Abstract
Regardless of the technology that surrounds us and the virtual realms we use and inhabit, we are still physical beings living in physical settings. Various current trends in human-computer interaction attempt to enhance usability by exploring new physical interface attributes and mappings.
My group’s research is directed at designing and exploring new interactive experiences based on physical entities and environments. Our interests include human-robot interaction, physical and tangible user interfaces, mixed reality, computer game interfaces and ubiquitous computing. In this talk I will present a brief overview of physicality in interaction, its potential and challenges. The talk includes a discussion of several current projects my students and I are pursuing, ranging from 3D sketch-based interaction and mixed reality games, to sociable robotic interfaces and robotic cartoon art expressionism.

Ehud Sharlin
I am an assistant professor at the University of Calgary’s Computer Science Department since October 2004. I am running the uTouch research group and a member of the Interactions Lab, together with Dr. Sheelagh Carpendale, Dr. Saul Greenberg, and around 30 other researchers. My research interests are directed at designing and exploring new interactive experiences that rely on physical entities and environments.
Between 2003 and 2004 I was an Assistant Professor with the Human Interface Engineering Laboratory at Osaka University, Japan. I completed my Ph.D. in Computing Science in 2003 at the University of Alberta, Canada, and received my M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Ben-Gurion University, Israel in 1997 and 1990 respectively. Between 1991 and 1998 I worked as a senior researcher and research director with several Israeli R&D labs.

I am married to Amira, father to Noga, Naomi and Inbal.