Designing new user interfaces for cars
A seminar to discuss designing new user interfaces for cars with Professor Stephen Brewster, Glasgow University.
Location: Room C/2.07, Queen's Buildings, School of Computer Science and Informatics.
Date: 4 October 2017, 14:00
Abstract
In-car interactions are undergoing major changes as traditional physical buttons, dials and switchgear are replaced by touchscreens and touch-sensing surfaces. Drivers are becoming passengers as autonomous vehicles become the norm.
The aim of this lecture is to discuss the issues that arise from these changes and show some new forms of multimodal interaction that can be used to address them. The replacement of physical controls allows more aesthetically pleasing and flexible in-car interiors but the use of touchscreens and gestures may take more attention away from driving.
I will show how haptics, ambient light and audio can be used to allow rich gesture interactions, and improve input performance on touchscreens and touch surfaces in cars. We will look at how thermal feedback can be used to provide new ways of communicating information.
With autonomous vehicles we all become passengers with time to fill on our journeys. If care isn’t taken, motion sickness will increase, particularly when people try to use immersive content to pass their travel time. I will demonstrate potential solutions using VR and peripheral feedback that can make immersive media consumption possible when on the move.
Biography
Stephen Brewster is a Professor of Human-Computer Interaction in the School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow.
He leads the Multimodal Interaction Group. His research focuses on multimodal HCI, or using multiple sensory modalities and control mechanisms (particularly audio, haptics and gesture) to create a rich, natural interaction between human and computer. His work has a strong experimental focus, applying perceptual research to practical situations.
A long-term focus has been on mobile interaction and how we can design better user interfaces for users who are on the move. Other areas of interest include accessibility, wearable devices and in-car interaction. He pioneered the study of non-speech audio and haptic interaction for mobile devices with work starting in the 1990's.
