Visual attention is needed for the conscious perception of the world around us; without it, we may look but we won't see. What, then, are the mechanisms that characterize attentional and non-attentional visual processes, and how can we dissociate them?

You will be compensated $10/hour. To participate, please sign up for an appointment at ubcviscog.com.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Ronald Rensink
UBC ethics approval number: H10-01207

Eclipse DemoCamp is a free informal event for Eclipse enthusiasts to meet up and demo what they are doing with Eclipse (such as: research projects, Eclipse open source projects, applications based on Eclipse, commercial products using Eclipse, etc.). There will be presentations about cutting-edge JVM languages, custom Eclipse distributions, integrating agile processes into Eclipse, and of course some great research from UBC students. Free snacks and great networking guaranteed.

Those interested in attending should add their name to the list of attendees or e-mail one of the organizers listed on that page.

Some of the presenters are your fellow Computer Science students!

The information session is a great opportunity for students to learn more about the world-renowned university and its programs.

For more information please visit the related blog entry on the OzTREKK website.

This spring, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is taking the best and brightest minds out of their labs and offices to tour the country, challenging Canadians to think about the biggest questions facing our world today.

In Vancouver, at an event moderated by CBC Radio’s Early Edition host Rick Cluff, three CIFAR researchers will make a case for why their research area represents the Next Big Question. The people of Vancouver will be able to join in the discussion and vote for the researcher who best makes their case.

In Vancouver, the following Next Big Questions will be championed:

Can we sustain the information revolution?

By Don Eigler, expert on the physics of nanometer-scale structures and exploring the applications of nanometer-scale structures to computing

What is the fate of the universe?

By Julio Navarro, expert on the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies

How can political institutions best promote peace and prosperity?

By Jim Fearon, Professor of Humanities and Sciences and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Stanford University

Tickets are $30 and can be bought at cifarNBQ.ca. Seating is limited and you must have tickets in advance to attend.

About CIFAR

Created in 1982, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research builds teams of the best Canadian and international researchers to collaborate on complex questions at the frontiers of human knowledge. The Institute’s research is interdisciplinary, collaborative, and risky and aimed at creating knowledge with the potential to change how we understand our world. We help Canada attract and retain many of the world’s greatest researchers, so as to enrich Canada intellectually and economically.

For more information, visit cifar.ca.

1 day interactive, conference style event. Includes alumni and employer panels, effective job search skills workshops, résumé writing and feedback sessions, discovering your strengths workshop, networking, and interview skills practice.

Register at http://www.students.ubc.ca/careers/students/get-career-guidance/workshops/crash-course-on-careers/.

$15 for registrations on or before April 30; $25 after.

NOTE: This event sold out last year! Register ASAP if interested. E-mail Diane Johnson if you've got additional questions.

Title: Physical Interface Design and Communication Through Touch

Abstract: I'm interested in how people communicate through the sense of touch, and how haptic information transfer interacts with perception in other modalities. As time and interest permit, I’ll discuss two very different kinds of haptic communication that my group has been studying recently. The first is abstract information, delivered one-way to your hand encoded in complex vibrations. We’ve found that humans are better at this than you might expect—depending on how the sensations are created; and the medium has potential for low-effort, background communication. In the second kind, we’re examining haptically communicated affect: what’s behind feels that we like or don’t like—can this be predicted or quantified? How do we communicate emotion haptically, to people or animals, and is this an essential part of emotional communication more generally? We're building a highly sensed animatronic Creature as an experimental platform, which we plan to use for basic study and in a therapeutic setting.

We’ll meet this time in the HCI Learning Studio, a resource created with a special grant by the CS HCI faculty for studio-style courses. Snacks possibly available for early arrivals.

Rising Stars of Research is an exciting and unique event which brings top undergraduate researchers from across Canada to BC. The centrepiece of RSR is a research poster competition and includes workshops, talks from outstanding faculty researchers, facility tours, and of course, a great time in beautiful British Columbia. New this year is a “Social Sciences” division, in addition to various science and engineering divisions. If you have conducted research, consider presenting it here! Applications are open May 10 to June 14.