Scientists Developing 'Nurturing' Computers
From: myDNA.com - 05/12/2005

University of Houston computer science professor Ioannis Pavlidis, with the
help of his Infrared Imaging Group at the College of Natural Sciences and
Mathematics, has developed the Automatic THErmal Monitoring System (ATHEMOS)
that can physiologically monitor human users without touch. ATHEMOS is part
of Pavlidis' effort to revolutionize human-computer interaction by making
computers aware of their users' emotional and physical states in order to
facilitate more appropriate responses. The ultimate goal of Pavlidis'
"Interacting with Human Physiology" research is to tap computing resources at
home and in the office and integrate them with new sensing, algorithmic, and
interface techniques to augment user experience while simultaneously
constructing a new model for preventive medicine. The initiative calls for a
computer equipped with a thermal imaging camera that functions as a
peripheral, modeling facial imagery by bioheat to extract vital signs and
make deductions about numerous health symptoms continuously. The National
Science Foundation's Division of Information and Intelligence Systems
recently awarded a three-year, $640,169 research grant to Pavlidis' project.
The project's human experimentation angle will involve the professor's
collaboration with Columbia University's Medical Usability Lab and the
Physiology Lab of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.mydna.com/resources/news/200505/news_20050512_nurtur.html

Links:
Ioannis Pavlidis
http://www.vcl.uh.edu/~pavlidis/index.html

Computer scientists at UH developing 'nurturing' computers
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-09/uoh-csa090704.php