Projects

The project develops methods for machine understanding of the driving situation, particularly monitoring driver state (e.g., gaze direction, alertness). This facilitates optimizing presented information according to the situation and urgency. Another focus is multimodal interaction: information is shown on screens, as audio, or as haptic feedback. The chosen modality depends on the kind of information and the current driving situation. Completely new innovations would come from LIDAR sensing inside the car, which would improve monitoring humans’ state and enable new interaction methods.

AMICI will validate technological solutions through prototypes and analyzing user interaction with them. One foreseen prototype expands car systems for driver and passenger use throughout the vehicle. The Origo steering wheel concept developed in the previous MIVI project forms the technological basis for this.

The present aim is to develop and realize a programmable digital sensory reality world that enables
creation of genuine olfactory experiences in VR. We will produce various odors and control their authenticity, intensity, dynamics, and timing so that the odors are accurately synchronized with other sensory information (audio and video) and with currently available means of interaction (e.g. wands, head and body turns, movement by teleportation). Following technology development in the project, we can measure odors from real odorous objects, classify them with AI/ML, and reproduce the odors while interacting in VR. The scent production device can also act as a terminal for transferring scents digitally. Our vision is that this will not only revolutionize the human-technology interaction but creates significant benefits for basic, clinical, and applied research.

To the best of our knowledge, no one has managed to program scents and integrate them to other sensory information with such precision and accuracy we are now proposing. Our innovations will pave the way for augmenting human senses by odors in VR realistically for the first time.

Mimetic interfaces refer to a new type of user interface technology in which computing and technical solutions are built to measure and imitate (mime) human behavioural functions so that lost functions can be restored digitally. The specific aim of the current project is to study and develop user interface technology especially targeted at improving and rehabilitation of face functionality (i.e. facial mimics) after unilateral facial paresis.Ultimately we envision technology that measures electric activity of facial muscles from the intact side of the face and routes this measured signal via small scale computing device to the affected side to stimulate the dysfunctional muscles. This represents a new type of user interface technology where an individual will be able to use his or her own bodily behavior to simultaneously control the behavior of other parts of the body. This means basically that a computer will be developed to act as a driver of human behavior. The project will be implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium involving expertise from computer science (especially man-machine interaction), psychology and psychophysiology of facial behavior, engineering, and medicine (specialists in clinical treatment of facial paresis).

The project aims to create methods and operations models on how to connect customers’ emotions with strategic business planning. The main focus is to create and study customers’ emotional pathway alongside the customer journey. Emotional pathway refers to the emotions that arise during different encounters of customer journey. Emotional pathway is studied by combining qualitative methods with psychophysiological experimental research. The achieved results will be concretized for companies so that they can use them in business development.

Make My Day is a joint project with ESC and CIRCMI and it is funded by Tekes. Industrial partners of the project are Nokian Tyres, Särkänniemi Adventure Park, insurance company Keskinäinen Vakuutusyhtiö Turva, and veterinary clinic Kuninkaantien eläinklinikka.

Funded by Tekes.

The project aims at developing and expanding research knowledge on new ways of utilizing automatic face analysis in social-emotional human-technology interaction (HTI) and building new support for vision-based user interfaces. The main objective of the project is to design and implement a new type of user interface that incorporates different machine vision techniques for the purpose of analyzing global facial information received from the user. Global facial information combines all detectable visual cues from the user’s face and head as, for example, facial expressions, eye movements, gaze direction, head movement, and head orientation. The applicability and usability of the developed interface will be validated by performing pilots in the target application areas which are technology-mediated social-emotional communications, networking, simulations, and gaming.

The research in the project is carried out by the consortium called “Machine Vision Interaction Consortium (MAVIC)”. The consortium consists of Finnish and Russian research teams. Finnish team includes researchers from ESC and MMIG groups. Russian team is located at the Laboratory of Neuroinformatics of Sensory and Motor Systems (NISMS), A.B. Kogan Research Institute for Neurocybernetics, Southern Federal University, Russian Federation. GoFASE project is funded jointly by the Academy of Finland and Russian Foundation for Humanities.

Starting from 2007 we have developed decisively joint teaching and research collaboration between Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction, University of Tampere (UTA) and Human Centered Technology Unit, Technical University of Tampere (TUT). In the lead of Prof. Surakka several grants have been succesfully applied for the work that has resulted into an official joint curriculum “Master’s Degree Programme in Human-Technology Interaction” between the universities.

Funded by University of Tampere, Tampere University of Technology, and The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries.

Mobile Haptics is a joint research project between University of Tampere, Finland and Stanford University, USA. The project is focused on the research of haptic feedback in unimodal and multimodal user interfaces. The research is mainly empirical basic research, where novel device and software prototypes from constructive research are studied. This is supported by user-centered research where the empirical research results are applied in implementing user interfaces for special user groups. This research is also strategic and groundbreaking by its nature, as these interfaces have not previously been developed and tested so thoroughly. Our aim is to maintain active and continuous research collaboration between the universities and companies in the consortium.

Funded by Tekes.