Project Proposed: This project from an EPSCoR state, aiming to develop a cross-platform infrastructure that supports natural interaction research by providing automatic modality adaptation, radically alters the paradigm for human/computer interaction (HCI). Distinct from previous approaches, the proposed approach quantifies the usability of each modality and then formalizes the adaptation issue as searching for a set of input/output modalities that produce the highest usability, i.e., an optimization issue. In addition to the interaction context, our approach also considers the effects of computing infrastructures (e.g., system resources and networking) on the modality adaptation. The proposed work establishes the first Natural Interaction Laboratory in North Dakota, enabling the following research projects in Adaptive Natural Interaction: - Establishing common interaction context across multiple scenarios, - Device-aware establishment of modality space, - Device-aware establishment of usability space, and - Quality of service in the human/computer interaction context. The work aims to develop a unifying infrastructure for research by providing a common programming interface across multiple devices. Broader Impacts: This instrumentation should provide a unique research facility for faculty and graduate students to conduct research on user interaction-enhancing technology and education. The proposal enhances PhD production in an EPSCoR state, encourages underrepresented students into research via the NATURE (Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Educations) and WISMET (Women in Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology) programs, provides research opportunities to undergraduate students, and impacts industry and economic development in North Dakota.
