263-3712-00L  Seminar on Computational Interaction

SemesterSpring Semester 2020
LecturersO. Hilliges
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish
CommentNumber of participants limited to 14.

The deadline for deregistering expires at the end of the second week of the semester. Students who are still registered after that date, but do not attend the seminar, will officially fail the seminar.


AbstractComputational Interaction focuses on the use of algorithms to enhance the interaction with a computing system. Papers from scientific venues such as CHI, UIST & SIGGRAPH will be examined in-depth. Student present and discuss the papers to extract techniques and insights that can be applied to software & hardware projects. Topics include user modeling, computational design, and input & output.
Learning objectiveThe goal of the seminar is to familiarize students with exciting new research topics in this important area, but also to teach basic scientific writing and oral presentation skills.
ContentThe seminar will have a different structure from regular seminars to encourage more discussion and a deeper learning experience. We will use a case-study format where all students read the same paper each week but fulfill different roles and hence prepare with different viewpoints in mind (e.g. "presenter", "historian", "student", etc).

The seminar will cover multiple topics of computational interaction, including:
1) User- and context modeling for UI adaptation
Intent modeling, activity and emotion recognition, and user perception.

2) Computational design
Design mining, design exploration, UI optimization.

3) Computer supported input
Text entry, pointing, gestural input, physiological sensing, eye tracking, and sketching.

4) Computer supported output
Information retrieval, fabrication, mixed reality interfaces, haptics, and gaze contingency

For each topic, a paper will be chosen that represents the state of the art of research or seminal work that inspired and fostered future work. Student will learn how to incorporate computational methods into system that involve software, hardware, and, very importantly, users.

Seminar website: https://ait.ethz.ch/teaching/courses/2020-SS-Seminar-Computational-Interaction/