Abstract:

In Capability and Wellbeing, Sen (1993) says that acting freely and being able to choose may be directly conducive to wellbeing, not just because more freedom may make better alternatives available, but because the action of choice is itself a freedom. This talk reflects on three projects with older people and considers their sense of agency in thinking about interactive systems and future technologies, looking particularly at how agency might contribute to a sense of wellbeing. Although a theme running through the talk is the design of digital tools, the discussion takes a broad view of the factors to be considered in human-computer interaction.

Sen, Amartya. (1993). Capability and Well-Being. In M. Nussbaum and A. Sen, eds. The Quality of Life, pp. 30–53. New York: Oxford University Press.

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Abstract

The human visual system is extraordinary powerful, but it is not a perfect seeing device. In this talk I will use the example of binocular vision to explore visual processing. I will describe some of the biology of the binocular visual system, some of the limitations that the biology presents, and I will describe methods used to probe the relative importance of binocular vision, versus other sources of 3-D visual information. These methods allow us to predict where and when binocular vision provides a powerful source of 3-D information, and is therefore useful to inform the design and production of devices across a range of HCI applications.

Bio


Julie Harris is interested in visual perception, with particular interests in how binocular vision and eye movements are used for the perception of shape and depth and the control of action in 3-D space. Current projects include how binocular information is used for distance perception, how gaze patterns can be described in simple mathematical terms, and how we perceive motion in three dimensions.