Festival of Ideas 2020

You can listen to the podcast here

iTunes: https://tinyurl.com/ycufrtye

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ycd2427o

Soundcloud: https://tinyurl.com/ya9en4pb

Thursday 16th April, 3pm and Thursday 23rd April (time TBC)

We invite you to participate in this virtual workshop, to be held via Zoom, to share expertise, experience and questions about video for HCI education.

Motivation

Noting the shifts in pedagogical style that are needed in times of social isolation, we want to discuss the problems that we are having in the HCI community and what solutions are available. Some of us have been attempting to translate from face-to-face to an online setting, whilst others have already been doing online lectures for a long time but are in need of revisiting their assessment methods. 

Thinking about longer-term repercussions to this change that the lockdown has brought upon HE institutions and our delivery as well as adapting to institution-wide and accreditor requirements.

Topics 

We ask the community to contribute to a discussion on these challenges:

• Adapting lecturing materials to online settings
• Use of video for delivery and assessment
• Long-term challenges post-lockdown, e.g. timetabling repercussions
• Overcoming infrastructure limitations
• Domain-specific pedagogical challenges, e.g. evaluation of lo-fi prototyping.

Format 

This workshop will be delivered online over two sessions, with community participation in the form of round-table introductions (on the 16th April), context-setting (of our institutions, courses, students, infrastructure) and a moderated discussion of the problems and brainstorm of solutions which will be followed up in the second session (on the 23rd April).

Expected outcomes

The discussion is expected to collaboratively generate a document with practical tips and strategies (what works, what does not) applicable in the short term, as well as the identification of long-term research questions for the HCI community. 

Organisers

• Alan Dix (Zoom Host)
  Computational Foundry, Swansea University, UK
• Adriana Wilde
  Web and Internet Science research group, University of Southampton, UK
• Anna Vasilchenko
  Open Lab, Newcastle University, UK
• Chris Evans
  UCL Interaction Centre (UCLiC), University College London, UK

Full information, including registration, here

Join us for the latest in our weekly seminar series, My Research: Why it Matters, where academics associated with the Computational Foundry chat informally about their areas of research interests. This session runs from 11:00-11:30am, usually with 10 minutes of talk from the guest speaker and 20 minutes of Q&A from the audience. Zoom links will be published here prior to the talk.

Details of forthcoming talks

7th May, Dr Tracy Evans, Creative Research Officer at Swansea University: 

"Virtually All Here: Reflecting on our current heritage praxis at Hafod-Morfa Copperworks"

Join us via Zoom: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/91319724492 

Meeting ID: 913 1972 4492

 14th May, Dr Yan Wu, Associate Professor of Media and Communications at Swansea University: 

"Why Computer Science needs the Humanities: Sharing experience of my CHERISH-DE funded projects"

Join us via Zoom: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/94832503559

Meeting ID: 948 3250 3559 Password: 260297

21st May, Dr Angharad Closs Stephens, Senior Lecturer in Geography at Swansea University: 

"The Digital and Spatial Effects of the 2017 Manchester bombings"

Join us via Zoom: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/94006200524

Meeting ID: 940 0620 0524

28th May, Dr Noemi Picco, Lecturer in Mathematics at Swansea University: 

"Using maths to manage cancer"

Join us via Zoom: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/93570338295

Meeting ID: 935 7033 8295

4th June, Tashi Gyaltsen, Business Engagement Officer for the Centre of Doctoral Training at the Computational Foundry:

"Business Research Collaborations at the CDT in the Computational Foundry"

Join us via Zoom: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/94254525281

Meeting ID: 942 5452 5281

11th June, Dr Randy Wright, Associate Professor and Actuarial Science Programme Director, Department of Mathematics at Swansea University

"What are Actuaries Doing About COVID-19?"

Join us via Zoom:

https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/95249636434?pwd=QUpwUE51Nit2YkRQZDVGOEREb1A5dz09

Meeting ID: 952 4963 6434

Password: 332551

Date TBC, Thomas Reitmaier, Researcher at CHERISH-DE research project

"An Honest Conversation: Transparently Combining Machine and Human Speech Assistance in Public Spaces"

Join us via Zoom:  

https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/92784081292?pwd=SnpLVEZsRkRzVURUellyU3RndEg2QT09

Meeting ID: 927 8408 1292

Password: 427878 

Academics from the Computational Foundry will be running the Self Sustainable CHI 2020 virtual workshop on self-powered sustainable interfaces and interactions, and contributing to key elements of the programme.

Workshop Overview

The continued proliferation of computing devices comes with an ever-increasing energy requirement, both during production and use. As awareness of the global climate emergency increases, self-powered and sustainable (Self-Sustainable) interactive devices are likely to play a valuable role. In this workshop we bring together researchers and practitioners from design, computer science, materials science, engineering and manufacturing industries working on this new area of endeavour. The workshop will provide a platform for participants to review and discuss challenges and opportunities associated with self-powered and sustainable interfaces and interactions, develop a design space and identify opportunities for future research.

The workshop will start with an introductory round and an overview of the grand challenges and opportunities in self-powered sustainable interfaces and interactions research. Then three phases will be used to drive an agenda for future research and innovation. These phases will be seeded by the participants’ position papers and prototypes.

Phase 1: Technological possibilities: This phase will concentrate on deepening understanding of the materials, methods, technologies available for self-powered interfaces and interactions.

Phase 2: Interface and Interaction Paradigm Shift: Given the emerging materials, methods, and technologies, this phase will explore the features of the new interaction paradigms that they afford. We will, for example, consider granularity of input/ output and interface dynamics (e.g. speed of response). We will also consider possible applications afforded by this paradigm shift, and highlight potential timescales for adoption.

Phase 3: Setting an agenda for transformation: The outcome of this phase will be a coherent set of research directions that will enable other researchers to pursue the goal of creating technological futures that will enable rich digital interactions through responsible and sustainability-orientated innovation.

Workshop Day: May, 5-29th, 2020 (Virtually)

Seminar overview

We all need to be creative in our work: crafting a new course, writing a research paper, designing a new product or algorithm; but many people feel "that's not me, I'm not that kind of person". Don't believe it! Just like a calculator helps you add up numbers, the right tools can enable you to be far more creative than you imagine.

Click the link below to see this seminar delivered by Professor Alan Dix, including video and slides

https://alandix.com/player/v0/Creativity_May_2020

Time: 4:00pm

Zoom id: 677 992 9759

Speaker: Professor Markus Roggenbach

Seminar title:  Formal verification of  security  protocols in CSP

Abstract: Security protocols concern the question of how one can communicate `securely' though one is exchanging messages in an untrusted, `hostile' environment. The talks introduces the general notions of cryptography, communications protocol, security goals, and security protocols. Taking the infamous Needham-Schroeder protocol for authentication as an example, it is demonstrated that it is difficult to get the design of security protocols `right'. This raises the need for a rigorous approach to analysing security protocols on design level. To this end, we will show how to model  security protocols and security goals in the process algebra CSP.

Join us for the next COSMOS talk on Thursday 11^th June at 14:30

Speaker: Sofya Lyakhova, Further Mathematics Support Programme 

Title: Ten years of successful online teaching: engaging students and developing their resilience in learning mathematics.

Abstract: Since 2011 Swansea University Mathematics Department has been running the Further Mathematics Support Programme Wales and has engaged in developing online and distance learning of mathematics at post-16.  In this talk we reflect on the challenges we have encountered in teaching mathematics remotely, the findings of our research with students and teachers on online and video teaching, and reflect upon recent discussions with undergraduate students, lecturers and teachers during the lockdown. We will discuss how to successfully engage students in remote teaching of mathematics. 

Please find details to join via Zoom below:

https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/97449568548?pwd=OVl3WjltZ3dkTXBUejlNM1d3dDZjZz09

Meeting ID: 974 4956 8548

Password: 905098

Digitally Included?

The Heritage Team at Swansea University has been working with communities in Hafod over the past 6 months as part of a UKRI and Cherish DE funded project 'Copperopolis: Exploring Place-Making in the Lower Swansea Valley.' As lockdown hit, contact with participants became increasingly difficult due to the low levels of digital engagement. In conversation with Swansea Music Art Digital (MAD), it became clear that there were a range of barriers for the local communities in getting online including a lack of digital skills, no access to a device or no data package to support regular online activity. The disparity between those who can get online whilst being socially isolated and those who can't is striking and concerning.

 In their recent publication ‘UK Consumer Digital Index 2020’ Lloyds Bank state: 

"With citizens of the UK staying at home to stay safe, technology has become a necessity for keeping connected, working remotely and accessing vital information. As this report illustrates, while much of the nation has pivoted their work and lives online, for a large proportion of the UK, this is infeasible.”

 It is infeasible because:

• An estimated 9 million people (16%) are unable to use the Internet or their devices without assistance;
• c. 6.5 million (12%) people cannot open apps;
• Two-thirds (66%) of those online have not used the Internet or digital apps and tools to manage their health;
• 52% of the UK workforce are not fully digitally enabled.

We want to bring a group of people together: academics from Swansea University, local teachers and third sector organisations to begin to have a conversation about how we collectively can address these issues. What are the underlying issues? What resources are needed? Are there examples of places in the UK that have much higher rates of digital inclusion? How can we increase digital inclusion for our communities in Swansea? How is the issue of digital access addressed by the university for students?

The session will start with 3 short talks/provocations from Dr Tracy Evans (Creative Research Officer), Swansea MAD and Prof Alan Dix (Director of the Computational Foundry). This will be followed by a breakout room session and feedback to the larger group afterwards. 

 The event will be an opportunity to share experience and expertise, and a collaborative approach to addressing a crucial issue of our times. 

For further information please visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/digitally-included-tickets-108843361424

Online workshop Tuesday 7th July 2020

Full Call for Participation coming soon ….

This was originally due to run as a workshop at the British HCI Conference at Keele University in July. Due to Covid-19, BHCI has been postponed for this year, but the workshop will go on 

This workshop will bring together those interested in preserving the fragile history of human–computer interaction.  This includes those interested in the strategies to support such endeavours in both HCI and other areas with similar issues (within and outside academia), and also those seeking to understand the lessons past HCI holds for the on-going development of the field.

Organising Committee

• Alan Dix, Computational Foundry, Swansea University
• Michael Harrison, University of Newcastle and Swansea University
• John Knight, Aalto University, Finland
• Stephen Lindsay,  Computational Foundry, Swansea University
• Tom McEwan, independent
• Dianne Murray, independent
• Harold Thimbleby, Computational Foundry, Swansea University
• John Tucker, History of Computing Collection and Computational Foundry, Swansea University

Dr Leigh Clark, Lecturer in Computer Science at the Computational Foundry, is Program Chair for CUI 2020.

CUI 2020 aims aims to further develop a collaborative community around human-computer interaction issues in speech and language technology, with specific interest in theory based and applied scientific issues in the field of speech and text based conversational user interfaces.

There has been an increasing interest in language based interactions with technology. Driven by the commercial success of intelligent personal assistant devices such as Alexa and Google Home, to the growth of the use of chatbots in commercial settings, the number of natural language and conversation based interactions is growing. Based on a successful inaugural ACM In-Cooperation conference in 2019, CUI 2020 aims to further develop a collaborative community around human-computer interaction issues in speech and language technology, with specific interest in theory based and applied scientific issues in the field of speech and text based conversational user interfaces. CUI 2020 looks to bring together relevant communities (e.g. ISCA, ACM SIGCHI, CogSci) to publish, disseminate and showcase high quality cutting edge research related to the field, promote insight and debate in this interesting and important discipline within language interfaces.