Ergonomic multimedia

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As defined by the International Ergonomics Association, "ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system." The main theme of this research program is ergonomic multimedia. More specifically, our goal is to develop tools and techniques for multimedia processing from a human perspective. Multimedia is omnipresent, and the users can't seem to get enough of it. The extent to which a device is able to process and present multimedia has become a major selling point and a key differentiator in the consumer electronics industry, as demonstrated by Apple's products in recent years. In the past few decades, the main challenge regarding multimedia was communication - how to get it to the user? While that continues to be a challenge, new problems are starting to emerge. Even today, and especially in the future, the main question related to multimedia will not only be how to get it to the user, but how to fit it to the user? How to make it more appealing and easier to use? The development of sophisticated measurement techniques, such as eye and gaze tracking, is facilitating verification and testing of existing models of human attention, sensing, perception, and behavior. On the theoretical side of the proposed research program, we plan to improve existing models of human interaction with various media types, and develop new ones, especially cross-media, context-adaptive, and device-specific models. On the practical side, our goal is to utilize the aforementioned models in the creation of new and efficient algorithms for capturing, processing, encoding, communicating, presenting, and interpreting multimedia signals in a human-centric way, and to create tools that enable users to interact with multimedia in a natural and intuitive manner. This type of research requires a new breed of researchers with a solid understanding of psychology and cognitive science in addition to expertise in engineering and computing. Building on our experience in multimedia compression and processing, and our recent collaboration with researchers in HCI and psychology, the proposed research program aims to provide training for such researchers and equip them with necessary skills to become successful innovators and leaders in this emerging field.