Hans Gellersen
Professor for Interactive Systems
Computing Department
Lancaster University 		hwg(at)comp.lancs.ac.uk
ph. +44 (0)1524 510 323
fax +44 (0)1524 510 492
Office: D16, Infolab21
Infolab21, South Drive,
Lancaster LA1 4WA, United Kingdom

 Administrator: Ms Chris Needham
ph. +44 (0)1524 510 314
News · Research · Projects · Publications · Jobs
News
   · Four Research Positions available from October 2006 - applications closing 11 September
   · Presenting VoodooIO at SIGGRAPH in the Emerging Technologies Track, 30 July to 3 August

Research
My research interests are in interactive systems and ubiquitous computing, in particular
   · Systems that sense and use context information
   · Physical and embedded user interfaces
   · Computing embedded in 'everyday' artefacts
   · Spontaneous interaction between users and devices

Projects

RELATE - Relative Positioning of Mobile Devices
This is a longer-term research effort in the area of loaction- and context-aware computing. The project is focussed on relative location information (i.e. the spatial relationships of users, devices and objects in mobile and ubiquitous computing environments) and on peer-to-peer sensing and computation of spatial relations (allowing devices to determine their relative positions directly, not requiring any instrumentation of their environment).
VoodooIO - Malleable Physical Interfaces
VoodooIO has grown out of an earlier project, Pin&Play, in which we investigated ad hoc networking of computational devices through surfaces with embedded conductive sheets. In VoodooIO we are using this infrastructure to provide physical interfaces that are malleable, allowing quick assembly, spatial arrangement, and dynamic application binding of physical controls (buttons, sliders, dials etc) on interactive surfaces.

Augmentation of Smart Objects with Projected Display
In a number of previous projects (Mediacup, Smart-Its, Cooperative Artfeacts) we have investigated how everyday artefacts can be made context-aware and interactive with embedded sensors. In this PhD project we are now looking into adding of output capability to 'smart' objects, and explore an approach in which objects collaborate with steerable camera-projection systems available as service in their environment.
CAPER - Context-based Authentication of Peer Devices for Spontaneous Interaction
This is a new project in which we investigate the use of context sensing to secure spontaneous interactions. The problem we address is peer device authentication: how to ensure, in the absence of trusted infrastructure, that the 'correct' device associations are established as intended and verifiable by users.

Some of this research is carried out in the context of larger collaborations in which we are involved:
   · Equator: an interdisciplinary collaboration in the UK on physical-digital experiences and technologies
   · Smart Surroundings: a ubiquitous computing research initiative in The Netherlands
   · RELATE: a European consortium I lead on relative positioning of mobile objects in ad hoc networks