Foley Scholars

ABSTRACTS
Michaelanne Dye, Towards Access and Beyond: Human Infrastructures in Constrained Contexts

More than four billion people across the world have yet to access the internet. Despite increasing initiatives by companies and governments to bring more people online, social, economic, and political barriers continue to limit internet engagements among underrepresented groups. As a result, people collaborate to overcome barriers to participation, particularly in politically and economically constrained contexts. I address these concerns by focusing on the case of Cuba, where up until recently internet access was limited to just five percent of the population. Presenting results from qualitative inquiry in Havana from 2014 to 2017, I describe how participants are receiving and engaging with the incremental introduction of access to the world wide web. I also present insights into how people have created their own versions of the internet in response to barriers. I draw on the framework of human infrastructure to reveal how people are sustaining multiple, disconnected information networks, and the tensions and opportunities that arise from these efforts. I will discuss how this work contributes to our understanding of the social elements embedded in internet adoption and participation, and how this critical understanding has implications for the design of social media systems in order to better support collaborative efforts of historically underrepresented groups.

Caitlyn Seim, Wearable Tactile Stimulation for Stroke Rehabilitation (pictured at very top)

Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability in the United States and globally. Many stroke survivors lose function in their upper extremities, which can make it difficult to do everyday tasks like dressing or eating. In addition to weakness and loss of sensation, spasticity and tone can cause hands to be involuntarily clenched in a rigid position — a problem for which there are few effective treatments. Getting rehabilitation therapy can be a challenge and up to 50% of stroke survivors do not qualify for traditional exercise-based therapies. This talk introduces a novel stimulation method and mobile, wearable devices to provide therapy on-the-go and to those with very limited movement.  Preliminary results and next steps are presented.  Our stimulation method may provide a powerful tool to reduce disability after a stroke, and the wearable form factor allows users to receive intensive therapy during their normal daily routine.

Stevie Chancellor, Human-Centered Algorithms for Deviant Mental Health Behaviors Online

Social media can provide a rich platform for those seeking better health and support through difficult experiences. Yet, it can also provide space for deviant mental health behaviors, very dangerous and stigmatized behaviors related to mental health. These behaviors are dangerous to participants as well as to platform health. However, the deep complexities of mental health and these clandestine behaviors resist straightforward, data-driven approaches to detection and intervention. In this talk, I will describe how human-centered algorithms can identify and assess deviant mental health behaviors in pro-eating disorder communities, bringing insights from Human Computer Interaction, applied data science, and social computing. In addition, I will show how these approaches can inform platform strategies for engaging with these communities. Finally, I will briefly discuss how human-centered insights can be brought to computational methods to answer our toughest questions about deviant behavior online.

SPEAKER BIOS
Michaelanne Dye is a PhD candidate in Human-Centered Computing in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Blending the fields of Social Computing and ICTD (Information and Communication Technologies and Development), her work uses qualitative methods to study how people access and participate with internet technologies in resource-constrained contexts with the goal of informing the design of more equitable and inclusive technology. She received her Master’s in Sociocultural Anthropology from Georgia State University, and draws heavily on this background to engage in technology research. Michaelanne is a Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellow, a three-time recipient of the Herz Global Impact Award, and an American Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Fellow. Her work has received Best Paper Honorable Mention awards at the ACM CHI and CSCW conferences.

Caitlyn Seim is a PhD candidate in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  Her concentration is Human-Centered Computing with focuses on Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience. She is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and Microsoft Research PhD Fellow.  Her research interests include wearable computing, haptics, HCI, rehabilitation, and accessibility.  More specifically, her work examines human cognition and learning from haptic interaction, and creating new lightweight, mobile devices for rehabilitation.

Stevie Chancellor is a PhD candidate in Human Centered Computing in Interactive Computing. Her research interest lies in Social Computing, Data Science, and HCI to understand online communities and mental health. Stevie’s work has won multiple Best Paper Honorable Mention awards at CHI and CSCW, premier venues in human computer interaction. Her work has been supported by a Snap Inc. Research Fellowship and has appeared in national publications such as Wired and Gizmodo.