Title:
Prototyping Proxemic Interactions in Ubiquitous Computing Ecologies
Date:
Monday, July 25, 2011 at 11:00am
Location:
E2-304 EITC Building, University of Manitoba Fort Garry Campus
Speaker:
Nicolai Marquardt
Phd Candidate
Department of Computing Science, University of Calgary
Abstract:
People naturally understand and use proxemic relationships (e.g., their distance and orientation towards others) in everyday situations. However, only few ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) systems interpret such proxemic relationships to mediate interaction. This is a lost
opportunity, since we can leverage the rules of proxemics in the design of novel ubicomp interactions.
In this talk I introduce my research of Proxemic Interactions that considers fine-grained information of proxemics to mediate people’s interactions with digital devices, such as large digital surfaces or portable personal devices. With several application examples I will illustrate the potential of proxemic interactions. I also introduce our Proximity Toolkit that facilitates rapid prototyping of such
proxemic-aware systems by supplying developers with the orientation, distance, motion, identity, and location information between entities.
Besides this overview of my research in proxemic interactions, I will also illustrate the prototyping and design process behind some of these projects. In particular, I highlight a few sketching techniques, which will include a few examples from the upcoming book “Sketching
User Experiences: The Workbook”, co-authored with Saul Greenberg, Sheelagh Carpendale, and Bill Buxton.
Speaker Bio:
Nicolai Marquardt is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Calgary. In collaboration with his supervisor Dr. Saul Greenberg he is working in the research areas of human-computer interaction, ubiquitous computing, and interactive surfaces. His dissertation directly focuses on proxemic interactions within ubicomp ecologies. He is a former intern at Microsoft Research Cambridge and received a M.Sc. degree in Media Systems from the Bauhaus-University Weimar.
Cost:
This will be a free event.
Contact:
If you would like additional information or if you might be interested in presenting a seminar, please contact James E. Young or the Department of Computer Science.
