Marianna Obrist

It has been a busy time the last two years. Sorry for not updating you properly, but I set up my new research Lab at the University of Sussex and kicked off the further investigations into multisensory experiences for Human-Computer Interaction. Please keep up to date on my Lab website!

4DX and beyond

It was a pleasure and fun to give the closing keynote for ACM TVX 2015 in Brussels. I hope the audience got a good amount of inspiration and food for thought on what role Touch, Taste, and Smell could play in the media world in the future. I look forward to TVX 2016 in Chicago – first time in the USA!

The SCHI Lab spirit :-)

With the start of the ERC project on “Sensory Experiences for Interactive Technologies” the doors of the Sussex Computer Human Interaction Lab – short SCHI Lab have opened. Check out our new website at Sussex University – SCHI Lab website. We are integrated in the newly established Creative Technology research group that bridges Informatics, Engineering and Product Design.

Our paper “Emotions Mediated Through Mid-Air Haptics” (by Marianna Obrist, Sriram Subramanian, Elia Gatti, Benjamin Long, Thomas Carter) has received a SIGCHI Best of CHI Honorable Mention Award (5% of all submission to CHI 2015). See our 30second preview below.

Product design and HCI students from the University of Sussex had the privilege to visit the Toy Fair in London on 22nd January. Not only were we able to participate in a special session with brilliant presentations from leading toy designers and manufacturers, we also had the chance to explore the newest trends in the field of toys and games. Very inspiring environment for any student interested in interaction design.

Sussex Uni Students

One of many attractions :-)

The beauty of Norway :-)

Despite the fact that it was a busy program, I fully enjoyed the three days in Oslo (one of my favorite cities). I not only served as expert on a funding panel for the Norwegian Research council, but also had the chance to visit SINTEF (HCI group) again and meet colleagues and friends I haven’t seen for years. On top of that I had the pleasure to give a talk at the University of Oslo, presenting my recent work on multisensory experiences. Overall a very exciting and pleasurable trip with lots of inspiring meetings and brainstorming about the future

Young Talents @ Sussex Uni (pic by Morten Watkins)

It was a great pleasure to see all this enthusiastic students in their second year of study mastering challenging research projects over the summer. Supported with a JRA bursary (Junior Research Associate) students were enabled to work on a project with their supervisor for two months. This prestigious funding opportunity (20% acceptance rate) also allowed me to work with a talented student over the summer, Daisy Driscoll. With her degree background in Multimedia and Digital Systems (2nd year), she worked on the project ‘Capturing Smell Experiences through Short Videos’, which made it into the final round for the 10 best projects presented in the final poster presentation session on 17th October. Very proud to see this young talents and their potential and motivation to solve future research problems.

Not only I visited the first time China, I also had the pleasure to take part in the World Economic Forum 2014 in Tianjin, meeting inspiring people from a broad range of disciplines and businesses, experiencing cutting edge technologies, and discussing ideas around future emerging technologies in a variety of sessions (e.g., The Challenge 30 minute, Ideas Labs, Creative Spark, Engage, etc.) over three days.

WEF @ Tianjin

Ocolus Rift First Time

Totally immersed :-)

TVX’14 Opening with Pablo Cesar and Dick Bulterman (pic by Elizabeth Churchill).

ACM TVX’14 conference took place on 25th to 27th June in Newcastle upon Tyne. Delegates from across the world, from academia and industry participated in the discussion on interactive experiences for TV and online video. Apart from a two-day exciting paper program, attendees could engage in courses, workshops, and a one day Hackfest on the first day, and talk to demo and poster presenters as well as grand challenge winners on the 2nd and 3rd day of the conference. Five PhD student participated in a Doctoral Consortium and 10 Industrial presentations revealed interesting market concepts and futuristic ideas for the community. Overall a very rich program, which was honored with the presence of Elizabeth Churchill (Executive Vice President of ACM SIGCHI) in the opening ceremony.

TVX’14 PUC Special Issue

We are glad to announce a Special Issue in Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Journal, expanding the discussions happening at the upcoming ACM TVX’14 conference, which will take place from 25th to 27th June in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. This special issue on “Interactive Experiences for Television and Online Video” will facilitate the further outreach of this cutting edge research and calls for innovative, thought provoking and original research articles, that address pressing questions around content production, system and infrastructure, devices and interaction techniques, experience design and evaluation, media studies, data science and recommendations, business models and marketing, as well as innovative concepts and media art. See more information on how to submit and the main deadlines on the issue website: http://pucitvandvideoexperiences.wordpress.com/