(March 2008) Driven to Distraction? Hands-on at the University of Guelph's DRIVE lab

Thursday March 20, 2008
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Note the late start time because we’re making a field trip to Guelph this month!
DRIVE Lab
University of Guelph
Building: Thornbrough 1311
[Directions and parking info]

Event Description

Are you willing to risk life and limb in a start-of-the-art driving simulator? Want to get hands-on experience with the very portable faceLAB eye tracking system, a competitor to the Tobii system we saw demonstrated in January’s meeting? Then join us at the University of Guelph’s DRIVE Lab (Driving Research in Virtual Environments) on March 20. You’ll get a chance to drive the simulator, try out faceLAB, and talk with the researchers about their work. To top it off, Auto21 will be supplying refreshments and food; so come with an open mind and an empty belly!

Thanks for the munchies, Auto21, and to DRIVE Lab’s Blair Nonnecke and Lana Trick for the offer to host us this month!

RSVP’s Requested

Due to space restrictions, attendance will be limited to 24 people. If you are interested in attending, please send an email to the DRIVE Lab Manager, David Wilson.

As usual, this event is free and open to anyone who’d like to attend.

Need a ride? Able to offer a ride?

Please use the comments for this blog post to either request or offer a ride. It’d be great to reduce the number of cars heading to Guelph and offer a chance for people without a car to join us. We suggest leaving your email address in your comment and connecting directly with each other. To reduce the risk of spam, use a format such as myname AT mydomain DOT com.

Directions

The DRIVE Lab is in Thornbrough 1311 on the University of Guelph campus.
A map and parking info is available here on the University’s website. Note the lab is midway down the building on the side opposite to the busloop, beside a door to an external parking lot.

(February 2008) Interaction08 Redux

Wednesday February 13, 2008
5:00 to 6:30 pm
Please note the DIFFERENT DATE AND LOCATION this month:
Terapath Inc. (That name is changing to “Primal Fusion”, as noted on the door sign)
258 King Street North, Waterloo
Unit #7 (upstairs from University Pharmacy and King Tin Chinese Restaurant)
Parking: in spots around the side and back marked Terapath, on nearby side streets, or in diagonal spots in front of the building next to the sidewalk
[Map]

Event description

If you’re unable to attend the Interaction08 conference starting February 8, never fear! At least three of our group’s members will be there and next week, right after their return, you’ll be able to experience the conference vicariously. Sandra Loop of Sybase, Navid Sadikali of Agfa, and Robert Barlow-Busch of Terapath will serve up a buffet of highlights, anecdotes, lessons learned, and practical tips gleaned from the conference’s many sessions.

Interaction08 is a landmark event. It’s the first annual conference of the Interaction Design Association, one of the organizations with whom our group is affiliated. The conference has attracted 250 designers from across the world, with keynotes from experts such as Alan Cooper and Bill Buxton (Go Canada!). Check out the conference website for a glimpse of the topics that Sandra, Navid, and Robert are likely to cover.

If you’re attending Interaction08 and would like to share your experiences too, please let us know!

As usual, this event is free and open to anyone who’d like to attend.

(January 2008) Eye-Tracking Forum: "What should we make of this?"

Thursday January 17, 2008
5:00 to 6:30 pm
Please note we’re NOT at the Accelerator Centre this month:
Quarry Integrated Communications
Brand Experience Lab (Ground Floor)
180 King Street South, Waterloo
[Map]

Event description

Has eye-tracking “crossed the chasm” from cognitive science to a mainstream
professional tool for understanding and improving user experience with
digital interfaces? Is it a god-send or a gimmick? And has the usability
field seen such a polarizing discussion since the bickering began on sample
sizes?

This informal event will begin with a brief presentation on how eye-tracking
is currently being applied in Quarry’s usability practice, followed by a
panel discussion including practitioners and academics on the potentials and
pratfalls of this technique.

Confirmed speakers

• Dan Skeen, Quarry
• Blair Nonnecke, University of Guelph
• Glen Drummond, Quarry