30.10.2025 IfI Colloquium: Towards Natural Human-Drone Interaction
Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Jessica Cauchard, TU Vienna, Austria
Date: Thursday, 30 October 2025, 17:15
Location: room BIN 2.A.01 at the Department of Informatics (IfI), Binzmühlestrasse 14, 8050 Zürich
Details about the format of the talk shall be checked always just ahead of a certain presentation date: (information here)
Abstract
The increasing use of small-size drones is both exciting and frightening. The success and acceptability of these automated devices will depend on how well they will be able to communicate with users and passersby alike. How will people be able to make sense of a drone’s intentions and abilities? How will drones respond to people in complex situations? In this lecture, I will present how we can leverage techniques at the intersection between technology and design to build novel interaction techniques for collocated human-drone interaction. I will, in particular, discuss several methodologies that were used successfully to understand user’s expectations and present how these new flying technologies re-invent our understanding of ubiquitous and mobile computing.
Bio
Jessica R. Cauchard is a full professor for Embodied Intelligent Interaction at TU Wien, Austria. Her research is rooted in the fields of Human-Computer and Human-Robot Interaction with a focus on novel interaction techniques and ubiquitous computing. Previously, she was a faculty member in the department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, where she founded and headed the Magic Lab; and in the department of Computer Science at Reichman University, Israel. Prof. Cauchard received her PhD in Computer Science at the University of Bristol, UK in 2013 and worked as a postdoctoral scholar at Cornell Tech and Stanford University.