John A Waterworth

John Waterworth PhD, Professor of Informatics
Department of Informatics at Umeå University in Sweden.

My research focuses on how personal experience is affected by our relationship with information and communication technology (ICT), which is evolving fast. Sometimes technology becomes a part of ourselves, sometimes it remains other. But without it, we would not be human. We make sense of it, and of ourselves, as we go along.

I've been doing research on people interacting with ICT since 1980. Some areas of focus over the years: speech interaction, hypermedia, multi-and cross-sensory interaction, information exploration, experiential and embodied interaction, virtual and augmented realities, ICT and ageing. See my list of publications

I am research leader of the Q-Life research group. We explore ways in which information and communication technology can be used to enhance quality of life and health, for example through the use of "mood devices", memory and social supports, usually by designing and developing working prototypes and exploring them in use.

I am currently Director of Studies for Research Education in the department and also coordinate our seminars. Since July 2008 I also work part-time as an "EU Expert".

I have a PhD in Experimental Psychology (1984), and I'm a Chartered Psychologist of the BPS, with a current practising certificate. My professional experience includes organising courses for industry on psychology and HCI design, and consulting for many commercial and governmental organisations.

I've been part of this department since 1994. Between 2001-2006 I also worked for the Interactive Institute in Umeå. From 1988-1994 I worked in Singapore at the Institute for Systems Science, and from 1980 to 1988 in England, at British Telecom Research Labs in Martlesham, Suffolk.

Yet more links: A live camera image of the campus, the weather here today, Swedish news in English, a British look at Sweden, a short film about Umeå, and information about Umeå and the county of Västerbotten.

For students , Autumn 2008:
MSc/D2 - Introduction to HCI: Designing for User Experience
A6 - Design and Usability of Interactive Systems

All materials on this web site © J A Waterworth 2000-2008, unless otherwise.
Last modified November 2008, photo taken by Eva Lindh Waterworth at Revet, Holmsund, Sept 07.
jwworth@informatik.umu.se, mobile: +46 (0)73 8111-440
Department of Informatics, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden.

Research Interests and History

Read a recent short interview here
My publications are listed here

ICT and Older People
Older people are too often excluded from the use of new information and communication technology (ICT), a fact which contributes to their tendency to become socially isolated and under-stimulated.Yet a growing body of evidence emphasises the potential of new interactive technologies to maintain health and independent living, and even improve some cognitive functions in the elderly. Our approach is to design and test potentially beneficial technologies for older people.

On the Sense of Presence
We view the feeling of being more or less present in a mediated environment as reflecting the functioning of a universal animal faculty to distinguish self from other. In people this has evolved to enable us to separate the internal or conceptual (the self) from the external or perceptual (the other), even though both are produced by the brain, and both may engender emotional or intellectual engagement. See our paper on the three layers of presence, and a recent short piece on the future of presence (in the KEHO e-zine).

Embodied Interaction
Linking the body directly to interactive media (by sensing movements or physiological changes) has a powerful impact - on the physical body (and brain), on the emotions, and on the sense of presence within the electronic medium. This approach can also be applied to special need situations. One manifestation of this approach, Seclusive IT, responds to people's often submerged needs for non-interruption, for peace and quiet..

Transformed Sensory Experiences
Our experiences are increasingly mediated through technological devices. This opens up a potential universe of altered sensations and perceptions of the world around us. And of course we can choose how we experience stored or transmitted information, through what I have called synaesthetic medi a (an early example is pianoFORTE).

Information Exploration
See for example papers on:

- Experiential Design of Shared Spaces
- Dextrous and Shared Interaction with Medical Data
- Effects of Desktop 3D World Design
- Exploring public information space in a private vehicle
- Personal Information Spaces
- A model of information exploration