Wearable and Mobile Human Computer Interaction

Today more wearable computers (in the form of mobile phones and MP3 players) are sold annually than desktop or laptop computers. Given current technology trends, body-worn devices are quickly approaching the performance of supercomputers in the early 1990's. However, while the technology is improving rapidly and becoming ubiquitous, mobile interfaces remain relatively undeveloped and prevent the delivery of more sophisticated services to the mobile user.

This tutorial will examine mobile devices from an Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) perspective. While Mobile HCI is still struggling to establish itself as a field, we will explore the tools, techniques, and lessons from HCI that can be adapted for the challenges of mobility. We will also discuss the current state-of-the-art in Mobile HCI research with an emphasis on mobile text entry, gestural interfaces, and voice input.

While prior experience in HCI would be helpful, it will not be expected.

Bio
Thad Starner is an Assistant Professor in Georgia Tech's College of Computing. He is a wearable computing pioneer, having worn a wearable as an everyday personal assistant since 1993. Starner holds four degrees from MIT, including his PhD from the MIT Media Laboratory in 1999 on "Wearable Computing and Contextual Awareness." Thad has authored over 80 scientific publications on wearable computing, computer vision, and augmented reality and received the best paper award at IEEE VR2000 and the prestigious NSF Career Grant.