Sketch Recognition from the User's Perspective
Prof. Christine Alvarado
Computer Science
Harvey Mudd College
Date: Friday, Feb. 22, 2008
Place: Buchanan 1940
Time: 2:00 pm — 3:00 pm
Abstract:
Programs that can recognize students' hand-drawn
diagrams have the potential to revolutionize education by breaking down
the barriers between diagram creation and simulation. Much recent work
(including much of our own work) focuses on building robust recognition
engines, but researchers have paid surprisingly little attention to the
potential users of these systems.
In this talk I will discuss two studies that
examine the problem of sketch recognition from the user's perspective.
In the first study we examined freely-drawn digital logic diagrams created
by students in an electrical engineering class. Our goal was to understand
how to construct a recognition engine that is robust to the way students
actually draw in practice. Our analysis reveals considerable drawing style
variation between students and that standard drawing style restrictions
made by sketch recognition systems to aid recognition generally do not
match the way students draw. In the second study we investigated four
critical sketch recognition user interface issues: how users integrate
the process of triggering recognition into their work, when users prefer
to indicate which portions of the diagram should be recognized, how users
prefer to receive recognition feedback, and how users perceive recognition
errors. We found that user preferences emphasize the importance of system
reliability, the minimization of distractions, and the maximization of
predictability. Finally, I will discuss the implications the results from
both studies have on the design of sketch recognition systems.
CHRISTINE ALVARADO is an assistant professor of computer
science at Harvey Mudd College. Her primary research interests lie in
the intersection of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction.
She focuses on building robust, free-sketch recognition-based interfaces
and exploring how to resolve the user interface challenges associated
with these interfaces. In addition to her sketch understanding research,
Prof. Alvarado is actively involved in outreach efforts to increase the
number of women in computer science, and in designing novel introductory
computer science curriculum that appeals to a broad scientific audience.
Prof. Alvarado received her undergraduate degree in computer science from
Dartmouth in 1998. She received her S.M. and Ph.D. in computer science
from MIT in 2000 and 2004, respectively.
Host: Prof. Tim Sherwood,
Computer Science
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