Seminar: CIS Research Panel on HCI (10/9/2008)

The panel will include Drs. Martha Crosby, Curtis Ikehara, Diane Nahl and Scott Robertson. This is the second in a series of cross-departmental research panels intended to help students in the Communication and Information Science program find faculty mentors or committee members, and to help faculty also learn more about each others' research. Read the full story for more information on panelists.

Martha Crosby and Curtis Ikehara

Drs. Martha Crosby and Curtis Ikehara will be presenting “Research into Human-Computer Interaction Using a Suite of Physiological Sensors.” The talk describes how different types of physiological measures are used to assess the computer user’s cognitive state. Research regarding eye tracking and the pressures applied when using a computer mouse are discussed in relation to HCI.

Dr. Crosby is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Information and Computer Sciences and was the CIS Chair from 1995-1998. With a background in mathematics, computer science and educational psychology, she has consistently worked on the leading edge of computer applications. Her methods and programs for prediction of the ionosphere’s characteristics from a very early stage of the computer age were adopted for international use by the International telecommunication Union in Geneva Switzerland and have been in use for long distance short wave radio communication and are a back-up for the military when satellite communication is interrupted. Dr. Crosby is also one of the first researchers to use eye movements to investigate the cognitive processes by which people understand algorithms, a methodology that has now become highly influential, with the greater availability of eye-tracking technology. Most recently, she has extended this work to the use of other physiological measures such as heart rate, seeking to understand the basis for differences in performance and to integrate an understanding of individual differences in the development of adaptive software so as to better meet individual needs.

Dr. Ikehara is Assistant Professor in the Department of Information and Computer Sciences, where he is a member of the Adaptive Multimodal Interaction Laboratory. His research focuses on the use of physiological sensors (biometrics) in adaptive interfaces, and he has also done work in robotics. He teaches courses on Human Computer Interaction and Logic Design & Microprocessors.

Scott Robertson

Scott Robertson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information and Computer Sciences. His area of research is Human-Computer Interaction, more specifically Digital Government. He is the Principle Investigator on a grant from NSF in this area. He has been conducting research on how voters' use the internet to search for information about candidates and ballot issues. Recent studies have shown that simple design modifications to a search interface can have dramatic impacts in what voters are exposed to. He has also begun to look at political dialog and activity in social networking environments like Facebook. He is active in the new Digital Government Society of North America and ACM SIGCHI. He is interested in founding a local chapter of ACM SIGCHI. Dr. Robertson has put together a usability lab called HI'CHI, the Hawaii Computer-Human Interaction Lab, and he welcomes interested students to help with research on digital government, civic learning, virtual communities, e-participation and e-citizenship, and community informatics.

Diane Nahl

Dr. Nahl is Professor in the Library and Information Science Program, in the department of Information and Computer Sciences. Her research is focused on the affective aspects of information behavior including information retrieval, information seeking, Web searching, and information problem solving. Her work draws from social cognitive theory, cognitive science, affective neuroscience, and affective computing. She formulated and tested a social biological theory showing how the affective system and the cognitive system collectively manage the sensorimotor system that is symbiotic with an interface through its satisficing and optimizing affordances. Her current research applies the social biological perspective to describe human-computer synergy in the immersive multi user virtual environment (MUVE) known as Second Life (SL). An avatar is a surrogate for the user’s sensorimotor system in the physical world (RL). Humans running their avatar engage in a wide variety of activities in-world involving information reception and use, experience a learning curve and the common emotional responses of RL social interaction. Her prior research examined the user-centered revolution, best represented by the constructivist nature of SL, where resident users generate all of the content, including architecture, scripting, professional, scientific, cultural, artistic, entertainment, an economy, etc. Collaborative work in SL is significant and prepares people to work together at a distance. The MUVE represents a likely workplace of the future so it is desirable to prepare students to conduct research and to work in global virtual environments.

Dr. Nahl has developed a variety of methodologies, measures, and methods of analysis for affective data. Her SL research will expand social biological study in immersive environments of the varieties of affective load, the role of affiliation with avatar groups, identification with avatar-self, self-efficacy as an avatar, trust towards avatars, social networking of avatars, vicarious modeling of avatars, optimistic tone in avatar-place-interaction, desire to engage with optimizing affordances, value-attachment to objects and interactions, and expected vs. actual effort in task accomplishment in information behavior of avatars. She is collaborating with professionals and researchers in SL to develop research methods to facilitate learning, working, and communicating via avatars.