Areen Alsaid
"Designing emerging technologies that work for humans: The interaction component"
Areen Alsaid is a research scientist at Ford Motor Company. Prior to joining Ford, Areen completed her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2020, and MS in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from the University of Central Florida in 2016. Her research interests lie in estimating the user state and developing effective mitigation strategies to smooth the interaction between humans and technology. Her present focus is on estimating users’ emotional state through physical manifestations and contextual information, to develop adaptive personalized vehicle automation. Areen’s work has been published in several high impact journals including Human Factors and Expert Systems.
Technological change is accelerating today at an unprecedented rate. Technologies are transforming societies by offering unapparelled advantages. One example is self-driving vehicles. Self-driving vehicles promise safer roads, improved mobility, and environmental benefits. The same is true for other technologies, however, users’ lack of trust and acceptance may threaten their success and potential.
In this talk, I will discuss why now, it is more important than ever to consider the human at different product development stages. With examples from the automotive and robotic industries, I will discuss how technologies can fail because of failure to consider the human needs. I will also talk about the future of human-computer interaction, and how to anticipate the changing needs of the user in this ever-changing fast-paced world to achieve efficient, effective, safe, and pleasant interactions.
