COMPUTER SCIENTISTS AT UH DEVELOPING ‘NURTURING’
COMPUTERS
Ioannis Pavlidis Awarded NSF Grant to Study Physiology of Computer
Users
HOUSTON, Sept. 7, 2004 – Imagine a day when your computer
will be able to let you know if you need a break, alert you to take
medication or even go to the doctor.
In some computer science labs at the University of Houston, such
human-computer interaction is becoming a reality. Ioannis Pavlidis,
associate professor of computer science at UH, and his Infrared
Imaging Group at UH’s computer science department in the College
of Natural Sciences and Mathematics are leading the way with ATHEMOS
(Automatic THErmal Monitoring System), a system pioneered by Pavlidis
and his group that allows a computer to perform touchless physiological
monitoring of its human user, including measurements of blood flow,
pulse and breathing rate. ATHEMOS was featured at Wired magazine’s
international Nextfest Exposition as one of the novel technologies
that is expected to make a major impact in the future.
Pavlidis recently was awarded a grant from the National Science
Foundation (NSF) from its Division of Information and Intelligent
Systems for $640,169 to be spread across three years for research
titled “Interacting with Human Physiology.” With its
goal to monitor the actual health of a subject during computer use,
the Pavlidis project plans to incorporate physiologic monitoring
in human-computer interaction. The sensing element is a thermal
imaging camera that is employed as a computer peripheral. Through
bioheat modeling of facial imagery, almost the full range of vital
signs can be extracted. This physiological information can then
be used to draw inferences about a variety of health symptoms on
a continuous basis.
“An increased anxiety level, for instance, is indicated when
we detect periorbital warming through thermal imaging,” Pavlidis
said. “That is, the temperature goes up around the area surrounding
the orbit of the eye due to increased blood flow, telling us that
our subject is experiencing some sort of emotional distress. This
periorbital area is the facial area affected the most from blood
flow redistribution during anxious states.”
Since current computers are almost completely unaware of the actual
state of the human user, researchers are proposing methods for computers
to understand and respond to computer users’ feelings and
physical states. This would enable a two-way exchange, with each
participant (computer and human) aware of the other and responding
appropriately.
As the principal investigator, Pavlidis aims to add a new dimension
in human-computer interaction, with the project aspiring to use
the abundant computing resources at home and the office in combination
with novel sensing, algorithmic and interface methods to enhance
the user’s experience and, at the same time, create a new
preventive medicine paradigm. At a distance of up to several feet
from the subject, a computer will be able to monitor the actual
health of its user during computer use.
“Most people often wait until becoming symptomatic before
checking on the status of their health,” Pavlidis said. “With
typical health checks occurring at a doctor’s office, where
the environment is isolated and often static, one can make the argument
that the value of such check ups is often limited. Chronic ailments,
for instance, such as heartbeat irregularities, headaches and anxiety
disorders, often manifest themselves intermittently for short intervals
in a random manner, involving any number of situational and environmental
variables.”
Pavlidis will collaborate with the Medical Usability Lab of Columbia
University in New York and the Physiology Lab of Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn., for the human experimentation aspects of the project.
SOURCE: Ioannis Pavlidis, 713-743-0101; ipavlidis@uh.edu
Web page: http://www.vcl.uh.edu/~pavlidis/
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