ZPAC will host a talk by David Dearman of the University of Toronto entitled, “Identifying and applying place-based activities derived from community authored content” on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 13:30 in the HCI Lab (BIN 1.B.18). Light refreshments will be served. Please join us for an exciting talk on cutting edge research in HCI and ubiquitous computing!

Abstract: The ability to characterize the potential activities that a person can perform in a specific place, neighbourhood or city can enable the development of novel place-based applications and services. In this talk, I will discuss the implementation and evaluation of a systematic method to identify the potential activities a person can perform in a specific place by processing place-based community authored content (e.g., Yelp.com reviews). I will demonstrate that the activity knowledge this method can produce is useful and usable by discussing mobile information applications that this activity knowledge has enabled, Opportunities Exist and Vocabulary Wallpaper. Opportunities Exist assists users in the discovery of new places in familiar and unfamiliar spaces to perform their activities, and uncover new meanings for familiar places. Vocabulary Wallpaper helps second language learners acquire vocabulary by providing light-weight access to contextually relevant vocabulary and translations.

About David Dearman: David Dearman is a PhD candidate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, advised by Professor Khai N. Truong. His research bridges the complementary fields of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp), revolving around the central theme of improving the user experience with mobile devices. In particular, he is interested in the design, development and evaluation of mobile technologies that support personal activities by providing access to contextually relevant information, as well as novel techniques for interacting with mobile devices. David holds a MCSc in Computer Science from Dalhousie University where he was advised by Dr. Kori M. Inkpen.