ORGANIZED BY

INSTICC
and
 
Biosignals Emotive Human Control Interaction
 
Dinesh Kant Kumar
School of Electrical and Computer System Engineering,
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Dr Kumar is a senior lecture at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He graduated in electronics from IIT Madras (India) and latter did his PhD from IIT Delhi in Biomedical and Biosignals. He has published over 80 papers (in five years) in high impact journals and conferences and is responsible for 5 patents. He lectures on topics related to signal processing with applications to health, the body and multimedia. His style of lecturing is interactive and 'hands on'.


Tutorial Scope
The purpose of technology is for making us happier. The machines need to be for us, and not enslave us. But in the early stages of technological developments and evolutions, this has often been forgotten and technology seems to have enslaved the people. In the recent past, some of the organisations are including the human factor into their technology. As the first stage of evolution, the interaction between man and the machine has been based on static events such as the click of the mouse or the key. The operator have to adapt themselves to the machine and learn how to interact with the machines. The next stage is when interfaces such as voice operated systems are entering the markets. But in these, the dynamic changes are filtered. The systems are made for general use and the details such speed of the movements are discarded making these interfaces largely emotion less, and the personality of the individual are removed. With the increase in the capabilities of computers speed and memory, there is now a need improved interface between the operator and the machine that is more natural. The user should be able to convey information to the machine easily, reliably and naturally.

When people interact with others, the interaction is based on number of parallel flow of information such as what is being said, the style of the speech, body and hand movement and gestures. To improve the interaction of the user and the machine, there are number of possibilities. One is to identify the details of the human gestures and actions. The other is the use of biological parameters that are related to the human emotions. Both these can be achieved by measuring and analysing the electrical phenomena of the body.

This tutorial will discuss biosignals that can be used for the above purposes. It will also discuss the methods of recording and analysis of these signals and some of the precautions that are required to be taken. The tutorial will include a brief 'hands on' experience and if time permits, there will be some demonstrations.


Keywords
Biosignals
Biometrics
Human Computer Interface


Expected audience
People who may benefit from this tutorial will include engineers working in developing computer controlled machines and control systems. Graduate level knowledge of electronics and computers will be assumed.
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