Dr. Brenda Laurel presents The Human Face of Research April 6, 2006

Thursday, April 6, 2006, 6:30 pm

An investigation into new approaches to design research, with an emphasis on human-centred design research, set within the context of emerging needs, technologies and forms of the 21st century.

Brenda Laurel is an acclaimed designer, researcher and writer, with a 25-year career in human-computer interaction (HCI) and expertise in interactive narrative and cultural aspects of technology. One of the founders of Interval Research Corporation in Palo Alto, California, Laurel conducted research into gender and technology, co-produced and directed the Placeholder Virtual Reality project, and co-founded Purple Moon a subsidiary acquired by Mattel in 1999. She serves currently as Chair and faculty member of the graduate Media Design program at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California, and concurrently works as Senior Director and Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems Labs in Menlo Park, California. Laurel has published extensively on interactive fiction, computer games, autonomous agents, virtual relation and political artistic issues in interactive media. She is editor of The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design [Addison-Wesley 1990] and author of Computers as Theatre [Addison-Wesley 1991].

Both presentations take place at OCAD's Auditorium (Room 190), Nora E. Vaughan Wing, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto. All are welcome to attend, and admission is free. For information, visit www.ocad.ca or call 416-977-6000.