Workshop: Gesture & Technology 2018

The programme booklet for the workshop can be downloaded here.

Announcement

We are very pleased to announce our Workshop on “Gesture & Technology”, hosted by the University of Warwick, on Sunday the 3rd of June 2018, from 9am-6pm. Participation is open to researchers at all levels.

Over the past decade, technologies such as motion trackers (e.g., Kinect, Leap Motion) and Virtual Reality headsets (e.g., HoloLens) have become increasingly accessible and affordable. However, such technologies have yet to be introduced in gesture studies, and gesture studies are often neglected in the development of applications for these technologies.

Our “Gesture & Technology” workshop brings together experts from various disciplines who develop and work with advanced technologies to start the discussion of how such existing technologies could advance gesture studies, and how gesture studies can contribute to the development of useful applications. One could think of a body tracking system for patient monitoring to improve healthcare, or immersive learning experiences with augmented reality and gesture control for education.

Five sessions will examine the themes of: 1) Traditional Technologies Used in Gesture Studies; 2) Nonverbal Communication in Robots and Virtual Agents; 3) Automated Gesture Recognition; 4) Human Computer Interactions in Multisensory Simulations; and 5) Clinical Applications for Body and Motion Trackers.

We look forward to discussing with you how existing technologies could facilitate research excellence in the field of gesture studies, and how theories from gesture studies could lead to exciting and innovative applications. In between the sessions, we will be live tweeting about the workshop using #Gesture18. Please join us in the online and offline discussion of the programme.

Invited Speaker Programme

Session 1: Plenary

Sotaro Kita – Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, UK

"Traditional technologies used in gesture studies"

Session 2: Nonverbal Communication in Robots and Virtual Agents

Stefan Kopp – Centre of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), University of Bielefeld, Germany

“Getting pragmatic — functions and effects of gesture in HRI”

Abi Roper – Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design & Division of Language and Communication Science, City, University of London, UK

"Vision-based gesture recognition technology supports gesture learning in severe aphasia"

Session 3: Automated Gesture Recognition

Juliane Honisch – School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences – University of Reading, UK

"Does moving along to the same beat increase gesture production and turn-taking efficiency"

James Trujillo – Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

“Microsoft Kinect for markerless motion capture: supporting gesture coding and kinematic feature analysis”

Session 4: Technology Demonstrations

Ali Asadipour – WMG – University of Warwick, UK

“Human computer interactions in multisensory simulations”

Demonstrations: Hands-on experience with motion tracking systems

Session 5: Clinical Applications for Body and Motion Trackers

Judith Bek¹, Emma Gowen¹, Stefan Vogt², Trevor Crawford², & Ellen Poliakoff¹
¹University of Manchester, ²Lancaster University

“Motion and eye tracking to investigate imitation of hand movements in Parkinson’s disease”

Callum Thornton – School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

“Modelling and analysis of hand motion in everyday activities with application to prosthetic hand technology”

Call for Poster Abstracts

We also invite abstract submissions for posters from researchers who would like to present their research in a friendly environment. Priority will be given to postgraduate students (Master’s & PhD) and junior postdoctoral researchers (normally within two years of their PhD), but researchers at all levels are welcome to submit an abstract on a topic that fist within the three main workshop themes.

We invite poster abstracts of no more than 250 words (excluding references). Abstracts should include the title, the authors and their affiliations (not included in the word count). Please indicate student authors by adding a “*” after their names. Abstracts may include figures and/or tables. Figure captions and table captions do not count towards the word count. Authors can submit as many abstracts as they wish.

Please include in your abstract 1) the topic of your study, 2) motivation, 3) research question, 4) methodology, 5) a summary of the findings, and 6) your conclusion. Abstracts should be submitted in PDF format to the workshop's email address: warwickgestureworkshop2018 at gmail dot com. Please mention “Abstract submission” in the subject line of your email.

DEADLINE for abstract submissions: 18 April 2018.

NOTIFICATIONS of acceptance: 1 May 2018.

We recommend poster presenters to bring a A1-sized portrait poster, because of the measurements of the poster boards.

Fees

There will be no attendance fee and coffee, tea, lunch, and refreshments will be provided during the day. Please register your participation so that we can book the right numbers in for food and drinks.

Registration

You can register for the workshop by emailing us on warwickgestureworkshop2018 at gmail dot com. Please mention “Registration” in the subject line of your message. Make sure to include your name, affiliation, and title (e.g. postgraduate student, postdoctoral researcher) in your message to us, so that we can print this information on your name badge, which you will receive during the day of the workshop. Please also indicate any dietary requirements.

DEADLINE for registration: 18 May 2018.

Workshop Dinner

We will have a workshop dinner at Varsity pub at 6pm. Please specify in your registration email if you would like to join for dinner. It will be possible to pay for your meal in cash or by card at the restaurant.

Venue

The workshop will take place in Room 0.04 of the Oculus Building on the central campus of the University of Warwick (Coventry, postcode: CV4 7AL).

Travel Information

There are direct train lines between London Euston and Coventry (±1 hour), and there is a taxi rank at the rail station (£15 to campus). Buses 11 and 12 go directly to the University campus from the station (£2.20 exact fare per single ticket).

The closest airport is Birmingham International Airport (BHX). Coventry rail station is ±10 minutes away and only one stop on the train (£3). A taxi ride directly from the airport to campus costs £35 and takes ±25 minutes. There are also Uber taxis available in the Birmingham and Coventry areas.

If you are driving, free parking will be available opposite the venue in Car Park 7.

Accommodation

If you would like to stay overnight, please email us on the workshop’s email address. We will then help you to find a suitable place to stay. It is possible to book accommodation on campus via the University’s website.

Organising Committee

Suzanne Aussems, & Sotaro Kita

The organising committee will review the poster abstract submissions and decide which abstracts will be assigned a poster presentation. During the day of the workshop, the organising committee will also select the best poster presentation and the presenter will receive a prize.

Department of Psychology