The Department of Applied Computing at the University of Dundee

Ramanee Peiris, Peter Gregor and Alan F. Newell

Department of Applied Computing
University of Dundee
Dundee DD1 4HN Scotland

KEYWORDS:

Disability, communication aids, HCI, usability, AAC, multimodal, telecommunications.

INTRODUCTION
Founded in 1980, Dundee'sDepartment of Applied Computing contains one of the largest and most influential academic groups in the world researching into communication systems for disabled people. It also has strong international and national reputations in other aspects of human computer interaction research and was awarded a top grade 5a in the 1996 RAE. The Department has an engineering bias and brings together a unique blend of disciplines including computer scientists and engineers, psychologists, a therapist, a special education teacher, and staff who have benefited from interdisciplinary careers. In all its work it is committed to the principles of usability engineering with a focus on developing academic and practical insights, and producing software which can be commercialised. Research is funded from a wide portfolio of funding agencies: the total research grants awarded in the years 1996/1997 exceeded £1.6 million. The fourteen academic staff gave nine invited lectures and published more than twenty-nine journal articles and book chapters and forty eight conference papers. Applied Computing has licensed many software products to commercial companies in the USA and Europe, and collaborates in its research with commercial, academic and service organisations worldwide. The Department offers undergraduate and postgraduate Degrees in Applied Computing in a unique programme where the learning of HCI and usability engineering techniques is integral throughout the courses.
MULTIMODAL AND ORDINARY AND EXTRA-ORDINARY HCI The group developed and concept within the HCI community that extra-ordinary (disabled) people operating in ordinary environments, pose similar problems to able- bodied (ordinary) people operating in extra-ordinary (high work load, environmentally unfriendly) situations. They have shown how simultaneous multimodal input, combined with user monitoring and plan recognition, can enhance the reliability of human-system interaction for pilots, air traffic controllers and people with disabilities.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND REMOTE LEARNING
This group is investigating how data communication networks can improve the quality of life for disabled and elderly people. They have developed special services relating to interpersonal communication and have demonstrated the advantages of novel graphical forms of communication as an enhancement to live video. This activity has been supported by research in multimedia services and HCI, and is linked with our more recent research into the use of video and other support services for disabled and non-disabled students. Most of the research is collaborative, usually with European partners.
HEALTH INFORMATICS
In collaboration with medical and dental colleagues this research group is advancing the frontiers in clinical decision support both in asthma treatment within general medical practice and molar extraction in general dental practice. They have taken part

in major studies of child growth, the clinical management of cystic fibrosis, and the linkage between asthma and poor growth. They have identified novel approaches to automating the visual inspection of both cervical smears and breast x-ray images. The group are also founding members of the Focal Institute for Scottish Health Informatics which seeks to bring together all health informatics researchers in Scotland.
INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE This group is an international leader in the development of communication systems for disabled non-speaking people which help them to interact more effectively with others. Research projects have investigated several aspects of conversational modelling to aid in this task including word frequency, openings and closings, giving feedback, topic selections and movement, storytelling, and expressing emotions. A number of commercial products have resulted from this research including: Predictability, a word prediction system; TALK, a system aiding social conversation; ScripTalker, a communication system based on scripts, and Talk:About, a storytelling aid. Other related research projects include: Blissword, a predictive retrieval system for Blissymbolics which allows users to retrieve symbols which can then be manipulated in a word processor; SeeWord, which enables dyslexic users to configure their word processor interface for optimum legibility when working with text; HAMLET, a system for the investigation of emotion in synthetic speech; and Unicorn, a communication system making use of the internet. Also the use of predictive and signal processing techniques is being investigated to assist with the maintenance and support of elderly people within the community. COMPUTER BASED INTERVIEWING AND KNOWLEDGE ELICITATION Models of the structures of human interviews have been used to develop general purpose software to conduct computer based and computer facilitated interviews. A commercial product based on this work (ChatterBox), has been evaluated in clinical use in a secure mental hospital, and within schools. Further research is focused on more flexible models of computer interviewing and on the potential of computer based interviewing techniques to assist in a variety of settings from engagement with psychosis sufferers to employment pre-interviewing. This research is leading to new insights concerning human computer interaction.
DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING This newly formed research group focuses on Digital Signal Processing in its broadest sense including image processing and multi-dimensional signal processing. Particular interests cover remote sensing for environmental monitoring and signal processing on-board spacecraft. Recent research has covered data compression for synthetic aperture radar, work on a vision guided autonomous lunar lander, and Consultancy on space-based signal processing architectures. Experience in system development within the aerospace industry has provided the foundation for a research initiative in software engineering. Emphasis is on pragmatic software tools which utilise and build on HCI techniques developed within Applied Computing.