ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: May 2011

Job: PhD Scholarship on Multimodal Interaction and Museum Learning at University of Strathclyde

PhD Scholarship on Multimodal Interaction and Museum Learning – Supporting Engagement and Learning with Novel Museum Technologies

The Mobiquitous Lab at the University of Strathclyde, UK invites applications for a 3-year PhD position funded by a University scholarship.

Research theme / project description

Museums worldwide are experimenting with novel interface technologies to increase both entertainment and educational benefits for visitors. But while many installations support hands-on activity, this often just consists of frantic button-pushing. It seems much harder to support intellectual-emotional engagement with the content and meaningful learning.

This project will investigate how different multimodal interaction techniques support mindful engagement and learning in museums and how novel interaction modalities can enhance the traditional museum experience, for example by augmenting exhibit artefacts. Different sensory modalities provide different affordances for interaction and learning. The project will focus on what kinds of engagement different modalities support, and how these might be more powerful when combined (or on their own, e.g.… read more. “Job: PhD Scholarship on Multimodal Interaction and Museum Learning at University of Strathclyde”

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The Alice Illusion – scientists convince people that they’re dolls or giants

[From Discover magazine’s Not Exactly Rocket Science blog]

The Alice Illusion – scientists convince people that they’re dolls or giants

May 26th, 2011 by Ed Yong

In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the titular heroine quaffs a potion that shrinks her down to the size of a doll, and eats a cake that makes her grow to gigantic proportions. Such magic doesn’t exist outside of Lewis Carroll’s imagination, but there are certainly ways of making people think that they have changed in size.

There’s nowhere in the world that’s better at creating such illusions than the lab of Henrik Ehrsson in Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. In a typical experiment, a volunteer is being stroked while wearing a virtual reality headset. She’s lyng down and looking at her feet, but she doesn’t see them. Instead, the headset shows her the legs of a mannequin lying next to her.… read more. “The Alice Illusion – scientists convince people that they’re dolls or giants”

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Job: HCI position at University of Bristol

We are currently advertising for a lectureship in HCI at the University of Bristol (equivalent of assistant professor).

Applicants who can complement our existing research expertise in human-hardware interaction, novel interactive devices, tangible user interfaces and electronic interaction design are particularly welcome.

You will have substantial academic experience, an emerging international reputation and a proven track record for innovation and research leadership. A solid track record of collaboration with researchers and practitioners in the arts, humanities and social sciences would be welcome to complement our work across the University and the wider Bristol community in creative technologies.… read more. “Job: HCI position at University of Bristol”

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The effects of technology-mediated experience: Rediscovering the ‘real’ world

[From Washington state’s Enumclaw Courier Herald]

WALLY’S WORLD: It’s amazing how fresh the real world sounds

By Wally Duchateau
Enumclaw Courier Herald Columnist
May 26 2011

Today I’d like to address the younger set, if any of them happen to read these columns.  Say, those men and women younger than 25 years of age.

Among the springtime deluge of rain storms, thunder storms and flash floods, you might have noticed — for the briefest instant — a trace of sunlight. During those dazzling moments, you may also have sensed a desire to get out of the house, your place of work, your car or whatever, and actually feel the sun’s warmth. Do it! And in so doing, leave all your technological goodies behind, including your cell phone. Should an emergency arise, this might prove quite inconvenient and even devastating, but gamble on this.… read more. “The effects of technology-mediated experience: Rediscovering the ‘real’ world”

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Call: IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2011)

Call for Participation

The 10th IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2011)

26-29 October 2011
Basel, Switzerland

Full Call: CFP_ISMAR_2011.pdf

More information: http://www.ismar11.org/

Mixed Reality (MR) and Augmented Reality (AR) allow the creation of fascinating new types of user interfaces, and are beginning to show significant impact on industry and society. The field is highly interdisciplinary, bringing together signal processing, computer vision, computer graphics, user interfaces, human factors, wearable computing, mobile computing, computer networks, displays, sensors, to name just some of the most important influences. MR/AR concepts are applicable to a wide range of applications. Since 1998, ISMAR and its forerunner events, IWAR/ISAR and ISMR, have been the premier forums in this vital field.

This year we are proud to present the 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2011). The symposium will be held on Oct.… read more. “Call: IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2011)”

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Virtual outdoors to aid patient recovery, reduce pain levels

[From StaffNurse.com]

[Image: Dartmoor National Park, UK]

VR Greenery Aid to Convalescence

May 25, 2011

University scientists are seeking to take virtual reality to a new level – with a view to helping sick people who cannot get access to the outside world. The researchers in Birmingham plan their new worlds to be “sensorily rich”.

They are using large screen TVs, video projectors and head mounted displays to create virtual versions of soothing rural and coastal scenes. The initial development is re-creating a stretch of the coastline of south Devon and an area within Dartmoor National Park.

The developers say there is research evidence that exposure to greenery, such as trees, can improve patient recovery and reduce pain levels. Tests on volunteers are due to start later this summer. … read more. “Virtual outdoors to aid patient recovery, reduce pain levels”

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Call: 1st International Workshop on Pervasive Eye Tracking and Mobile Eye-Based Interaction (PETMEI 2011)

CALL FOR PAPERS

PETMEI 2011 – 1st International Workshop on Pervasive Eye Tracking and Mobile Eye-Based Interaction

September 18, 2011 in Beijing, China
http://www.petmei.org/

in conjunction with the
13th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2011)

Recent developments in mobile eye tracking equipment and automated eye movement analysis point the way toward unobtrusive eye-based human-computer interfaces that are pervasively usable in everyday life. We call this new paradigm pervasive eye tracking – continuous eye monitoring and analysis 24/7. The potential applications for the ability to track and analyse eye movements anywhere and any time call for new research to further develop and understand visual behaviour and eye-based interaction in daily life settings.

PETMEI 2011 will focus on pervasive eye tracking as a trailblazer for mobile eye-based interaction and eye-based context-awareness. We provide a forum for researchers from human-computer interaction, context-aware computing, and eye tracking to discuss techniques and applications that go beyond classical eye tracking and stationary eye-based interaction.… read more. “Call: 1st International Workshop on Pervasive Eye Tracking and Mobile Eye-Based Interaction (PETMEI 2011)”

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Telepresence robots go airborne

[From New Scientist’s One Per Cent blog, where the post features a 1:17 minute video]

Telepresence robots go airborne

12 May 2011
Jim Giles, contributor, Vancouver, Canada

Picture the scene: your boss phones to say he is working from home. A calm descends over the office. Workers lean back in their chairs. Feet go up on desks – this shift is going to be pretty chilled.

Suddenly, a super-sized video feed of your boss, projected onto to the front of a helium-filled balloon equipped with a loudspeaker, floats silently into the room and starts issuing orders from above your head. Not such a good day.

This blimp-based boss, which brings to mind the all-seeing Big Brother of George Orwell’s 1984, is the creation of Tobita Hiroaki and colleagues at Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Tokyo. Its eerie quality hasn’t escaped Hiroaki – he says that his colleagues described the experience of talking to a metre-wide floating image of a co-worker as “very strange”.… read more. “Telepresence robots go airborne”

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Call: Visualisations and Simulations Symposium

Visualisations and Simulations Symposium

Date: 16-17 June 2011
Duration: 2 days
Venue: Anatomy Theatre & Museum, King’s College London

http://www.pocos.org/index.php/pocos-symposia/simulations-and-visualisations

The popular use of three dimensional models for visually representing information in archaeology, historic buildings, cultural heritage organisations, and academic research has created new challenges for managing and preserving such material. The two-day symposium on Visualisations and Simulations will provide a forum for participants to review and discuss the latest developments in the field, witness real-life case studies, and engage in networking activities. The symposium will promote discussion of the following key topics:

  • Intellectual “Transparency” In 3D Cultural Heritage Models
  • The role of Virtual Museums
  • Preservation of Mixed Reality Representations of Heritage Sites
read more. “Call: Visualisations and Simulations Symposium”
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Sharp and NHK develop “VR-like” 85-inch, direct-view LCD for Super Hi-Vision broadcast format

[A press release from Sharp; a 1:24 minute video is available here]

Sharp and NHK Successfully Develop 85-Inch Direct-View LCD
Compatible with Super Hi-Vision, a World First*1

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo; President: Masayuki Matsumoto) and Sharp Corporation (Abeno Ward, Osaka; President: Mikio Katayama) have jointly developed an 85-inch LCD compatible with Super Hi-Vision, a next-generation television broadcast format. This is a world first for a direct-view display.… read more. “Sharp and NHK develop “VR-like” 85-inch, direct-view LCD for Super Hi-Vision broadcast format”

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