CSAIL Event Calendar: Previous Series

Beyond Google

Speaker: Khai N. Truong , University of Toronto
Date: October 17 2008
Time: 2:00PM to 3:00PM
Location: 32-G449 Patil/Kiva Seminar Room
Host: Rob Miller, MIT CSAIL

Although the Web and hypertext has clearly transformed the way people solve many problems today, some content still does not exist in an electronic format available online. As a result, people sometimes face a diverse set of problems that they cannot solve easily by themselves as individuals. For example, a person may not be able to answer "if a stroller can be used on the Don Valley trail" after recent snowfall through any means other than trial and error. This talk will examine people's daily information needs and opportunities for addressing such highly situated and contextualized problems through the development of ubiquitous computing tools and infrastructure. I will discuss the technical and social challenges involved in the design and evaluation of a community-based service approach that leverages the knowledge and altruism of registered members to help others.

Bio:
Khai N. Truong is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. His research lies at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp). Specifically, he focuses on the design and development of novel, off-the-desktop computing applications that may be commonplace in 5-10 years and then the evaluation of these systems' impact on daily life. He received his PhD in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Contact him at Sanford Fleming Bldg., 10 King's College Rd. Room 3302, Toronto, ON M5S 3G4;khai@cs.toronto.edu; www.cs.toronto.edu/~khai .

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