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Researchers at the Cheriton School of Computer Science have pioneered a new method that could be used to develop more natural automated virtual assistants to help people suffering from mental illness. 

Called SMERTI (pronounced smarty), the new method enables virtual assistants to use natural language and emotional cues that change depending on the relationship and situations in which they are used. The result allows for the development of virtual assistants that better connect with people they are used to help.

Professor Robin Cohen is one of four faculty members to receive a 2019 Distinguished Teacher Award, the University of Waterloo’s most prestigious honour for teaching excellence. The Distinguished Teacher Awards will be presented by Mario Coniglio, associate vice-president, academic, at the June convocation ceremony.

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Professors Olga Veksler and Yuri Boykov joined the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science earlier this year. Previously, both were full professors in the Department of Computer Science at Western University, where they were faculty members for 14 years.

Their research interests are in the area of computer vision. In particular, Olga’s interests are in visual correspondence and image segmentation, and Yuri’s also include 3D reconstruction and biomedical image analysis.

Computer science doctoral student Mike Schaekermann, Dr. Joslin Goh and Schaekermann’s cosupervisors, Professors Kate Larson and Edith Law, have received a best paper award at CSCW 18, the 21^stACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing.

Research Professor Maura Grossman has been named as a Leading Individual in Canada for her contributions to eDiscovery by Who’s Who Legal 2018.

The Vector Institute drives excellence and leadership in Canada’s knowledge, creation and use of artificial intelligence to foster economic growth and improve the lives of Canadians. The institute is dedicated to the transformative field of artificial intelligence, excelling in machine and deep learning research.

Professor Robin Cohen has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association. She is the first female recipient of the Association’s highest honour, an award that is conferred to individuals who have distinguished themselves through outstanding research excellence in artificial intelligence during the course of their academic career.

When you look at a scenic mountain photo typically everything in the distance is in sharp focus. But this scene might be even more captivating if something striking were in the foreground, perhaps a field of wild flowers in peak bloom. The problem is if the flowers are close to the lens relative to the mountains it’s impossible for all elements in the photo to be in perfect focus — if the flowers are sharp, the distant mountains will be blurry and vice versa.

We live in a world increasingly dependent on the Internet for information retrieval, social interaction and general leisure. A growing number of Internet users with cognitive or visual impairments need assistive technology to make information accessible to them, but visually complex web pages can be difficult to navigate for assistive technology.

When an election is held we often employ a peculiar kind of logic. As we mull over the candidates we may have a top choice, but if we think our preferred candidate isn’t going to win we might vote for our second choice. Or maybe we cast a ballot for our second choice because we want to make sure that a frontrunner who doesn’t represent our view loses.