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X-WR-CALDESC:Public calendar listing monthly reading group events for dy
namic abstractions working group \n\nhttps://dynamicabstractions.github.
io/reading-group
X-WR-CALNAME:Dynamic Abstractions Reading Group
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DTSTART:20070311T020000
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ATTENDEE;CN="sh31659@gmail.com";CUTYPE=INDIVIDUAL;EMAIL="sh31659@gmail.c
om";PARTSTAT=DECLINED;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;X-NUM-GUESTS=0:mailto:sh31659
@gmail.com
CREATED:20250618T183855Z
DESCRIPTION: Date &\; Time: 2025-06-27 (Fri) @ 12 pm EST (9
am PST) Zoom Link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/85283871524 Topic: Simul
ations and Understanding Speaker: Andy Matuschak Bio: Andy is an ap
plied researcher\, focused on creating user interfaces that expand what
people can think and do. His current focus is an augmented book which ac
tively helps people understand\, remember\, and use what they read. He b
elieves personal computers can enable transformative tools for thought:
environments that radically transform what people can think and do\, so
much so that we expand the set of thoughts it’s possible to think. He wa
nts to produce alien cognitive and creative powers—as wondrous and magic
al to us today as a modern visual effects artist might seem to a cave pa
inter. Note: A key dream for computing pioneers like Alan Kay
and Seymour Papert was that we'd replace inert textual or symbolic expla
nations with real-time interactive simulations. As a result\, people wou
ld understand complex topics much more easily. How has this dream fared?
We'll examine that broad question in general\, and by way of one of the
most elaborate examplars\, Earth Primer by Chaim Gingold (contributor t
o Will Wright's Spore\, author of Building SimCity\, and member of Bret
Victor's lab at HARC). We'll also discuss the debate in cognitive psycho
logy about the role of these abstractions in understanding. Readin
g: Earth Primer (focus on
"Interior" and "Surface" chapters)\, Why Minimal Guidance
During Instruction Does Not Work Moderator: Sangho Suh
Detai
ls: ht
tps://dynamicabstractions.github.io/reading-group
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250627T130000
DTSTAMP:20250915T202015Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250627T120000
LAST-MODIFIED:20250623T184918Z
LOCATION:https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/87890626814
ORGANIZER;CN="Dynamic Abstractions Reading Group";EMAIL="3f0b9d188245484
9d81ad65060ac61deac2e6d38fc00f665dd7631b5614b27b3@group.calendar.google.
com":mailto:3f0b9d1882454849d81ad65060ac61deac2e6d38fc00f665dd7631b5614b
27b3@group.calendar.google.com
SEQUENCE:0
STATUS:CONFIRMED
SUMMARY:June - Dynamic Abstractions Reading Group
TRANSP:OPAQUE
UID:3lcaep7povi8oc9v3rlovrrhil@google.com
URL;VALUE=URI:https://dynamicabstractions.github.io/reading-group/
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CLASS:PUBLIC
CREATED:20250707T211007Z
DESCRIPTION: Date &\; Time: 2025-07-25 (Fri) @ 12 pm EST (9
am PST) Zoom Link: TBD Topic: The Creation\, Evolut
ion\, and Formalization of New Notational Systems Speaker: Ian Arawjo Bio: Ian is an Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at the U
niversity of Montréal in the Department of Computer Science and Operatio
ns Research (DIRO)\, where he is also affiliated with Mila. He founded t
he Montréal HCI group and created the popular ChainForge visual programming environment fo
r prompt engineering and LLM evaluation. His recent work deals with topi
cs around LLM evaluation\, human-AI grounding\, and pen-based notational
interfaces. In the past\, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Unive
rsity\, working with Professor Elena Glassman. Note: We will d
iscuss the topic of the "Creation\, Evolution\, and Formalization of New
Notations"—why and how are new notational systems made? How do they evo
lve? How do they become “formalized” over time (come to be seen as “form
al”... what does being "formal" mean)? And finally\, how could a better\
, systematic understanding of notation evolution shed light on interface
design (in this new era of LLM-frozen-culture\, where systems tend to a
mplify existing\, popular notations)? Reading:
No reading is required\, however I have some suggestions for
those interested in the topic. These are books/bodies of work I am curr
ently reading or have read:
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250725T130000
DTSTAMP:20250915T202015Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250725T120000
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T074022Z
LOCATION:https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/85916011665
SEQUENCE:0
STATUS:CONFIRMED
SUMMARY:July - Dynamic Abstractions Reading Group
TRANSP:OPAQUE
UID:6mqdv5jb4oagmb4tir6pk5aa08@google.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
CREATED:20250825T081943Z
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jasmine Otto
Topic: Intelligent Interfaces a
re Boundary Objects
Boundary objects are knowledge representation
s that admit multiple readings. They are abstractions that mediate betwe
en two or more disciplinary languages and sense-making strategies. Jasmi
ne will share her research collaboration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab th
at relied on this theory to make sense of Marstime operations scheduling
.
Topic: Intelligent Interfaces a
re Boundary Objects
Boundary objects are knowledge representation
s that admit multiple readings. They are abstractions that mediate betwe
en two or more disciplinary languages and sense-making strategies. Jasmi
ne will share her research collaboration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab th
at relied on this theory to make sense of Marstime operations scheduling
.