Department information

 

58307309 Seminar on User Modeling (3 cr, 2 cu), Fall 2007

3.9 - 21.10, and 29.10 - 23.11 or 30.11 Tue 14-16 B119

Instructors: Petteri Nurmi, M. Sc. (petteri.nurmi at cs dot helsinki dot fi), Tei Laine, Ph.D. (tei.laine at cs dot helsinki dot fi)

Description

User modeling is a cross-disciplinary research field that attempts to construct models of human behavior within a specific computer environment. Contrary to traditional artificial intelligence research, the goal is NOT to imitate human behavior as such, but to make the machine able to understand what the expectations, goals, information needs, desires (etc.) of a user are in terms of a specific computing environment. Furthermore, the goal is to utilize this understanding to assist the user in performing computing tasks. The computer representation of the user’s goals (etc.) is called a user model and systems that construct and utilize such models are called user modeling systems. A simple example of a user modeling system is Amazon, which attempts to give personalized recommendations about books and other items based on your browsing and purchase history.

The traditional domain for user modeling has been web-based systems (e.g., tutoring systems), and so-called shell systems that work on desktop computers. Recently, user modeling has started to attract more and more interest also in mobile computing. The motivation for the increased interest is that currently mobile devices function as if they were standalone computers. On the other hand, the situations where the devices are used differ radically from the computing situations where desktop computers are used, and hence user's would benefit from solutions that are able to help them minimize interaction with the device, and to find more easily what they are looking for.

In the seminar our focus is on obtaining a general understanding of user modeling, and an understanding of how to apply user modeling techniques to mobile environments.

Meetings

The language of the seminar is English. The seminar meets every week. The meetings are organized as reading groups where we discuss a specific topic related to user modeling. For each class, each participant writes and submits a short essay (1-2 pages) discussing relevant issues regarding the topic. The essay is not supposed to be a review, but rather a critical commentary, or alternatively, discussion of questions raised by the readings.

At each meeting, one of the participants is nominated as a chair. The chair's task is to introduce the topic and lead the discussion.

At the end of the seminar, we arrange a mini-conference (duration one day). Each participant turns in a term paper before the mini-conference and in the conference everyone presents the topic (max 30 minutes) of the term paper. The topics of the term paper are linked to user modeling and ubiquitous interaction.

Prerequisites

Open and curious mind. Interest in cross-disciplinary topics, and in the possibilities of new computing technologies. The main concepts as well as techniques will be covered in the classes.

Grading

The grade is based on the class room participation, essays, the term paper, and the mini-conference presentation.

Topics & Material

Period I

1. User Modeling - Introduction (4.9.2007, Petteri Nurmi & Tei Laine)
   
   • P.Brusilovsky, Adaptive Hypermedia, User Modeling and User Adapted Interaction 11(1-2):87-110, Springer, 2001.
   • E. Horvitz, J. Breese, D. Heckerman, D. Hovel, K. Rommelse, The Lumiére Project: Bayesian User Modeling for Inferring the Goals and Needs of Software Users, In Proceedings of the Fourteenth Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, pp. 256-265. Morgan Kaufmann, 1998.
   • Practicalities
   • Introduction to User Modeling
   • Material on Lumiere
   
   
2. Generic User Modeling Systems and User Modeling Servers (11.9.2007, Väinö Ala-Härkönen & Arto Vihavainen)
   • A.Kobsa, Generic User Modeling Systems, User Modeling and User Adapted Interaction 11(1-2):49-63, Springer, 2001.
   • J. Kay, B. Kummerfeld, P. Lauder, Personis: A Server for User Models, In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-based Systems (AH 2002), LNCS 2347, pp. 203-212, Springer, 2002.
   • MobiLife
   • Mobilife - Multimodality and Personalization presentation
   
   
3. Techniques for User Modeling I: Knowledge Representation Techniques and Predictive User Modeling (18.9.2007, )
   • I. Zukerman, D. W. Albrecht, Predictive Statistical Models for User Modeling, User Modeling and User Adapted Interaction 11(1-2):5-18, Springer, 2001.
   • B. Mobasher, Data Mining for Web Personalization, In The Adaptive Web: Methods and Strategies of Web Personalization, LNCS 4321, pp. 90 - 135, Springer-Verlag, 2007. NOTE: ARTICLE CHANGED!
   
   
4. Techniques for User Modeling II: Content-Based Filtering and Collaborative Filtering (25.9.2007, )
   • J. B. Schafer, D. Frankowski, J. Herlocker, S. Sen, Collaborative Filtering Recommender Systems, In The Adaptive Web: Methods and Strategies of Web Personalization, LNCS 4321, pp. 291 - 324, Springer-Verlag, 2007.
   • M. J. Pazzani, D. Billsus, Content-based recommender systems , In The Adaptive Web: Methods and Strategies of Web Personalization, LNCS 4321, pp. 325 - 341, Springer-Verlag, 2007.
   
   
5. Usability and Evaluation of User Modeling Systems (2.10.2007, )
   • C. Gena and S. Weibelzahl, Usability Engineering, In The Adaptive Web: Methods and Strategies of Web Personalization, LNCS 4321, pp. 720 - 762, Springer-Verlag, 2007.
   • D. N. Chin, Empirical Evaluation of User Models and User-Adapted Systems, User Modeling and User Adapted Interaction 11(1-2):181-194, Springer, 2001.
   • J. Nielsen, Ten Usability Heuristics
   
   
6. Intelligent User Interfaces (9.10.2007,)
   • K. Höök, Steps to take before intelligent user interfaces become real, Interacting with Computers 12(4):409-426, Elsevier, 2000.
   • A. Bunt, C. Conati, J. McGrenere, What role can adaptive support play in an adaptable system?, In Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, pp.117-124, ACM Press,2004.
   
   

Period II

• User Modeling and Adaptive Mobile Guides (shopping assistants, tourist guides, etc.) (30.10.2007, )
  • A. Krüger, J. Baus, D. Heckmann, M. Kruppa, R. Wasinger Adaptive Mobile Guides, In The Adaptive Web: Methods and Strategies of Web Personalization, LNCS 4321, pp. 325 - 341, Springer-Verlag, 2007.
  
  
• Mixed-Initiative Interaction and Models of Attention (6.11.2007, )
  • E. Horvitz, Principles of mixed-initiative user interfaces, In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, pp. 159 - 166, ACM Press, 1999.
  • E. Horvitz, C. M. Kadie, T. Paek, D. Hovel, Models of Attention in Computing and Communication: From Principles to Applications, Communications of the ACM 46(3): 52 - 59, 2003.
  
  
• Cross-Cultural User Modeling (13.11.2007, )
  • A. Marcus, E. W. Gould, Crosscurrents: cultural dimensions and global Web user-interface design, Interactions 7(4):32-46, ACM Press, 2000.
  • B. Choi, I. Lee, J. Kim, Y. Jeon, A qualitative cross-national study of cultural influences on mobile data service design, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, pp. 661 - 670, ACM Press, 2005.
  • A. Kleinsmith, P. Ravindra De Silva, N. Bianchi-Berthouze, Cross-cultural differences in recognizing affect from body posture, Interacting with computers 18(6): 1371 - 1389.
  
  
• Full-day seminar (30.11.2007, Room: CK 111)
  

  Schedule

  • 10:15 User Modeling Servers - Markus Aukeala
  • 10:40 Bayesian User Modeling in Ubicomp - Tianyan Liu
  • 11:05 Latent Variable Models for User Modeling - Matti Jokipii
  • 11:30 Break
  • 11:45 Music Recommender Systems - Väinö Ala-Härkönen
  • 12:10 Location-Awareness for User Modeling - Sourav Bhattacharya
  • 12:35 Gesture Recognition - Joonas Kukkonen
  • 13:00 Lunch
  • 14:00 User Study Methods for Ubicomp - Tiina-Kaisa Oikarinen
  • 14:25 Ethnometodology Utilization for User Modeling - Kalle Lahtinen
  • 14:50 Affective Computing - Marja Hassinen
  • 15:15 Break
  • 15:30 Mixed Initiative Interaction - Eemil Lagerspetz
  • 15:55 Player Modeling in Computer Games - Arto Vihavainen
  • 16:20 User Modeling in eCommerce Environments - Sebastian Vuorinen
  • 16:45 - 17:00 Discussion / Seminar ends

Term Papers

• Music Recommender Systems (Väinö Ala-Härkönen)
• Player Modeling in Computer Games (Arto Vihavainen)
• User Modeling Servers (Markus Aukeala)
• Ethnometodology Utilization for User Modeling (Kalle Lahtinen)
• Affective Computing (Marja Hassinen)
• Location-Awareness for User Modeling (Sourav Bhattacharya)
• User Study Methods for Ubicomp (Tiina-Kaisa Oikarinen)
• Latent Variable Models for User Modeling (Matti Jokipii)
• Gesture Recognition (Joonas Kukkonen)
• Bayesian User Modeling in Ubicomp (Tianyan Liu)
• Mixed-Initiative Interaction (Eemil Lagerspetz)
• User Modeling in e-Commerce environments (Sebastian Vuorinen)

• Latex Template

---