The goal of the Parisian SIGCHI chapter is to provide a means for all HCI researchers and practitioners of the Parisian region to come together, discuss topics in our field and promote collaboration. We hope to become a default forum where we can meet for talks, publicize and organize hci related events in Paris, etc. If you'd like to join us or learn more about SIGCHI Paris click here.

Upcoming Events


No events currently scheduled.

Upcoming talks

Annabelle Goujon - Implicit and explicit Statistical Learning during the Analysis of Visual Scenes: Evidence form Contextual Cueing

Mar 30th, 14:00
ISIR Lab, Room 211 (Tower 55-65), How to get to there?

Abstract:

How does the visual system prioritize the relevant information for further processing? By structuring the world and by making it coherent and predictable, Statistical Learning would play a key role in object recognition, scene identification, attentional guidance and navigation in complex, dynamic environments. Statistical Learning refers to an unconscious cognitive process in which repeated patterns, or regularities, are extracted from sensory inputs. In this regard, the Contextual Cueing paradigm constitutes an elegant way to understand how learning mechanisms can detect contextual regularities during visual search, allowing an optimization of basic visual processing and/or attentional deployment in subsequent encounters. In this presentation, I will review and discuss the main mechanisms likely to be involved in contextual cueing phenomena, as well as the implicit vs. explicit nature of learning that take place.

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Past Events




New Trends in User Expertise and Interactive Systems

31st October 2017, 8:30 - 18:00
Université Pierre et Marie-Curie
4 Place Jussieu
75005 Paris, France


The international symposium on New Trends in User Expertise and Interactive Systems is a place where researchers and practitioners from HCI, Cognitive Science and Experimental Psychology discuss the latest trends at the crossroads of HCI, Decision Making and Skill acquisition.

The event will take place at Sorbonne Université, UPMC, Paris (France) on October 31, 2017.

The symposium is sponsored by CNRS, UPMC, ISIR, AFIHM and ANR.

Invited speakers

More details at: New trends in User Expertise and Interactive Systems (UEIS 2017)

Posters

An area will be dedicated to posters. To reserve a slot, send an email to gilles.bailly@upmc.fr

Registration

The symposium is a free and open event, but registration is mandatory: http://hci.isir.upmc.fr/ueis17

Organizer

Gilles Bailly
http://www.gillesbailly.fr




Who is interaction design?

22th June 2012, 6:00 - 10:00 pm
Salle Ciné 2 au Centre Pompidou


Designers, chercheurs en ihm, architecte de l’information, ergonomes, ingénieurs, et bien d’autres …

Tout ces métiers partagent un objet de travail commun le design d’interaction. Chaqu’un ont des méthodes, des visions, des contraintes, et des ambitions différentes. C’est dans un désir d’échange entre ses communautés que nous souhaitons vous inviter à une rencontre inter disciplinaires porté sur cette objet que nous partageons le design d’interaction.

Notre ambition pour la première édition de “Who Is Interaction Design” est de rassembler ces professionnels et étudiants autour d’une rencontre, où chaque corps de métiers présentera quelques projets pour finir sur des discussions inter disciplinaires autour de la définition de la notion design d’interaction.

Participants à ce jour : INRIA, LRI, IRI, ENSAD, ENSCI, Strate College, Université Paris 1 Sorbonne …

Partenaire : ACM SIG CHI Paris, Microsoft France L’évenement et gratuit, mais l’inscription obligatoire





VIDEO SHOWCASE Interfaces de demain: Du sol à la table interactive en passant par le mur...

7th July 2011, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Salle Piazza au Centre Pompidou


ACM SigCHI Paris vous propose un panorama des dernières recherches en interaction homme-machine le 7 juillet 2011, de 19h à 21h au Centre Pompidou (salle Piazza). Des chercheurs vous présenteront les dernières avancées sous forme d’une diffusion vidéo organisée en 5 thèmes :

  • nouvelles technologies
  • tables interactives
  • interaction tactile
  • interaction gestuelle
  • visualisation d’informations

La diffusion sera suivie d’une discussion informelle autour d’un apéritif. Cet événement est organisé par le LRI (Université Paris-Sud et CNRS), l’INRIA, Telecom ParisTech et l’IRI.



The HCI-Infovis Open House will present the cutting-edge research being conducted at the Aviz and in situ teams at INRIA and Université Paris-Sud.

Open House 2010



Past talks

Christophe Jouffrais - Accessible interactive graphics for visually impaired users

Mar 15th, 14:00
Sorbonne University, towers 65/66 – room 304 (3rd floor) How to get to there?

Abstract: STEM is an American acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. These four disciplines rely on graphical representations and are considered central in technologically advanced societies. Obviously graphs are inherently visual and therefore inaccessible for the visually impaired (approx 5% of the world population.) This has important consequences on education, social inclusion and quality of life.

Raised-lines maps are the most common tool for providing access to tactile graphics but have numerous limitations (cost, limited number of elements displayed, knowledge of Braille, etc.) A few research projects aimed to overcome these limitations by designing interactive systems for accessing digital image [see 1 for review]. Based on this previous work, we developed a set of devices based on tactile exploration that allow non-visual access to images. The interactive audio-tactile device called Mappie [2] allows access to multiple levels of information. It is based on a raised-line map overlay placed over a tactile surface. In addition to map exploration, it provides advanced interactions functions (e.g. learning routes). We showed that it is effective for acquiring spatial concepts, and is more usable than regular raised-lines map [3]. It is currently used by professionals of low vision and commercialization is planned. We have also designed a device allowing the visually impaired to build and explore tangible representations of digital graphics [4]. It is based on the design of tangible objects that represent important elements on a map, and which can be linked to each other in order to create interactive lines and areas. Adapted non-visual guidance assists users in placing and linking objects to build new graphical representations. We have shown that this device is usable by visually impaired users to build and explore graphs of various complexities. More recently, we designed a device based on a smartwatch and filtering functions that allows visually impaired users to explore virtual maps in mobility [5].

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Steve Haroz - How the brain perceives visual information

Feb 13th, 10:30
Amphitheater of the Digiteo Moulon Shannon building (660), How to get to there?

Abstract: We routinely encounter visual information in the form of charts, maps, and infographics. But the guidelines for creating these visual representations often rely on unsubstantiated opinions and traditions without a clear origin. I will instead describe a more scientific approach to forming guidelines by understanding how the human visual system works. Following a short introduction to visual perception and cognition, I’ll describe some of my research into understanding whether data visualization guidelines accurately correspond to what the brain can and can’t do efficiently.

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Raimund Dachselt - Taking Magic Lenses to a NUI level – Spatial, Gestural and Body-centered Interaction

Dec 15th, 11:15
Amphitheater of the Digiteo Moulon Shannon building (660), How to get to there?

Abstract: The talk highlights the versatile role of magic lenses for many applications with a focus on visualization. In this context, most of the existing lenses (e.g., for zooming, filtering or presenting alternative views) were rather designed with the “What” in mind and not the “How”. Therefore, they are often limited to mouse, keyboard or simple touch interaction. In this talk we will focus on how Natural User Interface (NUI) approaches can overcome current interface limitations. In our research, we developed several novel, often multimodal solutions which make use of our body awareness and skills. This will be exemplified with own work on multi-touch, tangible, and gaze-controlled lenses. Spatial awareness is also at the core of our concept of Tangible Displays as hand-held, spatially aware lenses presenting a view on an otherwise virtual data space. We show tangible lenses for several information spaces, tangible views for information visualization, and tangible windows for head-coupled 3D interaction as instantiations of this concept. In addition, we demonstrate spatially-tracked mobile devices as lenses in combination with large wall displays, which facilitate collaboration in multi-display-environments. Finally, to employ and further develop the concept of physical navigation in front of display walls, we introduce body lenses as an even more body-centered means of collaboratively exploring data on a large display.

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Antti Oulasvirta - Computational Approaches to User Interface Design

Dec 12th, 10:00
Amphitheater of the Digiteo Moulon Shannon building (660), How to get to there?

Abstract: Algorithmic methods have revolutionarized many areas of engineering and design, so why not the design of user interfaces? I discuss applications of optimization and machine learning methods in user interface design.

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Margit Pohl Interaction Patterns: How do Users Interact with Visualizations

Nov 29th, 16:00
PCRI building (650), room 435. How to get to there ? )
Abstract: Making sense of visualizations is often an open and explorative process. This process is still not very well understood. On the one hand, it is an open question which theoretical models are appropriate for the explanation of these activities. Heuristics and theories of everyday thinking probably describe this process better than more formal models. On the other hand, there are only few detailed investigations of interaction processes with information visualizations. I will try to relate approaches describing the usage of heuristics and everyday thinking with existing empirical studies describing sense-making of visualizations..

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Catherine Plaisant Prescriptive analytics: from data to action planning

July 6th, 10:30
Digiteo Moulon building (660), Amphitheater (right next to the main entry) (Access behind the PCRI building. How to get to there ? )
Abstract: The new frontier of visual analytics is prescriptive analytics, designed to present and explain recommendations and guide user actions. We will discuss an example of such interface, using the scenario of students mapping their academic plans. We explored the challenge of finding similar students, explore potential outcomes, review recommended temporal sequences of events that might help achieve users’ goals, and interactively assist them as they define a personalized action plan. Other usage scenarios include medical treatment formulating, customer retention, or sports coaching. I will demonstrate EventAction and present early evaluation activities, then together we can discuss the value of opening the blackbox of recommendation systems.

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Pierre Tchounikine Designing for Appropriation: A Theoretical Account

March 31st, 10:30
PCRI building (650), Room 465. How to get to there ? )
Abstract: Understanding software appropriation is crucial to design software that users adopt and use efficiently. In this talk, I will present four proposals: a general perspective for software appropriation, a theoretical account, a conceptualization of designing for appropriation, and some implications for design. These proposals are based on a holistic perspective including artifact mediation (how software acts as a mediator of users’ activities and how users develop instruments), ecologies of artifacts (taking into consideration that users use multiple artifacts), collective and work practice aspects, and technical and software engineering aspects (different forms of and approaches to software adaptation by users). This perspective leads to an understanding that software appropriation is related to how users consider software as a mediator of their activity and turn it into an instrument for themselves based on the functional values they attribute to it. The research paper underlying this presentation may be downloaded from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07370024.2016.1203263.

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Susanne Bødker Multi-mediation and artifact ecologies

March 21st, 14:30
Digiteo Moulon building (660), Amphitheater (right next to the main entry) (Access behind the PCRI building. How to get to there ? )
Abstract: In this talk I will use examples from my recent work to address how we may understand, discuss and design for the current technological situation where new technological solutions are always introduced into settings where there are already multiple technologies there. The talk focuses on untangling the complexities associated with multiple technological artifacts at the intersection of different spheres of everyday life. Using the concepts of mediation and artifact ecologies I will address some current challenges of human-computer interaction when it comes to learning, appropriation and sharing.

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Yves Guiard Summarizing Performance Samples with Extrema rather than Averages: A Lesson from Practitioners

January 18th, 14:00
LINCS seminar room (23 avenue d’Italie, metro Place d'Italie) (access)


Abstract: The notion of performance seems crucial to many fields of science and engineering. Some scientists are concerned with the performance of algorithms or computing hardware, others evaluate the performance of communication channels, of materials, of chemicals, psychologists investigate the performances of experimental participants, etc. Yet, rather surprisingly, the performance notion is generally used without any explicit definition. I propose this: a performance is a quantitative behavioral measure that an agent deliberately tries to either minimize or maximize. The scope of the performance concept seems impressively large: the agent whose behavioral performance is being scored may be a human, a coalition of humans (e.g., an enterprise, an academic institution), or even a human product (e.g., a chemical, an algorithm, a market share).

Performance measures are random variables of a very special sort: their distributions are strongly skewed as a direct consequence of the extremization (minimization or maximization) pressure that constitutes their defining characteristic. Mainstream statistics takes it for granted that any distribution needs to be summarized by means of some representative central-tendency indicator (e.g., an arithmetic mean, a median), and so the asymmetry of performance distributions has been traditionally considered an unfortunate complication. In fact I will argue that when it comes to statistics of performance, averages become essentially irrelevant. The point is easy to make with the example of spirometry testing: practitioners of spirometry never compute an average, they retain the best measure of respiratory performance (i.e., the sample max) and flatly discard all other measures. And they are quite right to do so, as a simple model will help explain. The important general lesson to be learned from spirometry is that the better a sample measure of performance, the more valid as an estimate of the capacity of performance---the theoretical upper limit whose estimation is in fact the goal of most performance testing in experimental science. One likely reason why experimenters of many fields have recourse to the measurement of performances is because non-extremized behavior tends to be random, whereas performance capacities can abide by quantitative laws. This is easy to illustrate with empirical data from human experimental psychology (Hick's law, George Miller's magic number, Fitts' law). An experimenter myself, I can only conclude with a question to statisticians: don’t we need a brand new sort of statistics to fully acknowledge and accommodate the rather special nature of all these performance measures that these days we encounter everywhere, not just in virtually every sector of society but also in many field of scientific research?

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Jules Françoise User-Centered Machine Learning for Designing Interactions for and through Movement

January 10th, 10:45
Digiteo Moulon building (660), Amphitheater (right next to the main entry) (Access behind the PCRI building. How to get to there ? )
Abstract: The constant expansion of motion capture technologies leads us to reconsider how movement can support experience in applications such as virtual reality, gaming, or creative practices. In this context, there is a need for methodologies and frameworks to help designers and users create meaningful movement experiences. My research takes a user-centered perspective on machine learning for the design of multimodal interaction "by demonstrations", namely, using a set of examples of gestures associated to feedback or resulting actions.


In this presentation, I will describe a conceptual and computational framework for designing interactions between movement and sound feedback. I will present several probabilistic models that can learn from few examples, and I will discuss the role and interpretation of the model parameters for user-centered design. I will discuss the scientific challenges related to the use of machine learning for novice users for interaction design, in particular regarding interaction over time, which involves reciprocal learning mechanisms from the user and the system. I will present a set of applications that either focus on creative and artistic practices, or are meant to support movement learning.

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Fabrice Matulic HCI for Document Engineering

January 3rd, 10:00
Digiteo Moulon building (660), Conference room (entrance) (Access behind the PCRI building. How to get to there ? )
Abstract: A considerable part of office work revolves around documents, most of which are still created and edited on traditional computers. Although the device landscape has considerably changed in the past years with the advent of multitouch and pen-operated devices, so-called "productivity" office work, including and especially document authoring, is still predominantly performed on regular PCs using WIMP-based software. In this talk I will explain how the interactive capabilities of large interactive surfaces such as digital tabletops can be leveraged to build intuitive and efficient tools for the production and manipulation of rich documents. In particular, I will show how common document editing operations can be realised using hybrid pen and touch gestures based on properties of bimanual input. At the end of the talk, I will present some more recent work on embodied interaction for data presentation.

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Sean Follmer Designing Material Interfaces: Redefining Interaction through Programmable Materials and Shape Displays

December 16th, 10:30
Digiteo Moulon building (660), Conference room (entrance) (Access behind the PCRI building. How to get to there ? )
Abstract: Interaction design is at a crossroads. As we move towards more convergence in our devices, our devices have become increasingly reliant on touch screen based interaction, neglecting their physical form and spatial relevance. Lessons from industrial design and cognitive science suggest another direction - interfaces that are physically embodied.


My talk will explore three questions: 1) How can we bring interaction into the physical world for tasks like design and remote collaboration? 2) How can the physical form of devices physically adapt to fit the context of their use? 3) How can Ubiquitous Robotic Interfaces be embedded into our home and work lives to allow for rich physical interaction and context aware display.


I believe that shape-changing and deformable interfaces can address the lack of physical affordances in today's interactive products and devices. My work maps out a conceptual space of Dynamic Affordances, describes new interactions with shape changing interfaces motivated by the careful study of users today and expert designers working with physical materials, and begins to evaluate how these new interfaces and devices can help users. In order to prototype these interactions I develop technologies for programming material properties (stiffness, shape, color, etc.) and embedded shape sensing, taking inspiration from fields like Soft Robotics, Material Science, and flexible electronics.

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Christopher Collins Finding What to Read: Visual Text Analytics Tools and Techniques to Guide Investigation,

October 4th, 2016 11:00
Digiteo Moulon building (660)


Abstract:

Text is one of the most prominent forms of open data available, from social media to legal cases. Text visualizations are often critiqued for not being useful, for being unstructured and presenting data out of context (think: word clouds). I argue that we should not expect them to be a replacement for reading. In this talk I will briefly discuss the close/distant reading debate then focus on where I think text visualization can be useful: hypothesis generation and guiding investigation. Text visualization can help someone form questions about a large text collection, then drill down to investigate through targeted reading of the underlying source texts. Over the past 10 years my research focus has been primarily on creating techniques and systems for text analytics using visualization, across domains as diverse as legal studies, poetics, social media, and automotive safety. I will review several of my past projects with particular attention to the capabilities and limitations of the technologies and tools we used, how we use semantics to structure visualizations, and the importance of providing interactive links to the source materials. In addition, I will discuss the design challenges which, while common across visualization, are particularly important with text (legibility, label fitting, finding appropriate levels of ‘zoom’). (more...)


Uta Hinrichs Give and Take.

How can Digital Practices in the Humanities Inform Visualization Research?

October 5th, 10:30
Digiteo Moulon building (660)


Abstract: Traditionally, research methods in the humanities (e.g., English Literature and History) are based on close reading—the in-depth study of small-sized document collections. With the increasing efforts in document digitization, research in the humanities is starting to incorporate computer-based methods embracing new, large-scale perspectives on source collections. Recent publications in this area acknowledge the fact that information visualization has a role to play in these endeavours, but few case studies exist that explore this in-depth. And: how can digital humanities practices in the humanities inform, even shape, visualization research? In this presentation I discuss these questions based on case studies that I have conducted in collaboration with researchers from English Literature and Environmental History. I will highlight the data and visualization challenges that emerge in this context and discuss considerations on the interdisciplinary nature of these collaborations.

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Arvind Satyanarayan Higher-level Tools for Interactive Data Visualization

May 24th, 14:30
Ada Lovelace/PCRI building (650) at University of Paris-Saclay, room 445
Abstract:

Interactive data visualization has gone mainstream. From business intelligence to data-driven journalism, society has embraced the use of visualization to record, analyze, and communicate data. While a number of toolkits and systems facilitate the authoring of visual encodings, interaction design continues to require low-level programming expertise. In this talk, I will present a new stack of tools for interactive data visualization. At the foundation are Vega and Vega-Lite: visualization grammars that enable visual encodings and interaction techniques to be expressed as declarative specifications. These specifications are particularly amenable for programmatic generation by higher-level tools. I will demo one such system, Lyra, which provides a direct-manipulation graphical interface for visualization design. This ecosystem of tools is seeing broader adoption (e.g., integrations with Wikipedia and Jupyter) and holds the promise of interoperability. As the ecosystem matures, users can produce exploratory data visualizations with one tool, and export it to another for further design customization for example.

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Barry Brown On the iPhone

April 6th, 14:00
Digiteo Moulon building (660)


Abstract:

In this talk I’ll cover some of our recent work using video to study mobile phone interaction and use - in particular how mobile phones are used collaboratively in social situations. Over the last three years we have collected hundred of hours of recordings of mobile device use in diverse settings. We have recorded drivers using GPS to navigate, iPhone use recorded with wearable cameras, and remote recordings of mobile phone screens with ambient audio. These videos let us document how mobile devices have become threaded into diverse worlds of activity and how reliant we have become on our mobile devices. In this talk I will focus on the interaction and talk around mobile devices, arguing that this can be as important as interaction with mobile devices. A web search might be shared with a friend, GPS's instructions can become the subject of a joke, or the composition of a text message discussed with a partner. Our videos let us see how conversations are influenced by mobile devices, through providing topics and interruptions, but also how device use is co-ordinared to fit with conversation, such as showing or narrating on phone activity. Our focus on mobile phone use has also led us recent years to examine the sorts of changes apps such as Uber and Airbnb are producing, so I’ll finish the talk with a short discussion of our recent work on the so called ’sharing economy’.

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Brygg Ullmer Tangible Visualization and ICy STEAM: interactive tools for complex computational systems

February 12th, 10:30am
Digiteo Moulon building (660), Conference room
Abstract:

Scientific and information visualization have long served as powerful vehicles for helping people graphically represent, explore, and understand our universe. Our group investigates and applies tangible visualization. Tangible interfaces, which facilitate interaction with systems of computationally-mediated physical artifacts, are used to represent and engage complex systems. Our interfaces range from handheld to architectural physical scales, and in different editions that span and interweave several interaction paradigms. Our research both develops enabling tools and architectures, and studies and engages specific application domains. In this talk, we will consider several tools and applications engaging ICy STEAM (interactive computational science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics), with emphasis on supporting computational comparative genomics and communicating scientific content to diverse audiences.

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Daniel Wigdor Zero Latency Interfaces: From Psychophysics to Operating System Architectures and Sensing Hardware

June 12th, 11-12am
Digiteo Moulon building (660)
PCRI/Ada Lovelace building (650), Room 475 (How to get to there ? )
Abstract:

Latency is a scourge which has long plagued interactive computing. In this talk, I will describe how my team at the University of Toronto and Tactual Labs have been working to banish it once and for all. First, by studying human perception of latency, and discovering that traditional "good enough" measures are off by two-orders of magnitude. Second, by developing all-new touch sensing technology, capable of sub-millisecond response times. Third, by recognizing that traditional interactive computing architectures intended to enable good software engineering create Moore's-law proof bottlenecks. Fourth, by re-architecting modern hardware and operating systems to overcome these bottlenecks, while leaving the developer experience unchanged for application designers. From these and other innovations, we hope to banish latency once and for all, to finally provide truly zero-latency interaction experiences.

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Steven Feiner Augmented Reality and the Future of User Interfaces

19th of March 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Digiteo Moulon building (660), Conference room (entrance) (Access behind the PCRI building. How to get to there ? )
Abstract:

Researchers have been actively exploring Augmented Reality (AR) for over 45 years, first in the lab and later in the streets. What can AR make possible by interactively overlaying virtual media on our experience of the physical world? I will try to answer this question by sharing some of my thoughts about where AR is now, and where it might be headed in the future. I will illustrate the talk with examples, ranging from assisting users in performing crucial physical tasks, such as equipment maintenance and repair, to creating hybrid user interfaces that combine tracked see-through head-worn displays with tabletop and handheld displays to visualize urban information.

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Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl Capacitive Sensing and Communications for Ubiquitous Interaction and Perception

23rd of February 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Télécom ParisTech, room C49 (C Building, ground level)
Abstract:

Exploiting capacitive coupling allows the creation of unobtrusive user interfaces that are based on measuring the proximity to objects or recognizing their dielectric properties. Combining the data of many sensors, applications such as in-the-air gesture recognition, location tracking or smart objects can be realized. In this talk, different approaches for building ubiquitous user interfaces based on capacitive sensing and communications are investigated. The talk reflects current research at Fraunhofer IGD and presents applications like an emergency-detecting floor and ubiquitous gesture recognition systems.

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Joanna McGrenere Reflections on my 15+ years exploring personalized users interfaces

17th of February 2:00pm - 3:00pm
PCRI building (650), Room 445 (How to get to there ? )
Abstract:

There is no such thing as an average user. Users bring their own individual needs, desires, and skills to their everyday use of interactive technologies. Yet many of today’s technologies, from desktop applications to mobile devices and apps, are still designed for some mythical average user. It seems intuitive that interfaces should be designed with adaptation in mind so that they would better accommodate individual differences among users. Yet, what seems intuitive is not necessarily straightforward.

I will give an overview of my group’s research in the area of personalized user interfaces, touching briefly on my PhD work and moving all the way through to recent day explorations. I will highlight various approaches to adaptation, what we’ve learned about the strengths and limitations of those approaches, and where promising future opportunities lie.

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François Osiurak Tool use and NeuroCognition

6th of January 2:00pm - 3:00pm
PCRI building (650), Room 445 (How to get to there ? )
Abstract:

Since the appearance of symbolic reasoning (e.g., language skills) in human lineage, Man has largely overlooked the physical reasoning abilities involved in tool use. A good illustration of this lack of attention is the implicit hierarchy of intellectual work over manual work, as if tool use did not require any kind of specific intelligence or reasoning. This belief is also deeply ingrained in the minds of scholars and scientists alike. For instance, since more than a century, neuropsychological models have assumed that knowledge about manipulation is central to tool use (the manipulation-based approach). This knowledge is supposed to be stored within the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL). By contrast, a more recent perspective, initiated by Goldenberg in the 2000’s, assumes that, to use tools, people reason about the physical object properties in order to generate mechanical actions (the reasoning-based approach). This reasoning would be supported by mechanical knowledge located in the left IPL. Historically, these two approaches have been developed from data obtained in left brain-damaged patients. The goal of the talk is to (1) give an overview of the two aforementioned approaches and (2) reanalyze neuropsychological and functional neuroimaging data of the two past decades to examine their predictions. Globally, we demonstrate that the left inferior parietal cortex is involved in the understanding of tool-use actions, providing support for the reasoning-based approach.

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Jeremy Carpendale The Relevance of Developmental Psychology for Information Visualization: Information, Knowledge, Meaning, and the Case of Infant Pointing

29th of October 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Digiteo Moulon building (660), Conference room (entrance) (Access behind the PCRI building. How to get to there ? )
Abstract:

One way to characterize information visualization is as the development of tools that enable the presentation of information in ways that facilitate thinking through reflection on patterns. Therefore, the construction of such tools for thinking is based, either implicitly or explicitly, on an account of human thinking, and such assumptions should be critically examined. I will discuss two families of theories, first critiquing the information processing model, and then suggesting as an alternative the action-based, constructivist, socio-cultural approach. These two views of human thinking are associated with views of knowledge and meaning. I will critically evaluate the “representational theory of knowledge” and suggest, as an alternative, a constructivist view of knowledge. I will then focus on meaning and critique a view of meaning as linked to representations. Instead I will argue for a view of meaning as based on a history of shared social routines, using research on the development of infants’ skills with pointing gestures in order to illustrate this view of meaning. Finally, I will suggest possible implications for information visualization and the notion of visual literacy.

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Brygg Ullmer Tangible Visualization: Paths toward physically-entangled interactive computational STEAM

30th of September 14:00pm - 15:00pm
Ada Lovelace/PCRI, Salle 445 (how to get there ?)
 UPDATE: TALK IS CANCELLED (due to Air France Strike)


Abstract:

Scientific and information visualization have long offered powerful approaches for helping people graphically represent, explore, and understand our universe. Our group investigates tangible visualization. Here, tangible interfaces (which support interaction through systems of computationally-mediated physical artifacts) are used to interactively represent complex systems. We approach this research from two perspectives: studying and engaging specific application domains; and developing underlying architectures supporting realizations of tangible visualization. We target two primary application areas: interactive computational science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (ICy STEAM) and cultural computing. We will describe ICy STEAM efforts in computational comparative genomics, and cultural computing examples from LSU CCT's Cultural Computing focus area (with faculty spanning our Schools of Art, EECS, ISDS, Mass Communications, and Music).

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Melanie Tory Supporting Communication and Coordination in Collaborative Sensemaking

24th of July 14:00pm - 15:00pm
Ada Lovelace/PCRI, Salle 435 (how to get there ?)
Abstract:

In this talk, I will present our recent research on collaborative sensemaking (to appear at VAST 2014). When people work together to analyze a data set, they need to organize their findings, hypotheses, and evidence, share that information with their collaborators, and coordinate work activities amongst members of the team. Sharing externalizations (recorded information such as notes) could increase awareness and assist team members to better communicate and coordinate their work activities. However, we currently know very little about how to provide tool support for this sort of sharing. We explored how linked common work (LCW) can be employed within a ‘collaborative thinking space’, to facilitate synchronous collaborative sensemaking activities. Collaborative thinking spaces assist team coordination by providing an environment for analysts to record, organize, share and connect externalizations. Our tool, CLIP, extends earlier thinking spaces by integrating LCW features that reveal relationships between collaborators’ findings. We conducted a user study comparing CLIP to a baseline version without LCW. Results demonstrated that LCW significantly improved analytic outcomes at a collaborative intelligence task. Groups using CLIP were also able to more effectively coordinate their work, and held more discussion of their findings and hypotheses. LCW enabled them to maintain awareness of each other’s activities and findings and link those findings to their own work, preventing disruptive oral awareness notifications.

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Shumin Zhai Where does next HCI breakthrough in text input come from?

10th of July 14:00pm - 15:00pm
Ada Lovelace/PCRI, Salle 435 (how to get there ?)
Abstract:

Breakthroughs and progress in HCI can come from radical innovations, foundational research in understanding and modelling user behavior and performance, or technology evolution in both software and hardware. It is difficult to predict which kind of work is more productive at a given time. Using text input that my Google colleagues, postdocs, and interns have focused on, I will informally review a few projects of all three kinds, and raise challenges and opportunities ahead.

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Nicolas Riche Where People Look? An introduction of Computational Models of Saliency

20th of June 14:00pm - 15:00pm
Salle salle C48, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

For many applications in computer vision, mobile robotics, cognitive systems, graphics, design, and human computer interaction, it is essential to understand where humans look in a scene. This is a challenging task given that no one fully understands how the human visual system works. Modeling visual attention, particularly stimulus-driven, saliency-based attention from ground truth eye tracking data, has been a very active research area over the past 25 years. Many different models of attention and large eye tracking data sets are now available and should help future research. This presentation aims to provide a global view of the current state-of-the-art in visual attention modeling as well as some applications.

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Chat Wacharamanotham Making Bare Hand Input Accurate

12th of June 15:00pm - 16:00pm
Ada Lovelace/PCRI, Salle 465 (how to get there ?)
Abstract:

Human hands are rich in expressiveness from their postures and motions. Sensors such as touchscreens or hand trackers are able to register these movements for computer input without encumbering users' hands. Nevertheless, these sensors also capture extraneous information such as hand tremor or movements reaching for non-interactive objects on the physical desktop space. In this talk, I will present my on-going work to improve the accuracy of registering hand input in two areas. The first domain is a touchscreen input for users with hand tremor. I will present the design and evaluation of Swabbing, a sliding-based touchscreen input technique that improves accuracy for target selection on touchscreens. The second domain is near-surface finger input that extends the typical desktop computer workspace with an interactive midair layer. Users interact with desktop devices such as mouse, keyboards, or touchscreens in combination with midair input. I will present an investigation on appropriate layer thicknesses, layer placement, and activation/deactivation detection that minimizes errors from drifting outside the interactive layer.

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Alyssa Friend Wise Monologues or Dialogue?: Examining Group and Individual Trajectories

in Online Discussions over Time 2nd of June 15:00pm - 17:00pm
Salle F502, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

The power of the internet to bring people in different locations together in virtual conversation is often claimed to have great potential benefits for learning. Yet frequently such discussions are incoherent, with comments not following any clear flow and participants seemingly interested more in explaining their own views than paying attention to the ideas of others. How can we better understand the reasons for the curious paths groups' online conversations take? How can we recognize the ways individuals choose to participate in and change them? This talk will describe several recent research efforts analyzing how individuals "speak" and "listen" in online discussions, the relationships between these two processes, and the lines of mutual influence between individual and group trajectories through a discussion space.

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Stéphane Ducasse Pharo: Your HCI Experimental Platform?

2nd of April, 14:00pm - 15:00pm
Ada Lovelace/PCRI, Salle 445 (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

Pharo http://www.pharo.org is at the same time a dynamic programming language, living programming environment and a kind of OS. Pharo is fully open-source and runs on main platforms. It has a vibrant community of developers, companies and research groupes from all over the planet. Phaor is used to teach programming in more than 15 universities. The web stack of Pharo around Seaside (http://www.seaside.st) and now amber (http://amber-lang.net) allows developer to design and deploy complex and dynamic web applications ( http://yesplan.be or http://netstyle.ch). Ealry in 2000, Squeak the Pharo ancestor has been used to develop experimental interaction systems. Recently Pharo has been used to develop applications for tabletop and other touch oriented devices (http://home.cc.gatech.edu/je77/287). During this presentation I will present the current state of the system, show the infrastructure improvements and sketch our vision. From that perspective, Pharo could really be a platform to design and validate new HCI experiences. Now the Pharo team is a language design and compiler team and this talk is an invitation to invest in Pharo and change our world.

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Sylvain Malacria Improving user's expertise with user interfaces

7th Feb 2014, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
PCRI, Salle 445 (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

Users have many options to enhance their productivity with applications, such as customizing the interface or learning new interaction strategies. One example is to use hotkeys which enable rapid execution of frequently used commands. However, "expert" features like hotkeys are often ignored and users stick to "novice" interaction mechanisms, limited by a relatively low cap of performance. In this talk, I will be presenting my work toward improving user's expertise with software applications. In particular, I will explain the design and evaluation of systems for helping users to use "expert" features while interacting with desktop computers and touch-sensitive surfaces.

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Catherine Letondal Discussion des modèles d'interaction tangibles à travers l'expérience de conception participative de Strip'TIC, une plate-forme mixte pour le contrôle aérien.

13th Feb 2014, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Amphi Rubis, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

Lors de cet exposé, après une courte présentation du prototype Strip'TIC (http://lii-enac.fr/en/projects/striptic/), j'exposerai les questions qui se sont posées à nous lors des différentes activités du projet, qu'il s'agisse d'interviews contextuels ou d'ateliers de prototypage participatifs. Je m'intéresserai ainsi aux problèmes de complexité associés à la conception d'interaction mixte : problèmes d'allocation mais aussi d'encodage physique et mixte des actions, notamment pour les aspects temporels de l'activité de contrôle. En m'appuyant sur ces analyses, je discuterai enfin la contribution que ce projet tente d'apporter aux modèles d'interaction tangible, notamment en intégrant mieux les problématiques de la cognition distribuée.

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Michael Gleicher Seeing, Scatterplots, and Shakespeare: Adventures in Data Visualization

17th Feb 2014, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
PCRI, Salle 455 (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Tools for understanding data require ideas from perception, art, mathematics, as well as the domains that provide the data. In this talk, I will survey a number of different projects that merge these different directions. I will use challenges from biological science and literary studies to motivate our work in data analysis tools. I will describe how we use the study of human perception to shed light on some of the most basic methods of data visualization. I will describe how our collaboration to apply data analysis to literary scholarship inspires new ways to think about visualization. I will describe how this has lead new methods for exploring high-dimensional data that apply machine learning techniques to allow the user to control the exploration of their data.

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Wesley Willett Tools and Strategies for Social Data Analysis

27th Jan 2014, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
PCRI, Salle 445 (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

There is an overwhelming amount of data all around us. However, individuals often don't have the time, knowledge, technical expertise, or diversity of perspectives to tackle large data analysis tasks on their own. As a result, data analysis tools must increasingly support collaboration and enable social interactions around data. Multiple analysts working on a dataset may need to share questions or views of the data with one another or gather their findings for presentation. Alternately, communities with local knowledge or a vested stake in the data may wish to engage in the analysis process. Analysts may also wish to enlist pools of crowd workers to perform specific analysis tasks at scale. Our current research explores the process of social data analysis and provides tools and strategies that integrate collaborative activities into a variety of different analysis settings. I will present: (1) social visualization tools that allow analysts to organize findings and facilitate deeper analytic reasoning, (2) approaches for scaffolding analysis in novice communities to enable participation and cultivate local knowledge, (3) tools and strategies for using paid crowds to generate explanations and insights, and (4) design explorations that examine the relationship between digital note-taking, analysis, and collaboration.

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Antti Oulasvirta Computational User Interface Design

3rd Dec 2013, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
amphitheatre RUBIS, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Search spaces in user interface design often grow too large to be explored manually. Let us consider the case of designing a menu, one of the most commonly used user interface. The number of possible designs for a menu with only 20 items is 20!=2432902008176640000 -- more than there are stars in the observable universe. Our group investigates computational methods for interface design. Automatic solutions to well-known, recurring problems allows a designer to focus on truly novel aspects of design. The basis of this work is quantitative predictive models of interaction combined with computational methods for searching the optimal design. Instead of generating and trying out one or only a few instances at a time, the designer defines optimization goals, assumptions about the user and use, and sets constraints, and the computer explores the best designs. We develop design tools that allow a designer interact with an optimizer while editing a user interface. This approach allows rapid exploration of millions of user interface designs as part of design process. Research results for keyboards, menu systems, and gestural interfaces are presented as case examples.

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Gaëtan Parseihian Différentes approches de la sonification pour le guidage

28 Nov. 2013, 11:00am - 12:00am
amphitheatre RUBIS, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)

Abstract: La sonification consiste à utiliser des messages sonores non vocaux pour transmettre ou représenter des données. Elle permet entre autre de limiter la surcharge d’informations fournies par les interfaces graphiques, de soulager la modalité visuelle lorsque celle-ci est déjà encombrée par d’autre tâche et a l’avantage de permettre d’écouter, de surveiller et de traiter plusieurs flux d’informations en même temps. Dans ce séminaire, nous verrons plusieurs manières d’utiliser la modalité sonore pour guider l’utilisateur dans différents types de tâches. De l’utilisation du son 3D pour la conception d’un système d’aide au déplacement pour les non-voyants, à l’utilisation de la synthèse sonore pour le guidage perceptif dans une tâche de contrôle, je présenterais deux approches de la sonification pour les interfaces hommes-machines : - Une approche visant à améliorer l’esthétique de la sonification en prenant en compte les préférences des utilisateurs. - Une approche visant à généraliser les stratégies de sonification en identifiant des indices perceptifs efficaces permettant de guider l’utilisateur le plus précisément ou le plus rapidement possible.

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Geoff Cumming The New Statistics: Estimation for Better Research

13th June 2013, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
PCRI, Salle 465 (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

Research aims to build cumulative quantitative science. For this we need research methods and, most notably, data analytic methods that encourage researchers to think in terms of quantitative theories, ask quantitative research questions, and draw quantitative conclusions from data. Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), which overwhelmingly dominates data analysis in many disciplines, fails all these requirements—and has other deep flaws. Among a number of more promising approaches, estimation based on effect sizes and confidence intervals is most immediately available and promising. I refer to estimation--and its extension, meta-analysis--asThe New Statistics. The techniques themselves are not new, but switching from NHST to these techniques would for many researchers be new, and highly beneficial. I will illustrate some quantitative advantages of estimation over NHST and describe practical ways to use the new statistics. I will also discuss the hot topic of replication, failure to replicate, and selective publication.

This talk will be followed the day after by a full-day workshop.


Katrin Wolf Microinteractions: Finger mounted sensors for ubiquitous and busy-hand interfaces

26th April 2013, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Amphi Saphir, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

I will present an approach that supports the idea of ubiquitous computing through finger mounted motion sensors. We are motivated to enable users for interacting with any grasped device through one generic wearable interface. Two prototypes illustrate that idea: Tickle (TEI 2013) allows for detecting mircogestures on any surface, various shapes, and generic devices through physically decoupling in- and output and attaching motion sensors on fingers for recognizing tiny finger movements as microgestures. Moreover we show that modelling the whole hand is possible with 8 sensor units and considering bio-mechanics (AH 2013). That allows for detecting any hand pose without suffering of occlusion or depending on certain light conditions. We finally discuss some hardware and gesture design challenges of our approach, but also show how our approach is a step into the direction of ubiquitous computing.

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Mounia Ziat InGrid: Interactive Grid Table

25th April 2013, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Amphi Jade, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

I will discuss the theoretical implications of the embodied perceptual and personal spaces in interactive tabletops and surfaces and presents InGrid, an Interactive Grid table. InGrid offers several affordances to the user that could not only interact with tangible and intangible objects but also with other users.

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Annie Gentes and Ted Selker Social Science Meets Design Activities in Considerate Systems

24th April 2013, 3:30pm - 5:00pm
Amphi Grenat, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Information systems are now being called upon not only to help us keep organized and productive but also to help build the fabric of the way we live. They might help us focus by reducing disruption, they might engage in various activies to help people enjoy others, or they might even try to give people increasing self-awareness. This talk will introduce notions of how we can introduce social awareness in our design practices and artifacts. Dr. Selker will introduce lines of research that proceed from creating and evaluation design sketches around recognizing and respecting human intention. These design sketches and their experiments strive to lead to and are part of creating a considerate cyber physical world. Dr. Gentes will reflect on how considerate systems fit into reflective technologies that use genres and create new ones. Using methods from humanities, such as analysis of textual and visual contents, or consideration of social literacies can be helpful to the design and evaluation of information technologies. Annie and Ted are now engaged in writing a book which develops these ideas further: extending examples and theories of how concepts like poetics extend our understanding of technology creation and use.

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Ted Selker Considerate Audio MEdiating Oracle (CAMEO): Improving teleconference calls

10th April 2013, 3:30pm - 5:00pm
PCRI, Salle 445 (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

This talk will show that variance in conversational dominance can significantly be reduced with proactive aural feedback. Our experiments reveal that such feedback can also reduce the impact of extraneous noise on conversations. The talk will start by framing the considerate system stance of social feedback to a user. Can feedforward and feedback social communication reduce human system communication problems? We experiment to see if further loading the narrow channel of human teleconference can improve it. CAMEO is a behavior-driven design approach to address commonly occurring technical and social problems in audio-only teleconference calls. CAMEO seeks to sense communication problems, and frame and respond to them in considerate ways. These include scheduling of advisory prompts, and assistive mechanisms to augment this bandwidth constrained medium. This work describes using a blackboard architecture that shapes and define advisory behavior.

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Karon MacLean Touch Interfaces: from Information Transfer to Feeling Good

27th February 2013, 11:00pm - 12:30pm
PCRI, Salle 455 (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

It's commonly said that touch is an under-utilized sense in modern computer interfaces; ironically, this impoverishment has entered the public discourse as a result of the ubiquity of so-called "touch" interfaces that are visually delightfully but deliver at most an irritating buzz to the touch sense. In this talk I'll give some background on human touch, a sense of the variety of emergent tactile display technology, a sampling of research regarding the kind and amounts of information that we've found can be transmitted through the skin, and some examples of my current favorite topic: what do people *like* to touch, and how does one study this?

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Hélène Gauchou Stress and Visual attention. Ideomotor Actions and Implicit Cognition

5th February 2013, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
PCRI, Salle 455 (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

How stress impacts visual attention? Previous studies have obtained contradictory conclusions: Some report that stress narrows attentional focus; others that it causes a broadening of attention. In a series of experiments we tested the effect of acute stress on a visual search task and showed that i) under acute stress participants are more efficient at finding the target object (faster search times, preserved accuracy); ii) not all type of search are impacted by stress; iii) result support the proposal of a broadening of the spotlight of attention.

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George Drettakis

Short Presentation of Recent Research at the REVES Group

29th January 2013, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
PCRI, Salle 445 (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

In this talk I will present a quick overview of several of recent projects conducted at the REVES research group, concentrating mainly on image-based methods, perception for graphics, depiction/drawing and virtual reality. I will mainly present excerpts from videos with a short explanation of the research goal involved and the results. Details of the corresponding publications can be found here: http://www-sop.inria.fr/reves/publis/

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Warren Sack

Peer to PCAST: What does open video have to do with open government?

16th January 2013, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Amphi Saphir, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: The Obama Administration has outlined a set of principles and practices to support Open Government in which citizens can collaborate with the government to solve problems. The Administration is using technology, especially web-based technology, to support Open Government in practice. Many of the government’s websites include video. We examine the website built to support the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST). We critique it and argue that a number of important design decisions made for the current site should be changed to better support Open Government. Key to our argument is what has come to be known as Open Video, an application of the ideals of Open Source Software to video. Our critique is followed by a discussion of a prototype system we have built to demonstrate an alternative to the current PCAST site. Our prototype is called Peer-to-PCAST to call attention to the similarities between our proposals and Peer-to-Patent, the first Open Government system built for a different context, the US Patent and Trademark Office (Noveck, 2009). (more...)


Marcelo Wanderley

Digital Musical Instrument Design in the McGill Digital Orchestra and "Les Gestes" projects

18th December 2012, 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Salle 435, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: In this talk I will discuss the design of Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs), focusing on two long-term, inter-disciplnary projects carried out at McGill University: The McGill Digital Orchestra, involving composers, performers and instrument designers (2005-2008) and the project "Les Gestes", involving a choreographer, composers and instrument designers (2010-ongoing). Given their unique contexts, both projects placed strong requirements on the design of DMIs. I will discuss these requirements and the proposed design solutions, including the development of software tools to facilitate the prototyping of the mapping layer between sensor outputs and sound synthesis parameters (LibMapper). (more...)


Celine Latulipe

Embodied Expressiveness & Creativity Support Measurements

7th December 2012, 3pm - 4.30pm
Amphi Saphir, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: In this talk, I briefly discuss my work in dual-cursor interaction techniques and how that work led directly to current research on evaluating how well digital tools support creativity. In particular, I will describe the Creativity Support Index (CSI) a self-report metric we have developed for researchers to use in studies of Creativity Support Tools, and our most recent work in using physiological sensing to detect states in which the user experiences high creativity. (more...)


Ron Rensink

Visualization and Vision Science

5th December 2012, 10:00am - 11:00am
Salle 465, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: This talk will discuss three ways in which work in visualization might be assisted by the methodologies of vision science. In the first, it will be shown that basic techniques for measuring the perception of simple properties (such as luminance) can be adapted to study the perception of visualizations such as scatterplots. Results show that correlation perception is described by simple linear and logarithmic functions, and that these laws are relatively general, occurring for a wide variety of visualization designs. The second approach examines the sequential processes involved in the interpretation of diagrams. Results show that the effectiveness of an assembly diagram can be assessed by the use of timing measures, with linear models providing a good approximation of behavior. Finally, discussion will turn to the issue of how stress. It will be shown that stress has measurable effects on various kinds of visual attention, and that these effects can be good as well as bad, raising the possibility of visualizations that are not only stress-resistant, but stress-optimal, supporting better performance than usual when the observer is stressed. (more...)


Emanuele Santos

Simplifying the Creation and Deployment of Collaborative Data Analysis and Visualization Tools

24th July 2012, 3pm - 4:30pm
Amphi Estaunie, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Managing and understanding the large amounts of scientific data is undoubtedly one of the most difficult research challenges scientists are facing today. Data exploration through visualization is an effective means to understand and obtain insights from large collections of data. Although several visualization tools are available, including tools with sophisticated visual interfaces, they are out of reach for users who have little or no knowledge of visualization techniques and/or who do not have programming expertise. In addition, as interdisciplinary groups work together, the ability to generate a diversified collection of analyses for a broad audience in an ad-hoc manner is essential for supporting effective scientific data exploration. Science portals and visualization web sites have been used to simplify this task by aggregating data from different sources and by providing a set of predesigned analyses and visualizations. (more...)


Marian Dörk

Visualization for Search: Strolling through Information Landscapes

12th July 2012, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Salle 475, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Regardless whether during work or leisure, growing information spaces accompany more and more of our everyday activities. As we go through lists of search results, news items, and status updates, we encounter digital information for a wide range of purposes. While the dominant models of information seeking emphasize information needs and gaps, the model of the information flaneur advocates a shift away from deficiencies towards more positive tendencies such as curiosity and creativity. Using the exploratory mindset of an urban flaneur as a lens, one can envision new ways of making information collections more explorable using interactive visualizations. In this talk, I will present the information flaneur and several visualization projects that are inspired by this positive model for information seeking. (more...)


Morgan McGuire

Estimating Ambient Obscurance in Real-Time / New Initiatives in Digital Publishing

29th June 2012, 2pm - 3pm
Salle TBA, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: This talk covers two areas of my recent work that are relevant to the visualization community. The algorithmic portion summarizes some recent advances for real-time rendering of ambient obscurance (AO). This AO work focuses on conveying proximity, occlusion, and contact for 3D interaction instead of physically-based rendering for appearance. The digital publishing portion addresses the technical challenges and opportunities of moving beyond traditional publishing workflow, from text layout libraries to copyright and economics. (more...)


Adrien Bousseau

CrossShade: Shading Concept Sketches Using Cross-Section Curves

27th June 2012, 10am - 11.30am
Salle 445, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: CrossShade allows the creation of 3D-looking shaded production drawings from concept sketches. We use artist-drawn cross-section lines to automatically infer surface information across the sketch, enabling 3D-like rendering. Cross-sections function as an aid to both sketch creation and viewer understanding of the depicted 3D shape. In particular, intersections of these curves, or cross-hairs, convey valuable 3D information that viewers compose into a mental model of the sketch. We use this information to estimate the surface normals. Combined with conventional shaders, our normals facilitate the creation of shaded drawings as in the gallery below. (more...)


David Rosenbaum

Cognition and Action
26th June 2012, 2:30pm - 4pm
Salle B603, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: For your thoughts to be useful, they must be enacted. This is true even for mundane thoughts like those for getting up out of your chair, leaving your home or office, coming to the room where this talk will be held, making your way to your seat, and settling in to hear about research on the planning and control of everyday actions. The research to be described will draw on evidence from neurophysiology, behavioral science, and computational modeling. A view that all these lines of evidence support is that goal postures are specified before movements are planned and performed. Motor control, you will hear, is more cognitively rich than some have realized.

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Heidi Lam

Logs, Analyses, Visualizations

20th June 2012, 11am - noon
Salle 475, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Large-scale session log analysis typically includes statistical methods and detailed log examinations. While both methods have merits, statistical methods can miss previously unknown subpopulations in the data and detailed analyses may have selection biases. Session Viewer was build as an attempt to facilitate and bridge between statistical and detailed analyses. In this talk, I will share with some insights gained from watching analysts at Google, and how Session Viewer was (or was not) used. (more...)


David Karger

Creating User Interfaces that Entice People to Manage Better Information

11th June 2012, 11am - 11:30am
Salle 445, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Much research in information management begins by asking how to manage a given information corpus. But information management systems can only be as good as the information they manage. They struggle and often fail to correctly infer meaning from large blobs of text and the mysterious actions and demands of users. And they are useless for managing information that is never captured...

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Shengdong Zhao

Seeking scientific creativity in Human Computer Interaction

31st May 2012, 14:30am - 16:00
Salle B551, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: This talk will introduce several recent research projects done by my students and I from the NUS HCI research lab, National University of Singapore. They include SandCanvas, Vignette, and Magic Cards. In SandCanvas and Vignette, we have developed new digital artistic media that simplifies the creation of sand animations and pen and ink illustrations. In Magic Cards, we propose an alternative strategy of human robot interaction: instead of explicit control with robots, the user implicitly controls a robot by issuing commands on corresponding real world objects and the environment. Robots then discover these commands and complete them in the background. These projects aim to enrich our creative expressivity and bring convenience and joy in our lives. In addition, a few other older projects will also be briefly described.

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Oliver Deussen, Hendrik Strobelt

Visualizing text and images from document collections

20th April 2012, 11:00 - noon
Salle 475, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract:

Growing publication rates in many scientific disciplines require sufficient techniques to cope with such large amount of data. We speak about methods that allow users to investigate large document corpora with focus on scientific documents. The relation of text and images is discussed, the visualization of time varying text data is addressed. Examples from works of our group are given.

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Nadir Weibel On Walls, Desks, Paper and Fingers: Interactions around Physical and Digital Interfaces

2nd February 2012, 3:30 - 5:00 pm
Salle 445, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Access to information is one of the most crucial aspects of everyday life. As computation becomes ubiquitous and our environment is enriched with new possibilities for communication and interaction, the existing infrastructure of science, business, and social interaction is confronted with the difficult challenges of supporting complex tasks, mediating networked interactions, and managing the increasing availability of digital information and technology. I am investigating how to best enable access to this information in the right way, at the right time and for the right user and situation.

In this talk I will present my current research on interactive surfaces, outlining novel interaction techniques with wall-sized high-resolution displays and new ways of interacting with objects and documents on interactive desks through a combination of depth and pan-zoom cameras. I will present our approach towards managing information that span the physical and digital boundary through pen-, paper-, and finger-based interaction

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Bjoern Hartmann Proton: A new input architecture for multitouch applications based on regular expressions

23rd January 2012, 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Salle 435, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Current multitouch frameworks require application developers to write recognition code for custom gestures; this code is split across multiple event-handling callbacks. As the number of custom gestures grows it becomes increasingly difficult to 1) know if new gestures will conflict with existing gestures, and 2) know how to extend existing code to reliably recognize the complete gesture set. Proton is a novel framework that addresses both of these problems. Using Proton, the application developer declaratively specifies each gesture as a regular expression over event streams. Proton statically analyzes the set of gestures to report conflicts, and it can automatically create a recognizer for the entire set. To simplify the creation of complex multitouch gestures, Proton introduces gesture tablature, a graphical notation that concisely describes the sequencing of multiple interleaved touch actions over time. Proton contributes a graphical editor for authoring tablatures and automatically compiles tablatures into regular expressions. (more...)


Jochen "Jeff" Rick Supporting Collaborative Learning with Interactive Tabletops

30th November 2011, 4:00 - 5:30 pm
Amphi Grenat, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Interactive tabletops allow multiple users to interact with the same large horizontal display concurrently through touch input, pen input, or moving physical objects whose position and orientation can be tracked. Based on their support for direct manipulation and multiple entry points, there is growing excitement about this technology's potential to support small group work (2-4 learners per tabletop). For instance, SMART Technologies is already selling a commercial product aimed at the classroom.

In this presentation, I provide an introduction to the research on supporting collaborative learning with interactive tabletops. I provide concrete examples from my own research on developing tabletop applications and evaluating children's use of these applications. I will address several important questions: How does the age of the participants impact the use of the technology and the nature of the collaboration? What is the value of direct manipulation? What is the value of multiple entry points? How do individual group dynamics affect the collaboration? (more...)


Mira Dontcheva Lowering the Barriers: Making it easier to learn how to use Photoshop

23th November 2011, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
salle 445, PCRI (how to get there ?)


Abstract: In the past learning how to use complex visual design software, such as Adobe Photoshop, involved taking classes and reading books. In contrast, today's photographers and visual designers are more likely to learn how to use software opportunistically, as they need to adjust a photo, create a family album, or design a website. Together with my collaborators I have been developing and studying a variety of techniques for making it easier to learn new visual design and computational photography skills. In this talk I will describe our research on instructional design, video tutorials, and games and discuss major challenges and opportunities for learning in the context of visual design tools. (more...)


Bapstiste Caramiaux Gesture analysis and modelling for real-time interaction with digital media

15th November 2011, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
PCRI Bât 650, Salle 445 (near the entrance) (how to get there ?)


Abstract: The nowadays ubiquitous use of multitouch interfaces and inertial measurement sensors put forward new usages of gestures in Human Computer Interaction. Particularly, there is a great interest in continuous gestures as the input of the interaction, as often proposed in recent interaction paradigms (for example the two fingers pinch to resize images). In this context, gesture recognition techniques could be used to further enhance interaction possibilities. (more...)


Michael McGuffin Visualizing and Interacting with Trees and Graphs

26th September 2011, Time 14:30
PCRI Bât 650, Salle 475 (near the entrance) (how to get there ?)


Abstract: This talk will cover recently published and not-yet-published work done at ETS involving trees and graphs. I will show: an evaluation of new animated transitions in visualizations of trees; a comparative analysis of the space-efficiency of drawings of trees; a taxonomy of hybrid visualizations of trees, graphs, and compound graphs (a.k.a. clustered graphs) including one hybrid that combines NodeTrix and MatLink; a technique for drawing bipartite graphs using unambiguous edge bundling with a radial layout; a bimanual (two-handed) user interface for manipulating a graph; and a multitouch interface for manipulating a graph. A multitouch 3M screen will be available at the end of the talk for audience members to try. This is joint work with students Maxime Dumas, David Guilmaine, Skand Hurkat, Sébastien Rufiange, Erick Velazquez Godinez, Christophe Viau, and Marie-Claire Willig, and Professors Christopher Fuhrman and Jean-Marc Robert. La présentation sera en anglais, mais les questions en français seront bienvenues. (more...)


Georges Grinstein One InfoVis Grand Challenge: Visualization for the Masses

20th July 2011, 15:00 - 16:30
PCRI Bât 650, Salle 455 (nord) (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Visualization is a buzzword today, the successful result of many research systems built in the last two decades. UMass Lowell with the Open Indicators Consortium (OIC) has developed yet another open-source high performance collaborative and highly flexible web-based visual analytics framework. However this system, called Weave, is a research system that brings a number of state of the art approaches which together provide a step toward the solution of one of the grand challenges in visualization, namely visualization for the masses, as well as an attack on several others. We will describe very briefly Weave, its architecture, work with the OIC, provide some demos of OIC members’ sites and highlight its state of the art aspects, the key being its session state-based architecture. (more...)


Martin Hachet 3D User Interfaces for anyone

10th June 2011, 2:30 - 4:00 pm
LRI Bât 490, Salle 79 (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Enhancing interaction between users and 3D environments is a challenging research question that is fundamental for the positive widespread of interactive 3D graphics in many fields of our societies (e.g. education and art). In this talk, I will present various 3D User Interfaces (3D UIs) we have developed these past few years, and that contribute to this general quest. In particular, I will show examples in the scope of mobile interaction, touchscreens, and immersive virtual environments. (more...)


Dustin Freeman How Users Learn Wrongly From Ambiguity in Gestural Interfaces

26th April 2011, 2:30 - 4:00 pm
LRI Bât 490, Salle 101 (how to get there ?)


Abstract: I have run a several studies with novel gestural interfaces over the last few years (touch and non-touch). I will discuss a recurring theme I have observed during every study: users misinterpreting feedback, and mis-applying what they should have learned. Interaction in a gestural interface is more ambiguous than in an interface with physical or software buttons. There is disagreement on what the "interaction" itself was between the human and the computer. I'll talk about what this means for the future of gestural interfaces, and especially how this affects Wizard-of-Oz studies. (more...)


Patrick Baudisch Multitouch + Gravity = 3D Tracking

13th April 2011, 10:30 - 12:00
LRI Bât 490, Salle 79 (how to get there ?)


Abstract: I will present a new approach to tracking people and objects in smart rooms. The main idea is to make all horizontal surfaces in a room touch sensitive. We now decode the "imprints" that objects leave on these surfaces to identify objects and people and reconstruct their pose. I will illustrate the concept with three interactive prototypes: the tangible-on-tabletop construction kit Lumino (CHI 2010), our interactive floor project Multitoe (UIST 2010), and how the concept extends to smart rooms and furniture made from drinking straws. (more...)


Catherine Plaisant Exploration of temporal sequences in medical records

11th April 2011, 2pm - 3.30pm
LRI Bât 490, Salle 79 (how to get there ?)


Abstract: I will present our recent work on the visualization of temporal patterns, with a focus on electronic health records (EHRs). Specifying event sequence queries is challenging even for skilled computer professionals familiar with SQL. Our recent projects explored novel ways to specify complex temporal searches or search by similarity. Our latest interface (LifeFlow) summarizes collections of event sequences while representing the temporal spacing of events within sequences. I will demonstrate several prototypes and discuss how we work with clinicians and hospital administrators on case studies to evaluate our strategies. Finally I will give a preview of our other projects related to electronic health record systems interfaces. (more...)


Bertjan Broeksema A Visual Tool-Based Approach to porting C++ Code

21st February 2011, 15:30 - 16:30
Amphi Emeraude, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract: The sheer number of changes needed to port a code base when one of more of its dependencies need to be replaced by either a new version or another framework make it viable to develop tools that perform all or most of the required changes automatically in a reliable way. The purpose of this thesis was to research ways to support developers in the process of automated refactoring of large code bases. To this extent the type of refactoring activities involved was studied. Furthermore, a semi-automated code refactoring system based on queries and rules was developed. Transformations work directly on the source by means of insert and replace actions but are still correct due to the semantic understanding of the code by the framework. (more...)


Raimund Dachselt Natural Ways of Interacting with Information Spaces

Date 16/02/2011, 11:00-12:30
LRI Bât 490, Salle 101 (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Until now, interactive visualization techniques are often restricted to traditional input and output devices, which are typically limited to one (larger) screen operated by mouse and keyboard interaction. To find more efficient and user-friendly ways of exploring large information spaces, the User Interface & Software Engineering group of the University of Magdeburg (Germany) is conducting research on natural interaction in multiple-display environments. Thereby, we focus on interactive surfaces, in particular tabletops and mobile devices, which are operated by touch, gesture, pen or other types of tangible interaction. (more...)


Pourang Irani Blurring boundaries: Mixed input modes to alleviate common limitations with current digital environments

Date 24/01/2011, 11:00-12:00
LRI Bât 490, Salle 79 (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Digital environments, such as desktop computers, mobile devices and large surfaces depend on input mechanisms or devices to engage users in interacting with them. These input devices are partly defined by the type of mode they operate under. For example, the mouse is an indirect input device that allows one to position a desktop cursor with relative displacements of the device. A tablet pen facilitates direct input and relies on absolute positioning to control the virtual cursor. Recently, researchers have proposed techniques that allow transitioning between various input modes to harness the inherent potential available in each of these. (more...)


Koji Yatani

Date 17/01/2011, 14:00-15:00
LRI Bât 490, Salle 79 (how to get there ?)


Abstract: Mobile touch-screen devices have the capability to accept flexible touch input and can provide a larger screen than mobile devices with physical buttons. However, user interfaces on mobile touch-screen devices heavily require visual feedback. This raises a number of user interface challenges. For instance, visually-demanding user interfaces make it difficult for the user to interact with mobile touch-screen devices without looking at the screen, a task the user sometimes wishes to do particularly in a mobile setting. In addition, user interfaces on a mobile touch-screen device are not generally accessible to visually-impaired users. (more...)


Dr. Mubarak Shah Recognition: Trajectories, Bag of Video Words, and Spatiotemporal Interest Points

4th January 2011, 10:00
Amphi SAPHIR, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Ilpo Koskinen Lab, Field, Showroom: Constructive Design Research

25th November 2010, 14:30
Room B551, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract This research looks at three ways in which people integrate doing design into research. Design refers explicitly to the art and design school tradition of design, with a focus on capturing vague hunches and cultural constructs, and turning them into products and systems. In the main, the book looks at industrial and interaction design, relating their growth to what the Italian designer Andrea Branzi once called "second modernity." This research has evolved from tiny beginnings into stable presence in industrial and interaction design, and is gaining importance in service design and design for sustainability. (more...)


Sergi Jordà Exploring the Synergy between Live Music Performance and Tabletop Tangible Interfaces

26th November 2010, 15:00
Amphi Jade, Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue Barrault Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart (how to get there ?)


Abstract Sergi Jordà will present the research carried in the last years within the Music Technology Group of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in the field of tangible and tabletop interaction, in particular for the creation of new musical instruments like the Reactable. We will study and unveil the essential reasons that turn live music performance and tabletop interaction into promising and exiting fields of multidisciplinary research and experimentation. (more...)


Mark Hancock Using Virtual Tools to Bring Physical Interaction to Multitouch Surfaces

12th November 2010, 14:30
Salle 79, LRI, Orsay (how to get there ?)

Abstract Recent advances in digital technology, both in research prototypes and commercial products, have introduced a plethora of multi-touch surfaces. Perhaps because most of these devices are flat, initially most of the interfaces designed for them were 2D in nature. However, on traditional surfaces, people frequently make use of the third dimension; for example, they pick up, turn over, stack, build, and otherwise manipulate objects on physical tables. Furthermore, they frequently use the visual cues made available by the third dimension, such as viewing the different sides of an object or scene, or hiding something underneath another object. (more...)


Sean Gustafson Imaginary Interfaces: Spatial Interaction with Empty Hands and without Visual Feedback

30th September 2010, 16:00
Amphi Saphir
Télécom ParisTech - 46 rue BARRAULT Paris 13 - Metro Corvisart
(how to get there ?)
It is required to bring an ID for the entrance.

Abstract Screen-less devices allow for the smallest form factor and thus the maximum mobility. However, current screen-less devices do not support spatial interaction (such as pointing) because, seemingly, there is nothing to point at. We challenge that notion and with a series of experiments investigate the question: to what extent can users interact spatially with a user interface that exists only in their imagination? (more...)


Ian Smith Parallel48: End-User Programming Has Already Won (But We Forgot To Tell You)

24th June 2010, 14.30
30th June 2010, 14.30
 Salle 79, LRI, Orsay (how to get there ?)
Abstract

Act I: I'll give some short background on research in end-user programming in the literature and talk about its relationships to existing products. In this act, I hope to convince you that end-user programming already "won" versus traditional software development. (I may also try to convince you that the USA was *absolutely robbed* in the match against Slovenia.) (more...)


Daniel Vogel Hand Occlusion and Direct Input

18th June 2010, 14.30
Salle 79, LRI, Orsay (how to get there ?)

Abstract

Operating a computer by touching or drawing directly on the display would seem to be more natural and efficient. However, issues specific to this kind of direct input, such as when your hand covers portions of the display while interacting, create new problems not experienced with conventional mouse input. This talk presents research investigating and addressing the problem of hand occlusion in the context of direct pen input. (more...)


Scott Hudson - Conservation of Human Attention as an Approach to New HCI Research

8th June 2010, 14.30
Salle 79, LRI, Orsay (how to get there ?)

Abstract

In 1969 Herbert Simon put forward the idea that: “in an information rich world, the scarce resource is [human] attention.” Today this would seem to be increasingly true. This talk will suggest that a number of the important challenges for modern interactive computing – including goals we describe as “invisible”, “ambient”, “pervasive”, “ubiquitous” or even “calm” – are fruitfully considered in these terms. I will suggest that traction can be gained by focusing on conservation of human attention as an organizing paradigm, describe some specific approaches to building systems in this light, and consider where the most fruitful research challenges for future work in this area may lie. (more...)


Sheelagh Carpendale - Integrating art with information visualization to create interactive tabletop applications

31st May 2010, 14.30
Salle 79, LRI, Orsay (how to get there ?)

Abstract

Integrating the arts with computer science can open doors to discovery and creation and point the way to new understandings of the aesthetic in interactions with digital technologies. I will discuss how our integrated research methodology has impacted the development of our interactive information visualizations and tabletop computing research. I will illustrate this with examples of information visualization and interactive tabletop research. (more...)


Parisian Seminar

Find here the previous talks during the Parisian Seminar.