Author, Researcher on "The New Computing" to Speak at Ohio State

Posted: September 21, 2004

The Ohio State University is pleased to welcome Ben Shneiderman, distinguished researcher, keynote speaker and award-winning author of many books and publications on the relationship between humans and computers. He will be on campus as the featured presenter in the latest of a series of Technology Days. He delivers a lecture on the theme of universal usability on Wednesday, November 10 at 9 a.m. in the Ohio Union Stecker Lounge (third floor). Parking is available in the Ohio Union garage next door. A book signing immediately follows the lecture.

The public event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the Department of Industrial, Interior, and Visual Communication Design, the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD), the Digital Media Working Group and the Institute for Ergonomics.

Shneiderman's lecture is based on his 2002 book, "Leonardo's Laptop: Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies." The work, which won the IEEE 2003 book award, focuses on the shift from what computers can do to what users can do. The book also explores the computer's potential to support creativity, consensus-seeking, and conflict resolution and ponders the idea of how daVinci might have used a computer. "Leonardo's Laptop" launched "The New Computing" movement, which is now an initiative of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland.

The author is a professor of computer science, founding director of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory and member of the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and Institute for Systems Research, all at the University of Maryland at College Park. His lifetime work has focused on human-computer interaction and information visualization and has led him to explore software psychology, user interface design and highlighted textual links--a forerunner of the web. He has proposed new computing applications in education, medicine, business, and government and has defined a key technology transformation that he calls "universal usability," which seeks to empower those yearning for literacy or coping with limitations.

The Technology Days series was started in 2002 and hosted by the Future State team of the Information Technology Strategic Planning process. The Office of the Chief Information Officer and Technology Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR) have continued the forums to provide the OSU academic community with ongoing expert vision on the future of technology in higher education from current "thought leaders."

Additional information available at ad site or contact Susan Metros at metros.1@osu.edu or 688-8482.