People

Elizabeth is a PhD student at UCSD working with William Griswold in the areas of Ubiquitous Computing and HCI. Her current interests involve how mobile backchannel technology can be used to facilitate connectedness between distributed family and social groups. Elizabeth received her bachelors in Computer Engineering from the University of Washington in 2006.

Louise Barkhuus is a research scientist in the Department of Computer Science. Her research area is human-computer interaction, with particular emphasis on ubiquitous computing. More specifically her research attempts to uncover the emergent practices and use of state-of-the-art computing technologies, such as mobile applications and social software in their native environment. She conceptualizes and develops these technologies for further study as well as studying existing ones. Most recently she conducted a study of multifunctional phones, in collaboration with Valerie Polichar.

 Barry is currently an associate professor of communications at UCSD San Diego. His recent work has focused on the sociology and design of leisure technologies - computer systems for leisure and pleasure. Recent publications include studies of activities as diverse as games, tourism, museum visiting, the use of maps, television watching and sport spectating. He has also edited books on music consumption (with Kenton O’Hara), and mobile phone use (with Richard Harper and Nicola Green). Before coming to California he was a research fellow on the Equator project at the University of Glasgow and a research scientist at Hewlett-Packard's research labs in Bristol.

Lisa Cowan is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science and Engineering at UCSD, working with Bill Griswold on ubiquitous computing. Her research interests include social mobile computing, and using computer networks to enhance social networks. Prior to attending UCSD, Lisa obtained a B.A. in Anthropology at UC Berkeley, an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Computer Science at Mills College, and worked in industry developing database-driven web sites.

I'm fascinated by the ways that computing, made ubiquitous, can change the way we live together. I believe that computing, used wisely, can make us better than we know how to be.

In this area, I'm currently advising or co-advising Liz Bales, Lisa Cowan, Kevin Li, Roshni Malani, Patricia Shanahan, and Tim Sohn. Together with Jim Hollan and Adriene Jenik, I am directing the Campus of the Future project, funded by Microsoft Research ER&P, UC Micro, and Hewlett Packard.

I am a professor in Computer Science and Engineering at UCSD. You can learn about my software engineering research and other interests from my home page there.

I am Professor of Cognitive Science and Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at UCSD. I help direct the Ubiquitious Computing and Social Dynamics Group. In collaboration with Ed Hutchins, I also co-direct the Distributed Cognition and Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory.

My research explores the cognitive consequences of computationally-based media. The goal is to understand the cognitive and computational characteristics of dynamic interactive representations as the basis for effective system design. Current work focuses on cognitive ethnography, computer-mediated communication, distributed cognition, human-computer interaction, information visualization, multiscale software, and tools for analysis of video and other rich activity data.

Kevin is a PhD student in Computer Engineering at UCSD where he works with Bill Griswold and Jim Hollan. His research interests lie in context aware computing, information visualization and novel interaction techniques. He is broadly interested in Ubiquitous Computing and Human Computer Interaction.

For more details, see Kevin's Website .

I am a Ph.D. student in Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego, working on educational technologies with Bill Griswold and Beth Simon. My primary research interests are focused on how ubiquitous computing can enhance the dynamics of lecture settings to be more interactive. I am currently investigating how technology can support collaborative, inquiry-based note-taking. My broad interests include human-computer interaction and software engineering.

Sverre is a Master student at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, currently writing his Master Thesis at UCSD. His supervisors are Bill Griswold, Barry Brown, and Jim Hollan. His interests lie in public screens, telecommunication, and information security.

Valerie Polichar received her B.A. in Cognitive Science and her Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of California, San Diego. After over twenty years in the workforce as a technical manager, she is returning to research. Valerie is interested in networked communities and communications and their interactions with physical communities and communications. She is also interested in educational technology and its effectiveness on learning.

At present, she is conducting research with Louise Barkhuus, Ph.D. on cell phone use and its relationship with lifestyle.

You can learn more about Valerie at her personal Web site.