Interaction

Exploring the interaction between humans and information, knowledge, and entertainment

In our daily lives we continuously interact with objects, people, and the environment. Interaction is much broader than pushing the right buttons or presenting visual cues on-screen. In the division Interaction Technology, we explore the interaction between people and (virtual) worlds, multimedia, and information. Moreover, we investigate human-human interaction through technological advancements.

We develop novel techniques to research technology-mediated communication and interaction between people, and communication and interaction between systems and people (users). The technologies for interaction make use of various modalities, in particular visual, auditory, and haptic modes, as well as combinations of these.

Research

Within this broad field, the scope of our research within the department of Information and Computing sciences includes:

Mobile interaction, multimodal interaction, and applications in virtual and augmented reality
User and group modelling, adaptation, and personalization
Affective and social computing
Game design, applied games, persuasive technologies
Technology-enhanced communication, human-robot interaction, and user experience.
The analysis and retrieval of music and music information.
Video, motion capture, and sensor based interaction analysis.
Analysis and recognition of objects in images, video, 3D point clouds and scenes.

Bringing all aspects of interaction together creates the opportunity to experience, navigate, and manipulate information, in both an innovative and intuitive way. This will provide novel opportunities in games and entertainment, training, decision-making, etc.

Groups and Professors

The division Interaction within the Research Institute of Information and Computing Sciences addresses challenges in the field of interaction from their unique perspectives:

Cybernetics
- Egon van den Broek, chair Data-Driven Interaction
Human-Centred Computing
- Judith Masthoff, chair Interaction Technology
Multimedia
- Remco Veltkamp, chair Game and Media Technology
- Peter Werkhoven, chair Multimodal Interaction in Virtual Environments
Music Information Computing
- Anja Volk, chair Music Information Computing
Social and Affective Computing
- Albert Ali Salah, chair Social and Affective Computing
Visualization and Graphics
- Lynda Hardman, chair Multimedia Discourse Interaction
- Alex Telea, chair Visual Data Analysis

Our research is related to the Utrecht Center for Game Research.

Education

The division Interaction contributes to the bachelor Computer Science, the study path GameTechnology, the bachelor Information Science, and the research master programs Game and Media Technology, Human-Computer Interaction, and Artificial Intelligence.

Collaboration

We collaborate with many societal parties and companies. We are interested in seeking further joined interests. Please contact us if you want to discuss opportunities for collaboration.