SACHI Seminar: Digital tabletops: in the lab and in the wild by Patrick Olivier, Newcastle University

SACHI seminar

Title: Digital tabletops: in the lab and in the wild

Speaker: Patrick Olivier, Culture Lab, Newcastle University

Abstract:
The purpose of this talk will be to introduce Culture Lab’s past and current interaction design research into digital tabletops. The talk will span our interaction techniques and technologies research (including pen-based interaction, authentication and actuated tangibles) but also application domains (education, play therapy and creative practice) by reference to four Culture Lab tabletop studies: (1) Digital Mysteries (Ahmed Kharrufa’s classroom-based higher order thinking skills application); (2) Waves (Jon Hook’s expressive performance environment for VJs); (3) Magic Land (Olga Pykhtina’s tabletop play therapy tool); and (4) StoryCrate (Tom Bartindale’s collaborative TV production tool). I’ll focus on a number of specific challenges for digital tabletop research, including selection of appropriate design approaches, the role and character of evaluation, the importance of appropriate “in the wild” settings, and avoiding the trap of simple remediation when working in multidisciplinary teams.

Bio:
Patrick Olivier is a Professor of Human-Computer Interaction in the School of Computing Science at Newcastle University. He leads the Digital Interaction Group in Culture Lab, Newcastle’s centre for interdisciplinary practice-based research in digital technologies. Their main interest is interaction design for everyday life settings and Patrick is particularly interested in the application of pervasive computing to education, creative practice, and health and wellbeing, as well as the development of new technologies for interaction (such as novel sensing platforms and interaction techniques).

Event details

  • When: 7th May 2013 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Format: Seminar

SACHI Seminar: Subtle Gaze-Dependent Techniques for Visualising Display Changes in Multi-Display Environments, by Jakub Dostal, University of St. Andrews

Abstract:

Modern computer workstation setups regularly include multiple displays in various configurations. With such multi-monitor or multi-display setups we have reached a stage where we have more display real-estate available than we are able to comfortably attend to. This talk will present the results of an exploration of techniques for visualising display changes in multi-display environments. Apart from four subtle gaze-dependent techniques for visualising change on unattended displays, it will cover the technology used to enable quick and cost-effective deployment to workstations. An evaluation of the technology as well as the techniques themselves will be presented as well. The talk will conclude with a brief discussion on the challenges in evaluating subtle interaction techniques. Continue reading

Event details

  • When: 5th March 2013 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Format: Seminar

Sinhalese Text Entry Research by Shyam Reyal, University of St. Andrews

More info

The Sinhalese language (which falls into the family of Indo-Aryan languages) is spoken, read and written by over 22 million users worldwide (and by almost all the citizens of Sri Lanka). The language itself is very rich and complex – with over 60 base characters + 13 vowel variations for each, and also in terms of contextual phrases and idioms, which are much more diverse than Western languages. Nevertheless, very little work has been done in terms of creating efficient, user friendly text entry mechanisms for Sinhalese, in both computers and mobile devices. As present, despite attempts to standardize input methods, no such single main-stream popular method of text entry has surfaced. Continue reading

Event details

  • When: 5th February 2013 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Format: Seminar

University of St Andrews 600th Anniversary PhD Scholarships in Computer Science

As part of the University of St Andrews 600th Anniversary celebrations, we are able to offer six PhD Scholarships in Computer Science for 2013, including fees and a stipend.

Human version of the St Andrews University crest, organised in part by Yi Yu, one of our PhD students

This celebrates a great moment in the life of the University, and the Scholarships may be held in any research area of the School. Our only requirements are that the proposed research would be good, we have staff to supervise it, and that you would be good at doing it.

You can see our
advert at jobs.ac.uk
and also our local page with further information on postgraduate study in Computer Science.
Informal enquiries can be directed to pg-admin-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk or to potential supervisors.
Formal application is through our normal applications process, mentioning that you wish to be considered for the 600th Anniversary Scholarships.
The closing date for applications is February 4th, 2013.