SACHI Seminar: Oliver Schneider and Karon MacLean

We have a SACHI seminar on Monday 12th June 2017 which will be given by two speakers, presenting two connected talks within the normal hour slot.

The speakers are Dr Oliver Schneider from the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany and Professor Karon MacLean who is Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Details for the two talks are as follows.

Title:  Haptic Experience Design: How to Create for Touch

Abstract:  Touch is everywhere in our daily lives, but interactive technology has traditionally prioritized visual and audio feedback. Recently, a variety of haptic feedback methods promise the benefits of touch for application areas like eyes-free feedback, emotional robots, and physically embodied education. However, haptic experiences are challenging to create – designers must draw from expertise in psychology, mechanical engineering, software engineering, and design theory, and work simultaneously with touch, vision, and audio.

To understand and support haptic experience design, we interviewed professional hapticians (makers of haptics) to provide a first definition and description of their process and its constituent challenges. We developed a series of design tools to support rapid, iterative creation of experiences for the most common haptic interface: expressive vibrotactile feedback. By characterizing haptic experience design and informing supportive tools, we make a first step towards establishing haptic design as its own field, akin to graphic and sound design.

Bio:  Oliver Schneider is a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany. His Ph.D. topic at the University of British Columbia (UBC) was Haptic Experience Design: describing the process designers follow when creating haptic experiences and developing software tools to support them. Oliver received his M.Sc. in Computer Science from UBC and a B.Sc. Honours from the University of Saskatchewan, and has worked with Disney Research on novel haptic interactions. Through his research, Oliver seeks to empower people to work creatively with novel haptic, multimodal, and multisensory interactive technology.

Title:  Making and Experimenting with Furry Robots with Feelings

Abstract:  Touch has a major role to play in human-robot interaction. Here, advances in tactile sensing, wearable and context-aware computing as well as robotics more broadly are spurring new ideas about  how to configure the human-robot relationship in terms of roles and utility, which in turn expose new technical and social design questions.

This talk will focus on my group’s recent work on haptic or physical human-robot interaction, where we aim to bring effective haptic interaction into people’s lives by examining how touch (in either direction) can help address human needs with the benefit of both low- and high-tech innovation. I will give a sense of these efforts from three perspectives, each involving significant technical and evaluative design challenges: sensing emotive touch, designing expressive robot bodies and behaviours, and creating evaluative scenarios where participants experience genuine – and changing – emotions as they interact with our robots.

Bio:  Karon MacLean is Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, Canada, with a B.Sc. in Biology and Mech. Eng. (Stanford) and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. (Mech. Eng., MIT)  and time spent as professional robotics engineer (Center for Engineering Design, University of Utah) and interaction researcher (Interval Research, Palo Alto). At UBC since 2000, her research specializes in haptic interaction: cognitive, sensory and affective design for people interacting with the computation we touch, emote and move with, whether robots, touchscreens or mobile activity sensors. Special Advisor on Knowledge Mobilization to UBC Faculty of Science; Charles A. McDowell Award, 2008; Assoc Editor of  IEEE Transactions on Haptics; co-chair of the 2010 and 2012 IEEE Haptics Symposium; Director of UBC’s pan-university Designing for People Research Cluster.

SACHI Seminar: Daniel Vogel, University of Waterloo

Title:  New Approaches to Mode-Switching

Abstract:  The fundamental unit of all interaction is issuing commands, and the trickiest types of commands are those that control “modes” — different ways to map the same input to different application actions. For example, the current mode in a tablet drawing app could determine if the exact same sequence of touch movements draws a line, pans the canvas, makes a marquee selection, or issues a gestural command. Switching between modes like these are frequent, so finding optimum mode-switching methods is important.  In this talk, I survey my group’s work to understand and improve mode-switching and command selection for different input types and device form factors. These include: Pin-and-Cross, a touch overloading technique combining static touches with nearby crossing selection; Conté, a pen-like input device that leverages small changes in contact geometry; Doppio, a reconfigurable two-faced smartwatch for tangible input; and Gunslinger, a mid-air interaction technique using bare hand postures and gestures performed in a relaxed arms-down position.

Bio:  Daniel Vogel is an Assistant Professor and co-director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab in the Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. His research interests are fundamental characteristics of input and novel forms of interaction for current and future computing form factors like touch, tangibles, large displays, mid-air gestures, and whole-body input. In addition to earning PhD and MSc degrees from the University of Toronto, Dan holds a BFA from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and he leverages his combined art and science background in his research. For example, he was recently awarded a major grant to build a $1.8 million lab to explore the intersection of HCI and Fine Art in spatial augmented reality. Dan’s 2004 paper on interactive ambient displays is one of the ten most cited papers in the nineteen-year history of ACM UIST, and he has received honours including: multiple best paper awards at ACM CHI; the Bill Buxton Dissertation Award (2010); a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (2011 – 2013), and an Ontario Early Researcher Award (2017).

Event details

  • When: 15th June 2017 14:00 - 15:00
  • Where: Maths Theatre B
  • Format: Seminar

Simon Fowler Seminar: First-Class Distributed Session Types

Session types codify communication patterns, giving developers guarantees that applications satisfy predefined protocols. Session types have come a long way from their theoretical roots: recent work has seen the implementation of static analysis tools; embeddings into a multitude of programming languages; and the integration of session types into languages as a first-class language construct.

Work at Edinburgh has concentrated on the latter. Lindley and Morris have extended the experimental functional programmming language Links with session-typed hannels in a multithreaded setting.

Distribution, however, brings challenges such as failure and the need for distributed channel delegation algorithms. In this talk, I will demonstrate and discuss the design and implementation of session types in Links. I will describe my recent work on adding support for distribution to Links, allowing the creation of session-typed, multi-user web applications.

Finally, I will describe recent, in-progress, work on a static type system and semantics allowing the controlled relaxation of the requirement of *linearity* (that
every endpoint must be used exactly once) to that of affinity (that every endpoint must be used at most once) in order to account for the question of users leaving a session midway through, and describe how the system still retains core metatheoretic pro

Event details

  • When: 5th June 2017 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Format: Seminar

Seminar: Propagation and Reification: SAT and SMT in Prolog (continued)

Jacob Howe, City University, London

Abstract: This talk will recap how a watched literal DPLL based SAT solver can be succinctly coded in 20 lines of Prolog. The focus of the talk will be the extension of this solver to an SMT solver which will be discussed with a particular focus on the case where the theory is that of rational-tree constraints, and its application in a reverse engineering problem.
[Note change of time from that previously advertised]

Event details

  • When: 23rd June 2017 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Series: AI Seminar Series
  • Format: Seminar

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Computer Science

The School of Computer Science is looking to recruit new academics as part of a large on-going expansion of our academic staff. We wish to appoint two new Lecturers/Senior Lecturers (depending on experience) to join our vibrant teaching and research community that is ranked amongst the top venues for Computer Science education and research worldwide.

You will be a scholar with a growing international research reputation in Computer Science and a commitment to delivering high quality teaching within the broad field of Computer Science and its applications. The successful candidate will be expected to have a range of interests, to be active in research publication that strengthens or complements those in the School and to be capable of teaching the subject to undergraduate and taught postgraduate students who come to us with a wide range of backgrounds.

Candidates should hold a PhD in a cognate discipline. Excellent teaching skills and an interest in promoting knowledge exchange are essential. You should also have some familiarity with grant seeking processes in relation to research councils and other sources.

Informal enquiries can be directed to Professor Steve Linton (hos-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk) or Dr Dharini Balasubramaniam (dot-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk).

Applications are particularly welcome from women, who are under-represented in Science posts at the University. You can find out more about Equality & Diversity at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/.

The University of St Andrews is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all, which is further demonstrated through its working on the Gender and Race Equality Charters and being awarded the Athena SWAN award for women in science, HR Excellence in Research Award and the LGBT Charter; http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/diversityawards/. The School endorses the Athena SWAN charter and is actively working towards recognition.

We encourage applicants to apply online, however if you are unable to do this, please call +44 (0)1334 462571 for an application pack.

Please quote ref: AC2116SB

Closing Date: 23 June 2017

SRG Seminar: Evaluation Techniques for Detection Model Performance in Anomaly Network Intrusion Detection System by Amjad Al Tobi

Everyday advancements in technology brings with it novel challenges and threats. Such advancement imposes greater risks than ever on systems and services, including individual privacy information. Relying on intrusion specialists to come up with new signatures to detect different types of new attacks, does not seem to scale with excessive traffic growth. Therefore, anomaly-based detection provides a promising solution for this problem area.

Anomaly-based IDS applies machine learning, data mining and/or artificial intelligence along with many other methods to solve this problem. Currently, these solutions seem not to be tractable for real production environments due to the high false alarms rate. This might be a result of such systems not being able to determine the point at which an update is required. It is not clear how detection models will behave over time, when traffic behaviour has changed since the last time the model was re-generated.
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Event details

  • When: 1st June 2017 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33b
  • Series: Systems Seminars Series
  • Format: Seminar

Associate Lecturers in Computer Science

The School of Computer Science is looking to recruit new academics as part of a large on-going expansion of our academic staff. We wish to appoint two new Associate Lecturers to join our vibrant teaching and research community that is ranked amongst the top venues for Computer Science education and research worldwide.

Associate Lecturers provide the backbone of our teaching capability, focusing more on the delivery of high-quality taught programmes while still having opportunities for research. You will be committed to innovation and delivery of high quality teaching within the broad field of Computer Science and its applications. The successful candidate will be expected to be capable of teaching the subject to undergraduate and taught postgraduate students who come to us with a wide range of backgrounds. The Associate Lecturer comes with an Education focussed academic promotion track to Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Professor.

Excellent teaching skills and an interest in promoting knowledge exchange are essential. A PhD in a cognate discipline is an advantage, as is industrial or other experience. We are especially interested in individuals wanting to experiment and innovate in improving our student experience.

Informal enquiries can be directed to Professor Steve Linton – hos-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk or Dr Dharini Balasubramaniam dot-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk

Applications are particularly welcome from women, who are under-represented in Science posts at the University. You can find out more about Equality & Diversity at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/.

The University of St Andrews is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all, which is further demonstrated through its working on the Gender and Race Equality Charters and being awarded the Athena SWAN award for women in science, HR Excellence in Research Award and the LGBT Charter; http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/diversityawards/. The School endorses the Athena SWAN charter and is actively working towards recognition.

We encourage applicants to apply online, however if you are unable to do this, please call +44 (0)1334 462571 for an application pack.

The University is committed to equality of opportunity.

The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland (No SC013532).

Please quote ref: AO1501AC

Closing Date: 23 June 2017

SACHI Seminar: Mike Hazas, Lancaster University

 

Title:  Internet services, energy demand and everyday life

Abstract:  Over the last decade, the growth in data traffic across the Internet has been dramatic, and forecasts predict a similar ongoing pattern. Since this is associated with remarkable electricity consumption (about 10% globally, and rising), such a trend is significant to efforts to reduce carbon emissions.  This calls for careful attention to the nature of these trends, as levels of Internet electricity demand become ever more directly and explicitly problematic.  Based on a host of prior literature and two field studies, this talk explores what we know about the energy intensity of digital stuff, and the growth of Internet traffic.  It considers how such traffic can be attributed to different Internet services like video streaming or social networking, and how these link to everyday practices which draw upon and generate data online.

Biography:  Dr Mike Hazas is a Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University, who works at the confluence of human-computer interaction and social science. His research combines qualitative and quantitative methods to understand everyday practices and technologies, how they can be related to carbon emissions and energy demand, and more sustainable trajectories. Mike co-directs the multidisciplinary Socio-Digital Sustainability group at Lancaster, and has served as a chair of the CHI Specific Application Areas subcommittee for the last three years.  Mike is a co-investigator in the DEMAND Centre (EPSRC, 2013-2018) which is concerned with the relationship of social practices and energy demand.

Event details

  • When: 30th May 2017 14:00 - 15:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Format: Seminar

SRG Seminar: New Network Functionality using ILNPv6 and DNS by Khawar Shehzad

This research deals with the introduction of a new network functionality based on Identifier-Locator Network Protocol version 6 (ILNPv6), and Domain Name System (DNS). The chosen area of concern is security and specifically mitigation of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). The functionality proposed and tested deals with the issues of vulnerability testing, probing, and scanning which directly lead to a successful DDoS attack. The solutions presented can be used as a reactive measure to these security issues. The DDoS is chosen because in recent years DDoS have become the most common and hard to defend attacks. These attacks are on the availability of system/site. There are multiple solutions in the literature but no one solution is based on ILNPv6, and are complex in nature. Similarly, the solutions in literature either require modification in the providers’ networks or they are complex if they are only site-based solutions. Most of these solutions are based on IPv6 protocol and they do not use the concept of naming, as proposed by ILNPv6.

The prime objectives of this research are:

  • to defend against DDoS attacks with the use of naming and DNS
  • to increase the attacker’s effort, reduce vulnerability testing, and random probing by attackers
  • to practically demonstrate the effectiveness of the ILNPv6-based solution for security

Event details

  • When: 18th May 2017 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33b
  • Series: Systems Seminars Series
  • Format: Seminar