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Nottingham University – Mixed Reality Lab

The Mixed Reality Laboratory (MRL) is an interdisciplinary lab where computer scientists, psychologists, sociologists, engineers and architects collaborate to explore the potential of ubiquitous, mobile and mixed reality technologies to shape everyday life. Research is grounded in a user-centred approach which combines expertise in interaction and distributed systems to rapidly prototype interactive technologies. Multiple evaluation techniques are used to understand how these are experienced by people ‘in the wild’. Our research contributes to a variety of fields including Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). The MRL has evolved a distinctive approach to its research that combines:

Research “in the wild” – we constantly emphasise the importance of moving out of the research lab and beyond the “cool demo” by deploying and studying emerging technologies in real-world settings including the home.
A multidisciplinary perspective that combines expertise in software and hardware with knowledge of how to design engaging experiences for real people and study their experiences.
A focus on integration through iteration in which the results from multiple practice-based projects undertaken in the wild are combined and generalised through reflective activities which in turn inspire further experiences.

The lab has extensive experience in large scale multidisciplinary endeavours and was coordinating partner for the Equator IRC. Following an external review by an international panel, EPSRC’s final report observed “The IRC turned a high risk starting point into something not only excellent but fundamental and which has now become main stream. The US are trying to catch up in this area where the UK is a leader and this is all credit to EQUATOR.”

The University of Glasgow

The Glasgow team spans three research groups: HCI; Embedded, Networked and Distributed Systems; and Formal Analysis, Theory and Algorithms, each with strong international reputations and extensive experience of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Imperial College London – Systems Management and Security Group

The Systems Management and Security group at Imperial College London is a world-renowned group that combines practical work on building tools for the specification and implementation of adaptive systems management and security with more formal approaches to modelling, analysis, refinement and planning. The group’s interests span distributed systems, mobile ad-hoc systems and wireless sensing systems. The research is often application-driven and covers a variety of areas including pervasive healthcare, autonomous vehicles and virtual organisations. Current projects include UbiVal - Fundamental Approaches to Validation of Ubiquitous Computing Applications and Infrastructures (WINES), Emanics - European Network of Excellence on the Management of the Internet and Complex Services (EU), CareGrid - Autonomous Trust Domains for Healthcare Applications (EPSRC) and Primma – Privacy Rights Management for Mobile Applications (EPSRC).

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research area, within the School of Interactive Computing (ranked 4th nationally for its Graphics/User Interaction program) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) consists of 13 members of tenure-track academic faculty. The HCI group has a 15 year leadership history that can be charted across the course of Human-Computer Interaction research within the United States. Further, the HCI faculty are leaders in the internationally-known Aware Home research program which consists of a residential building designed as a living laboratory for prototyping and exploring next generation networked homes, services, and applications. Results from this research contribute to a variety of fields including Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). The HCI research group, leveraging the Aware Home (www.awarehome.gatech.edu) and other resources, is committed to research in the wild—deploying solutions in living laboratories and when possible in people’s actual homes. In the design, development, and deployment of solutions, the faculty draw on a broad range of disciplines to ensure that solutions are useable and useful.

Microsoft Research (Cambridge)

Will build on existing initiatives at MSR Cambridge in the development of user centred networking approaches for the home involving staff from their networking and Computer-Mediated Living groups as well as providing access to the recently announced Windows Home Server software (see support letter for details).

Involvement from BT will build upon their strategic interest in home networks as one of the leading providers of domestic broadband services. This will include members of their Digital Home Research Programme, their Customers and Markets programme and will link with their current strategies including trials in this area and involvement in the dissemination of this work (see support letter for details).