Events
Past Event
The Car as a Vehicle for Understanding Interaction at Scale
Segal Design Institute
3:00 PM
Details

In much of the human world, cars are a part of everyday life. While many researchers study people in cars to understand driving performance, or, more recently, trust or supervisory control of automation, the car can also be a way for better understanding a wider array of human-machine interaction issues. Cars are relatively easy to come by, easy to instrument, and enable relatively simple collection of longitudinal data across a diverse population of participants.
In my research group, we use the car to better understand human interaction at scale. For example, we address interruption, error recognition and recovery and multi-party interaction by using the car as a on-road laboratory to develop generalizable understandings of task, communication and social context. Additionally, we use driving simulation as a way to explore contingent interaction between multiple parties, and to explore how those interaction patterns differ across different geographical contexts. Most recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been using the car to gather large datasets of public activity, to better understand differences and patterns for example in social-distancing behavior. In this talk, I will survey my lab's research activity and detail novel methods we are developing to tackle the challenge of understanding interaction at large.
Wendy Ju is an Associate Professor at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech and the Technion and in the Information Science field at Cornell University. Her work in the areas of human-robot interaction and automated vehicle interfaces highlights the ways that interactive devices can be designed to be safer, more predictable, and more socially appropriate. Professor Ju has innovated numerous methods for early-stage prototyping of automated systems to understand how people will respond to systems before the systems are built. She has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford, and a Master’s in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT.
Time
Monday, November 1, 2021 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Contact
Calendar
Segal Design Institute
Welcome & Breakfast for New McCormick PhD Students
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
9:00 AM
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LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute
Details
Enjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free light breakfast on the Tech East Plaza will follow.
Time
Monday, September 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Location
LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute Map
Contact
Calendar
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration
University Academic Calendar
All Day
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New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration
Time
Friday, September 12, 2025
Contact
Calendar
University Academic Calendar
Welcome & Luncheon for New Full-time Graduate Students
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
11:00 AM
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Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute
Details
Enjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free lunch on the Tech East Plaza will follow.
Time
Monday, September 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Location
Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute Map
Contact
Calendar
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins
University Academic Calendar
All Day
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Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins
Time
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Contact
Calendar
University Academic Calendar