News
uXperience Design Jam with Sun Life
In November, over 100 students from UWaterloo, University of Toronto, and Wilfrid Laurier participated in a Financial Fluency design event. The goal was to empower young Canadians with financial tools and education. Students worked through the weekend to develop solutions and pitch them to judges from Sun Life and UWaterloo.
Winning Team: Fund Forward - Visualized financial goals and life milestones. Runner-Up: Mula - Created a community of financial advisors. Honourable Mention: Sprout - Used gamification to engage users with financial goals.
Creating a More Inclusive Gaming Experience using Generative Artificial Intelligence
Professors Karen Cochrane and Daniel Harley from Stratford are using Generative AI (GenAI) to create customizable gaming controllers for individuals with complex disabilities. Dr. Cochrane's collaboration with caregivers plays a crucial role in designing these accessible solutions, ensuring they meet the unique needs of users. Their project, awarded by the Google Academic Research Awards (GARA), aims to enhance accessibility and social inclusion through low-cost, user-friendly technology. By leveraging their combined expertise in physical computing and gaming interaction, Dr. Harley and Dr. Cochrane are developing innovative solutions that improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. The project will receive up to $150,000 USD in funding and support from Google, highlighting a future where technology fosters a more inclusive gaming experience.
AI-augmented tools create a perceived loss of “human touch” in research writing
In their paper, The Great AI Witch Hunt: Reviewers’ Perception and (Mis)Conception of Generative AI in Research Writing, researchers at the Stratford School studied the impact of AI-augmented writing on peer reviews, a formal part of academic research validation. The researchers found that AI-augmented writing improved readability, language diversity, and informativeness; it also often lacked research details and reflective insights from authors in their samples of writing from top-tier Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) conferences.
Events
BLEND: Hope Health & Humanity
BLEND: What to expect
At Blend, you'll connect with like-minded professionals, hear stories of designers and leaders facing the future and redefining realities, and participate in workshops that will help you in your industry.
This year features keynotes and workshops from industry leaders and the BLEND after-party. And the best part? You'll be surrounded by people who are just as passionate about breaking boundaries as you are. We're talking about entrepreneurs, creatives, and boundary-pushing thinkers who will inspire you to think bigger and bolder than ever before.
Over the day, you'll be inspired as we hear inspiring stories of people in our community of designers breaking boundaries and overcoming obstacles to redefine our world.
We'd love for you to be part of the conversation. We promise it'll be worth the investment.
When is it?
Join us on March 1, 2025 at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business. This event includes refreshments, lunch, and light appetizers at our networking social evening.
For more information including schedule and speaker line up please check out the Blend website.