Bios:
Kent Wittenburg
After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, Kent Wittenburg
worked at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC),
Bellcore, and Verizon/GTE laboratories before joining Mitsubishi Electric
Research Laboratories (MERL). His research has encompassed a variety of
Human-Computer Interaction technologies including rapid serial visual presentation,
multidimensional information visualization, visual languages for diagrams,
and natural language. He managed groups in natural language interfaces
and internet technologies prior to joining MERL as group manager of speech
and HCI. Kent become director of MERL's Cambridge Systems Lab in 2002 and
then director of MERL's Technology Lab at its inception in 2003.
Kathy Ryall
Kathy Ryall's research interests focus on the design of interfaces and interaction
techniques to support multi-user collaboration on interactive shared surfaces.
Since 2002 she has led the DiamondTouch project, developing the infrastructure
for MERL's multi-user, multi-touch technology, coordinating external collaborations,
and exploring its application across a variety of domains. Her research activities
span the HCI and information visualization fields, with
recent projects such as UbiTable, HuGS, and Intelligent Multi-Dimensional Data
Summarization. Kathy received her Ph.D. from Harvard University; prior to joining
MERL she served as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University
of Virginia.