Dr. Misha Sra PhD of UCSB - CS

Abstract: The web digitized information while social media digitized people and relationships. Technology and global events are now transforming not only the nature of work but also where it is done and when. We are likely to continue living in both our physical and digital worlds (even more so because of COVID-19) leading us to ask the question: how can both worlds become more integrated to help shape our future hybrid lives? In this talk I will present work from the Perceptual Engineering lab that explores how we might design our hybrid lives with spatial computing technologies, sensor data, and AI algorithms.

Biography:

: Misha Sra is the John and Eileen Gerngross Assistant Professor and directs the Perceptual Engineering Lab in the Computer Science department at UCSB. She is also affiliated with UCSB's Center for Responsible Machine Learning (CRML). Misha received her PhD at the MIT Media Lab in 2018. She has published at the most selective HCI and VR venues such as CHI, UIST, VRST, and DIS where she received multiple best paper awards and honorable mentions. From 2014-2015, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation wellbeing research fellow at the Media Lab. In spring 2016, she received the Silver Award in the annual Edison Awards Global Competition that honors excellence in human-centered design and innovation. MIT selected her as an EECS Rising Star in 2018. Her research has received extensive media coverage from leading media outlets (e.g., from Engadget, UploadVR, MIT Tech Review and Forbes India) and has drawn the attention of industry research, such as Samsung and Unity 3D.

Research: Over the last 50 years, interaction with digital systems has evolved from punch cards to mouse and keyboard to touch and voice. Motivated by the belief that digital interactions must continue to evolve, the Perceptual Engineering lab creates immersive systems and devices that integrate the ease and expressiveness with which our bodies interact with the physical world. The lab works to understand and create technology that can improve human capabilities through extra-disciplinary research, publishing across science, engineering, and design. Projects involve tools and methods from human-computer interaction, wearables, and machine learning to create applications in areas like augmented human ability, supporting health and wellbeing, and enabling learning and creativity. I am currently collaborating with two time Academy Award Winner and composer AR Rahman and industry partners to explore the design of novel storytelling techniques.