12-05

Expressive Interaction and the Evaluation of Creativity Support

Visionaries in Computer Science have long seen the computer as a tool to augment our intellect. However, while it is relatively straightforward to measure the impact of a tool or technique on task efficiency for well-defined tasks, it is much more difficult to measure computers' impact on higher-level cognitive processes, such as creativity. In my own research in Human-Computer Interaction, I create novel interaction techniques, but run up against the problem of trying to evaluate how these tools impact higher-level processes such as creativity, expressiveness and exploration. In this talk, I briefly present a variety of interaction techniques that I have developed, and I then describe a new survey metric, the Creativity Support Index (CSI), that we have developed to help researchers and designers evaluate the level of creativity support provided by these types of systems, tools or interfaces. I will then present some current results using EEG and machine learning to classify the creative experience with more specific, temporal granularity. I present this work within the context of my longer term goal to develop a suite of tools that provide both stronger analytical power and a general framework for evaluating computational support for creative activities, engagement and aesthetic experience.

Dr. Celine Latulipe has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in Canada. She is an Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction in the Department of Software and Information Systems in the College of Computing and Informatics at UNC Charlotte. Dr. Latulipe has long been fascinated by two-handed interaction in the real world, and the absence of it in the human-computer interface. She has developed numerous individual and collaborative two-handed interaction techniques and these have blossomed into a more general exploration of creative expression. Dr. Latulipe works on projects with choreographers, dancers, artists and theatre producers to better understand creative work in practice and how technology may play a role in supporting and evaluating creative work practices. Currently, Dr. Latulipe is working on many projects, including the NSF CreativeIT-funded Dance.Draw project, which has received national media attention.