Natural Interactions & Computing for Global Development at MSR India

The Technology for Emerging Markets (TEM) group at Microsoft Research India seeks to address the needs and aspirations of people in the world’s developing communities. Our research targets people who are just beginning to use computing technologies and services as well as those for whom access to computing still remains largely out of reach. Most of our work falls under the rubric of the relatively young field of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD or ICT4D). By combining a variety of backgrounds and training, we are able to engage deeply with some of the complex problems associated with poverty and scarce resources. Our goal is to study, design, build, and evaluate technologies and systems that are useful for people living in underserved rural and urban communities around the world. In this talk, I will give an overview of some of the recent work in the group, focusing on projects that explore modalities and interactions specifically designed for the unique contexts and users we’re working with:

  1. A prototype pen-based system for rural microfinance
  2. A phone broadcast system designed to assist an NGO serving urban sex workers, and
  3. A mobile phone-based citizen news system for rural India

Speaker Details

Ed Cutrell manages the Technology for Emerging Markets (TEM) group at Microsoft Research India. Ed has been working in the field of human-computer interaction for more than a decade, studying everything from novel interaction techniques to interfaces for search and information retrieval. His current research focuses on Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). In this work, he seeks to understand how people in the world’s poor and developing communities interact with information technologies, exploring new ways for technology to meet their needs and support socio-economic development.

Date:
Speakers:
Ed Cutrell
Affiliation:
MSRA