Dr. Roel Vertegaal

Dr. Roel Vertegaal is Associate Professor in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and director of the Human Media Laboratory. He is also CTO of Xuuk, Inc., a startup that develops attention sensors for interactive, real-world viewing statistics gathering. Roel's first degree is in Electronic Music from Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands. He did an MSc in Computing in Britain, studied design in The Hague, and holds a PhD in HCI from Twente University. Roel is one of the world's experts on eye communication between humans, and between humans and technology. He received the Premier of Ontario's Research Excellence Award for his work on Attentive User Interfaces (AUI) [Google TechTalk], which was featured in media across the globe, from Good Morning America to Scientific American. Roel helped create the first North-American conference on Eye Tracking (ACM ETRA), established alt.chi as the alternative papers venue at the annual ACM SIGCHI conference and advised the National Academy of Sciences. His current interest is in Organic User Interfaces.

“in the near future, a computer will have any shape or form, and flexible computer displays will start appearing on any product of any form. projecting and tracking objects is just the beginning. these organic user interfaces will be completely embedded in real world interactions.”

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