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  Newsline

News about Software and Instrumentation for Human Behavior Research

Volume 8 - issue 1 (Tuesday 25 March 2008)

In This Issue

Product News

Free copy classic textbook 'Measuring Behaviour' by Patrick Bateson with first The Observer XT license
When you purchase your first The Observer XT license, Noldus will include a free copy of the classical textbook 'Measuring Behaviour: An Introductory Guide' by Patrick Bateson and Paul Martin. This third edition is a guide to the principles and methods of quantitative studies of behavior, with an emphasis on techniques of observation, recording, and analysis. The book contains advice on how to set up and conduct behavioral studies, ranging from experimental design to statistical analysis. It is of great value to scientists of all disciplines in which behavior is measured, including ethology, biological anthropology, the social sciences, and medicine. This is a great reference too for any The Observer user!

FaceReader goes into art!
Six students in Communication and Multimedia Design at the HAN University in Arnhem, The Netherlands found a new application for FaceReader, the revolutionary new tool for detecting and analyzing facial expressions. For their minor they were assigned to brighten up the city of Arnhem during the International Art Event. Their idea to display emotions asked for a reliable way to detect facial expressions of Arnhem citizens. They found FaceReader to be the ultimate candidate to perform this task. FaceReader detects and analyzes the emotional expressions and the students real-time translate them into percentages and subsequently colors to be displayed on screens. The screens will lighten up Arnhem from June 13^th to September 21^st. Learn more about FaceReader or the student project.

New Publications

A diverse collection of scientific articles citing Noldus products are published in renowned journals each week. The following list is only a small selection of the most recent published scientific articles.

Child psychology: Steenbeek, H.; Geert, van, P. (2008). An empirical validation of a dynamic systems model of interaction: do children of different sociometric statuses differ in their dyadic play? Developmental Science, 11, 253-281.

Psychology: Kunz, M.; Scharmann, S.; Hemmeter, U.; Schepelmann, K.; Lautenbacher, S. (2007). The facial expression of pain in patients with dementia. Pain, 133, 221-228.

Psychobiology: Kallai, J.; Csatho, A.; Karadi, K.; Horvath, D.; Kovacs-Labadi, B.; Jaria, R.; Makany, T.; Nadel, L. (2007). Cognitive and affective aspects of thigmotaxis strategy in humans. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121, 21-30.

Human-Machine Interaction: Blackler, A.; Popovic, V.; Mahar, D. (2007). Empirical investigations into intuitive interaction: a summary. MMI-Interaktiv, 13, 4-24.

Services News

Run on product trainings: register for 2008 courses!
Our product trainings are highly appreciated by our customers. We even had to close down registration for The Observer training in February 2008! Whether you are an experienced user of our software or just purchased it, our training courses will allow greater return on investment and more efficient use of your Noldus system. If you want to participate in one of the product trainings in 2008, visit our web site and fill out a registration form.

Upcoming trainings:

• The Observer XT trainings (5 June, 25 August, and 22 October 2008, Wageningen, The Netherlands)

Noldus homepage updated: easily find the way to your research area
The Noldus homepage has been updated in order to make what you are looking for easier to find. You can now more intuitively navigate to the research area you are working in. Take a look at the new homepage.

Press

Noldus leads international consortium to study human food choice in real-life contexts
An international consortium led by Noldus Information Technology has started the 'Inside Consumer Experience' (ICE) project. The aim of the project is to develop novel instruments and mobile services for the objective measurement of food selection and consumption in real-life contexts. Immediate cause to start this project is the fact that 90% of the new food products that are launched disappear from the market within one year, due to the underestimation of the role that situational factors play in food choice. The ICE project's ultimate aim it to design a mobile sensory observation laboratory and a suite of corresponding rapid research services for the food and nutrition industry. Read more.

Events

Join us at Measuring Behavior 2008 and register now!
Measuring Behavior 2008 will be held from 26-29 August in Maastricht, a beautiful historic city situated in the southeastern part of The Netherlands. The conference will be chaired by Prof. Harry Steinbusch, Director of the School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, and Director of the European Graduate School of Neuroscience.

The following renowned scientists will present a keynote lecture:

• Gregory D. Abowd (Professor of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, and Director of the Georgia Tech Aware Home project): Measuring behavior in the home environment
• Sir Patrick Bateson (Professor of Ethology, University of Cambridge, UK, and author of the classic textbook, 'Measuring Behaviour: An Introductory Guide'): What new techniques for measuring behaviour would you die for?
• David P. Wolfer (Associate Professor of Anatomy, University of Zurich, and at the Institute for Human Movement Sciences at ETH Zurich, Switzerland): Automated testing of mouse behavior in the home cage: can it meet its promises?

Besides attending inspiring presentations during the conference you can choose to go on interesting scientific tours, attend tutorials, special interest groups, workshops, and user meetings or visit the exhibition of software and instruments for behavioral research and scientific books. Of course, there will be a very pleasant social program that gives you the opportunity to visit Maastricht and its beautiful surroundings.

Make sure that you don't miss Measuring Behavior 2008 and register on-line for the conference now! The registration fee includes access to all symposia, special interest groups, user meetings, scientific tours, exhibition, demonstrations, and poster presentations, plus a copy of the printed conference proceedings. Make sure to register before 15 May 2008 to take advantage of an attractive early bird discount!

Reminder Call for Proposals: deadline for submission 31 March
The Scientific Program Committee would like to remind you to submit abstracts for poster presentations, demonstrations, tutorials, and workshops! The deadline for submitting abstracts is 31 March 2008. Details of all program elements can be found on the Measuring Behavior 2008 web site.

Order your own copy of the proceedings Measuring Behavior 2005
Prepare for Measuring Behavior 2008 by taking a look at the 700-page Measuring Behavior 2005 proceedings book, containing short papers of most presentations given at the latest edition of Measuring Behavior. Authors elaborate on technical details of their methods and instruments, including drawings, photographs, and software screenshots. In order for you to get a quick impression of the presentations given, the length of short papers is limited to four pages for oral presentations and two pages for posters. Topics discussed range from sound, speech, and gesture analysis to advanced techniques in eye tracking. You can obtain this book for only €12.50 ($19.50) plus shipping costs (while supplies last). Order your own copy of the proceedings by sending an email to mb2008@noldus.nl; you will be notified of the total costs shortly after we have received your email.

Explore the Restaurant of the Future: register for the seminar on April 24th
We would like to invite you for our next Noldus seminar for everyone involved in human observations. This year's seminar will be held on April 24th in the brand new Restaurant of the Future in Wageningen. In addition to users presenting a number of case studies, including a background story of the Restaurant of the Future, a tour through the restaurant facilities and demonstrations of The Observer, FaceReader, and portable labs are part of the program. The seminar's main goal is to exchange experiences in the area of behavioral observations and to update you on new innovations. If you want to learn more about this seminar or register, please visit the web site.

Upcoming conferences
Our products and solutions will be demonstrated at the following conferences:

• 15th meeting International Society on Infant Studies (ISIS) (27-29 March, Vancouver, Canada)
• 26th conference on Computer Human Interaction (CHI2008) (5-10 April, Florence, Italy)
• 11th conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA) (7-10 May, Turin, Italy)
• 20th annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) (22-25 May, Chicago, IL, USA)
• 34th annual international convention Association for Behavioral Analysis (ABA) (22-24 May, Chicago, IL, USA)
• 22nd annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies: Sleep2008 (9-11 June, Baltimore, MD, USA)
• International conference Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) (16-20 June, Baltimore, MD, USA)
• 31st annual meeting of the American Society of Primatologists (18-21 June, West Palm Beach, FL, USA)
• International conference on Healthcare systems, Ergonomics, and Patient Safety (HEPS2008) (25-27 June, Strasbourg, France)

Vacancies

Current job openings
We are always on the lookout for talented individuals to join the Noldus team! Below you can find a list of our current job openings. Click on the job title for details (in Dutch for vacancies in The Netherlands, in English for vacancies in the USA and France).

• In-house sales representative (Wageningen, The Netherlands)
• Software engineer (Wageningen, The Netherlands)
• Account manager usability and psychology (Wageningen, The Netherlands)
• International sales engineer (Wageningen, The Netherlands)
• Regional sales engineer France (France)
• Application specialist (Leesburg, VA, USA)

Contact Information

International Headquarters
Noldus Information Technology bv
Wageningen, The Netherlands
+31-317-473300
info@noldus.nl

Austria, Switzerland, South Germany
Hof, Germany
+49-9281-1447830
info@noldus.de

North Germany
Lilienthal, Germany
+49-4298-465950
info-germany@noldus.com

France
Saint Louis, France
+33-3-89-69-73-23
info-france@noldus.com

Hungary
Budapest, Hungary
+36-1-786-8009
info-hungary@noldus.com

Spain & Portugal
Barcelona, Spain
+34-933-122-067
info-spain@noldus.com

North American Headquarters
Noldus Information Technology Inc.
Leesburg, VA, USA
+1-703-771-0440
(toll-free) 1-800-355-9541
info@noldus.com

USA, north-east Region
(CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT)
Attleboro, MA, USA
+1-508-222-4961
(toll-free) 1-877-266-5387
jonathan.dale@noldus.com

USA, south-east Region
(AL, FL, KY, NC, SC, TN, GA)
Asheville, NC, USA
+1-828-281-2757
(toll-free) 1-888-293-9110
wilant.vangiessen@noldus.com

USA other states, Canada & Mexico
Leesburg, VA, USA
+1-703-771-0440
(toll-free) +1-800-355-9541
info@noldus.com

All Other Countries
Wageningen, The Netherlands
+31-317-473300
info@noldus.nl

We are also represented by a worldwide network of distributors. For the nearest regional office or distributor, please visit: www.noldus.com/contact

Noldus Newsline, Volume 8- Issue 1 (Tuesday 25 March 2008)
Copyright 2008, Noldus Information Technology bv; All rights reserved.