brent phillips

I recently signed up at stumbleupon.com and one of my first ’stumbles’ was physorg.com - a collection of science articles ranging from nanotechnology to health and medicine. In the mix was a great story on human computer interaction (HCI), based on a recent announcement by Massey University in New Zealand. The university has developed a computer-based instructor, Virtual Eve, who not only teaches course material (in math specifically, to eight year olds) but can also change its tone and manner based on the reaction of the viewer. Massey researchers suggest that, “With rising demand for long-distance learning and online tutoring, a computer programe capable of detecting human emotions may become a critical teaching tool.”

On how it works and how they do it:

“Linked to a child via computer, the animated character or virtual tutor can tell if the child is frustrated, angry or confused by the on-screen teaching session and can adapt the tutoring session appropriately.

The animated Eve (with a human-sounding voice) can ask questions, give feedback, discuss questions and solutions and show emotion. To develop the software for this system the Massey team observed children and their interactions with teachers and captured them on thousands of images.

From these images of facial expression, gestures and body movements they developed programs that would capture and recognise facial expression, body movement, and (via a mouse) heart rate and skin resistance. “

To see Eve in action, Massey offers a quicktime video here. To read Massey’s article, click here.

I checked out the new iTunes U catalog yesterday and was pleasantly surprised (shocked!) at the breadth and depth of offerings.  For those who are unfamiliar with the service, iTunes now offers video/audio downloads of course lectures from a number of leading universities.  The topics vary as do the number of lectures you might get for each - A Human Computer Interaction course at Stanford, for example, offers  8 lectures, while the IS 103 “History of Information” Series at Berkley offers a staggering 40 lectures. Other offer considerably more. As I reviewed the catalog, I was also impressed by the fact that the lectures all seem to be current (within a year or so) and also - best of all - free of charge.

Now for someone like me, this is a dangerous proposition - although much appreciated. I’m already an avid reader and have a very broad range of interests.  At the very least I see the service as a complement to other professional development activities, but also as a way of brushing up on various hobbies (guitar lessons, anyone?).  My challenge of course is scarcity of time so picking and choosing wisely will be the challenge. 

Shifting gears a bit, I also checked out apple’s website and found the following comment which got me thinking a bit:  ”iTunes U is transforming the way people learn on campus, off campus, and where there’s no campus at all. ” Its a pitch, but also an interesting point that begs the question - Do we need lecture halls anymore? I’ve got some thoughts on that which I will revisit in another post. For now, I’ve started my downloads…

1. Human Computer Interaction: Innovation on User Research Methods during the development of Windows Vista, Gayna Williams, Microsoft.
2. Intellectual Property Scholars Conference 2007, DePaul University. Accommodating the Evolution of Intellectual Infrastructure: Applying Lessons from Trademark and Copyright to Improve Patent Law. Peter Lee.  
3. UC Berkley. Information: An Introduction. Paul Duguid.