Interaction and Multimedia

Course Description

DESCRIPTION
Any student in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) related engineering should be prepared to design and develop software applications. Many of them are interactive, that is to say, they are intended to establish a dialog with the user. In order to ensure that the application adapts to user needs, it is mandatory for the designer to be familiar with human computer interaction issues. This course provides the tools to develop computer applications that adapt to the characteristics and limitations of the users.

In addition to the above, it is more and more common for these applications to include text and images, but also audio, video and animations. These multimedia applications put forward specific challenges, such as data compression and synchronization.

CONTENTS
- Human Computer Interaction:
Importance of human computer interaction and areas included in the field. History of human computer interaction. Information processing in humans. Characteristics and properties of interaction controls.

- Interactive systems:
The dialogue between people and computers: types and characteristics. Interaction paradigms. User interface design. Accessibility.

-Multimedia applications:
Introduction to multimedia systems. The importance of digital formats. Digitizing and quantizing. Graphic design elements.

- Description of digital media:
Text. Graphics. Sound. Animation. Video.

METHODOLOGY
Teaching and learning strategies include:
- Lectures.
- Document reading (paper documents, web pages, interactive applications).
- Video projections.
- Guided information searches.
- Individual and group activities

ASSESSMENT
Assessment techniques:
Periodic assessment of the "Activity Book", where all work done during the course is kept. –50%
Assessment through written exams dealing with concepts and their application. – 50%

READINGS
PREECE J. ET AL, 2015 Interaction Design. Wiley & Sons.
SHNEIDERMAN B. ET AL, 2014. Designing the user interface. Pearson Addison Wesley.
CHAPMAN AND CHAPMAN, 2009. Digital Multimedia. John Wiley & Sons.