Human-Centered Computing Retreat Overview

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Human-Centered ComputingRetreat Overview

• John Canny
• UC Berkeley

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HCC

• Human-Centered Computing (HCC) is a research
  effort at Berkeley that studies computing as an
  ubiquitous technology which is transforming
  society.
• Its an interdisciplinary umbrella project
  involving 30-40 faculty on campus.

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HCC in a nutshell

• Computing is becoming ubiquitous, quiet, and more
  tightly coupled with the physical world.
• Computing in future will operate in human
  contexts, rather than creating contexts which
  humans must learn and understand.
• HCC draws on the social sciences to build a deep
  understanding of those contexts.

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The problem of context

• Context is more than when and where an action
  takes place.
• It includes the activity, task, long-term goals,
  and psychological state of people and groups of
  people.

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HCC is a two-way street

• Understanding social behavior is important for
  computer applications that will assist people.
  i.e. computer scientists gain from knowledge of
  the social sciences.
• Computing is permeating the daily lives of most
  people. It has changed the nature of work, and is
  changing the way people learn, buy goods and
  recreate. It is both a transformative force and
  an extraordinary tool for studies in the social
  sciences. Social scientists benefit from seeing
  emerging technologies up close, and in using
  computational tools for large-scale studies.

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HCC Overview

• Changes caused by information technology
• Creation of the knowledge worker and
  informational companies.
• The agile corporation temps, outsourcing,
  offshore labor, retraining.
• Ubiquitous networking and communication is
  creating new kinds of social ties and reshaping
  social networks.
• The promise of education learner autonomy and
  life-long learning.
• HCC seeks to tie social and behavioral sciences
  with information science and engineering.

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Why now?

• Computing seems to be a great success
  (credited for the relentless climb of the Dow).
• BUT, the future success of information technology
  depends on scaling barriers which are
  increasingly non-technical.

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Where the walls are

• Natural human-machine interaction.
• Computer literacy and life-long learning.
• Face-to-face vs. electronic interaction.
• Codified vs. tacit knowledge.
• Engineering vs. the social sciences.

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HCC Overview

• HCC is not a single research project, but
  provides an umbrella for interdisciplinary
  projects across wall 5.
• Some themes that youll hear about
• Natural interaction. Pens, gesture, speech.
• Design of learning tools, tools for learning
  design.
• Design as practice, tools for doing it.
• CMC tools based on the psychology of interaction.
• Mining tacit knowledge, social computer
  networks.

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Who we are

• From Sociology
• Barry Wellman (Toronto)
• Elisa Bienenstock (Stanford)
• Manuel Castells
• Claude Fischer

• From Computer Science
• John Canny
• Jerry Feldman
• David Forsyth
• Michael Jordan
• Anthony Joseph
• Randy Katz
• James Landay
• Jitendra Malik
• Robert Wilensky

• From GSE Graduate School of Education
• Andy diSessa
• Marcia Linn
• Michael Ranney

• From Electrical Engineering
• Ron Fearing
• Nelson Morgan
• Richard Newton
• Kris Pister
• Avideh Zakhor

• From Psychology
• Dacher Keltner
• Jerry Mendelsohn

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HCC Faculty Researchers

• From Mechanical Engineering
• Alice Agogino
• Homi Kazerooni
• Paul Wright

• From SIMS School of information Management and
  Systems
• Marti Hearst
• Nancy Van House
• Hal Varian

• From Business
• Robert E Cole
• Jim Lincoln

• IEOR Industrial Engineering and Operations
  Research
• Ken Goldberg

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Where it would be

• LAB space (2000 sq ft) in South Hall (SIMS), to
  contain video editing eqpt., CMC tools, eqpt for
  usability studies (head tracker etc.).
• Centrally located on campus. Surrounded by other
  small offices for temporary use.

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Goals of the Retreat

• Survey the research at UCB (long-term views).
  Introduce our industry participants. Think about
  breakout group topics (today).
• Sample some active research projects (talks and
  posters). Brainstorm about the centers future.
  How we should build it up, set priorities, make
  connections (tomorrow).
• Summarize the discussions and get feedback
  (Friday).