Keynote Speaker: Professor Marco De Marco,

Professor of Organization and Information Systems,

Dean of the Faculty of Economics,

International Telematic University UNINETTUNO, Rome, Italy

with an introductory talk: Role of AIS Communities in Advancing IS Discipline and Research

Guest speaker:

Marco De Marco is professor of Organization and Information Systems at UNINETTUNO in Rome where he serves also as Dean of the Faculty of Economics. Before embarking upon his academic career, he worked as a research engineer and product planning manager in the aerospace (Boeing) and computer (IBM, GE, and Honeywell) industries. His academic career started at the University of Verona and then at the Catholic University of Milan where he reached the position of full professor of Organization and Information systems. Marco also currently holds the position of Visiting Professor in Information systems management within the University of Liechtenstein.

His main research interests have included information systems development and performance measurement methodologies, while bank information systems and their specificities were a particular study and focus. Prof De Marco is the author of five books and numerous essays and articles; mainly on the development of information systems, the impacts of technology on organizations and e-government. As of 2021, he has 76 Scopus indexed scientific works (h-index = 10), 27 indexed on Web of Science (in 2017) and 1164 citations in Google Scholar (h-index = 18).

Marco is a member of the editorial board of several academic journals. In 2008 and 2009, he was a Board committee member of the Association for Information Systems (AIS), representing Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He is member of the College of Senior Scholars of the Association for Information Systems.

At ICIS 2010 Prof De Marco was awarded the AIS Fellow prize for his contribution to the IS discipline.

Date and time: November 25, 2021; 10:15 CET; Duration: 10:15-10:30

Address: Virtual event in zoom. Working language: English.

Keynote Speaker: Emeritus Professor Robert J Stone,

BSc (Hons), MSc, C.Psychol, AFBPsS, FCIEHF

Director of the Human Interface Technologies (HIT) Team, School of Engineering,

University of Birmingham, UK

with a keynote: Extended Realities, 35 Years Later ... What Have We Learned?

Abstract:

The past three decades have been a rollercoaster of a journey for what we refer to today as “XR”, or eXtended Reality, a marketing term describing Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality.  In its earliest days during the 1990s, VR was touted – before the end of the 20th century – to become the ultimate in human-computer interactive technologies, “immersing” users into new and exciting alternative realities, each delivering incredible experiences in interactive graphics, 3D sound, simulated touch, even synthetic aromas.  By donning a head-mounted display and various forms of instrumented clothing – from DataGloves to DataSuits – VR was (we were told) set to revolutionise leisure, education, retail, medicine, travel, cultural heritage, even the way we worked.  Today, we are still, in many respects, no closer to that 1990s dream, although the affordability, accessibility and usability of the technology have improved substantially.  Online news feeds and organisational claims on social media sites contain never-ending claims of what XR technology can deliver, or could deliver, in such diverse fields as healthcare, education, engineering, cultural heritage and tourism.  And, once again, we are witnessing a massive surge of interest in large-scale collaborative virtual worlds, the so-called Metaverse, fuelled by the need to engage in events and meetings during the COVID pandemic.

In his talk, Prof. Bob Stone — one of leading European experts in VR/AR/MR/XR — suggests answers to the following questions. What can we learn from the historical experiences of delivering commercial and academic projects in the VR, AR and MR domain?  Are there any “dos and don’ts” to be aware of when helping early and late VR adopters to the field, avoiding the pitfalls brought about by relying too heavily on social media claims?  Are there any best practices they can benefit from, including successful case studies?

This presentation will look back over the past 30+ years of XR and illustrate the successes and failures of each decade.  We will also consider some of the most promising applications of XR technologies, illustrating examples from the presenter’s extensive history of involvement.  Finally, we will consider the crucial importance of considering human-centred design knowledge and practices to the delivery of XR demonstrators and products that are truly fit for human use.

Guest speaker:

A “veteran” of the Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality (VR, AR, MR – “XR”) communities, Robert (Bob) Stone is Emeritus Professor of XR and Human Factors within the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham, Director of the University’s Human Interface Technologies Team.  He is also an independent consultant in Human-Centered Design, XR and related interactive technologies, with a career spanning over 40 years in both commercial and academic organizations. Bob joined academia in 2003 (with a full Chair in Interactive Multimedia Systems), after a career as a Director of a small commercial Virtual Reality (VR) company he founded in 1989 in Manchester.  He graduated from University College London in 1979 with a BSc in Psychology, and in 1981 with an MSc in Ergonomics.

From 1980 to 1989 he was involved in defense human factors research, later in the role of group leader at British Aerospace’s Sowerby Research Centre in Bristol, UK.  As well as building up experience of working in the defense arena, he specialized in research relating to offshore operations and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) performed under contract to the UK Department of Energy. As part of his early BAe work, he was actively involved in the telerobotics field, carrying out review, consultancy and experimental studies for the nuclear industry and the European Space Agency.  In June 1987, he became the first European to experience the NASA VIEW Virtual Reality System at Moffett Field in California, an experience that proved to be a major turning point for his career.  In 1989, Bob left BAe to join the UK’s National Advanced Robotics Research Centre in Salford, supported by the DTI and a range of industrial shareholders.  There he formed a team of human factors and software specialists in order to develop VR technologies for sophisticated mobile and manipulative robots, including the Teletact I and II Gloves - the world’s first tactile feedback glove systems for VR and telepresence applications.  During his time at the Centre, he formed a strong and lasting partnership with simulation and training specialists in Russia based at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (YuGCTC) in Star City, and supported the Russians, both in acquiring UK VR software and in understanding the techniques of VR, leading to the “build” of the first ever external and internal VR model of the Mir Space Station.  As a result, at an event held in Star City in 2000 to mark the 40th anniversary of the YuGCTC, Bob was accredited by General Pyotr Klimuk, the Center’s then-Director as responsible for “introducing VR into the cosmonaut space programme”.

After a successful 3 years of R&D, the Robotics Centre became commercial (Intelligent Systems Solutions Limited) and, following an appearance on the BBC’s 9 O’Clock News in January, 1993, he brought together (initially) 12 companies to fund the world’s first industrial collaborative project addressing the commercial uses of VR.  VR Solutions was launched as a company in its own right in October, 1995 and merged with London-based Virtual Presence Limited in June of 1997.

During his time in industry, Bob undertook research into the role of human factors/ergonomics in the implementation of VR, with regular contributions to VR applications projects in the fields of defence, surgery, heritage, engineering and health and safety aspects of VR.

As well as projects in the engineering, aerospace, defense and medical sectors, Bob’s team also pioneered early developments in Virtual Heritage, including Virtual Stonehenge, launched at the London Planetarium on the eve of the 1996 Summer Solstice, hosted by the late Sir Patrick Moore.  In 2006, he led the Virtual Scylla project, a unique maritime archaeology and ocean ecosystem initiative based on Europe’s first artificial reef, in collaboration with the National Marine Aquarium and the Marine Biological Association, designed to exploit the use of “serious games” and artificial life technologies to educate children and adults alike to the fragility of coastal ecosystems.  Bob has also been involved with maritime projects based on the 1914 loss of the submarine HMS A7, HMS Anne - a 17th Century ship of the line, GLAUCUS, the UK’s first subsea habitat, and the exploitation of remotely controlled ground, air and underwater systems in support of heritage site surveys.  He is the team leader for the Virtual Mayflower project, exploiting VR, AR and MR technologies for the public and schoolchildren during 2020 and 2021 – the 400th anniversary of the transatlantic crossing of the ship that took the Pilgrims to the New World.

Bob has featured on TV and radio programmes dealing with Virtual Reality, in many newspaper and trade journal articles on the subject, and lectures widely on Virtual Reality at professional institutions, universities and public functions across the UK.  He has represented the UK (invited lectures) at international robotics and VR functions across the globe. Between 1992 and 1994 he presented the IEE’s (today the IET) Silvanus P Thompson Lecture Series on VR across the UK, Eire and Germany and gave the IEE’s 1996 Christmas Lecture and 1998 Faraday Lectures, again focusing on VR.  During 2004 and 2005, he once again lectured across the UK for the IEE, this time as part of a Prestige Lecture Series on the topic: Whatever Happened to Virtual Reality?

For his work on the Virtual Reality and Telepresence, Bob received significant attention, as well as numerous accolades, including, uniquely, three from the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF), former UK Ergonomics Society. In 1985, he received the UK Ergonomics Society’s Applications Award. In 1993, he received the UK Ergonomics Society’s Otto Edholm Award for his work in the field of VR. In 2007, he was awarded the UK Ergonomics Society’s Sir Frederic Bartlett Award, the highest award given by that Society to an individual (and the first time ever that an individual had been awarded by the Society three times in their career). Also, Bob and his academic team were awarded the 2020 Innovation Award from the CIEHF for their Mixed Reality research in defence medicine. In 1999, Bob was awarded the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Art, Commerce and Manufactures’ Howorth Medal, for “…distinguished contributions, over time, to successful industrial or commercial achievement, and to life in the (North West) region, through outstanding innovation and enterprise…”.  In 2003, he was awarded the Laval Virtual Trophée d’Honneur for his “service to the European Virtual Reality Community” since 1987 and, in the same year, was made an Honorary Cossack at a ceremony in Starocherkassk, the former Don Cossack regional capital, recognising his decade of VR collaboration with the Russians.  In 2011, Bob was awarded the MoD Chief Scientific Advisor’s Commendation for his contributions to Defence Science & Technology, the highest award given to an individual by that Governmental Department.  In July 2017, Bob and his University team were awarded the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network Innovative Team of the Year Award, in recognition of their achievements in VR for healthcare applications.  In 2018, Bob was awarded the Medical LiveWire Global Award for "Excellence in VR Healthcare Technology” and in 2019, the “Innovation in Medicine and Health” Award at the Inaugural West Midlands Tech Awards.

Date and time: November 25, 2021; 11:30 CET; Duration: 11:30-12:15

Address: Virtual event in zoom.
Working language: English.