Research
SACHI contributes to Google’s Project Soli
The SACHI group’s contribution to Project Soli was selected and featured in the official alpha developer video released by Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP), and has subsequently been shown on stage during the Google I/O ATAP 2016 session earlier in May.
The team systematically explored the Soli and developed machine learning techniques to train and classify objects. Achieving advanced interactions in real time, at this scale with consumer ready devices is an exciting development within the project. Read more about their research and Project Soli experience in “Object recognition with the Project Soli in St Andrews”.
The team consisted of Hui-Shyong Yeo (a PhD student in SACHI), Patrick Schrempf (a 2nd year CS student), Gergely Flamich (a 2nd year CS student), Dr David Harris-Birtill (a senior research fellow in SACHI) and Professor Aaron Quigley.
Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Computer Science
The School of Computer Science is excited to announce Scotland’s first Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Computer Science. The innovative research apprenticeship in partnership with The Data Lab, was launched on Monday in Edinburgh and featured in The University News earlier today.
Prospective research engineers and industry sponsors can find essential information and application forms on the EngD website. In partnership with The Data Lab, 5 prize studentships have been announced for 2016. Interested applicants with strong data-intensive and/or data-driven research are encouraged to apply (27th June deadline).
Are there still two cultures?
This Friday the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland is hosting a panel discussion and debate to celebrate the 60th anniversary of one of the most influential essays of all time. CP Snow’s “The two cultures” has passed into popular culture as the idea that arts and sciences are separated by an almost unbridgeable gap in understanding. But is this still true, as science and technology become ever more entwined with our everyday lives? Can we afford to tolerate mutual incomprehension between different groups, and how might we bridge the gap?
A small panel will discuss “The two cultures” and its relevance to modern times in the Studio Theatre at the Byre from 6pm on Friday 13th May, followed by a drinks reception. The panel includes Prof SimonDobson from the School of Computer Science, who also directs the St Andrews Institute for Data-Intensive Research that aims in part to bridge the two cultures by bringing data-driven computational techniques to both arts and science projects.
Event details
- When: 13th May 2016 18:00
- Where: Byre Theatre
Watch some video, win a Netflix or Amazon voucher
Tell us what you think of our videos and you could win a £20 Netflix or Amazon voucher!
You will be asked to watch and assess the video quality of four 1-minute online video clips, as well as complete a short questionnaire related to your regular video usage and your energy-saving awareness and preferences. Your participation should take around 20 to 30 minutes.
Optionally, you will be entered into a prize draw for a £20 Netflix or Amazon voucher.
You must be 18 years or over.
Please contact Oche Ejembi <ooe@st-andrews.ac.uk>
UTREC approval code: CS12016
Contact Details
Researcher: Oche Ejembi
email: ooe@st-andrews.ac.uk
Supervisor: Prof. Saleem Bhatti
email: saleem@st-andrews.ac.uk
Elise van den Hoven : Materialising Memories: a design research programme to study everyday remembering
Abstract
Perhaps the term computer ‘memory’ has led people to believe that human memory has to be perfect and infallible. Many people worry when they realise they forget and some turn to recording and collecting as much as they can, e.g. photos or videos through life logging. Some people assume that by collecting they can avoid forgetting or at least have access to the information anytime later. And that is where they might be wrong. First of all, recordings are not equivalent to memories, and memories ‘can not be stored’. Secondly it has already been shown that people collect too much and organize too little for them to be able to find information later [1]. Thirdly, human memory works best when we forget… a lot.
What I want to talk about is my vision [2] that we can use design research to support human remembering by supporting our memory’s functions [3], which include a directive function (using the past to guide present and future thoughts and behaviours, e.g. solving problems), a self-representative function (creating a sense of self over time) and a social function (developing and nurturing relationships, through sharing of personal experiences). It is important to realise that in order to support these functions there is no need to improve our remembering capabilities, however it could benefit from the right type of support. Since remembering is a reconstructive process, individual memories are subject to change, continuously, and what someone experiences as a memory does not have to be the same as what happened or what other people remember from the experience.
Bits of information from the original experience can be used to stimulate and facilitate the reconstruction process. These so-called memory cues [4], which can be anything: from a photo, a song to a person or a location, are at the core of our research. We use a people-centred approach to study memory cues in everyday life, which informs the design of interactive systems that present these memory cues. Since these cues are often digital, while people prefer material objects [e.g. 5], we combine material and digital in our studies and designs.
- Whittaker, S., Bergman, O., and Clough, P. Easy on that trigger dad: a study of long term family photo retrieval. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 14,1 (2010), 31-43.
- Hoven, E. van den. A future-proof past: Designing for remembering experiences. Memory Studies 7, 3 (2014), 373-387.
- Bluck, S., Alea, N., Habermas, T., and Rubin, D. C. A tale of three functions: The self–reported uses of autobiographical memory. Social Cognition 23, 1 (2005), 91-117.
- Hoven, E. van den, and Eggen, B. The Cue is Key: Design for Real-Life Remembering. Zeitschrift für Psychologie 222, 2 (2014), 110-117.
- Golsteijn, C., Hoven, E. van den, Frohlich, D., and Sellen, A. Towards a More Cherishable Digital Object. In Proc. DIS 2012, ACM Press (2012), 655-664.
Bio
Professor Dr Elise van den Hoven MTD is full Professor in the School of Software, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and part-time Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). She has two honorary appointments: Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee and Associate Investigator with the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders.
Her research interests span different disciplines, including human-computer interaction, design and psychology, including people-centred design, designing interactive systems, physical interaction and supporting human remembering.
Professor Van den Hoven leads the international research programme Materialising Memories, a collaboration between UTS, TU/e and the University of Dundee, which uses a design research approach to study people in their everyday remembering activities in order to come up with ways to support them.
www.elisevandenhoven.com
www.materialisingmemories.com
Event details
- When: 20th April 2016 14:00 - 15:00
- Where: Cole 1.33a
- Series: School Seminar Series
- Format: Seminar
Daniel Archambault : Effective Visualisation of Static and Dynamic Graphs
Abstract
Visualising dynamic graphs is important for many application areas. For social media networks, they can help us understand the interaction and interests of users online. In biology, they can illustrate the interactions between genes and biological processes. Understanding and designing effective visualisation methods for dynamic network data is fundamental to these areas as well as many others. In this talk, we focus on the effective presentation of dynamic networks. In particular, we summarise recent results on dynamic graph visualisation with respect to animation (presentation of interactive movies of the data), small multiples (presenting the data through several linked windows like a comic book), and drawing stability (the visual stability of the data presentation). We conclude with some recent work on scalable graph visualisation and in the visualisation of sets and their intersections.
Biography
Daniel Archambault has been working in the field of information visualization for ten years. His work in this area has focused on the development and evaluation of techniques for visualizing dynamic networks and scalable graph visualizations. His research has been been applied to many areas outside of computer science, including the digital humanities, biology, networking, sociology, and social media analysis.
Event details
- When: 12th April 2016 14:00 - 15:00
- Where: Cole 1.33a
- Series: School Seminar Series
- Format: Seminar
Keith Cheverst: Investigating the Shared Curation of Locative Media relating to the Local History of a Rural Community
Abstract
In this talk I will present experiences and insights from our studies involving locative media, local history and community. Our work in the village of Wray has involved the longitudinal and ‘in the wild’ deployment of ‘digital noticeboard’ displays (conceived as technology probes) that support the sharing of photos/images. A significant portion of the submitted photo content relates to Wray’s local history and features of Wray’s landscape. Residents of the village have helped shape the system through involvement in co-design workshops. A key motivation of our current studies (as part of the SHARC project) is to explore issues around the co-curation of locative media experiences. A field trial (involving both residents and visitors) and a design workshop revealed both opportunities and challenges for the co-curation approach.
Bio
Dr Keith Cheverst is a Reader in HCI at Lancaster University where he obtained his PhD in 1999. Keith has also held the position of visiting scientist at Newcastle University’s Culture Lab, at Microsoft Research, Cambridge (working with the Socio-Digital systems group), and at the University of Melbourne (Department of Computing and Information Systems).
Keith’s primary research focus is in exploring the obdurate problems associated with the user-centered design of interactive systems in complex or semi-wild settings and the deployment and longitudinal study of these systems in order to gain insights into issues of user adoption and appropriation. He is particularly interested in the design interactive systems that feature locative media and associated mobile/pervasive technologies
Event details
- When: 5th April 2016 14:00 - 15:00
- Where: Cole 1.33a
- Series: School Seminar Series
- Format: Seminar
WWWho do you trust?
Who do you trust online?
Come and help us to work out how you decide to trust web sites!
You will need to complete a computer-based survey (in the Physics Library or in the School of Computer Science) in which you will rate how you perceive the trustworthiness of several websites.
Total participation time is less than 15 minutes.
At the end of the survey you can be entered into a prize draw for one of three Amazon or iTunes vouchers.
Volunteers have to be at least 18 years of age.
After the study, all volunteers will be sent a briefing on how they can improve their online security.
Please email John (jcbh@st-andrews.ac.uk) if you wish to take part or have any further questions.
Contact details:
Researcher: John Heenan
E-mail: jcbh@st-andrews.ac.uk
Supervisor: Professor Saleem Bhatti
E-mail: saleem@st-andrews.ac.uk
UTREC approval code: CS11909
Finalists in VisitScotland digital competition
Congratulations to the Open Virtual Worlds Group on reaching the final of a digital competition launched by VisitScotland, Scotland’s national tourism organisation. They presented their final product idea ‘Taste From Afar’ a collection of immersive tours, to a panel of judges in the final stages.