ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: July 2014

Call: “Interactive Experiences for Television and Online Video” – Special issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Journal

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 17, 2014

Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Journal

Interactive Experiences for Television and Online Video
http://pucitvandvideoexperiences.wordpress.com/

SCOPE

Interactive experiences for online video and television is a research area of increased interest to an international community of academics and industrial practitioners. This area engages a wide range of disciplines, ranging from human-computer interaction, multimedia engineering and design to media studies, media psychology and sociology.

Novel interaction mechanisms, multi-screen solutions and insights on large-scale analysis of user feedback and viewers experiences are explored in this year’s conference program of the ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for Television and Online Video (ACM TVX). TVX2014 took place in Newcastle upon Tyne from June 25th to 27th and stimulates discussions on relevant research about how to create, support, and evaluate interactive experiences.

This special issue will facilitate the further outreach of this cutting edge research and calls for innovative, thought provoking and original research articles, that address pressing questions around content production, system and infrastructure, devices and interaction techniques, experience design and evaluation, media studies, data science and recommendations, business models and marketing, as well as innovative concepts and media art.… read more. “Call: “Interactive Experiences for Television and Online Video” – Special issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Journal”

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Jibo wants to be the world’s first family robot

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 17, 2014

[From Mashable, where the story includes more images and two videos]

Jibo and his creator

Jibo Wants to Be the World’s First Family Robot

Lance Ulanoff
July 15, 2014

Social robots. That’s pretty much all Dr. Cynthia Breazeal has thought about for the past 20 years. Not so much how to build a better robot, but how to build one that could work and live alongside humans. It sounds like a simple concept, but it’s not; perhaps that is why it has taken her all these years to finally deliver a consumer product: Jibo, the world’s first family robot.

Jibo is a desktop robot making its debut on Indiegogo on Wednesday. At first glance, Jibo looks like a mashup between a desk lamp and Wall-E’s “EV.” It has a round base that plugs into a standard AC outlet, a slightly cone-shaped midsection and a round head with a flat front that sits on top of it.… read more. “Jibo wants to be the world’s first family robot”

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Call: Interaction and Experience Design – Special issue of Journal of Engineering Design

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 16, 2014

Journal of Engineering Design

Special Issue on Interaction and Experience Design

The aim of the special issue is to focus on novel research and development in the field of Engineering Design to design experiences in products, processes and systems. This is a call for design projects and research that encompass aspects of interaction design, psychology, culture and human factors to achieve satisfying, engaging and meaningful user experiences.

In particular we are interested in the following topics:

  • Interaction paradigms to better meet the emotional requirements of users
  • Metrics and models for the assessment of user response
  • Methods and principles for product and systems experience design
  • Tools and approaches for prototyping and testing user interfaces
  • Responsive systems design and technology
  • Product styling, semiotics and affordances for user engagement
  • ‘Usability’ versus ‘desirability’ in product design
  • Case studies and best practice in effective user experience design
… read more. “Call: Interaction and Experience Design – Special issue of Journal of Engineering Design”
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Oculus Rift experiment lets you become a citizen of South Park

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 16, 2014

[From Polygon, where the story includes the 5:58 minute demonstration video mentioned at the end along with a 3:45 minute video review of the “South Park: The Stick of Truth” game]

South Park via Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift experiment lets you become a citizen of South Park

By Jenna Pitcher on Jul 03, 2014

Oculus Rift users can now walk around as a citizen in a recreation of animation series South Park thanks to a virtual reality project developed by production company Tool.

“We started with three goals in mind for the experiment,” Tool’s explanation reads. “One, from a tech point of view, to sharpen our Unity and Oculus Rift development skills-two, from a creative point of view, to reimagine a well known story by allowing the user to experience it in the first person and-three, to finish the project in time to share with our friends at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival.”… read more. “Oculus Rift experiment lets you become a citizen of South Park”

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Call: “Creating, Questioning, and Playing with Reality: Living in Worlds of Pure Imagination?” Student Conference

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 15, 2014

Here is a CfP for a graduate student conference at the University of Cincinnati for this October. It is hosted by the German Department, but will not be German-specific. Please consider submitting an abstract!

Creating, Questioning, and Playing with Reality: Living in Worlds of Pure Imagination?

Alex Hogue, Matthew Bauman, Acacia Diniz
Department of German Studies
University of Cincinnati, USA

10-12 October 2014, Cincinnati, University of Cincinnati

Please send 250 word abstracts to fogs.editor@gmail.com by August 1, 2014.

The German Graduate Student Association of the University of Cincinnati and the editors of the graduate student journal Focus on German Studies present the Nineteenth Annual Focus Graduate Student Conference to be held 10-12 October 2014 at the University of Cincinnati.

Keynote Speaker: TBD

Whether set in a far off time and space, in an alternate world, or in the mind of a character, narratives that create, question, and play with reality reflect the abilities of authors, filmmakers, and video game designers to not only explore their own creativity, but also to lay bare our understanding of reality from the safe distance offered by fiction.… read more. “Call: “Creating, Questioning, and Playing with Reality: Living in Worlds of Pure Imagination?” Student Conference”

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Scenic Cycle: Ride the world in virtual reality

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 15, 2014

[From The Sydney Morning Herald, where the story includes more images and a 1:18 minute video]

Scenic Cycle

[Image: Pressing on in Hawaii, via Scenic Cycle’s Sydney spinning studio. Photo: Brendan Esposito]

Scenic Cycle: Ride the world in virtual reality

July 9, 2014
Stephen Lacey with Steve Colquhoun

I’m huffing and puffing up one of the most iconic climbs in cycling folklore: the Alpe D’Huez in the French Alps. The mountain is a mainstay of the Tour de France and it’s definitely one that separates the sprinters from the climbers. Who can ever forget Marco Pantani’s battle with Jan Ullrich in 1997? This is a mountain climb on which legends are made.

I won’t be joining them at the rate I’m going. My jersey is drenched with sweat as I make my way around another of the 21 hairpin bends that comprise the 13.8-kilometre ascent to the summit, 1860 metres above sea level.… read more. “Scenic Cycle: Ride the world in virtual reality”

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Job: Assistant Professor in HCI at TU Eindhoven

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 14, 2014

Assistant Professor in Human-Computer Interaction (minimal 0.8 fte)

[From http://jobs.tue.nl/en/job/assistant-professor-in-humancomputer-interaction-minimal-08-fte-192119.html]

Eindhoven University of Technology has a vacancy for Assistant Professor (Universitair Docent) in Human-Computer Interaction (minimal 0,8 fte) within the Human-Technology Interaction group of the School of Innovation Sciences (IS), which is part of the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS).

Job description

The Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS) has several BSc and MSc programs in two separate schools. The School of Innovation Sciences focuses on the development and use of new technologies in a broad societal context. Research is multi-disciplinary, based on fundamental scientific insights and methods. Main areas of interest are economics and sociology of technological developments, sustainable innovation policy, human-technology interaction, and the history and philosophy of technology.

The Human-Technology Interaction Group:

The Human-Technology Interaction (HTI) group of the School of Innovation Sciences concentrates expertise in both social sciences and engineering, studying technology and its relations to humans and human well-being, within the broader context of a socially and ecologically sustainable society.… read more. “Job: Assistant Professor in HCI at TU Eindhoven”

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MindRDR lets users control Google Glass with their thoughts

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 14, 2014

[From the Los Angeles Times; more information is available from This Place and an article in BBC News, which includes a short video interview]

MindRDR and Google Glass

London firm creates mind-controlled commands for Google Glass

Salvador Rodriguez
July 11, 2014

Forget voice commands and touch gestures: A London firm has developed a way for Google Glass users to control their devices just by thinking.

This Place, an agency that specializes in creating user interfaces and experiences for programs used in the medical industry, developed a software called MindRDR that allows Google Glass to connect with the Neurosky MindWave Mobile EEG biosensor, a head-mounted device that can detect a person’s brain waves.… read more. “MindRDR lets users control Google Glass with their thoughts”

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Job: Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) Manager – Stanford University

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 11, 2014

Position Available: 

Laboratory Manager
Virtual Human Interaction Lab
Stanford University
(San Francisco Bay Area)

The Communication Department at Stanford University is searching for a full time Research Assistant to manage the Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL). This is a one-year fixed term position with the possibility of renewal. Person will report to the Director of the VHIL Lab.

The Lab Manager position is responsible for managing the facilities, student staff, and outreach operations for the Virtual Human Interaction Lab. Facility management includes troubleshooting technical issues with virtual reality equipment and debugging code when needed. Staff management includes organizing lab schedules for experiments, student research assistant availability, and project supervision of technical developers. Outreach management includes leading lab visitors on tours and demos of lab facilities.… read more. “Job: Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) Manager – Stanford University”

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Virtual reality and the brave new world of college recruiting

By Matthew Lombard | Published: July 11, 2014

[From Forbes]

YouVisit demo

[Image: Raghuram Sukumar experiences the YouVisit Oculus Rift virtual college tour; a description and 1 minute video are available at Happy Schools]

Virtual Reality And The Brave New World Of College Recruiting

Chase Peterson-Withorn
7/07/2014

As colleges and universities face an increasingly tech-savvy applicant pool, many recruiters are seeking out novel ways to speak the new generation’s language. The launch of the Common Application in 1975 – and later online version in 1998 – was one of the most expansive attempts schools made toward revolutionizing the college admissions process. Originally 15 schools participated and last year it processed more than 3 million applications for its over 500 member colleges and universities. Now many institutions are beginning to embrace technology on their own as a marketing tool to attract potential applicants.

The flood of snail mail brochures and flurry of college fairs and campus visits are the all-too-familiar methods of recruitment.… read more. “Virtual reality and the brave new world of college recruiting”

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