As an undergraduate, the biggest benefit of attending the conference on Intelligent User Interfaces this past February was seeing what a future in academia could mean for me. Throughout the past three years as a computer science major, every time someone has asked me what I want to do in computer science, I’ve shrugged and replied that “I’m still figuring that out.” Throughout the few days at IUI in Haifa, Israel, I think I’ve gotten a lot closer to knowing where my interests will take me. Seeing so many academics talk so passionately and excitedly about user interfaces, I can’t help but get excited about how much further there is to go in the field.

The conference on Intelligent User Interfaces focuses on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction. This carries a host of different meanings, from recommendation systems and intuitive map interfaces to multitouch typing, layered stereoscopic displays, and interface adaptation for users with impaired dexterity. If technology is becoming ubiquitous, we should make it as intuitive as possible, and seek to simulate the way we already think about and interact with the world. While I may go to work for a few years after I graduate from Washington and Lee, there is no longer any doubt in my mind that I’ll end up in research.