Human-Centered Computing Retreat Overview John Canny UC Berkeley

HCC overview HCC Human-Centered Computing (HCC) is a research effort at Berkeley that studies computing as an ubiquitous technology which is transforming society. Its an interdisciplinary “umbrella” project involving faculty on campus.

HCC overview HCC in a nutshell Computing is becoming ubiquitous, quiet, and more tightly coupled with the physical world. Computing in future will operate in human contexts, rather than creating contexts which humans must learn and understand. HCC draws on the social sciences to build a deep understanding of those contexts.

HCC overview The problem of context Context is more than when and where an action takes place. It includes the activity, task, long-term goals, and psychological state of people and groups of people.

HCC overview HCC is a two-way street Understanding social behavior is important for computer applications that will assist people. i.e. computer scientists gain from knowledge of the social sciences. Computing is permeating the daily lives of most people. It has changed the nature of work, and is changing the way people learn, buy goods and recreate. It is both a transformative force and an extraordinary tool for studies in the social sciences. Social scientists benefit from seeing emerging technologies up close, and in using computational tools for large-scale studies.

HCC overview HCC Overview Changes caused by information technology:  Creation of the knowledge worker and informational companies.  The agile corporation: temps, outsourcing, offshore labor, retraining.  Ubiquitous networking and communication is creating new kinds of social ties and reshaping social networks.  The promise of education: learner autonomy and life- long learning. HCC seeks to tie social and behavioral sciences with information science and engineering.

HCC overview Why now? Computing seems to be a great success … (credited for the relentless climb of the Dow). BUT, the future success of information technology depends on scaling barriers which are increasingly non-technical.

HCC overview Where the walls are: Natural human-machine interaction. Computer literacy and life-long learning. Face-to-face vs. electronic interaction. Codified vs. tacit knowledge. Engineering vs. the social sciences.

HCC overview HCC Overview HCC is not a single research project, but provides an umbrella for interdisciplinary projects across wall # 5. Some themes that you’ll hear about:  Natural interaction. Pens, gesture, speech.  Design of learning tools, tools for learning design.  Design as practice, tools for doing it.  CMC tools based on the psychology of interaction.  Mining tacit knowledge, social & computer networks.

HCC overview Who we are: From Electrical Engineering Ron Fearing Nelson Morgan Richard Newton Kris Pister Avideh Zakhor From GSE: Graduate School of Education Andy diSessa Marcia Linn Michael Ranney From Sociology Barry Wellman (Toronto) Elisa Bienenstock (Stanford) Manuel Castells Claude Fischer From Computer Science John Canny Jerry Feldman David Forsyth Michael Jordan Anthony Joseph Randy Katz James Landay Jitendra Malik Robert Wilensky From Psychology Dacher Keltner Jerry Mendelsohn

HCC overview HCC Faculty Researchers IEOR: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Ken Goldberg From Mechanical Engineering Alice Agogino Homi Kazerooni Paul Wright From SIMS: School of information Management and Systems Marti Hearst Nancy Van House Hal Varian From Business Robert E Cole Jim Lincoln

HCC overview Where it would be: LAB space (2000 sq ft) in South Hall (SIMS), to contain video editing eqpt., CMC tools, eqpt for usability studies (head tracker etc.). Centrally located on campus. Surrounded by other small offices for temporary use.

HCC overview Goals of the Retreat Survey the research at UCB (long-term views). Introduce our industry participants. Think about breakout group topics (today). Sample some active research projects (talks and posters). Brainstorm about the center’s future. How we should build it up, set priorities, make connections (tomorrow). Summarize the discussions and get feedback (Friday).