Author: WP_Admin_Chair

Date

Thu 22nd Aug 2024, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm AEST

Video Recording

Designing Tomorrow

Please join us for a conversation with the authors of the book Designing Tomorrow, Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty.  

Co-hosted by ACM SIGCHI Chapter for Canberra and the ANU School of Cybernetics, this event includes 30 minutes networking with light refreshments provided from 10.30am to 11am. From 11am to 12pm Martin and Steve will present and invite questions. 

About the book 

We decided to write this book after listening to each other’s talks at the UX Australia conference in August 2021. Hearing Steve share insights from his practice about the far-reaching impact design can create, Martin recognised the connection between his research on life-centredness and strategic design practice. 

Our objective for the book became to combine Martin’s academic knowledge with Steve’s industry experience. We both feel passionate about design and its potential to drive positive change. We believe that we owe it to future generations to enable this change.   

We also realise that we have contributed to the issues discussed in the first three chapters through our research, teaching, and practice. This experience provides us with perspective as well as a responsibility to change what we do and become part of the solution. 

Read more about the book and the authors on:

https://www.designingtomorrowbook.com

Date

Tue 23rd Apr 2024, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm AEST

Title

The Power of Images: How Visual Data is Transforming Our World

Abstract

From the paintings that move us to the medical scans that save lives, images have the power to inform, inspire, and even heal. Distinguished Professor James Wang, a world-renowned expert in visual data analysis, takes you on a journey through the hidden world of images. He’ll reveal how computers are learning to ‘see’ like we do – detecting patterns in medical images for faster diagnosis, guiding robots through complex environments, and even understanding the emotions that a piece of art might evoke.

Prof. Wang’s groundbreaking research explores how images speak to us on multiple levels. Discover how his work is teaching machines to decipher the language of visuals, potentially making them more in tune with human emotions. With fascinating examples and clear explanations, this talk will change how you perceive the vast amount of visual information that surrounds you.

Speaker’s bio

Prof James Z. Wang is the Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota, and the MS degree in mathematics, the MS degree in computer science, and the PhD degree in medical information sciences, all from Stanford University. His research interests include image analysis, image modelling, image retrieval, and their applications. He was a visiting professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (2007-2008), a lead special section guest editor of the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (2008), and a program manager at the Office of the Director of the National Science Foundation (2011-2012). He is on the editorial board of the IEEE BITS — The Information Theory Magazine’s special issue on Information Processing in Arts and Humanities (2022). He was a recipient of a National Science Foundation Career Award (2004) and Amazon Research Awards (2018, 2019, 2020).

The event is brought to you by the Collaborative Robotics Lab at the University of Canberra and the ACM SIGCHI Chapter for Canberra.

Date

Monday 22 January, 2024, 10 – 10.45 am.

Title

“If All You Have is a Hammer”: Designing Digitally Augmented Physical Tools

Abstract

Since the dawn of mankind, the history of the human race is reflected in the history of their tools and their usage. Many of these tools provide augmentation to our physical capabilities: power tools increase the body’s strength, bikes increase locomotion efficiency, and glasses and microscopes increase vision and the human ability to explore the world. However, more interestingly, tools also shape the way we think. It is known that “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” (Maslow’s hammer), and to some extent, this is true for any type of tool, as they unconsciously reshape our perception of reality, our consciousness, and our understanding of how to interact with the world surrounding. In this presentation, I show examples of digitally augmented physical tools that shape our perception of reality and give us new perspectives on how to design for supporting prototyping as an exploration activity, and virtual-physical interactions. 

Speaker’s bio

Andrea Bianchi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Design, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Computing, and the director of the Make lab (make.kaist.ac.kr) at KAIST, in South Korea. He researches in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) focusing on building tools for prototyping interactive systems, and hardware devices for body augmentation in Mixed Reality. Before joining KAIST, he worked at Sungkyunkwan University (Korea) as a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science, and as a video game programmer for a New York startup. Andrea has published in major venues, including ACM CHI, UIST, and IMWUT, and his work has been recognized with multiple Best Paper Awards and Design Awards. His work has also been covered in the news by Engadget, ZDNet, New Scientist, MAKE, and Gizmodo among others. Andrea received a Ph.D. from KAIST (Korea) in 2012, and his Masters from New York University in 2007.

On Friday, 3 November, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, we will gather to map out Canberra’s HCI space. We’ll employ a workshop approach and use research speed networking to gather information on our research and practice focus areas.

Please join the chapter to receive an invite and further details. This is an in-person event.

9.30 – 9.45 Registration

9.45 – 10 Welcome and agenda

10 – 10.15 Participants introductions

10.15 – 10.40 Keynote Roland Goecke, Ph.D. is Professor of Affective Computing in the School of Information Technology & Systems at the Faculty of Science & Technology at University of Canberra. He is the Director of the Human-Centred Technology Research Centre and Head of the Vision and Sensing Group.

10.40 – 11 Break

11-11.25 Interactive Mapping Session

11.25 – 11.45 Mapping discussion

11.45 – 1200 Closing remarks