Keynote Speaker: Takeo Igarashi

Title: Interactive "Smart" Computers

Abstract: Current user interfaces are not very "smart" in that computers dumbly do what the user explicitly commands it to do via buttons or menus. As the computers become more capable and applications become complicated, more "smart" user interfaces are desired. We are exploring possible "smart" user interfaces in the domain of pen-based computing and interactive 3D graphics. The idea is to allow the user to intuitively express his/her intention by combining sketching and direct manipulation, and have the computer take appropriate actions without explicit commands. This talk consists of many live demonstrations to illustrate the idea of interactive "smart" interfaces. I plan to show 2D geometric drawing program, electronic whiteboard system, sketch-based 3D modeling, automatic zooming, clothing manipulation interfaces, and other interesting systems.

Bio: Takeo Igarashi is an associate professor at Computer Science department, the University of Tokyo and the director of JST ERATO Igarashi Design Interface Project. He received Ph.D from the University of Tokyo in 2000. His research interest is in user interface in general and current focus is on interaction techniques for 3D graphics. He is known as the inventor of a sketch-based modeling system called Teddy. He recently received ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 significant new researcher award.