Call for Papers Open - 2015 Web for All (W4A) Conference

mz22 — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 12:40:38 +0000

The 12^th Annual Web 4 All (W4A’15) Conference, an event highlighting innovations in wearable and accessible technologies, will take place May 18-20, 2015 in Florence Italy. The W4A’15 theme is “The Wearable Web,” promoting the best of web, mobile, and wearable innovations designed for people with and without disabilities. Some highlights for the event include:

IBM will provide travel grants to both grad and undergrad students with disabilities
Google will sponsor 6 PhD students to participate in the Doctoral Student Consortium
Intuit will award $2,000 and $1,000 to the best technical and communication papers
The Paciello Group (TPG) will give awards to the winners of the Accessibility Challenge

Technology and paper submissions are currently being accepted and should discuss the technical solutions and scientific insights into technologies addressing diverse user needs (i.e. access and functional needs, culture, education, emotions, etc.). W4A’15 will be accepting submission until January 23, 2015, and notify award recipients by March 4, 2015

The event is also co-located with the 2015 24^th International World Wide Web Conference Web for All and the International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services in Florence, Italy.

Shepherd Center and Wireless RERC Awarded Google Grant

mz22 — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 19:53:07 +0000

Google Glass

Wearables

Wearable Technology

Google Awards Grant to Shepherd Center Researchers to Create Wearable Computer App for People with Memory Deficits

The Shepherd Center and the Wireless RERC have been awarded the Google Glass Accessibility Grant to develop an application to assist individuals who experience brain injury-related memory loss. The $15,000 award amount will go towards app development and testing on the Google Glass device. The wearable computer technology will aid in helping users recognize people who do not regularly frequent their social circle, a common issue for those who have memory loss.

The Google Glass device includes head-mounting, optical display, smartphone-like features and voice response technology, ideal for those who may have usability challenges. John Morris, Ph.D., the project leader for the app, references three potential benefits of the app:

If the solution proves effective, people living with brain injury may enjoy greater levels of community and family participation, with lower levels of stress and anxiety;
The user-testing research involved with the app development could help researchers develop a specific clinical practice protocol for use of electronic memory aids;
The research and development community could benefit from this work through the researchers’ presentation of their results at conferences and in professional publications.

The app will be free to the public upon release. For more information, please click the link below.

Wireless RERC - Wearable Technology

Call for Papers Open - 2015 Web for All (W4A) Conference

Shepherd Center and Wireless RERC Awarded Google Grant