Justin Edwards is a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Oulu's Learning and Educational Technology research lab. His research focuses on the design of proactive speech-based agents, understanding spoken interruptions, and implementing conversational agents in collaborative learning contexts. He has served on the organizing committee of five CUI Conferences and acted as a workshop organizer for multiple "CUI @" workshops (e.g. IUI and CHI).
Adelson de Araujo is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Learning, Data analytics, and Technology at the University of Twente. His research aims to provide evidence on the role that conversational agents can play in fostering productive dialogues during online science lessons. To accomplish this aim, he is currently implementing a conversational agent that handles group conversation in a pedagogically meaningful way with the help of AI.
Smit Desai is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His primary research focus centers on understanding the mental models of users as they engage with conversational agents, utilizing innovative research techniques such as metaphor analysis. He leverages this valuable insight to advance the development of conversational agents in diverse social roles, including teachers and storytellers.
Jan de Wit is an assistant professor in human-centered and inclusive artificial intelligence at the department of Communication and Cognition, Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He obtained his PhD within the L2TOR project, where he investigated the added value of a robot second language tutor’s use of gestures. He is also working on Tilbot, an open source tool that can be used to design conversational agents with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
Heloisa Candello is a research scientist at IBM Research. Her work focuses on human and social aspects of Artificial Intelligence systems, particularly conversational user interfaces. Currently, Heloisa is leading a project that aims to bring “conscious” access to micro-credit by enhancing non-traditional financial practices of low-income small business owners with AI technology in the Global South. Her research resulted in several publications in leading conferences (CHI, CUI, CSCW, DRS) and recognition in the HCI and Design field.
Daniel John Rough is a Lecturer in Computing at the University of Dundee. His research focuses on the engagement of users in tailoring software to suit their bespoke requirements, including those that teach programming, with an emphasis on intelligent personal assistants. He was co-organiser of the CUI@IUI and CUI@Auto-UI workshops.
Leigh Clark is a Senior UX Researcher at Bold Insight UK. He has a leading expertise in voice and text systems and is co-founder of the ACM Conversational User Interfaces (CUI) conference series. Leigh has published extensively and organised conferences and workshops in this area. His recent work examines how to design voice interfaces to make them more inclusive. As an industry advisor to the Open Voice Network, he continues to work with global researchers to design ethical voice interface guidelines.
Anni-Sofia Roberts is a PhD student in the University of Oulu's Learning and Educational Technology research lab. Her research aims to examine the interaction between learners and conversational agents through the lens of self-regulation theory. Before beginning a PhD, Anni-Sofia was a classroom teacher in international schools in Finland and Germany.
Benjamin Cowan is a Professor at University College Dublin’s School of Information \& Communication Studies. His research lies at the juncture between psychology, HCI and computer science in investigating how theoretical perspectives and methods in psychology can used to understand experience and user behaviour in interaction. He is the co-founder of the International Conference on Conversation User Interfaces (CUI) conference series and has run a number of workshops at major HCI conferences (e.g.CHI and Mobile HCI).