for Visualizing Historic and Archaeological Sites Columbia University Department of Computer Science 500 W. 120th St., 450 CS Building New York, NY 10027 feiner [at] cs.columbia.edu http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~feiner/ Abstract: The conventional model of the user interface, defined by a solitary stationary desktop computer and its peripherals, is yielding to one that situates the computer within its geographic surroundings. This talk will present some of the design directions being investigated by Columbia's Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Lab, to address the relationships between our user interfaces and the rich spatial context in which they reside. I will describe how mixed and augmented reality systems, which use tracked computer displays to meld real and virtual worlds, can transport the virtual space inside the user interface to the real world outside, and, conversely, bring the outside world into the user interface. Our work on situated documentaries moves information "inside out," by making it possible to craft a geolocated hypermedia presentation that is interwoven with the real world, and experienced in situ by tracked mobile users. In contrast, in VITA (Visual Interaction Tool for Archaeology), the flow is "outside in." An archaeological dig site is recreated virtually in our lab, where it can be collaboratively explored in a variety of forms, ranging from an immersive, annotated, full-scale, laser-range-scanned model, to a multi-display desktop that links maps, diagrams, images, and models. Bio: Dr. Steven Feiner is a Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, where he directs the Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Laboratory. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Brown University. Prof. Feiner's research interests include virtual environments and augmented reality, knowledge-based design of graphics and multimedia, wearable and mobile computing, information visualization, and hypermedia. He is coauthor of Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice and Introduction to Computer Graphics, and over the past few years has served as general chair for the 2004 ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology and program co-chair for the 2003 IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers. In 1991 he received an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award. |