News

On Saturday, January 23rd, a training seminar for special educators, psychologists and therapists from 6 schools in Cyprus about how to best use the innovative Kinems approach and its interactive Kinect games, was organised with great success. This seminar was the kick-off event of a pilot research project which aims at exploring the effectiveness of Kinems for children with special educational needs and multiple learning disabilities. The project is coordinated by the Cyprus Interaction Lab at the Cyprus University of Technology with the support of Microsoft Cyprus. and the support of Microsoft Cyprus and Abletools Ltd. The research project has been approved by the Center for Educational Research and Evaluation (KEEA) of the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture and will be completed in May 2016. Six (6) schools of primary education from all over Cyprus – 5 mainstream schools with IEPS and 1 special school – are participating. Special …

[Short Scientific Mission of COST Action LUDI TD1309: Play for Children with Disabilities (LUDI) 2015] In November 2015, Andri Ioannou, Assistant professor in the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) and co-director of the Cyprus Interaction Lab, Anna Andreeva, Assistant professor in the Department of Logopaedics at the South West University Neofit Rilski (Bulgaria), and Yiota Polycarpou, intern at the Cyprus Interaction Lab (CUT) visited the School of Deaf in Nicosia in an attempt to explore the possibility of using NAO with hearing impaired children. Further explorations followed with hearing impaired children from mainstream schools in Limassol. This work is supported by the Short Scientific Mission program of the “Cost Action No TD1309: Play for Children with Disabilities” for which Professor Panayiotis Zaphiris, Dean of School of Fine and Applied Arts of CUT is the Cyprus representative. Anna’s expertise as a speech pathologist, …

Facebook’s Product Designers Jonah Jones and Leo Mancini and Professor Panayiotis Zaphiris, director of Cyprus Interaction Lab gave an interview to INBusiness magazine. The two designers from facebook, traveled to Limassol to be the keynote speakers of the World Usability Day event CIL organized. In the interview they divulged their most memorable experiences working for the social media giant. Read the full text of the interview (in Greek) Watch the interview:

Deadline for applications: 22/11/2015 Two (2) posts in the research area of: «Social Computing and Learning» One (1) post in the topic «Technology and Social Inclusion» One (1) post in the topic «Human Behaviour and Online Social Networking» Please download the PDF file for more information on the PhD applications. Candidates can login and create an account on the applications portal.

The Cyprus Interaction Lab (www.cyprusinteractionlab.com) of the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts of the Cyprus University of Technology and DisruptCyprus.com (www.disruptcyprus.com) invite you to the annual World Usability Day seminar. Keynote Presentation: Riff by Facebook: Lessons Learned from Building a Collaborative Video App Jonah Jones (Product Design Manager) at Facebook, London Leo Mancini (Product Designer) at Facebook, London The event will be conducted in English. Participation is free of charge but prior registration is necessary at: http://tinyurl.com/pp8dwyy For more information please download the invitation in PDF format. Thursday, 12 November 2015, 19.00-20:30 Amphitheater 1, Tassos Papadopoulos Building, Cyprus University of Technology, Themidos & Ifigenias corner, Limassol historical center.

The Cyprus Interaction Lab (CIL) has joined the European Schoolnet’s Future Classroom Lab (FCL) network of learning labs though the Interaction and Technology Lab (EAT) http://fcl.eun.org/eat This is an opportunity for CIL to expand its network of European K-20 educators and schools. Starting in September 2015, CIL will participate in activities of the FCL network and online meetings with educators around world. One of the priorities of CIL is to continue to engage in research and grant-writing relevant to advancements in technology-enhanced learning and design of learning environment for K-20. For further information on the FCL network of learning labs please visit http://fcl.eun.org/fcl-network-labs

The Cyprus Interaction Lab of the Cyprus University of Technology successfully organized the international summer school on “Research Methods in HCI” (https://hcisummer2015.wordpress.com) which took place from the 6th to the 10th of July, 2015. The participants included 50 PhD students from 16 countries (Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Russia, Romania, Portugal, Poland, Italy, India, Greece, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Estonia, Denmark and Croatia) as well as speakers from leading universities and corporations (like Google and Philips Research) dealing with matters relating to User Centered Design, Human-Computer Interaction and Interaction Design. Talinn University, Estonia was also part of the organizing initiative and the Association for Computer Machinery (ACM), the Cyprus Computer Society and the Cyprus Tourist Organization sponsored of the event. The seminars and workshops took place in the Multimedia and Graphic Arts’ labs in Heroes Square and the participants were offered accommodation in the dormitories of the university in Limassol. The workshop …

RISE is funded by EU through the TEAMING program of HORIZON 2020. The consortium consists of the Municipality of Nicosia-Cyprus, the three public Universities of Cyprus — University of Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology and Open University of Cyprus — and the prestige research institutes Max Plank Institute for Informatics – Saarbrucken, Germany and University College London (UCL) – UK. The project aims at the establishment of an interdisciplinary Research Centre in Cyprus to integrate research in the Visual Sciences, Human Factors and Design, and Communications and Artificial Intelligence. The grant awarded is 0.5 million EUR for phase 1 with potential funding of 15-20 million EUR in phase 2 of evaluation. More about the project here (in Greek)

The Cyprus Interaction Lab hosted the COST action “Play for Children with Disabilities (LUDI)” in 4-5 June 2015 in Limassol. The meeting was held from 4-5 June 2015, with active involvement of Cyprus Interaction Lab (https://www.cyprusinteractionlab.com/) of the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts at the Cyprus University of Technology. The action includes up to two academics from every European country. Cyprus is represented by the dean of the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts of the Cyprus University of Technology, Professor Panayiotis Zaphiris. This Action aims at the creation of a novel and autonomous field of research and intervention on play for children with disabilities.The multi-disciplinary cooperation of researchers and practitioners in the fields of psycho-pedagogical sciences, health and rehabilitation sciences, humanities, assistive technologies and robotics as well as the contribution of end-users’ organizations will grant the right to play even for children with disabilities, and finally establish play …

Cyprus Interaction Lab and the Women Power project team (winning project of the Mahallae program – funded by the UNDP) welcomed an audience of 80 people, who attended their successful ‘Womenpower Fair’ last Wednesday, April the 29th. The fair aimed to ‘inspire, empower and link women mentors and mentees’, and focused on the current state of gender-related issues in Cyprus as well as the challenges that women are faced with, in terms of social, career and personal development. The WomenPower team had the privilege to host a number of women in key positions and roles within the Cyprus political, scientific, academic and trade scenes. The event commenced with keynote speaker – former foreign minister Erato Kozakou Marcoullis, who talked about “breaking the glass ceiling in decision-making positions” (view presentation) and continued with a number of notable and inspiring talks with a global appeal to women from different generations and various …

The overarching aim of this summer school course is to improve participants’ understanding of significant research methods commonly or increasingly used in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Together with a shift of emphasis from usability engineering to user experience (UX) design where users’ values, feelings and needs are regarded as important as their task-oriented performance, HCI appears to have become a cauldron in which research methods from associated disciplines are brewed. Lecturers of the summer school course include: – Dr. Chee Siang Ang, University of Kent – Dr. Duncan Brumby, UCLIC, University College London, UK – Dr. Jettie Hoonhout, Philips Research, Netherlands – Dr. Yiannis Laouris, Future Worlds Center, Cyprus – Dr. Fernando Loizides, Cyprus Interaction Lab, Cyprus – Rajiv (Raj) Arjan, Google, UK The course will cover topics like: 1. Data collection approaches: experiments, interviews, questionnaires, observations, structured dialogue design. 2. Data analysis: quantitative data analysis (including …

The Cyprus University of Technology and Talinn University jointly offer a new online MSc course in Interaction Design. The two departments bring together an impressive experience and knowledge in Interaction Design, Human Computer Interaction and Online Learning. The course aims to provide an online learning platform for students internationally, who are interested in Interaction design and wish to contribute to and participate in its multi-disciplinary community. All course modules are offered in english, with an emphasis on practice-based learning through research, design and implementation for different projects, both individually and collaboratively. We are currently accepting applications for entrance in September 2015. The applications deadline is set for the 1st of July 2015. The tuition fees are €4100 for the entire program. Please visit the Msc Interaction Design website to find out more information about the course.

Digital Synergy for empowering women: the official launch of WomenPower Platform With the aim of promoting social change and enhancing the participation of women in society, the Cyprus Interaction Lab of the Cyprus University of Technology has launched WomenPower, the winning project in the category “Women and Dialogue” of the Mahallae program (funded by the UNDP). The We-Me platform is implemented as part of the Mahallae Challenges, supported and funded by UNDP-ACT. The ultimate goal of the platform is to strengthen the voice of women, allowing for greater participation in economic, political, and social activity and the establishment of equal opportunities. A synergy of modern technologies helps strengthen the voice of young women through the development of a community of mentors and apprentices. The Womenpower platform will be open to different generations of women, allowing young women to receive support from women with more experience. WomenPower is aimed mainly at …

The Cyprus Interaction Lab has secured the prestigious Human Computer Interaction Conference, INTERACT. The field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has been extremely successful for the last thirty years, especially when it comes to changing computing to the benefit of end users. Advanced mobile, ubiquitous and pervasive computing have dramatically changed the way we interact with information, which makes human factors an essential part of computer science and informatics in all areas of our daily life. INTERACT is among the world’s top conferences in Human-Computer Interaction. Starting with the first INTERACT conference in 1990, this conference series has been organised under the aegis of the Technical Committee 13 on Human-Computer Interaction of the UNESCO International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). The conference will be held in Pafos in 2018. The Cyprus Interaction Lab of the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts of the Cyprus University of Technology studies the interaction of people with technology in various …

In a packed auditorium the Cyprus University of Technology welcomed last week Rajiv Arjan, User Experience Researcher of Google UK, as the keynote speaker at the annual event for World Usability Day organized by Cyprus Interaction Lab. The audience included a total of over 300 participants, including several undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, academics, teachers and professionals from many sectors in the Economy and Technology industries. During his welcome speech, the Dean of the School of Fine and Applied Arts, Professor Panayiotis Zaphiris, touched on the modern trends in user-centered design and underlined the continuous need for a global and multidisciplinary range of methods in the design of end products and services that are both usable and accessible to everyone. Rajiv Arjan in his presentation “User Experience at Google” highlighted the basic principles of human-centered design practiced at Google, the full implementation of which contributed so decisively to the company …

The Cyprus Interaction Lab of the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts of the Cyprus University of Technology organizes the annual World Usability Day seminar, with the support of the Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus, the Cyprus Computer Society, the Cyprus SIGCHI and the contribution of Google UK. Keynote Presentation: “User Engagement and Google”, Raj Arjan, User Experience Researcher, Google Wednesday – 12 November 2014 – 18:00 – 20:30 Amphitheater 1, Tassos Papadopoulos Building, Cyprus University of Technology Participation is free of charge and a certificate of attendance will be provided to the participants at the end of the event. Please reserve your seat at: http://tinyurl.com/pjkx55g Download the invitation

This study examines how the use of tabletop technology might be able to promote peaceful attitudes and mitigate conflict in a school environment. The participants were twenty (20) K‐12students (grades 3‐6) at a public elementary school in the eastern Mediterranean.The school is characterized by large numbers of foreign students (i.e., minority enrollment), high drop‐out rate and increased incidences of conflict (verbal and physical), violence and delinquency. Students worked in conflicting groups of four students each on various learning and game activities around an interactive tabletop, over the span of three weeks. Analysis of student interviews, triangulated with findings from video data, revealed that tabletop technology can become a means for communication and collaboration, give the chance for students in conflict to share a common space, and help shape better attitudes and relationships among them, which extends beyond the duration of the intervention. The study provides insights on the use of …

The ‘creative workshop’ series was successfully launched on Wednesday, September the 24th, co-organized by the Cyprus Interaction lab and the Sustainable Energy Lab of the Cyprus University of Technology. Professor Panayiotis Zaphiris, dean of the School of Fine and Applied Arts, initiated the “creative workshops” stating that it consists of a series of open dialogue meetings (occurring monthly) and which focus on themes such as creativity and innovation and their impact on education, society and research. Next, Dr. Alexandros Charalambides inspired the audience with his speech titled “From idea to product“, by presenting how the ENERMAP project progressed and matured through various stages, until it received funding. The ENERMAP platform (www.enermap.eu) aims to record and map energy-efficient buildings across Europe as well as promote the most effective energy-related practices in the building sector. Finally, Dr. Stylianos Yiatros closed the event by announcing the subject of the next workshop – to …

Cyprus Interaction Lab (Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts) and the Sustainable Energy Laboratory (Department of Environmental Science and Technology) of the Cyprus University of Technology, invite you to a series of ‘creativity workshops’ The “creativity workshops”  series consist of open meetings for dialogue on issues related to creativity and innovation as well as their impact on education, society and research. Visit our facebook page

Organized by Prof. Panayiotis Zaphiris (Dean of School of Fine and Applied Arts and Director of the Cyprus Interaction Lab, of the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts), Prof. David Lamas (Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University, Estonia) and Dr. Effie Lai-Chong Law (University of Leicester, UK) the summer school on Research Methods in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) took place with big success at Tallinn University, Estonia from the 25th to the 31st of July 2014. Attended by 36 PhD students and practitioners specializing in HCI from more than 20 different countries it gave a chance to all attendees for training, discussions and social activities. The course was primarily designed to assist PhD students and practitioners to better understand the major research methods in the area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and allow them to combine and use these methods in order to tackle their research objectives. The course included lectures …