Human-Computer Interaction
The research team in human-computer interaction, the youngest of nine core areas of computer science identified by ACM focuses on conceptual, computational, and usability aspects of interfaces. The researchers focus on both building interface architecture and look to facilitate and enhance the development of interactive environments. Research in this area is supported by the National Science Foundation, Microsoft, and the Office of Naval Research. The group boasts of eminent experts in this area who have been recognized by prestigious awards.
Applied Cognitive Science Lab - Lead Faculty: Professor Ritter Research in this laboratory focuses on how to improve the usability of interfaces by investigating human-computer interfaces with cognitive models. The projects are focused on models that learn, ranging from how to provide models access to interfaces to analyzing the effects of caffeine on cognition to determining how children develop through modeling their development. For more information, visit: http://acs.ist.psu.edu. Spatial Information and Intelligence Lab - Lead Faculty: Professors Cai, Fonseca, and Mitra The lab develops conceptual, computational, and usability engineering approaches toward natural, multimodal, multi-user dialogue-enabled interfaces to geographic information systems. The goal is to make distributed geographical information resources accessible to (non-expert) users and to facilitate collaborative spatial decision-making among teams. The Real-Time Aesthetics and Experience Lab - Lead Faculty: Professor Smith The real-time aesthetics and experience lab is engaged in several
directions of research. We are experimenting with game design tools
for: Education: In this particular research direction, we looked at
the use of game modding in classroom environments, including the
new game design and development course, and Games for Girls' (high
school extracurricular class). Visualization: This particular
direction was motivated by the grant received from Lockheed Martin
to look into using gaming methods for visualization and immersion.
This is still an exploratory project, but has already resulted in a
workshop on the process of game design which is part of Designing
Interactive Systems.
