The HCI research program in EECS comprises a diverse group of faculty and students who work in many different areas, all tied together by a common concern: creating systems that enhance human experience. This concern gives a different flavor to our research from much of traditional computer science, which is typically focused on engineering goals (such as performance, scalability and reliability) or on serving the needs of engineers themselves (eg through goals such as maintainability).
As software-enabled devices, appliances and systems have become pervasive, we not only depend on them in every aspect of our daily life, but the very quality of our lives is impacted by our interactions with them. Moreover, it has become clear that understanding how humans interact with machines is essential not only for usability but also for safety and security: all major security attacks include a social engineering component, and unusable medical devices are responsible for thousands of deaths every year.
Our research programs address all aspects of the development of systems that involve human-computer interaction, including design, construction and evaluation. We create systems that demonstrate new kinds of functionality in individual and community settings (eg, in social media, personal information management, and data visualization), as well as tools for building such systems more easily and effectively. Our work extends beyond software to physical design and new technologies for fabrication. We also develop foundational theories of design, and seek to understand the social and ethical ramifications of systems.
Latest news in human-computer interaction
The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) is proud to announce multiple promotions.
Master’s students Irene Terpstra ’23 and Rujul Gandhi ’22 use language to design new integrated circuits and make it understandable to robots.
The series aims to help policymakers create better oversight of AI in society.
“Minimum viewing time” benchmark gauges image recognition complexity for AI systems by measuring the time needed for accurate human identification.
Founded in 2019, The EECS Alliance program connects industry leading companies with EECS students for internships, post graduate employment, networking, and collaborations. In 2023, it has grown to include over 30 organizations that have either joined the Alliance or participate in its flagship program, 6A.