Interaction Technology
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[ Attendance | Grades ]
1. Course Description:
One of the basic components of computer systems is the interactions between human users and the systems. "Good" interactions do not only provide enjoyable experiences but also increase productivity and efficiency. A field that focuses on developing computer interactions is called Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). This course is part of HCI, yet emphasizing on the technological aspects rather than the human aspects. For example, the course will discuss the technologies behind Microsoft Kinect, Nintendo Wii's controllers, etc. Also, it will include other technologies such as voice interfaces, taste interfaces, brain interfaces, avatar-based interfaces, ambient intelligence, mobile interaction, etc.
Interactive technologies are crucial in many applications, particularly in game research and technology. By passing the course, the students are expected to understand the concepts of interaction technology, so that they can imagine the possible future of human-computer interaction. The course is in English, and knowledge in programming (C#) at the level of the game-programming course is a prerequisite. Should there be any questions, e-mail to tanrobby (at) gmail.comOfficial website: Interaction Technology Course
2. References:
Literature (strongly recommended to have):
- HCI beyond GUI, 2008 (official website | amazon.com | UU website)
- Selected papers (see to come...)
The following is optional:
- Human Computer Interaction, 2004 (amazon.com)
- Stanford's HCI seminar: website
Also, you can search in google scholar for academic papers, by entering the title, the author's name, or the topic:
3. Format:
Practical Assignments
During the course, students are expected to finish a few practical assignments.
Written Exams
There are written exams: mid-term and final exams.
Academic Honesty
Academic honesty is compulsory in accomplishing the assignments,
projects, and the exams. Exchanging codes between different groups are not
allowed. Using codes from the previous year or from the Internet is
prohibited, unless stated otherwise in the lectures. Copying texts of
the reports from other groups is strictly prohibited. Generally,
cheating, academic misconduct, plagiarism, and fabrication of any
submitted material (including code and text) are not tolerated. We
will use software to detect any code or text plagiarism. Any violation
to the academic honesty will imply failure to pass the course.
4. Grading:
The final grade is average of the following assessments:- 10%: Lecture Attendance
- 40%: Practical Assignments
- 25%: Mid-term Exam
- 25%: Final Exam
Retake exam:
To participate in the retake of the exam, the original grade must be no less than 4.
5. Lecturers:
- Lecturer and coordinator of the course: Robby T. Tan [website]
- Staff members:
- Student assistants for the practicals:
- Andreea Barac
- Alexander Melchior
- Sjoerd Timmer
- Guest Lecturers:
- Gerrit Bloothooft [website]: voice-based interactions
- Sophia Katrenko [website]: natural language processing
- Benny van der Vijgh [website]: brain-computer interactions
- Than van Nispen [website]: music and interactions
- Arjen Egges [website]: interactive animation
- Wolfgang Huerst [website]: mobile interactions
- Dennis Reidsma [website]: virtual human
6. Schedule
- The schedule was arranged as a rough guideline. The lectures will emphasize more on clarity rather than strictness in following the schedule.
- Acknowledgements: major parts of the slides and materials used in the lecture are taken from various Internet sources. The lecturer thanks those people who made the materials available.
7. Practicals
- To complete the practicals, the students must have a programming skill in C#.
| | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12-09-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
Project: Designing and Building a Non-traditional Interactive System: | Project Description |
| 2 | 15-09-2011 | 11:00-12:45 |
no lab session | |
| 3 | 19-09-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
Marker-based Interaction 1 Resources:
|
Practical 1
|
| 4 | 22-09-2011 | 11:00-12:45 |
Marker-based Interaction 2 | |
| 5 | 26-09-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
Marker-based Interaction 3 | |
| 6 | 29-09-2011 | 11:00-12:45 |
Face Interaction 1 Resources:
| Practical 2 |
| 7 | 03-10-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
Face Interaction 2 | |
| 9 | 10-10-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
Voice-based Interaction 1 Resources: | Practical 3 |
| 10 | 13-10-2011 | 11:00-12:45 |
Voice-based Interaction 2 | |
| 11 | 17-10-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
Experiencing with Mobile Devices, Kinect, Motion Capture Lab |
schedule
BBL-109 |
| 12 | 20-10-2011 | 11:00-12:45 |
Experiencing with Mobile Devices, Kinect, Motion Capture Lab |
schedule
BBL-109 |
| 13 | 24-10-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
Experiencing with Mobile Devices, Kinect, Motion Capture Lab |
schedule
BBL-109 |
| 14 | 27-10-2011 | 11:00-12:45 |
Experiencing with Mobile Devices, Kinect, Motion Capture Lab |
schedule
BBL-109 |
| 15 | 31-10-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
Experiencing with Mobile Devices, Kinect, Motion Capture Lab |
schedule
BBL-109 |
| 16 | 03-11-2011 | 11:00-12:45 |
Project: Designing and Building a Non-tradition Interactive System: No practical session | |
| 17 | 07-11-2011 | 15:15-17:00 |
No practical session |
Old News:
- [22/11/2011]: For those who do not pass the course, your final grade in OSIRIS will be downgraded to 5 (of course, unless your final grade is already less than 5).
- [22/11/2011]: The grades (all grades in the course website) are provisional. They will become official and permanent, if they are sent to OSIRIS. We publish the grades before sending to OSIRIS for the sake of the students, namely, in order for them to be able to notice something that can be wrong in calculation or in the grading.
- [21/11/2011]: For those who have the final grade equal or larger then 6, but have the average exams less than 5, you will receive an e-mail from me soon.
- [21/11/2011]: Check your finalized version of the final grades (even if you have checked before, you should check them again). The calculation of the final grade from the total grade:
- For the total grade that >= 6, the rule is: .25 (or above but below 0.5) is rounded up to .5, otherwise is rounded down.
- For the total grade that >= 6, the rule is: .75 (or above) is rounded up, otherwise is rounded down to .5.
- For the total grade that <= 5.75, the rule is: everything is rounded down.
- For the total grade that >= 5.75, the rule is: it is rounded up to 6.
- [21/11/2011]: The questions in the retake will be taken from all lectures (Lecture 1 to Lecture 16). If you need a retake, you have to e-mail me as soon as possible, or at least two weeks before the date of the exam.
- [18/11/2011]: The grades of the final exam are now available. Check your grade, if there is anything wrong, e-mail me. Only those who have the final grade larger than or equal to 6 will pass the course (as we have discussed in the first lecture). If you need a retake, you have to e-mail me as soon as possible.
- [14/11/2011]: The grades of the final exam are expected to be available online by next Monday, November 21, 2011.
- [14/11/2011]: Those who need to do the retake, have to notify me by e-mail, at least two weeks before the date of the exam.
- The old news is accessable here.
- [03/11/2011]: Due to the regrouping and the student's availability, there are minor changes in the schedule. The latest schedule is here.
- [02/11/2011]: For the final presentation and the project submission (last update, 17:14):
- The schedule of the final presentation is available here. You have to be in the room (BBL-106) for the time mentioned in the schedule (namely, for full 1 hour). This is mandatory and part of the grading.
- In the submission of the project, the design part must contain only sketches (with maximum 200 words for each sketch). We won't read any longer explanations than that. Moreover, the design must be the revised version of the proposal.
- In the submission, to reduce the size, the executable program and the video are no longer mandatory. Other submission requirements are still mandatory.
- For the presentation, each group will be given 5 minutes. In this duration, (1) mention the goal and the motivation, (2) show the demo of the implementation. We will grade the implementation based on the presentation, and grade the design by reading your submitted pdf. Note, Q&A (question-and-answer) session might follow after each presentation; and we will look at the code, whenever necessary.
- The criteria for grading the implementation of the project are as follows: (1) originality, (2) usefulness, (3) futuristic interactive technologies, (4) amount of time and effort, (5) presentation, (6) other factors decided during the presentation.
- The demo should be done by using your own computers and possibly your own additional devices. Ensure that everything is right before the presentation. If under certain conditions you have to use the practical room's computer, you should prepare it before your turn.
- [31/10/2011]: For the project, we will choose one best project (with a certificate as the prize). Note, the decision is entirely up to the panel, and cannot be disputed.
- [31/10/2011]: This Thursday (3/11), among other aspects of mobile interactions, in the lecture we will discuss the study we did in the experiencing session (particularly for the mobile interaction). Moreover, the contents of the lectures will also be an important part of the final exam.
- [28/10/2011]: In the lecture on this Monday (31/10), I will discuss the project and the questions related to it, including the design.
- [27/10/2011]: The grades of practical 3 are already available.
- [21/10/2011]: Recently, I received interesting links from a couple of students which might also interest you:
- [20/10/2011]: The questions of the final exams will be mostly taken from the exercises, which represent the contents of the reading materials, the slides, and the lectures of meeting 9 to 16.
- [18/10/2011]: Those who want to apply a face recognition for the project can use this code: website.
- [17/10/2011]: If you do not understand what I mean as "design" and "futuristic features", watch the following video clip. In the final presentation, ideally you show that kind of video in describing your ideas in one story line. However, since it takes time to create such a video clip, you only need to draw sketches and then in the final presentation you explain them in detail. Here is the example video clip: youtube. Note, sketching is an important part of HCI, it can clear up your design ideas. If you still have difficulties to think about design and futuristic features, contact us.
- [20/10/2011]: Those who want to work on the project in the practical rooms can use the following rooms: (Monday) BBL-112 and BBL-175, (Thursday) BBL-103 and BBL-106.
- [19/10/2011]: The grades for the mid-term exam and practical 2 are now available.
- [19/10/2011]: Exercise 9, 10, and 11 are now available in the schedule. They are tentative (will be continuously updated) until approximately a week before the final exam.
- [18/10/2011]: The complete feedback for the project proposal is now available. If you have questions, let us know.
- [17/10/2011]: Design proposal status (whether approved or not) is available here. The comments and feedback will follow soon today. For those who get the approval, you can start the project; and for those who don't, we will inform you what you should do soon.
- [18/10/2011]: The grades for the mid-term exam are expected to be available by the end of this week.
- [14/10/2011]: The room for the experiencing session: BBL-109.
- [14/10/2011]: The experiencing session starts on this Monday (17/10). For the schedule, look at: here. This experiencing session is mandatory (you will lose points if you do not show up).
- [14/10/2011]: The approval and the feedback for the project are scheduled to be announced by this Monday. You should start the project as soon as you get the approval.
- [11/10/2011]: For those who anticipate taking the retake, it only provides 50% of the total grade. So, if you want to pass the course, you must complete some of the practicals (or the project). Moreover, the questions of the retake will be taken from all materials of the course (from the beginning to the end).
- [10/10/2011]: Small revision to the instruction of Practical 3 and an additional note have been uploaded. The revision is about the deadline and the video submission (which the latter becomes optional, namely only necessary when you want your results to be shown the website).
- [10/10/2011]: The grades for Practical 1 are available in the grade webpage.
- [10/10/2011]: Information for the experiencing session is here and for the groups see: docs. Note: the experiencing session is mandatory (you will lose points if you do not show up).
- [10/10/2011]: The instruction of Practical 3 is now available. See the practical schedule.
- [03/10/2011]: The mid-term exam will include the contents of lecture 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and of the book (chapter 1, 3, 5, and 6). The questions will be taken mostly from the exercises, which will be continuously updated till Tuesday (4/10).
- [01/10/2011]: For the mid-term exams, you should read chapter 1, 3, 5, and 6 (of HCI beyond the GUI). Some questions will taken from them. Also read the announcement below.
- [30/09/2011]: The questions in the exams will be mostly taken from the exercises provided in the schedule. If you run into problems answering the questions in the exercises, you should let me know. I will provide the answers if I think you need them, otherwise I will only direct you to the sources of the information (or general information where you should extract the answers by yourself). Note, all exercises will be continuously updated till Tuesday (4/10), which will include questions taken from the book.
- [29/09/2011]: For the project: again, you should think by yourself about the application and the design. Previously you were asked to imagine yourself being a disabled person, but actually you are also allowed to imagine yourself being a baby, or an elderly person, or even an animal (if possible). The point is that you do not need to worry about the feasibility of your ideas in the project proposal. Since later on, we will give our feedback and approval. Keep in mind that the design must consist two types of ideas: (1) ideas about interactive technologies in the imaginary future, (2) ideas that you can implement now.
- [28/09/2011]: The submitted results of practical 1 is partially available here.
- [27/09/2011]: The deadline of practical 2 is moved to 9/10/2011 (sunday), and the deadline of the project proposal is moved to 12/10/2011 (wednesday). The instructions of practical 2 is now fixed (no longer tentative).
- [27/09/2011]: I received an information from a student (Rob van de Werken) that the pdf of the book is available (to download) at the university library's site: link.
- [27/09/2011]: A reminder: the deadline of the project proposal is 12/10/2011. If you find it difficult to get ideas, imagine you have certain disabilities, and ask what kind of computer interfaces that can be useful. Recall the contents of lecture 2: know your users: 1. who are they; 2. talk to them; 3. observe them; 4. use your imagination.
- [23/09/2011]: The deadline of practical 1 is extended to Wednesday (28/9/2011) at 17.00. The reason is because many students still have difficulties to finish it. For those who still have problems, you should consult your problems in the practical session on Monday (since it is the best occasion to solve them).
- [23/09/2011]: If you run into problems either in finishing the practicals or understanding the theory, you should let us know. We might not solve all of your problems, yet we will let you know which we can help, and which you should do it yourselves.
- [23/09/2011]: Regarding practical 1, again we want to remind you: to enable the idea of the histogram (for locating the marker position) to work better, the shape of the marker should be round.
- [21/09/2011]: Regarding practical 1, part 2: the program must also have video input from file and video output to file (aside from direct input from webcam).
- [21/09/2011]: Practical 1 to 3 will be graded by using the lab computers. Hence, you must make sure your program works on those computers, which are 32-bit windows. To meet this requirement you should at least start from an empty project and copy all necessary libraries to the project's folder. For copying the libraries, read this note.
- [21/09/2011]: Regarding the project:
- The use of the three technologies (practical 1 to 3) depends on the nature of the project. If they make sense, they should be present in the design. The choice of which technologies are implemented is up to the students with the general requirement that innovative interaction(s) are implemented at a sufficient level.
- The use of other technologies are OK but we provide no support. This includes mobile phone, kinect etc.
- It must be possible to demonstrate the project in the lab rooms.
- [20/09/2011]: Regarding the attendance: you have to provide your signature in the attendance list. You will not be accounted for attending if only crossing or checking the box. If your signatures are inconsistent, you will be asked for explanation (if the explanation is unsatisfactory, you will lose your attendance score, possibly the whole 10% of the total grade).
- [20/09/2011]: Gestural hand interface: youtube 1 | youtube 2
- [20/09/2011]: Regarding the project: for those who want to use the university's kinect machine, e-mail us! It's possible to use the machine, though unfortunately we cannot provide any support. Information about how to access kinect using emgucv can be found here.
- [20/09/2011]: For practical assignment 1, to enable the idea of the histogram (for locating the marker position) to work better, the shape of the marker should be round.
- [20/09/2011]: The attendance score can be looked at here. If you did attend the lecture, but have 0 as your score, you should contact me (also, if your student number is not in the list).
- [19/09/2011]: To calculate your attendance score: (the number of attendance/16)*10*10%.
- [19/09/2011]: Lecture on Sept. 19 will be about "vision-based interaction". Previously, it was "the basics of interactive technologies". The change is necessary due to the assignment in the practical session, which requires some knowledge about vision technology.
- [14/09/2011]: In the project description:
- The 50 hours of work apply for each member of the groups.
- One of the main ideas behind the disabled people group as the target domain is to encourage the students to think out-of-the-box (to not think in "common" ways).
- For the access to the game lab (where our kinect machine is located), we're still in the process of getting the approval (which is necessary due to the possibility of handling many students who want to use it).
- [14/09/2011]: For those who still haven't had practical partners, tomorrow we will match you up.
- [14/09/2011]: We are currently having a problem managing the practical e-mail account (practicum.interactietechnologie @ gmail.com). Normally, we will respond within 24 hours. If you haven't received the response of your e-mails, you should cc or forward them to: R.T.Tan@uu.nl.
- [14/09/2011]: Regarding the lab special session tomorrow, if there is no request until 07.00 (tomorrow morning), the lab session will be cancelled. Again, if you need it, e-mail us. The sooner the better.
- [12/09/2011]: All video clips of the lecture today (12/9) are available in the additional materials of each subject (in the schedule).
- [12/09/2011]: Any questions with regard to the practicals should be sent to: practicum.interactietechnologie@gmail.com
- [08/09/2011]: If you did not receive an e-mail about the starting date of the course (sent on September 6, 2011), you must e-mail me with your active e-mail address. Since, aside from this website, you will receive important messages regarding the course through e-mails.
- [12/09/2011]: Those who cannot find partners for the practicals should send an e-mail to us, so that we can arrange you with other students.
- [12/09/2011]: The slides for the lecture on 12/9 are available in the schedule.
- [10/09/2011]: The instructions of practical assignment 1 and the project are already available in the practical schedule.
- [06/09/2011]: The starting date of the course is September 12, 2011 (Monday)