Background

The technological requirements of future societies (both in the UK and in India) are increasingly more interactive as is reflected in the diversification of the technology market over the past 5 years with the arrival of a plethora of interactive technologies (like Photonic textiles and $100 laptops) and interactive personalised web-based services (like Facebook and Orkut). Much of today's research in interactive technologies lacks a tight coupling between technology innovation and end-user needs.

To address some of the challenges involved and identify opportunities for collaborative research between India and the UK, we have set up the UK-India Network on Interactive Technologies (UKINIT) for the end-user. UKINIT is funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK and has support from HP Labs (Bangalore and Bristol), HFI India, and Vodafone UK.

About the Winter School

The Winter School, an initiative from UKINIT, will run for two days and build a shared understanding of the state-of-the-art in Interactive Technologies for the end-user, bringing together industrial and academic researchers from both India and the UK.

The main aim of the Winter School is to share knowledge and experience between the attendees and to foster tighter links between the various research communities. The intimate size of this event (limited to 25 participants) will provide an ideal setting to exchange research findings and establish connections for stronger collaborations.

The two day Winter School will comprise lectures and hands-on group work. Lectures will cover research topics such as haptics and multi-touch interaction along with pragmatic issues, including opportunities for funding research in these areas.

The Winter School will take place on 2nd & 3rd February 2009, at HP Labs in Bangalore.

About the Organizers

The team brings together diverse and complementary strengths in designing interactive technologies.

The organizers are experts in multi-touch interaction, multimodal interaction, mobile devices, design, modelling and HCI education.

David Benyon and Alan Dix are both lead-authors on major textbooks for teaching the design of interactive systems and Human Computer Interaction.

The organizing committee consists of:

David Benyon - Napier University, UK

Steve Brewster - University of Glasgow, UK

Alan Dix - Lancaster University, UK

Matthew Jones - Swansea University, UK

Sriganesh Madhvanath - HP Labs India

Sriram Subramanian - University of Bristol, UK

Rama Vennelakanti - HP Labs India

Schedule

You can download the complete schedule here

Confirmed speakers:

David Benyon (Napier University), Steve Brewster (University of Glasgow), Santanu Chaudhury (IIT

Delhi), Apala Lahiri Chavan (Human Factors International), Alan Dix (Lancaster University), Anirudha N. Joshi (IIT Bombay),

Sriganesh Madhvanath (HP Labs India), Sumantra Dutta Roy (IIT Delhi) and Sriram Subramanian (University of Bristol)

You can see profiles of these speakers here.

Participation in the Winter School

Applications are invited from faculty, industry practitioners, and students - Masters, PhD and Post Doctoral Fellows. If you would like to attend kindly complete the appropriate application form (student or faculty / industry) and send it to: himani.kaul@hp.com

Selection of Participants

Participants will be selected by a technical committee, consisting of academic and industrial researchers. Preference will be given to those who can demonstrate their commitment to the broad topics covered by the network.

Deadlines

• Last date for application : 5 December 2008
• Participation confirmation: 10 December 2008
• Payment of registration fee: 10 January 2009

Venue of the Winter School

HP Labs, Hewlett-Packard India, 24 Salarpuria Arena, Adugodi, Bangalore 560 030 Karnataka, India

Registration Fees

All participants in the Winter School will have to register. The registration fees are as below:

Network Members: (Interactive Technologies for the End User)

Industry - Rs.2,500

Academics - Rs.1,500

Non-Network Members:

Industry - Rs.3,500

Academics - Rs.2,500

Students - Rs.1,000

The registration fees need to be paid in the form of a demand draft drawn in favour of Hewlett-Packard India Software Operations Pvt. Ltd., drawn at Bangalore.

Please send the registration fees to:

Shefali Sengupta, HP Labs India,

24 Salarpuria Arena, Adugodi,

Bangalore 560 030

Karnataka, India

Accommodation

Accommodation and local logistics arrangements will have to be made by the participants themselves.

Please see the list of suggested hotels where you can make your reservations here.