MetaFace

About MetaFace

MetaFace -> About MetaFace


Currently

Presently MetaFace is in the design phase. Tools and ideas are being gathered for implementation, and it shouldn't be long before information about implementation becomes available.

Research Document

A document that best describes what MetaFace hopes to achieve is the candidacy document submitted as a proposal for PhD research.

Introduction to MetaFace

The Internet is an exciting new media, but there are problems emerging as it is developed more and more in an undisciplined way. One of the prime issues involved with the Internet today is the lack of a well-defined metaphor and metaphor enabling framework. There are also certain human/computer-interaction issues that need further research, such as searching for information on the Internet and time delay when retrieving information from the Internet. To address the need for a well-defined metaphor, enabling framework, and research into time delay and information searching, the MetaFace system will be developed. MetaFace will a be client/server architecture capable of finding information on behalf of a user, presenting the information in a web browser and interacting with the user by means of speech and facial animation.

Part of the MetaFace system will present a new metaphor that is intuitive to the user since it is modeled on human interaction and concepts, and will be referred to as the virtual face metaphor. Another part will provide a framework so that the system can be applied to many different web sites and domains.

You can also view the latest conceptual picture for the MetaFace system. Given also is an explanation of the diagram.

  • 12th April 2002
  • View latest conceptual diagram
  • For more pictures, see screenshots.
  • Who What Where When Why How

  • MetaFace is being designed by Simon Beard as a part of his PhD research.
  • Design and implementation is being conducted at Curtin University of Technology, School of Computing.
  • Research was initiated in January 2000, and construction of MetaFace was intitiated in July 2000.
  • Completion of research is scheduled for January 2003, but MetaFace is expected to be an ongoing project with different contributers.
  • Design of MetaFace is inspired by many existing problems with web interaction today.
  • MetaFace will be implemented using existing tools and evaluated using scientific methodology.