Human-Computer Interaction

The discipline of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) involves knowledge and understanding of the system interfaces and the humans that interacts with them. The aim of this research area is to be able to build interfaces that work, and to evaluate them. Achieving this goal, requires a thorough understanding of the abilities and constraints of the people using computer interfaces.

Models and theories applied in the field of HCI come from a range of different areas, like psychology, sociology and computer science, in addition to some theories developed specifically for HCI.

In this course, the student will be introduced to theories and frameworks commonly used in the area of HCI, in addition to becoming familiar with typical research issues and challenges studied in the field. The students will learn how to write a reaction paper.

Most interactions with the physical world involve several senses, along with the motor system. Similarly, many digital services are designed for natural experiences and intuitive interactions, aiming to accommodate human perception, performance and cognition.

Multimodal interfaces process and align two or more combined user input modes, such as speech, touch, manual gesture, gaze, and head and body movements. The inputs are in turn processed and coordinated with multimedia system output, be it audio-visuals or even scents or haptic stimuli. These interfaces aim to recognise naturally occurring forms of human language and behaviour, which incorporate one or more recognition-based technologies (e.g. speech, pen, vision).

This course will give students a theoretical and practical introduction to multimodal communication and different types of HCI interfaces. The main focus of the course is to make students familiar with techniques for

• user input, such as speech recognition, touch screens or eye and gesture tracking,
• computer output, such as unconventional display devices, speech synthesis, sounding objects and haptic devices.

In particular, the effects of combining different modalities, as well as the related technological challenges, are addressed.

This module focuses on advanced topics in interaction design, exploring the various interfaces through which humans interact, and the characteristics of how human interaction is perceived as intuitive. The course will explore the sequential character of user experience based on the fields of Service Design and Design Thinking. The student will gain knowledge in the process from gathering user requirements, to design and implementation through lab-oriented development-methods.

The main aim of this course is to provide students with the fundamental knowledge of ethics and sustainability necessary for responsible innovation and the development of new information technologies (IT) in the modern society. The central topics include the role of ethics in responsible innovation and IT development; information privacy concerns, social, economic, and environmental impacts of innovations and new ITs; and how IT development and innovation can contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In covering ethical and sustainability issues, the course addresses the perspectives of various stakeholders at the individual level (IT developers, innovators, consumers, investors), the organizational level (commercial, public, and non-governmental organizations), and the societal level (local and regional communities, nations, international society). Group work on possible solutions to real-life ethical and sustainability challenges constitutes an essential part of the course.

This course aims for the students to gain a foundation in how to program user interfaces and understanding of the underlying system architecture. Candidates will acquire advanced understanding in interaction techniques, design cycles and prototyping. Further knowledge of the terminology used by programmers aim to bridge the gap to developers. In practical skills the candidates will be required to design, implement and test/evaluate prototypes, through their developed user interfaces, chosen input/output techniques and executable programs. After successful completion of the course it is expected critical reflection on contemporary themes within user interfaces and the ability to critically discuss suitable UI approached to align with underlying system architecture.

Students will gain knowledge about theoretical principles and computational techniques for visual analytics. The course will enable students to design, demonstrate and evaluate information dashboards for organizations. The students will be able to reflect on the different models, theories, and frameworks for technology integration from a visual analytics perspective.

Central topics include applied computer science.