CSC 294/CSC 574: Future User Interfaces [Fall, 2018][4 Credits]

Instructor contact information:

• E-mail: zbai7 at cs dot rochester dot edu
• Office: Wegmans Hall 3017
• In-person meeting: by appointment

Prerequisites:

• Prior course: CSC 172. Recommended: CSC212/412, CSC 242, and CSC 249.
• Knowledge/skills needed: basic programming skills, previous course/research experience in HCI, graphics, computer vision, AI is desired.
• Instructor permission: Yes

Course overview:

People today connect with information and each other by typing just a few words on a smartphone, however human activity is embodied far beyond our fingertips, through all our sensorimotor capacities, immersed in our immediate physical, social and cultural surroundings. Interaction paradigms such as virtual reality, augmented reality, tangible user interface and pervasive computing, have vast potential to enhance the way we think, feel and behave in ways that traditional interfaces cannot. This seminar provides an introductory overview of embodied technologies including key theoretical frameworks, interaction technologies, and design methods, across application domains such as education, healthcare and computer-supported collaboration. Students will engage in paper review, group discussion, and critical writing, which build towards a final project involving user interface design and prototyping.

Learning objectives:

• Prepare students with theoretical and technological knowledge of state-of-the-art embodied and intelligent user interfaces.
• Prepare students with hands-on experience to apply user-centered design methods in creating novel embodied and intelligent interfaces to tackle real-life problems.
• Prepare students with key research and project skills including paper review, critical thinking, project planning, and presentation through collaborative learning.

Methods of instruction:

• Paper review
• Class discussion
• Group project

Grading:

• Paper Review: 40%
  • Each student will write one paper review before noon one day before each class. For example, if the class is on Tuesday, then the student should submit the paper review no later than 12pm on Monday. This leaves 24 hours for students to comment on others’ paper review.
  • The paper review should be 500-600 words, and include (1) 1-2 sentence of what you want to learn before reading the paper; (2) 2-3 sentence summary of the paper (motivation, method, result); (3) in-depth summary of key contents such as arguments, technology, system, and findings; (4) your own opinion about paper contents and reflections on challenges and opportunities of future user interface
  • For students to earn credit for upper level writing, you must also synthesize all your review papers into a coherent 25-page tech report before the last class. The report should include a coherent literature review covering theory, technology and application discussed during the class, and a brief overview of the group project, including findings and implications.based on your literature review.
• Peer-review and discussion: 10%
  • Before noon on the day of each class, each student will read and make comments for at least 3 other students’ paper review.
  • During the class, one student will lead the discussion by first sharing his/her own thoughts of the paper and assist the follow-up group discussion. If there are multiple papers to discuss, it will be one student per paper. Students will lead the discussion following seniority. You can also volunteer to lead the discussion for a given class close to your interest, if the appointed student is willing to swap.
• Midterm project: 10%
  • Project proposal: including problem statement, contextual inquiry, storyboard, implementation and evaluation plan.
• Final Project: 40% + 10% bonus
  • Low-fidelity prototype (10%): Use everyday materials such as paper, plastic film, glasses to illustrate and experiment with the design intent. Include the design rationale (why choose this particular design) and at least 3 different user scenarios (e.g. reveal social information, navigate in unfamiliar scenes)
    • Visual design (4%): design rationale (1%), 3 user scenarios (3%)
    • Content (2%)
    • Interaction (4%): design rationale (1%), 3 user scenarios (3%)
  • Working prototype (10% + 7% bonus):
    • Implement at least one user scenario from the low-fidelity prototype: visualization (4%), content (2%), interaction (4%)
    • Bonus:
      • 3% extra for each additional user scenario (up to 6% extra in total)
      • Evaluation of the working prototype with users outside of the team (1%)
  • Final presentation (5% + 1% bonus)
    • Clear project presentation:
      • Project revisited (1%): problem statement, project goal, storyboard, team member work allocation
      • Low-fidelity prototype (1%)
      • Working prototype (1%)
    • Insightful discussion:
      • Main findings and implication (1%)
      • Future work and conclusion (1%)
    • Bonus (1%): Appropriate reference
  • Peer evaluation (5%): based on the same presentation criteria above
  • Project report (5% + 2% bonus): submit by midnight 12/11
    • Content: Extend the mid-term report with:
      • Design and implementation of low-fidelity prototype (2%)
      • Design and implementation of working prototypes (2%)
      • Main findings, implications, future work and conclusion (1%)
    •  Bonus
      • Report in a conference template – e.g. ACM SIGCHI paper
  • Media (5%): submit by midnight 12/15
    • Website (2%): An interactive media platform to archive and share your project work.
    • Video (3%): 2-3 minute video to showcase your project. The video should include a title slide, team member, date, project goal, low-fidelity and working prototype demonstration. Showcase video examples can be found here

Below is a tentative course schedule that provides an overview of the course topics. Please note that the contents may be updated due to emerging interests and availability of guest lecturer.

Date	Topic	Reading List
8/30	Introduction, class syllabus and mechanics
9/4	Paper Reading Skills	Reading a computer science research paper [read] How to Read a Scientific Research Paper [read] Efficient Reading of Papers in Science and Technology [read]
9/6	HCI Theoretical Framework	Distributed Cognition: Towards a New Foundation for Human-Computer Interaction [read]
9/11	Augmented Reality Overview	A Survey of Augmented Reality [read]
9/13	Augmented Reality Cont.
9/18	Virtual Reality Overview	Enhancing Our Lives with Immersive Virtual Reality [read]
9/20	Virtual Reality Cont.
9/25	User-Centered Design	User-Centered Design [read]
9/27	Hands-on VR session
10/2	Application - Learning	BodyVis: A New Approach to Body Learning Through Wearable Sensing and Visualization [read] FoldMecha: Exploratory Design and Engineering of Mechanical Papercraft [read] An Active Tangible User Interface Framework for Teaching and Learning Artificial Intelligence [read] TactileVR: Integrating Physical Toys into Learn and Play Virtual Reality Experiences [read]
10/4	Application - Social Interaction	Applying Social Psychological Theory To The Problems Of Group Work [read] ImmerseBoard: Immersive Telepresence Experience using a Digital Whiteboard [read] Room2Room: Enabling Life-Size Telepresence in a Projected Augmented Reality Environment [read]
10/9	Application - Healthcare and wellbeing	SleeveAR: Augmented Reality for Rehabilitation using Realtime Feedback [read] VRRRRoom: Virtual Reality for Radiologists in the Reading Room [read] Evaluating Wrist-Based Haptic Feedback for Non-Visual Target Finding and Path Tracing on a 2D Surface [read]
10/11	Design for Diversity	Universal Usability [read] Participatory Evaluation with Autistic Children [read] The Role of Children in the Design of New Technology [read]
10/16	Fall term break
10/18	Mid-term proposal presentation
10/23	3D Interaction	WatchThru: Expanding Smartwatch Displays with Mid-air Visuals and Wrist-worn Augmented Reality [read] tactoRing: A Skin-Drag Discrete Display [read] Halo Content: Context-aware View Management for Non-invasive Augmented Reality [read] Sketching up the world: in situ authoring for mobile Augmented Reality [read]
10/25	Internet of Things (IoT)	Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future directions [read]
10/30	Project Specific Readings -1	Learning Science in Immersive Virtual Reality [read] Augmented Reality-based Indoor Navigation: A Comparative Analysis of Handheld Devices vs. Google Glass [read] Sign Language in the Interface: Access for Deaf Signers [read] Towards Robot Autonomy in Group Conversations: Understanding the Effects of Body Orientation and Gaze [read]
11/1	Project Specific Readings -2	A Literature Review on Immersive Virtual Reality in Education: State of the Art and Perspectives [read] Bare-Handed 3D Drawing in Augmented Reality [read] DeepASL: Enabling Ubiquitous and Non-IntrusiveWord and Sentence-Level Sign Language Translation [read] ProCom: Designing and Evaluating a Mobile and Wearable System to Support Proximity Awareness for People with Autism [read]
11/6	Project Specific Readings -3	Patient Perceptions of Wearable Face-Mounted Computing Technology and the Effect on the Doctor- Patient Relationship [read] Augmenting Multi-Party Face-to-Face Interactions Amongst Strangers with User Generated Content [read]
11/8	Intelligent User Interface	Mapping Machine Learning Advances from HCI Research to Reveal Starting Places for Design Innovation [read]
11/13	Project Specific Readings – Self Selected Paper 1
11/15	Project Specific Readings – Self Selected Paper 2
11/20	Guest Speaker [tbd]
11/22	Thanksgiving
11/27	Guest Speaker [tbd]
11/29	Project
12/4	Project
12/6	Final Project Presentation
12/11	Course Wrap up