously (2008-2011) he was a Junior Research Fellow at the the University of Cambridge (Darwin College). In 2007 he co-founded the technology start-up ShapeWriter, Inc. and was its Director of Engineering until its acquisition by Nuance Communications in 2010. He did his doctoral work at the Institute of Technology at Linköping University, Sweden and at IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, USA (Ph.D. Computer Science 2007). -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 22nd November 2011 at 16:00 Location: LG32, Learning Centre Title: Understanding Users…Humans and Animals Speaker: Clara Mancini (http://crc.open.ac.uk/People/c.mancini) Institution: Centre for Research in Computing, The Open University (http://crc.open.ac.uk/) Host: Asimina Vasalou Abstract: Technology is increasingly pervasive in the lives of both human and nonhuman animals, and HCI researchers must understand user interactions in the most diverse contextual settings. This can be difficult, for example, because the use of technology may interfere with aspects of the users’ lives that are difficult to study or because the users in question may be of a kind HCI researchers have not studied before. In this talk, I will discuss new methodological approaches developed to investigate complex and seemingly impenetrable phenomena pertaining to the interaction between users and pervasive technology within two different projects: PRiMMA (Privacy Rights Management in Mobile Applications) and ACI (Animal-Computer Interaction). -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 29th November 2011 at 16:00 Location: LG32, Learning Centre Title: Real-time Emotion Recognition, Adaptation and Interaction using Physiological Signals Speaker: Daniela Romano (http://staffwww.dcs.shef.ac.uk/people/D.Romano/) Institution: Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield (http://www.shef.ac.uk/dcs) Host: Asimina Vasalou Abstract: Previous research work in affective computing and HCI has provided evidence of the feasibility of using physiological signals for emotion recognition and interaction. This talk will presents the conceptualization, implementation and testing of a framework for flexible, scalable and real-time emotion recognition using physiological signals. Based on this framework, a bio-affective computer interface (BACI) that classifies emotion in real-time using machine learning recognition will be presented, together with some if the application built to use such interface. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 6th December 2011 at 16:00 Location: LG32, Learning Centre Title: Situation, Identity and the Ecology of Devices Speaker: Anne Adams (http://iet.open.ac.uk/people/a.adams) Institution: Institute of Educational Technology (http://www8.open.ac.uk/iet/main/) Host: Asimina Vasalou Abstract: How do you design a learning system to support those 'lightbulb' moments? What are the benefits and disadvantages from jumping between multiple different devices? How can distributed learning support or hinder student understanding? What is the role of a teacher or academic in the new media age? Presenting the latest evidence from empirical studies conducted during the Out There in Here project (OTIH http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/otih/) provides a detailed account of how an ecology of devices (e.g. smartphones, ipads, laptops, tabletop, large screen displays, live video feeds) can impact on interaction and learning patterns with particular reference to: hypothesis generation, inquiry learning, co-reflection and memory processes. Finally, novel systems and approaches to education are also discussed with reference to pencasts, GIS, glogsters, augmented reality and digital resources. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 13th December 2011 at 16:00 Location: LG32, Learning Centre Title: Driver distraction by mobile phones - have we been wrong all along? Speaker: Nick Reed Institution: Transport Research Laboratory Host: Andrew Howes Abstract: Much research over the last 15 years has examined the link between mobile phone conversations and risks to drivers. Epidemiological research, test track and simulator studies all converged on the idea that the cognitive distraction of talking on a mobile phone whilst driving was significant and to an extent sufficient to increase accident risk. This led to a changes in the law regarding use of a mobile phone when driving. More recently, it has become feasible to conduct large scale 'naturalistic' driving studies in which many vehicles are equipped with instrumentation and driver behaviour can be studied 'in vivo'. Results from such studies conducted in the US suggest that the risk from talking on a mobile phone is not as large as has been suggested and may even result in a reduction in accident risk. The discrepancy between these results will be discussed. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 17th January 2012 at 16:00 Location: UG06, Learning Centre Title: Next generation teachers as artists, engineers and diagnosticians Speaker: Dean Petters (http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~ddp/) Institution: School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering (University of Birmingham) Host: Chris Bowers Abstract: As artists, teachers design and then orchestrate learning activities. As engineers, they can use next generation technologies to utilize the data-rich classroom environment for their own data-driven decision-making. This presentation will describe how the Next-tell project integrates these approaches to teaching within a framework that also emphasizes using technology-supported modelling in planning and formative assessment for learning activities. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 24th January 2012 at 16:00 Location: UG04, Learning Centre Title: Divergence in Dialogue Speaker: Patrick Healey (http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~ph/) Institution: School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary, University of London (http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/) Host: Andrew Howes Abstract: One of the best known claims about human interaction is that people tend to become more similar to one another during conversation; people converge, to varying degrees, in their body posture, speech rate, accent and facial expressions when they interact. It has been proposed that this is because of automatic, unconscious priming mechanisms that underpin all successful human interaction. The cognitive processes associated with perception of a behaviour automatically trigger production of the same behaviour. So, when we see a smile we are automatically more likely to produce a smile. These priming based models are relatively simple, computationally efficient and suggest a simple interface with neural processing mechanisms such as `mirror neurons'. Despite this, I argue that automatic priming cannot be the basic mechanism underpinning successful human interaction. I will focus on structural convergence, the claim that people automatically tend to repeat each other's syntactic constructions in conversation. Currently there is no convincing evidence that this happens in ordinary dialogue. I present a direct comparison of pattens of syntactic repetition in two corpora of everyday conversations. The results show that although people do tend to repeat themselves, they systematically diverge from each other. This is incompatible with a priming-based model of dialogue co-ordination. However, it is compatible with an essential feature of the dynamics of natural interaction; people's ability to re-use parts of each other's contributions to construct the elaborations, contrasts and evaluations that sustain the forward momentum of successful conversation. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 28th February 2012 at 16:00 Location: UG06, Learning Centre Title: Gaining insight into user attitude and behaviour towards using the internet on their mobile phone: an online diary and focus group approach Speaker: Steve Love (http://www.brunel.ac.uk/siscm/disc/people-in-disc/academic-staff/drstevelove) Institution: School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics, Brunel University (http://www.brunel.ac.uk/siscm/disc/) Host: Ben Cowan Abstract: This presentation describes a study carried out in conjunction with a major mobile phone service provider to assess the effectiveness of using an on-line diary data collection approach in conjunction with a focus group to gain insights into users’ attitude and behaviour when accessing the internet on their mobile phones. The results from this study show that this triangulation approach to data collection can provide information on: Location of use, Time of use, Frequency of use, Attitude towards using the internet at specific times and locations In addition, issues highlighted in diary entries can be explored in-depth in a focus group session. This approach provides mobile phone service providers with both qualitative and quantitative data that can be used to improve the quality of services that they provide to their customers. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 13th March 2012 at 16:00 Location: UG05, Learning Centre Title: Ubicomp sensing as a lens on energy related services in shared student accommodation Speaker: Adrian Friday (http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/~adrian/) Institution: School of Computing & Communications, Lancaster University (http://www.scc.lancs.ac.uk/) Abstract: Previous work in eco-feedback has focused either on new sensing technologies, or on people’s responses to specific feedback devices and other interventions placed in their homes. We attempt to take a comprehensive approach based on a large scale deployment of off the shelf sensors coupled with face to face interviews to account for both the amount of energy that specific appliances draw upon, and what occupant practices rely upon the services provided by these appliances. We performed a study in four student flats (each with 7–8 occupants) over a twenty-day period, collecting data from over two hundred sensors and conducting interviews with 11 participants. We build an account of life in the flats, and how that connects to the energy consumed. Our goal is to understand the challenges in accounting for both the energy resources used and services they support at home, and what these challenges mean for the design of future feedback devices and interventions aimed at reducing energy consumption. In this talk we share results of our recent analysis and our experiences of conducting Ubicomp deployments using off the shelf sensors to study energy use. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 1st May 2012 at 16:00 Location: UG40, Computer Science Title: Space, Time and Social Ties: How Geographic Distance Shapes Online Social Networks Speaker: Salvatore Scellato (http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~ss824/) Institution: Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge (http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/) Host: Mirco Musolesi Abstract: While in the last years massive online social networks have become extremely popular, gathering and engaging millions of users, only recently these social services are becoming location-aware. This provides broad and fine grained data to investigate how spatial and social structure blend together, opening exciting research directions with promising scientific and practical applications. For instance, an open question about human social behavior is to understand whether, and how, spatial distance between two individuals affects their social interaction. In this talk I will present how the socio-spatial properties of online social networks can be studied and how social and spatial properties can be jointly exploited to build new systems and applications. -Bio- Salvatore Scellato is a PhD candidate in the Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge. He holds a BSc in Computer Science (2006) and a MSc in Computer Science (2008) from the University of Catania, Italy. He has been working at University College London and at the University of Cambridge before joining the Computer Laboratory; he also worked at Google as an intern during his PhD. His main research interests include the application of data mining and machine learning techniques to online social networks and human spatial mobility, and the design of new models and systems that enrich user experience. He will join Google in London in September 2012. -------------------------------- Date and time: Thursday 3rd May 2012 at 14:00 Location: Room 521/522, EECE Title: Perception of Humanoid Agents and Pedestrian Crowds in Simulated Virtual Environments Speaker: Christopher Peters Institution: Coventry University Host: Ginevra Castellano Abstract: This presentation describes research involving the perception of believable behaviour in humanoid agents and crowds situated in simulated virtual environments. Videos of high-density pedestrian scenes are inspected and annotated in order to synthesise virtual scenes of pedestrian configurations. These configurations are subsequently altered algorithmically at the level of the individual, group and crowd, in order to probe user perceptions of naturalness. The presentation will highlight the importance of the role of context in which behaviour takes place to its perception and also raise the issue of cases where differentiations may be made between the perception of realistic versus believable behaviour. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 8th May 2012 at 16:00 Location: UG04, Learning Centre Title: Information Value, Decision Efficiency and the Use of Online Consumer Reviews in Product Choice Speaker: Stylianos Lelis (http://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/people/profiles/SLelis) Institution: Innovation, Management and Policy, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester (http://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/people/units/imp.aspx) Host: Andrew Howes Abstract: It is known that online consumer reviews are extensively used as a source of pre-purchase product information. However, what is not known is how people search and use review information to make a purchasing decision. In this talk I will examine how people search and read reviews through an investigation of the value of review information in the efficiency of decision making, and two ecologically motivated experimental studies testing theory-driven hypotheses in a consumer choice scenario. The findings show that people have a preference to seek and read online consumer reviews for the superior alternative under consideration, and to seek and process reviews of lower rating. In addition they suggest that people will make more efficient choices (faster and/or of higher quality) when they have a higher preference to process reviews of lower rating. Theoretical contributions to understanding the perceived value of information in decision making and key practical implications are discussed. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 19th June 2012 at 16:00 Location: 103, Physics West Title: Exploring the design of multi-view and multi-feel systems Speaker: Sriram Subramanian (http://www.sriramsubramanian.com/) Institution: Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol (http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/) Host: Asimina Vasalou Abstract: Multi-touch systems have become ubiquitous however there are still several technical limitations with such systems. Although a user can touch multiple points simultaneously they can neither feel independent haptic sensations at these locations nor can they manage the views presented to each user or location. The Bristol Interaction and Graphics group has been exploring various technical solutions to create the next generation of touch interfaces that support multi-point haptic feedback as well as dynamic allocation of views to different users. The talk will present some of the recent research endeavours in this direction. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 26th June 2012 at 16:00 Location: 103, Physics West Title: Making Sense of Digital Footprints in e-Discovery: A Lament for Narrative Speaker: Simon Attfield (http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/staffpages/simonattfield/) Institution: School of Engineering and Information Sciences, Middlesex University (http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/) Host: Chris Baber Abstract: E-discovery is a process in which electronic data is recovered, searched and re-represented with the intent of using it as evidence in civil or criminal proceedings, or as part of a regulatory investigation. In recent years, the tractability of such investigations has been challenged by the exponential growth in the volume of electronically stored information. Teams of lawyers involved in such investigations face a considerable sensemaking challenge. In this talk I will present a sociotechnical study of three corporate legal investigations. The study aimed to understand how lawyers collectively and individually work with information to support sensemaking and to understand issues related to technology use. I begin with a process model of the investigation process and describe a framework which articulates the way in which lines of enquiry embedded within each other. I then focus on document review and the construction of external representations leading to arguments for the importance of narrative in legal investigations - something that in recent years may have got lost down the back of an information retrieval system. -------------------------------- Date and time: Monday 28th January 2013 at 13:00 Location: UG05, The Learning Centre Title: Mixed Initiative Multi - UAV task scheduling Speaker: Jeremy Baxter (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/poynting/baxter-jeremy.aspx) Institution: Poynting Institute, The University of Birmingham (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/poynting/index.aspx) Host: Andrew Howes Abstract: In this talk I'll describe the development and use of a multi-uav (unmanned air vehicle) surveillance scheduling algorithm. This forms part of a uav autonomy testbed which QinetiQ have been putting through a series of trials with potential users. Both task scheduling and task execution are carried out by human operators interacting with computer assistance. I'll describe the core scheduler - An anytime A* variant for team orienteering problems and cover the changes that were made to it in response to feedback from trials. The initial implimentation used a simple set of tasks with known locations, durations and rewards with re-planning occuring as tasks were completed, removed or added. This relatively simple model was updated several times to include variable rewards depending on uav type, the handing over of tasks from one uav to another and accounting for partial completion during re-plans. I'll also describe the impact of having users involved and the changes we had to make to improve user acceptance (proposing multiple options and allowing the user to specify parts of the schedule as fixed. I'll show example of the HMI used and describe intial feedback from a major user trail in November last year where the combined system was shown to deliver 47% more primary surveillance tasks and 60% more background surveillance images than the same operators running without automated assistance. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 19th February 2013 at 16:00 Location: Strathcona LT7 Title: Learning in the wild: designing for location-based experiences Speaker: Elizabeth Fitzgerald (http://elara99.wordpress.com/) Institution: Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University (http://iet.open.ac.uk/e.j.fitzgerald) Host: Mina Vasalou Abstract: Mobile, context-aware computing is now a reality for many of us in our everyday lives. A growing area of concern is location awareness and the services or data that may be provided to us that are dependent or related to our physical whereabouts. Increasingly more sophisticated mobile devices allow (mostly) seamless integration of ubiquitous computing with data-gathering tools – GPS, cameras, microphones, accelerometers etc – that can be exploited for the benefit of their owners. Many mobile apps tend to concentrate on advertising/marketing opportunities, leisure activities or games and whilst research into location-based experiences is not new, we now have the means to engage with our environment in new ways that have not been possible before (through e.g. the social web, augmented reality and user-created content). In this talk, I will be presenting several projects that have utilised location as the main context for learning, sharing theoretical and practical insights, tensions and guidance that have emerged from those projects. I will also be examining how scaffolding the creation of user-created content may provide a different way of engaging with – and learning from – location-based information. Biography: Dr Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown) is a Research Fellow in Technology Enhanced Learning (Pervasive, Ubiquitous and Ambient Computing) at the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University, pursuing a programme of interdisciplinary research into mobile and location-based learning. Her research combines ubiquitous computing, usability and interaction design with education and pedagogy. Her current work focuses on geolocated user-generated content for informal learning; pervasive/locative media and augmented reality for learning. She is also interested in personalisation of technology-enhanced learning and she has a strong interest in user modelling and learner analytics. Her wider research interests encompass CSCW, CSCL and the learning sciences; also field trip learning and museum learning. She has a BSc in Environmental Science, a PhD in Computer Science and has also trained and worked as a secondary school science teacher. She won the ACM Ted Nelson Newcomer award for her work into personalisation of e-learning and has been awarded funding from EPSRC, HEFCE, JISC, the EU, Ordnance Survey and the Wolfson Foundation. She has worked on several multidisciplinary projects and is the Principle Investigator for the Situ8 project, leading a team of academics, developers and partners from industry to investigate how the capture and delivery of geolocated media can be used to provide ad hoc informal learning in outdoor locations. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 5th March 2013 at 16:00 Location: Strathcona LT7 Title: Architecture-based vs reward-based motivation in biological evolution and development, and future robotics Speaker: Aaron Sloman (http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~axs/) Institution: School of Computer Science (http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/) Host: Andrew Howes Abstract: Many scientists, philosophers, and AI modellers/designers assume that all motivational mechanisms must make use of expected or estimated rewards in order to create, or choose between, motives. I'll argue that that assumption is based on (a) a failure to imagine alternative designs, (b) a failure to attend to empirical evidence, (c) a failure to appreciate how architecture-based motivational mechanisms can be superior to reward-based motivational mechanisms in some contexts. As David Hume pointed out long ago, control mechanisms are required in addition to factual information and reasoning mechanisms if an agent A, however knowledgable and competent, is to do anything. This talk is about what forms of control are required. The simplest cases are reflexes. In at least some cases motives are superior to reflexes, and the control arises out of selection of a motive for action. That raises the question where motives come from. They can be generated and selected in different ways, but one way is not itself motivated: it merely involves the operation of mechanisms in the architecture of A that generate motives and select some of them for action -- cognitive reflexes. Those mechanisms may have been selected by evolution because of their consequences (e.g. because they generally produce powerful learning in the environments in which the species evolved), but A knows, and expects, nothing about that. The view I wish to oppose is that all motives must be explicitly chosen by A because they somehow serve A's desires, or are likely to produce rewards that A wants: this is the assumption that all motivation must be reward-based -- known as "Hedonism" in the history of philosophy. In contrast, I claim that at least some motivation is architecture-based: i.e. motive generation and selection is in some cases a kind of internal reflex, not a rational process, and this has biological benefits, which robot designers ignore at their peril. The talk will expand on this discussion note: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/09.html#907 -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 9th April 2013 at 16:00 Location: UG10, Learning Centre Title: Behavioural Nudge with an Always-on Smartphone Application to Promote Physical Activity Speaker: Parisa Eslambolchilar (http://www.cs.swan.ac.uk/~csparisa/) Institution: Department of Computer Science, Swansea University (http://www.swan.ac.uk/compsci/) Host: Russell Beale Abstract: The aim of this talk is to provide a focal point for research and ubiquitous technologies dedicated to physical activity behaviour change. Although patterns of consumption are shaped by the taken-for-granted practices of everyday life, they are not fixed. Therefore, it is important to understand how the habits of everyday life change and evolve. Smartphones can play a significant role in shaping normal practices in three distinct ways: (1) they facilitate the capture of information at the right time and place; (2) they provide non-invasive and cost effective methods for communicating personalised data that compare individual performance with relevant social group performance; and (3) they facilitate social goal sharing. In this talk I will focus on a rigorous and large-scale field trial of bActive, a new, digital, smartphone-based app for the promotion of walking in everyday life. Unlike most similar active-lifestyle apps, bActive does not need to be activated prior to exercise and needs no special additional equipment. bActive is developed through the CHARM project (EPSRC ref EP/H006966/1- www.projectcharm.info). -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 7th May 2013 at 16:00 Location: Learning Centre UG06 Title: Child location-based tracking technology: an investigation of its (non-) adoption and its social implications Speaker: Anne-Marie Oostveen (http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=110) Institution: Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford (http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/) Host: Asimina Vasalou Abstract: Real-time tracking of individuals has become relatively easy with the widespread availability of commercial wearable devices that use geographical positioning information to provide location-based services. One application of this technology is to allow parents to monitor the location of their children. In this presentation I shall explore two issues related to child-location tracking devices. In the first part of the presentation I shall discuss the actual use of these services in the UK (based on a large-scale representative survey among 920 parents), showing that parental values related to the possible long-term negative consequences of commercial child-tracking devices play a major part in the non-adoption of location-based services. The fact that only a small fraction of parents are in favour of location tracking, suggests that both designers and marketers have insufficiently addressed the values of parenthood. The second part of the presentation investigates child location tracking technology in the US and the UK and compares its social implications. By analysing websites selling tracking devices we identify common and distinct features between the two countries. Although overall the price levels and the technical capabilities are the same, we find that the features of the technology differ between the US and the UK. This can be attributed to national regulations and law that shape how a technology can be used. These laws and regulations, influenced by cultural frameworks, values, and morality, differ considerably between the countries. The results of our study show that: (i) Wearable child location tracking technology has privacy, trust and security implications; (ii) Features of child tracking applications are dependent on the social contexts in which the devices are developed; and (iii) Compared to the UK, US legislation gives providers freedom to design more privacy-intrusive features. -------------------------------- Date and time: Tuesday 14th May 2013 at 16:00 Location: Learning Centre UG06 Title: Location Privacy in Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks Speaker: Sameh Zakhary (http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~szz/) Institution: School of Computer Science & IT, University of Nottingham (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/computerscience/index.aspx) Host: Mirco Musolesi Abstract: Mobile devices have widely penetrated our lives today. Many of these devices are capable of detecting, storing and sharing users location information at various precisions reaching a few meters. This raises many privacy issues. Opportunistic mobile social networks (OppMSN), a type of Delay-Tolerant Networks, enable heterogeneous devices to communicate using store-carry-forward paradigm without an infrastructure such as 3G networks, and end-to-end communication path between devices. Users sending queries to location-based services (LBSs) over OppMSN reveal their location information. Subsequently, privacy-conscious users turn off their device's opportunistic interface to ensure their location privacy which lead to network communication failure. In this talk, we will present LPAF, our proposal for enhancing users' location-privacy over OppMSN using human social relationships and a lightweight Markov model to drive the privacy preserving protocol. LPAF is a fully distributed and collaborative K-anonymity protocol which protects the users location and ensure better privacy while forwarding queries/replies to untrusted LBSs.