Colloquium Cognitive Systems

Hand- and Body-Aware Interactions for the Next Generation of Ubiquitous Devices

Prof. Dr. Sven Mayer (LMU Munich)

Abstract. Touch interfaces are used in a large number of ubiquitous computers; however, they reduce the users' input to simple points on a 2D touch-sensitive plane. This is in stark contrast to the richness of how humans interact with the physical world. Thus, when designing interfaces for the next generation of computing systems, it is crucial to consider the humans' full physical potential while respecting social and ergonomic constraints. As a result, hand- and body-aware interactions are a likely future for interacting with ubiquitous devices. While the latest developments in Machine Learning will help human-computer interaction researchers to build such interfaces, I argue that we require new tools to not only optimize for task performance but also soft factors like social awareness.

Bio. Sven Mayer is an assistant professor (Jun.-Prof.) in computer science at the LMU Munich (Germany). His research is about modeling human behavior patterns for the next generation of interactive systems in which he uses machine learning to design, build, and evaluate future human-centered interfaces. Thus, his research sits at the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and User Experience Design. In particular, he focuses on hand- and body-aware interactions in contexts like large displays, augmented and virtual reality, and mobile scenarios.