Date: Jan 15th, 2009
Room: DMP 310
Speaker: Karon MacLean
Title: Designing Interfaces for Transparent Communication through Touch

Abstract: Designing haptic (tactile and force feedback) signals to enrich technology-mediated interactions requires a clear understanding of the task, the user and the intricate affordances of touch. This is especially true when the synthesized feedback does not mimic real world forces and textures, but conveys meaning in new ways to support physical communication - between people, and with systems and machines. The larger goal of my group's research is to provide the foundations for haptic interactions that are simple, usable and intuitive and that fit within the context of the user's life.

Through examples of projects and studies, I will develop the concepts of perceptual design, ubiquitous haptics and physical interaction design. Application areas include attention-conserving signaling and monitoring, mobile information sharing, shared control, expressive communication and anxiety disorder therapy, with an emphasis on the importance of process and appropriate tools and representations.