HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF SCIENCE

Department of Computer Science Seminar
2011 Series

Visual Interfaces for Human-Centred Web Search

Dr. Orland Hoeber
Department of Computer Science
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Date: March 1, 2011 (Tuesday)
Time: 2:30 - 3:30 pm
Venue: SCT716, Cha Chi Ming Science Tower, Ho Sin Hang Campus

Abstract
People commonly experience significant difficulties when searching the Web. These difficulties are often due to an incomplete knowledge regarding their information goal, an inability to formulate an accurate query, and a low tolerance for considering the relevance of the search results. While simple and easy to use interfaces have made Web search universally accessible, they provide little assistance for people to overcome the difficulties they experience when their goals are more complex than basic fact-verification. In human-centred Web search, the purpose of the search engine expands from a simple information retrieval engine to a decision support system. People are able to take an active role in the search process, with the search engine supporting them in further understanding their information needs, assisting them in crafting and refining their queries, and aiding them in evaluating and exploring the search results. Visual interfaces further enhance the benefits of human-centred Web search, allowing searchers to see and interact with relevant to their search tasks. In this presentation, research prototypes from the extant literature on visual interfaces for human-centred Web search will be shown and discussed, along with prototypes that have been developed by the presenter and his team of graduate students in the User Experience Lab at Memorial University.

Biography
Dr. Orland Hoeber is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada). He received his Ph.D. from the University of Regina in 2007. His primary research interests include information visualization, Web search interfaces, Web search personalization, human-computer interaction, and geo-visual analytics in the context of fisheries and oceanographic data. Dr. Hoeber is one of the principle researchers in the User Experience Lab at Memorial University.

********* ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME ***********
(For enquiry, please contact Computer Science Department at 3411 2385)

http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/v1/?page=seminars&id=159&lang=tc
Photos  Slides