Computer Science Groups to Participate in Campus World Usability Day Events

World Usability Day (WUD) is an annual event highlighting the importance of humans as participants in technology. In a world where basic infrastructures (including health, education and finance) depend on rapidly changing technologies, World Usability Day organizers call for ways to serve people first.

We are taking the spirit of WUD to the Upper Peninsula with WUD-UP. If you are interested in research, education or service that is associated with human factors, human-centered design, usability, ergonomics or other fields related to humans and technology, you are invited to attend.

Here’s what’s on tap for WUD-UP on Thursday, Nov. 13:

9:30-11a.m.: Tour of the Mind Music Machine Lab

  • Meese Building: Indoor wayfinding for the blind; Brain-computer interfaces; Interactive robots for children with autism; Advanced auditory menus
  • MEEM 128: Driving research
  • EERC 510: Immersive interactive sonification

11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Open House, Humane Interface Design Enterprise (HIDE)

Rekhi 116: Join HIDE members for an open house, which will feature a driving simulator and a new technology that will soon be competing for our attention—the Google Glass.

2-3 p.m.: Lab Tours, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (begins at the SDC ticket counter)

  • Exercise Physiology Lab: Come try the cycling workstation (integrated exercise bike and computer desk), designed to facilitate increased physical activity and recently featured in the Wall Street Journal.
  • Neuromechanics Lab: Get a free report on your segmental body composition, muscle strength and power. You can compare your strength and power with Michigan Tech student-athletes, and you will find our players are very powerful!
  • Integrative Physiology Lab: Research in this lab primarily focuses on neural control of circulation in humans. These studies aim to better understand the mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease and orthostatic hypotension, with the goal of uncovering methods for reducing their incidence.

7-8:30 p.m.: “Cyber-Seniors” Screening and Discussion

East Reading Room, Van Pelt and Opie Library: A humorous and heartwarming feature documentary, “Cyber-Seniors” adds to the important international conversation about the growing generation gap. Focusing on a group of senior citizens who take their first steps into cyberspace under the tutelage of teenage mentors, the film expertly renders a thought-provoking look at a spirited group of men and women who are enriched by digitally reconnecting with their families and each other. Finding their footing rather quickly, the group moves on to compete for the most YouTube views while swiftly building their online inventory of friends.

Following the screening, we will have a discussion of the Cyber-Seniors project and ideas for implementation in the Copper Country. Teachers from the Copper Country Intermediate School District and members of Michigan Tech’s Breaking Digital Barriers group will participate.

 

From Tech Today, November 11, 2014