* *  USABILTY DAY * * 

                     UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
		 COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM

			      presents
                            Two Lectures:

                        "What Do Users Want?"

                         Prof. Antony Unwin
                    (University of Augsburg, Germany) 

		           1:30 - 2:30 pm
                             
                               and 

                     "Human-Robot Interaction from
                      a Human-Centred Perspective"

                           Dr. Nuno Otero
                     (School of Computer Science,
                     University of Hertfordshire)
   
                          3:00 - 3:00 pm

                       1 March 2007 (Thursday)

                         Lecture Theatre C154 
		      Hatfield, College Lane Campus

	       Coffee/tea and biscuits will be available.
			  [Catering Permitting]

		    Everyone is Welcome to Attend
			  [Space Permitting]



Abstract of Prof. Unwin's Lecture:
"What Do Users Want?"

The standard of Graphical User Interfaces is not high.  It might be
better if users were asked what they wanted (and if they knew what
they wanted).  This talk looks at ideas for GUIs for data
visualization software with the help of Harry Beck, Hieronymous
Bosch, and the Mondrian software.  Data from 60,000 movies in the
Internet Movie Database will be used as an example.

About the Speaker:

Antony Unwin is Professor of Computer-Oriented Statistics and Data
Analysis at the University of Augsburg.  He is interested in data
analysis and visualization.  He is joint author of the recent book
"Graphics of Large Datasets: How to Visualize a Million" (Springer:
2006).  Members of his group have developed several interactive
software packages for graphical data analysis (the Augsburg
Impressionists: Manet, Van Gogh, Klimt, Gauguin, Mondrian, ...) and
three have won the international Chambers award for statistical
software.  See also: http://rosuda.org/~unwin/


Abstract of Dr. Otero's Lecture:
"Human-Robot Interaction from a Human-Centred Perspective"

           (This will follow Prof. Unwin's 1:30 pm Lecture
                   after a break for refreshments) 

In this presentation I will give an overview of the work being carried
out by the Adaptive Systems Research Group at Hertfordshire within the
Cognitive Robot Companion project (Cogniron) concerning user centred
studies in human-robot interaction (HRI). The research being carried
out can be described in two general strands:

* More experimentally inspired studies covering: (a) socially acceptable
 interaction with regard to space and (b) the use of gestures in
 human-robot communication and human-robot teaching.

* The research and development of methods and methodologies that allow
 the evaluation of user related aspects of highly innovative robotic
 technology. In fact, I will particularly focus on our effort to devise
 a general methodology suitable for the user centred evaluation of some
 of the Cogniron prototypes.

The issues covered will also allow some reflection regarding the role of
the different types of studies and methods used in the development of HRI.

EU Framework 6 Cogniron Project: http://www.cogniron.org

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Hertfordshire Computer Science Research Colloquium
http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~nehaniv/colloq