The title is: Interaction and Visualisation Technologies in the Library – Open Session, and the idea is to bring together the people at the university that might benefit from data and visualisation support in the library. We’ll have the privilege of listening to Shawna Sadler, who I have worked with in Calgary.
This is the main page of the event.
This week I had the honor to attend the defence of Mathias Frisch, student of Raimund Dachselt at the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg (now moving to the new lab in Dresden). I was very happy to review such excellent work, (in a committee that includes Prof. Reiterer, from Konstanz) but also to take part in the traditions of doctoral graduation. I think that it is very valuable that a doctoral graduation is approached as a festivity, and loaded with symbols of what it means to be a scholar. These include the new doctor having to wear a very heavy chain (that represents the loads awaiting in his future career),
wearing a hat representing the knowledge of the candidate (physically and literally),
being taken on a pageant through the city, escorted by a troupe of people in medieval outfits (I guess to let the town folk know that there is a new doctor around),
having to drink an “unusual” concoction (in this case tomato juice + coffee + salt and pepper),
as well as later on having to go through the “real exam”, in which the supervisor has to show knowledge and commitment for the candidate in multiple odd ways.
In any case, it was a wonderful day for me, full of good HCI, fun and food. Congratulations Mathias!!
The new Alberta Contemporaries is the inaugural exhibition of the Esker Foundation, in Calgary. The Esker foundation is the largest privately funded, non-commercial art gallery in Calgary, and Lindsay MacDonald -who I had the pleasure of working with- got invited to exhibit our collaborative piece (with John Brosz) which features an elevator that knows where you are looking at. This means that besides the prize that she already got, she also got to give an artist talk at an amazing venue.
I was not able to attend the inauguration party, but I am incredibly happy to see Lindsay get a little bit of the attention that she deserves. I am really happy to have been able to collaborate with such talented people.
If you happen to be in Calgary, you might want to check the exhibition; it’s there until August 29th and it is free and open to the public.
Miguel Nacenta 