Busy agenda for VERITAS next week in Linz at ICCHP2012

Next week, VERITAS and VUMS partners will be attending the ICCHP 2012 (13th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs) event in Linz, Austria. On the agenda:

• 9 July: VUMS Cluster meeting 13-17.00 CET
• 10 July: Scientific Advisory Board meeting 9-12.15 CET
• 10 July: VUMS Workshop 13-17.00 CET (agenda): Virtual User Models for Designing and Using of Inclusive Products – open, afternoon (Tuesday only). Chairs: Konstantinos Moustakas and Dimitrios Tzovaras, CERTH/ITI, GR – Room: K 224 B
• 11-12 July: VERITAS project meeting
• 11 July: Session C 16:30 – 18:30 – Track III – Virtual User Models for Designing and Using Inclusive Products

All the meetings will take place at the campus of the Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), Altenberger Strasse 69, 4040 Linz, Austria.

VERITAS videos now available

VERITAS released its first 2 videos. The first video addresses the project as a whole.

The second video that was produced demonstrates the usage of the platform during the measurement campaigns at various sites.

VUMS white paper

The VUMS position paper aims to provide input to the standardisation of user models. Finally it targets at helping designers and developers to maximize the level of usability and accessibility of products and services by providing appropriate user models. Moreover they are intended to be used for the generation and adaptation of user interfaces during runtime.
It presents general term definitions and a concept of generic interoperable user models that describe the relevant characteristics of users, who will interact with products and user interfaces. These include physical, cognitive, and sensory attributes, habits, preferences and accessibility capabilities.
The produced tables with user characteristics are being provided for other research groups and standardization bodies to advance the discussions in this area.
Download paper (pdf) and presentation (pdf).

The variable table of the VUMS model can be accessed here.

4th Newsletter available

The fourth Newsletter is available in accessible PDF format. As VERITAS reached two years of activities, it is time to share some interim project results and take stock of the feedback received during the latest VERITAS events: the User Forum and the Workshop that were held in Nottingham in September 2011. At the political level the European Year 2012 and the proposed EU Accessibility Act is the momentum to achieve tangible results for products and services accessible to all. In its fourth newsletter the synergies between VERITAS and other relative initiatives become apparent, as VERITAS informs its readers on external news and events in the area of Accessibility.

News update: Forthcoming VUMS events

Following events are planned to take place at the 13th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP 2012), organised on July 11-13, 2012 (Pre-Conference July 09-10, 2012) at the University of Linz, Altenbergerstraße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria:

• VUMS STS: This STS calls for papers and presentations of: research and development work; prototypes and products; concepts and; evaluation of usability and applicability of generic interoperable user models that describe the relevant characteristics of users, who will interact with products and user interfaces. These include physical cognitive, and sensory attributes, habits, preferences and accessibility capabilities.
• VUMS workshop: This workshop presents prototypes and discusses concepts of generic interoperable user models that describe the relevant characteristics of users, who will interact with products and user interfaces. These include physical cognitive, and sensory attributes, habits, preferences and accessibility capabilities. With such a model designers can define as many user interaction profiles as needed to address the whole range of requirements from a target population. It will also help designers and developers to maximize the level of accessibility of products and services by providing a comprehensive set of Human Factors design guidelines, which could be used in virtual spaces to visualize accessibility and usability issues.

Registration details can be found on:

Link to STS page: http://www.icchp.org/node/349

Link to ICCHP workshop page: http://www.icchp.org/node/348

2nd VERITAS User Form

The 2nd VERITAS User Forum was successfully organised on 20th September 2011 in Nottingham, UK, in the afternoon. The User forum entitled “Virtual and Augmented Environments and Realistic User Interactions To achieve Embedded Accessibility DesignS” brought together developers, designers and beneficiaries from around Europe. The presentations, interviews with stakeholders and simulation videos are now available.

JVRC 2011 workshop on “Accessibility Engineering with User Models, Simulation and VR”

The workshop “Accessibility Engineering with User Models, Simulation and VR” was successfully organized in the context of the 2011 Joint Virtual Reality Conference on 21 September 2011, Nottingham UK. The workshop chaired by Manfred Dangelmaier (Fraunhofer IAO, Stuttgart, Germany), and which took place on Wednesday afternoon 21 September 2011, gathered a wide array of experts and users in the area of Simulation and Virtual Reality, and showcased relevant projects and initiatives in the area of accessible design and simulation in the areas of automotive, home, working environment, infotainment and ehealth design.

VERITAS project presentation

Project logo

VERITAS aims to develop, validate and assess tools for built-in accessibility support at all stages of ICT and non-ICT product development, including specification, design, development and testing. The goal is to introduce simulationbased and virtual reality testing at all stages of assistive technologies product design and development into the automotive, smart living spaces (buildings & construction, domotics), workplace, ehealth and infotainment applications areas. The goal is to ensure that future products and services are being systematically designed for all people including those with disabilities and functional limitations as well as older people. Furthermore, VERITAS plans to promote its results to the appropriate standards organisations for consideration and potential adoption and also to make them available through an open framework.

Project number: 247765
Project acronym: VERITAS
Project full title: Virtual and Augmented Environments and Realistic User Interactions To achieve Embedded Accessibility DesignS
Starting date: 1 January 2010
Duration: 48 Months
VERITAS is an Integrated Project (IP) within the 7th Framework Programme, Theme FP7-ICT-2009.7.2, Accessible and Assistive ICT