User Interfaces and the Environment: Exploiting Human Abilities to Improve Mobile Interaction

Our next speaker for HIIT Otaniemi seminar series is Antti Oulasvirta from the
"Ubiquitous Interaction" group of the Helsinki Institute for Information
Technology HIIT. Before his talk, he will also give a short overview on the
research areas of the group.

All ICS@Aalto researchers are also warmly welcome to attend the seminar!

HIIT seminar Otaniemi, Monday November 1, 13:15
Location: Computer Science building, hall T2


Antti Oulasvirta
Ubiquitous Interaction Group
Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT

Title:
User Interfaces and the Environment: Exploiting Human Abilities to Improve Mobile Interaction

Abstract:
In the field of human-computer interaction (HCI), user interfaces have been analyzed in terms of information exchange  between the human user and the computer. In my work, I have started to investigate mobile interfaces as a special case in  HCI where the environment plays a critical role. This talk first seeks to prove that, if approached within the traditional  frameworks of HCI, mobile interfaces will remain inherently inferior in comparison to their desktop counterparts. I will then  make a case for "embodied interaction"--i.e., leveraging users' knowledge of their environment, their ability to exploit its  structure, and their ability to transform tasks by means of action. Mobile mixed reality interfaces is emerging as a promising  area that puts the ideas of embodied interaction into practice, demonstrating ways in which mobile users can literally sense  and act through digital information. To conclude, I will argue that embodied interaction 1) will eventually go beyond the rates of  information throughput possible for traditional mobile interfaces and 2) may emerge as a key enabler for the next  generation of mobile computers.

Short Bio:
Antti Oulasvirta is a Senior Researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT where he directs the  Ubiquitous Interaction group (http://www.hiit.fi/uix). His research focus lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction, mobile and ubiquitous computing, and cognitive psychology. Dr. Oulasvirta received his doctorate in Cognitive Science from the University of Helsinki in 2006, after which he was a Fulbright Scholar at the School of Information in UC Berkeley. During his postgraduate studies, he was an exchange student at UC Berkeley’s Neuropsychology Lab and did an internship at
T-Labs in Berlin. Dr. Oulasvirta is a docent (adjunct faculty) of computer science at the University of Helsinki and a docent of cognitive science at the University of Jyväskylä.

For more information (full CV and publications), please see:
http://www.hiit.fi/u/oulasvir