Abstract
Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of ability, can lose themselves in the joy of playing a videogame, or the thrill of playing music, or even the satisfaction of being able to water your plants or grow your first tomato? Accessible technology can make this world a reality. Dr. Karen Cochrane is looking at how we can better design assistive technologies that can help support everyone to participate and enjoy their hobbies no matter their cognitive or physical ability. In this talk she will discuss some of her previous work and ongoing projects in her lab the Embodied Computing Lab where she is working on projects in both the area of accessible technology and designing technology to support mental health.
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Speaker: Assistant Professor Karen Cochrane, PhD
Dr. Karen Cochrane is an assistant professor at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Cochrane holds a PhD specializing in Human-Computer Interaction and Design from the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia. With an interest in designing technology to support people’s overall health and well-being including designing accessible technology for people with disabilities and designing technology to support positive coping strategies for your mental health. Her other research areas include making the research and design process more inclusive by augmenting design methodologies to support researchers with disabilities and looking into how we can incorporate storytelling and futurism of minority communities into design research.