Cati Vaucelle
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Grounding interfaces: shifting the body boundaries, 2008.
Main Area: Human Computer Interaction - Tangible and Gesture Object Interfaces.
Technical Area: Electrical Engineering - Sensing Technologies.
Contextual Area: Psychology, Cultural Artifacts and Semiotics.
I've successfully passed my qualifying MIT general exam, showing the mastery of the specific knowledge required (analysis) and extend ideas into new territory (synthesis). I took three written exams and passed an oral exam that merged my three research areas. I titled the new territory for my PhD: "Grounding interfaces: shifting the body boundaries".
For the contextual area, I worked with Dr Edith Ackermann, honorary professor of developmental psychology in France and visiting professor of Architecture at MIT. I explored the psychological trade-off between what we call virtual and tangible “attachments”: I focused on people’s attachments to things, and through things, their relations to people (virtual and digital). I addressed the digital object collection mechanism in relation to the way we gather artifacts in the physical world (developmental psychology).
For the technical area, I worked with physicist Dr Joe Paradiso, Associate Professor at MIT. This area covered the design of technologies for body sensing and expression (electrical engineering/sensing technology).
For the main area, I worked with computer engineer Dr Hiroshi Ishii, Associate Professor at MIT. This area focused on foundations in the design of tangible interfaces and interaction design (computer science/HCI/interaction design).
Here is my presentation in .pdf format. Oral exam: blog entry.
