Tools for Collaboratively Designing and Evaluating Personalized Assistive Technologies.

Looking for: MSc Student, Undergraduate Student

Assistive technology (AT) is any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities. Millions of individuals use assistive technologies to perform everyday tasks. The Project involves developing user interfaces that will enable the collaborative design of personalized ATs such as glucose monitors. The team envisions a future in which end-users, health professionals and product designers can work together to create ATs that meet the personal and functional needs of specific end-users. The research effort will include 1) studies that shed light on how collaboration can enable the design of personalized glucose monitors, 2) development of a high-fidelity functional software system that facilitates the collaborative design of glucose monitors, and 3) analysis of the evaluation results that detail the benefits and limitations of the developed prototype system and sheds light on future research directions.

This project will build on our past work related to supporting people to make things using technology and more specific early efforts from my group related to DIY glucose monitors. See the following publications to get a sense of the type of work that might be involved: DiaFit, MakeAware, Documented, Cross-Sensory Globe, and ‘Maker’ within Constraints at http://celab.cs.uvic.ca/publications.html

Funding: The student will receive a stipend which typically covers basic living expenses and university fees. They will also have the opportunity to apply for additional scholarships and teaching assistantship positions.

Supervision: The student will be part of the VIXI Lab (https://vixi.cs.uvic.ca/docs/) and Creative Experiences Lab (http://celab.cs.uvic.ca/) at the University of Victoria (https://www.uvic.ca/). This project offers a unique opportunity for the student to connect with members from academia, public research agency and industry. The student will work with several researchers including Sowmya Somanath (PI, UVic), Hélène Fournier and Irina Kondratova (National Research Council Canada, Digital Technologies, HCI Team), and Fraser Anderson (Autodesk Research).

Location: The city of Victoria is located on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada and is known for its mild climate and amazing access to nature. For more on Victoria BC, see: https://www.tourismvictoria.com/

Requirements/Skills

We are looking for a person who has or will soon have an MSc degree in Computer Science, HCI, Health or related areas. Through past research experiences, knows about: a) qualitative research methods; b) developing prototype user interfaces; and c) using fabrication machines such as 3D printers, CNC and electronics such as Arduino to some extent. Any previous experiences with publishing posters, papers or demos at HCI venues such as CHI, ASSETS, CSCW, DIS, TEI or others would be desirable.

Contacts and Instructions

Contact Sowmya Somanath (sowmyasomanath@uvic.ca) if you are interested in the position.

In your email please include the following: CV; Most recent unofficial transcript and please clearly indicate your overall GPA; A brief introduction to yourself and why you are interested in this project; Share with us any relevant past experiences (e.g., publications, videos, or reports) that demonstrate the required skills for this position