CMSC 20300: Introduction to Human Computer Interaction


Pedro Lopes Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science

Email:
pedrolopes@uchicago.edu
Office:
JCL 365
Website:
https://plopes.org/

Biography

Pedro's work asks the question: what if interfaces would share part of our body? Pedro has materialized these ideas by creating interactive systems based on electrical muscle stimulation. These devices use part of the wearer’s body for output, i.e., the computer can output by actuating the user’s muscles with electrical impulses, causing it to move involuntarily. The wearer can sense the computer’s activity on their own body by means of their sense of proprioception. Pedro’s wearable systems have shown to (1) increase realism in VR/AR, (2) provide a novel way to access information through proprioception, and (3) serve as a platform to experience and question the boundaries of our sense of agency.

Prof. Ken Nakagaki Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science

Biography

Ken Nakagaki is an interaction designer and HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) researcher from Japan. His research focuses on inventing and designing novel user interface technologies seamlessly combine dynamic digital information or computational aids into daily physical tools and materials. He is passionate about creating novel physical embodied experiences via these interfaces through curiosity-driven tangible prototyping processes. At AxLab, he pursues research in actuated and shape-changing user interface technologies to design the future of user experiences.