Prof. Dr. Johannes Schöning from Hasselt University will visit the University of Konstanz and will give a talk about “User Identification Techniques for Interactive Surfaces“ on Thu, Mar 7th, in room D432 from 09:00 to 10:00.

We would be pleased to welcome you at this event.

Abstract:

Large touch tables have great potential for co-located collaboration because of their ability to track multiple inputs simultaneously. However, the multi-user experience on these devices can be enriched significantly if touch points can be associated with the user performing an action. When the user’s identity is readily available, there are many new opportunities for systems deployed in multi-user scenarios. For example, multiple users can operate applications in different modes at the same time or the appearance of the interface can change to provide automatic translations or help cues for novice users. In my talk I will give an overview on different techniques and I will present a non-intrusive, high-accuracy technique for mapping touches to their corresponding user in a collaborative environment named Carpus.

By mounting a high-resolution camera above the interactive surface, we are able to extract unique features from the back of the user’s hands, from all hand postures that are common during the practical use of multi-touch systems. Carpus supports walk-up-and-use scenarios in which every touch can be identified transparently. Our system therefore enables an entire new range of applications in which the user’s identity is needed. For example, we envision interactive setups in shops in order for customers to get more information about products. Carpus could be used in this scenario to track the users’ interests over different sessions and suggest them other relevant products in which he might be interested in.

Bio:

Johannes Schöning is a professor of computer science with a focus on HCI at Hasselt University, working within the Expertise centre for Digital Media (EDM) – the ICT research institute of Hasselt University. In addition he is a visiting lecturer at UCL London within the Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Sustainable Cities. These web pages are intended to give you an overview on his academic activities.

Before that Johannes worked in industry and at the Innovative Retail Laboratory of the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Saarbrücken. During his time at DFKI he received a PhD in computer science at Saarland University (2010) and a Master in Geoinformatics at the University of Münster at the Institute for Geoinformatics (2007). For his PhD he was awarded with the Vodafone Research Advancement Award.

Johannes Schönings research interests are new methods and novel interfaces to mainly navigate through spatial information. In general he develops, design and tests user interfaces that help people to solve daily tasks more effectively. This includes the development of mobile augmented reality applications, interactive surfaces and tabletops and other “Post-Desktop” interfaces.