ECL Speaker Series
Combining BCI with Virtual/Augmented Reality: toward hybrid technologies and novel immersive applications
Speaker: Anatole Lécuyer
In this talk we will present our research path on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). We will first evoke the great success of OpenViBE, a software dedicated to BCI research used today all over the world, notably with VR systems. Then, we will illustrate how BCI and virtual reality technologies can be combined to design novel 3D interactions and effective applications, e.g. for health, sport, entertainment, or training.
Anatole Lécuyer is Senior Researcher and Head of Hybrid research team, at Inria, the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control, in Rennes, France. His research interests include virtual reality, haptic interaction, 3D user interfaces, and brain-computer interfaces. He regularly serves as expert in Virtual Reality and BCI for public bodies such as European Commission (EC), European Research Council (ERC), or French National Research Agency (ANR).
He is currently Associate Editor of "IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics", "Frontiers in Virtual Reality" and "Presence" journals. He was Program Chair of IEEE Virtual Reality Conference (2015-2016) and General Chair of IEEE Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (2017) and IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (2012-2013). He is author or co-author of more than 200 scientific publications. Anatole Lécuyer obtained the Inria-French Academy of Sciences Young Researcher Prize in 2013, and the IEEE VGTC Technical Achievement Award in Virtual/Augmented Reality in 2019 .
A New Vision for a Better Reality
Speaker: Thomas Furness
Virtual reality is emerging as a vital teaching tool of our age. Much of the seminal research in this field has been led by UW Professor Tom Furness over the 54 years of his professional career. As an original pioneer of virtual and augmented reality technology Tom is widely known as the 'grandfather' of virtual reality. In his talk Tom will share the lessons learned during the development of VR and its application. He will focus on the need for reimagining education and his efforts to create a new learning environment for home through the Virtual World Society.
Tom Furness is an amalgam of Professor, Inventor and Entrepreneur in a professional career that spans 54 years. In addition to his contributions in photonics, electro-optics, and human interface technology, he is an original pioneer of virtual and augmented reality technology and widely known as the 'grandfather' of virtual reality. Tom is currently a professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering with adjunct professorships in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, Washington, USA. He is the founder of the family of Human Interface Technology Laboratories at the University of Washington, Christchurch, New Zealand and Tasmania, Australia. He is the founder and chairman of the Virtual World Society, a non-profit for extending virtual reality as a learning system for families and other humanitarian applications. His current research interests include exploring the functionality of peripheral vision at large eccentricities and investigations into photon emission from the retina. Tom and his students/colleagues have spun off 27 companies with an aggregate market capitalization of ~$10B. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Novel Uses of Neurophysiological Signals in Extended Reality
Speaker: Arindam Dey
This talk will present a few novel ways in which neurological sensors (e.g. EEG) and physiological sensors (e.g. ECG and GSR) are used in extended reality in both collaborative and single-user setups. I will present how our research has used these neurophysiological signals to measure performances, enabling empathy, and performing interaction in virtual environments.
Arindam is a Lecturer in the Human-Centred Computing Group of the University of Queensland's School of ITEE, primarily focusing on Mixed Reality, Empathic Computing, and Human-Computer Interaction. He is co-directing Empathic XR and Pervasive Computing Laboratory and is a proponent of "for good" research with these technologies and aiming to create positive societal impact.
Building bonds with robots and digital companions
Speaker: Elizabeth Broadbent
Robots and digital humans are starting to be used for conversations in social, health, and business applications. It is important that rapport is built during these conversations, especially in healthcare contexts. This talk will look at some techniques that may build rapport as well as some barriers that need to be overcome.
Elizabeth Broadbent is a Professor in Health Psychology in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She obtained an honours degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Canterbury University to pursue her interest in making personal robots. After becoming interested in psychoneuroimmunology, she obtained her MSc and PhD degrees in health psychology from the University of Auckland. She now combines her health psychology and robotics interests to study healthcare robotics. Elizabeth is a Vice Chair of the multidisciplinary CARES robotics group. In 2010, Elizabeth was a visiting academic at the School of Psychology at Harvard University and in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, USA. In 2017, she obtained a Fulbright award to return to Boston to conduct further research on companion robots.
Superception - Engineering the sense of self
Speaker: Shunichi Kasahara
Perception refers to recognizing meaning and organizing it into information via the inputs of sensory organs such as eyes, ears and somatosensory organs, as a basis for actions and constructing the self. How we can leverage our own perceptual ability and emerging technologies to overcome our intrinsic limitation of our own body? I am leading Superception: a research framework that makes it possible to expand, transform, and engineering human perception and cognition by intervening in human sensory input and output using computer technology. In this talk, I will present my recent work for engineering sense of self with technologies including Virtual Reality, EMS (electrical muscle stimulation), Projection mapping. I will also introduce current and future directions for augmenting the sense of self.
Dr. Kasahara is a researcher, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., and a project Assistant Professor, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo. He joined Sony Corporation in 2008. work as an affiliate researcher at MIT media lab in 2012, then he joined Sony CSL in 2014. He received his Ph.D in Interdisciplinary Information Studies from the University of Tokyo in 2017 He is leading "Superception" research: computational control and extension of human perception in SonyCSL.
Beyond AR / VR / HCI - Augmenting Humans?
Speaker: Kai Kunze
This talk discusses potential ideas beyond traditional AR/VR/HCI fields, starting with an overview of wearable computing with a focus on smart eyewear, starting from interaction techniques, moving over topics of interpersonal synchrony, towards ideas on body schema extensions and embodied learning to steering collective attention. Finally, I will introduce a couple of application cases extending our work towards Augmented Sports and Augmented Humans.
With over 20 years of experience in Wearable Computing research, Kai Kunze works as Professor at the Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan. Beforehand, he held an Assistant Professorship at Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka. He received a Summa Cum Laude for his Ph.D. thesis from Passau University. His work experience includes research visits/internships at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), MIT Media Lab, Sunlabs Europe, and the German Stock Exchange.
http://kaikunze.de
Human Factors: Automation, Trust and Cognitive Load
Speaker: Andreas Duenser
This talk presents some of our work on Human Factors for health, safety and efficiency in critical task environments. Specifically, we are studying the relationship between systems (automation, decision support, AI/ML), human trust in these systems and cognitive load of system operators. Automation and autonomous systems, ranging from robotics, to decision support and other AI?
ML based systems, are playing an increasingly important role in our lives. Our work aims at informing the design of such systems to improve human-system interaction and collaboration. automation, can assist human operators in performing their work, help reduce workload (in particular cognitive load) and allow the operator to attend to important tasks at hand. However, in order to be able to rely on these systems, the operators have to trust that they perform accurately.
Problems may arise when undue over-trust or under-trust are exhibited by the operators. Developing a better understanding of how people build and calibrate trust and being able to measure the amount of trust they put in a system could allow us to better manage their expectations and improve their interaction with and reliance on a system.
Andreas Duenser is a Senior Research Scientist at the CSIRO, Data61, in Hobart, Australia. He is interested in the convergence of psychology and emerging technology systems to develop a deeper understanding of human behaviour and cognition in a technology context and to drive technology innovation and adoption. Andreas' work focuses on:
- Human Factors research with new interactive technologies
- Understanding and developing models of human trust and workload when interacting with (semi)automated systems, decision support and ML/AI systems
- Novel evaluation and assessment methods of human behaviour and cognitive processes
- Designing new technologies for training and healthcare.
Using Mixed Reality for Remote Collaboration September 30, 2020
Where in the World is AR Research Happening? July 12, 2018
Prof. Mark Billinghurst @AWE2018 July 12, 2018
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