Studies in active perception. by Lewis Chuang

Topic of talk:
Many tasks require us to access relevant information from a dynamic visual input. To do so, we move our eyes and bodies as well as manipulate our environments. Unfortunately, experiments on human behavior tend to ignore this fact, often to the detriment of their ecological validity. Our understanding can be better informed by studying how humans actively seek out relevant information in their unrestrained and task-relevant workspaces. I will present several research studies from our lab to demonstrate this point. These studies relate to how humans explore novel objects, unrestrained gaze measurements on wall-sized displays, and the influence of haptic force feedback on the teleoperation of micro unmanned aerial vehicles. Finally, I will introduce our latest research project that targets the implications of a personal air transport system (www.mycopter.eu).

Speaker:
Lewis Chuang - Max Planck Institute Biological Cybernetics

Short bio:
Lewis Chuang is a psychologist with a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience. He is currently working at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, T übingen. His interests include visual learning, eye-movement behavior and the design of human-machine interfaces. He is the proud owner of three freshwater aquariums.

Location:
D-CIS auditorium

Time:
Wednesday 14 September 2011: 11:00-12:00