This Fall 2019 course offering combines a CS 4784 HCI undergrad capstone course with a CS 6724 HCI grad special topics course focused on the theme “HCI Outdoors”.  The course will explore readings with the HCI Outdoors theme, toward appreciating the challenges of designing technologies that work in and support outdoor activities.

The primary output from the course will be a semester project that builds on the diverse HCI-related skills of undergrads and grad students.  The project will involve hands-on exploration of technologies that have promise for use in outdoor situations, with the opportunity to obtain, design and program, and evaluate technology using HCI methods in support of HCI outdoors.

It is expected that the course will attract a small but diverse set of participants with interest and expertise in one or more of hiking, walking, personal tracking devices, health and wellness (physical and spiritual), human computer interaction, quantified self, mobile computing and technologies, and in-the-wild evaluations. It is strongly recommended that undergrads will have completed CS 3724 (Intro to HCI) and either/both of CS 3714 (Mobile Software Design) and CS 3744 (GUI Programming), and that grad students will have completed at least one introductory HCI course (e.g., CS 5714, CS 5724, CS 5744).  However, relevant other courses and experiences can be substituted at the instructor’s discretion.

Interested potential participants should email the course instructor, Dr. Scott McCrickard (mccricks@cs.vt.edu), indicating interest and experience in these topics and courses.  It is recommended that you view other posts and pages on the Tech on the Trail and HCI Outdoors sites.