Interview with Caroline APPERT (LRI)
Caroline Appert is a young researcher in human-computer interaction. Her thesis, entitled "Modelling, evaluation and generation of interactive techniques", was awarded the Gilles Kahn prize in 2007.
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) studies interaction between humans and information systems as a phenomenon that requires in-depth understanding in order to improve it. This field relies on methods developed in experimental psychology that measure human responses to stimuli in the physical environment. The goal of HCI is to create hardware and software configurations that enhance or better take advantage of human perception and motor skills.
This interdisciplinary perspective has fascinated me since I first discovered this research field while completing a Master's degree at the Université Paris-Sud 11.
How has your project developed?
I have always wondered why our user interfaces are so stereotyped (menus, windows, buttons) even though many novel and efficient interaction techniques have been created by researchers. I first studied how innovative interaction techniques are created by completing a literature review and found some gaps in the evaluation of interaction techniques. I then proposed a new methodological approach to evaluate interaction and, in doing so, I faced a second barrier to innovation: it is very difficult to program novel interactions using current development tools. This led me to develop more effective programming tools to facilitate the creation and integration of new types of interaction for a wider range of applications.
What are you expecting from the Digiteo Annual Forum on 2 October?
I am still not very familiar with Digiteo. I think it is useful to build bridges between disciplines and I am looking forward to have an overview at the Forum and see how my field can interact with other Digiteo themes.
By showcasing my work in Human-Computer Interaction and giving a glimpse of this field, I also hope to develop potential collaborations between HCI and other fields.
On a more general level, what are your expectations for the cluster?
Digiteo provides us with a new source of funding, which covers both staffing and material cost. This gives us the opportunity to develop new projects, with local partners.
The areas for potential collaboration are of particular interest to me. For example, thanks to Digiteo we are going to create a high-resolution interactive wall that will allow us to visualize and explore very large amounts of data. The opportunity to visualize data on such a large scale is very unusual and is of particular interest to researchers in such areas as molecular biology and astrophysics. We hope that the platform that we are developing will facilitate exchange and genuine complementarity among disciplines and will help produce further advances in science.
Interview done on 09/10/2008.
