Project dates: 2020 - Ongoing
This project is conducted by members of the research group Inclusive technologies for people of diverse cognitive abilities.
Bridging the gap between advances in artificial intelligence and assistive technologies, this project aims to co-design pictorial visual communication applications with people with intellectual disability or autism and community members.
This project researches how computers can understand and facilitate a rich pictorial communication between people and person to machine, thereby supporting inclusion.
We welcome expression of interest from individuals to take part in upcoming co-design activities and trials. You can contact us by email, or send your details through our online form
Current Studies
Digital Communication Boards
AR (Augmented Reality) Text Illustrators
Audio-visual tools for web search
Visual Inclusive Social Networks
These applications will inform future innovations for everyone, and allow citizens with intellectual disability or autism to access online information, participate in community activities and be included in the workplace. We are always looking for students with skills in HCI and/or machine learning to join the team!
Funding / Grants
- ARC Future Fellowship (2020 - 2025)
Chief Investigators
Other Team Members
PhD Students
- Filip Bircanin (completed)
- Manesha Andradi
- Alicia Mitchell
- Alieh Hajizadeh
Master Students
- Sara Muneeb
Research Associates
- Ahmed Abbas
- Maria Hoogstrate
Publications
- Roomkham, Sirinthip, Sitbon, Laurianne (2024) Restarting the conversation about conversational search: exploring new possibilities for multimodal and collaborative systems with people with intellectual disability. In Clough, Paul, Harvey, Morgan, Hopfgartner, Frank (Eds.), CHIIR '24: Proceedings of the 2024 Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval, pp.231-242.
- Sitbon, Laurianne, Brereton, Margot, Bircanin, Filip (2024) Reframing search and recommendation as opportunities for communication for people with intellectual disability. Human-Computer Interaction, 39 (3-4), pp.206-224.
- Hajizadeh Saffar, Alieh, Sitbon, Laurianne, Hoogstrate, Maria, Abbas, Ahmed, Roomkham, Sirinthip, Miller, Dimity (2024) Human and Large Language Model Intent Detection in Image-Based Self-Expression of People with Intellectual Disability. In Clough, Paul, Harvey, Morgan, Hopfgartner, Frank (Eds.), CHIIR 2024 - Proceedings of the 2024 Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval, CHIIR 2024 - Proceedings of the 2024 Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval, pp.199-208.
- Sitbon, Laurianne, Balasuriya, Saminda Sundeepa, Percy, Liam Samuel (2023) Guiding non-verbal conversation about meal choices with intelligent technologies. In Bowen, Judy, Pantidi, Nadia, McKay, Dana, Ferreira, Jennifer, Soro, Alessandro, Blagojevic, Rachel, Lawrence, Chris, Vanderschantz, Nic, Keegan, Te Taka, Turner, Jane, et al. (Eds.), OzCHI '23: Proceedings of the 35th Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference, ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, pp.350-359.
- Roomkham, Sirin, Terris, Shannon, Sitbon, Laurianne (2022) Multi-modal Conversational Search for People with Intellectual Disability: An Exploratory Study. In Barbosa, Simone, Lampe, Cliff, Appert, Caroline, Sharma, David A. (Eds.), CHI EA '22: Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings.
- Mitchell, Alicia, Sitbon, Laurianne, Balasuriya, Saminda Sundeepa, Koplick, Stewart, Beaumont, Chris (2021) Social Robots in Learning Experiences of Adults with Intellectual Disability: An Exploratory Study. In Ardito, Carmelo, Lanzilotti, Rosa, Malizia, Alessio, Petrie, Helen, Piccinno, Antonio, Desolda, Giuseppe, Inkpen, Kori (Eds.), Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021: 18th IFIP TC 13 International Conference, Bari, Italy, August 30 – September 3, 2021, Proceedings, Part I, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Information Systems and Applications, incl. Internet/Web, and HCI), pp.266-285.
- Andradi, Manesha, Bircanin, Filip, Sitbon, Laurianne, Brereton, Margot (2021) Expanding Designing for One to Invite Others Through Reverse Inclusion. ASSETS '21: The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2021 - 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility.
- Robertson, Nicholas L, Bircanin, Filip, Sitbon, Laurianne (2021) Designing a Pictorial Communication Web Application With People With Intellectual Disability. ASSETS '21: The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2021 - 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility.
- Bircanin, Filip, Sitbon, Laurianne, Ploderer, Bernd, Azaabanye Bayor, Andrew, Esteban, Michael, Koplick, Stewart, Brereton, Margot (2020) The TalkingBox: Revealing strengths of adults with severe cognitive disabilities. In Guerreiro, T., Nicolau, H., Moffatt, K. (Eds.), ASSETS '20: The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2020 - 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility.
- Bircanin, Filip, Ploderer, Bernd, Sitbon, Laurianne, Bayor, Andrew A., Brereton, Margot (2019) Challenges and opportunities in using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies: Design considerations for adults with severe disabilities. OZCHI'19: Proceedings of the 31st Australian Conference on Human-Computer-Interaction, ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, pp.184-196.
- Wilson, Cara, Sitbon, Laurianne, Brereton, Margot, Johnson, Daniel, Koplick, Stewart (2016) 'Put yourself in the picture': designing for futures with young adults with intellectual disability. In Parker, C (Ed.), Proceedings of the 28th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction, pp.271-281.