
Dr Nic Hollinworth
Senior Research Fellow
Inclusive Design
School of Arts and Creative Industries , School Of Arts And Creative Industries
Nic is a Senior Research Fellow who has worked alongside people with learning disabilities on several projects, including Sensory Objects as a post doc researcher.
He played a major role in the co-design and implementation of many of the interactive objects that were developed during the three year project and also worked on many of the follow-up projects as a designer and maker.
His background is in Mathematics and Computer Science, and he is also a skilled woodworker and metalworker who brings ideas from concept to realisation.
Qualifications
- BSc Hons Mathematics
- PGCE Mathematics
- MSc Computer Science
- PhD Computer Science
- BSc Earth Science (Geology)
Areas Of Interest
Improving Computer Interaction for Older Adults, Developing Sensory Objects for People with Learning Disabilities. He also has an interest in the Psychology of Programming, Artificial Intelligence and Improving access to Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality systems for people with Disabilities.
OVERVIEW
Nic Hollinworth BSc, MSc, PhD is a senior research fellow at the Rix Inclusive Research Centre at UEL. He has been working in maths and computer science since 1995, but following the completion of a doctorate focused on improving computer interaction for older adults has since moved more into inclusive research and design.
He worked for 3 years on the Sensory Object AHRC-funded project, working alongside people with learning disabilities, and helping to make ideas for improving access to heritage a reality. Much of the work focused on making interactive objects using microcontrollers, sensors and actuators, and bringing novel ideas for interaction to realisation. He continued for another three years after the project ended working as a freelance designer.
He is currently researching ways of making VR more inclusive, especially for people with disabilities, and looking at alternative methods for interacting in VR worlds. Some of the work naturally lends itself to possibilities using AI to enhance the experience.
PUBLICATIONS
Conferences
- Allen, K., Asuquo, R., Choksi, A., Christian, P., Dhillon, K., Kaur, B., Kerai, K., Hollinworth, N., Phillips, L., Walker, S. and Weinberg, R. 2024. purpleSTARS: A creative intervention into AI's Algorithms through co-production of a live ‘AI, sense of self’ portrait. The Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) Practice Network Symposium 2024. Ravensbourne University, London 27 - 27 Jun 2024
- Hollinworth, Nic, Hollinworth, N., Allen, K., Kwiatkowska, G., Minnion, A., & Hwang, F. (2014). Interactive sensory objects for and by people with learning disabilities. ACM SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing
- Hollinworth, N., Hwang, F., Allen, K., Kwiatkowska, G., & Minnion, A. (2014). LittleBits go LARGE: Making electronics more accessible to people with learning disabilities. ASSETS14 - Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, 305–306.
- Hollinworth, N., Kwiatkowska, G. M., Hwang, F., Minnion, A., & Allen, K. (2014). Making electronics more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, 1255–1260.
- Allen, K., Hollinworth, N., Minnion, A., Kwiatkowska, G., Lowe, T., Weldin, N., & Hwang, F. (2013). Interactive Sensory Objects for Improving Access to Heritage. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, 2013-April, 2899–2902.
- Hollinworth, N., Hwang, F., & Field, D. T. (2013). Using Delboeuf?s Illusion to Improve Point and Click Performance for Older Adults. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, 2013-April, 1329–1334.
- Hollinworth, N., & Hwang, F. (2011). Investigating familiar interactions to help older adults learn computer applications more easily. Proceedings of HCI 2011 - 25th BCS Conference on Human Computer Interaction, 473–478.
- Hollinworth, N., & Hwang, F. (2011). Cursor relocation techniques to help older adults find “lost” cursors. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, 863–866.
- Hollinworth, N. (2010). Helping older adults locate “lost” cursors using FieldMouse. ASSETS’10 - Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, 315–316.
- Hollinworth, N., & Hwang, F. (2010). Relating computer tasks to existing knowledge to improve accessibility for older adults. ASSETS’10 - Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, 147–154.
- Hollinworth, N., & Hwang, F. (2009). Learning how older adults undertake computer tasks. ASSETS’09 - Proceedings of the 11th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, 245–246.
- Hollinworth, Nic, & Hollinworth, N. (2008). Improving computer interaction for older people - studying mouse clicks. In University Of Reading Systems Engineering Annual Conference 2008.
- Hollinworth, Nic, Hollinworth, N., & Flood, P. R. (2006). Student Perceptions of the Factors Important in Retention. The First Year Experience in Continuing Education.
- French, F., Hollinworth, N., St George, P. and Medhurst, N. (2002a). Networked Team Games. 3rd International Conference on Intelligent Games and Simulation (GAME-ON 2002)
- French, F., Hollinworth, N., St George, P. and Medhurst, N. (2002b). Peace Game Project. Joint International Conference on Interactive Learning through Gaming and Simulation (ISAGA/SAGSET).
- Hollinworth, Nic (1999). Sim: A Simple Microprocessor Simulator. 7th Annual Conference on the Teaching of Computing.
Journals
- Hollinworth, N., Allen, K., Hwang, F., Minnion, A., & Kwiatkowska, G. (2016). Interactive sensory objects for and by people with learning disabilities. International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 9(1), 21–38.
- Hwang, F., Hollinworth, N., & Williams, N. (2013). Effects of target expansion on selection performance in older computer users. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, 5(1).
Publications
Browse past publications by year.
Full publications list
Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications