By Denise C. Jones

Ben Shneiderman
Photo by John Consoli

It’s difficult to imagine functioning without cell phones, iPods and ATMs, thanks to the advent of new technologies that have revolutionized communication around the world. The university’s researchers are trailblazers in developing such groundbreaking discoveries.

Among them, Ben Shneiderman, professor of computer science and pioneer of human-computer interaction research, played a major role in developing hyperlinks used on the Web, touch screen systems in ATMs and voting machines and small keyboards found on cell phones, iPhones, Blackberries and other personal devices. After moving the research for these and other innovations into the commercial marketplace, researchers involved realized some significant financial returns. Shneiderman chose to share some of this with the university.

Following the recent sale of Spotfire, a 200-person company that successfully developed and marketed Shneiderman’s information visualization research, the professor donated $40,000 to the Department of Computer Science as part of Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland . It is one of several examples of proceeds stemming from his work, though some pre-date the university’s capital campaign.

“I donated a portion of my proceeds to Maryland,” he says, “because I want to enable graduate students to continue working on user interfaces, human-computer interaction and other important problems.”

Shneiderman, author of more than 13 books and 300 scientific articles, had another commercial success this past year when his photo annotation patent was sold. His colleague, Ben Bederson and his company Windsor Interfaces Inc., arranged the deal and worked with Maryland’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), which assists faculty in getting their research to market. Eventually, the university will receive about $133,000, making this the first patent sale for Maryland. OTC has only licensed technologies in the past, which means Maryland continued to own the patent. Shneiderman gets a kick out of showing his colleagues photos of themselves from 25 or 30 years ago. The images are among the more than 40,000 photos that are indexed on his laptop, utilizing his own photo indexing software.

The founding director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Shneiderman and his team of researchers developed the “inspirational prototypes” that led to the creation of Spotfire. This company created a number of important technologies, including the interface that allows pharmaceutical companies to conduct database searches on drugs for toxicity, shelf life and other variables.

Among his current research projects, Shneiderman is working on community-response grids for emergencies and disaster relief. “Current systems for emergency management,” says Shneiderman, “are highly centralized, but they only deal with disseminating the same message to everyone. We think there are great opportunities to enhance reporting of incidents with detailed responses from officials such as whether to evacuate or stay in place.”

YouTube is another good example of visual creativity support tools that Shneiderman is excited about. “It is dramatic evidence of how good tools and well-designed interfaces enable millions of people to upload hundreds of millions of videos,” says Shneiderman. “Thirty years ago, this could only be done by Hollywood studios.”

Although Shneiderman has some of the latest electronic gadgets, including an iPhone and iPod, he admits he’s not much of a computer game fan. His pleasure is seeing the user benefit from today’s technology and how it has shaped our lives.

The International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction is celebrating Shneiderman’s 60th birthday with a special issue dedicated to his work and its impact. “It’s great to get such recognition from the editors of this important journal, and it’s very rewarding to see the growth of this discipline,” he says.

Shneiderman passed the directorship of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab, now in its 25th year, to Ben Bederson in 2000. Bederson and College of Information Studies Associate Professor Allison Druin created the world-renowned International Children’s Digital Library at Maryland.

“It’s satisfying to start something and even more satisfying to turn it over to somebody else and see it go forward,” says Shneiderman. “The greatest thing that came out of the lab was a thriving community of people who work together in respectful ways and produce wonderful innovations that help make the world a better place.”

The Human-Computer Interaction Lab will celebrate its 25th anniversary May 29 and 30 with a symposium . The public is encouraged to attend.