SPIN is an interdisciplinary group of researchers who design and build innovative physical, touch-based user interactions to solve real problems for real people. We study and design for human perception and affect, considering both interface usage and the process of designing them. We are concerned with what these interfaces will do, how they will work, the way they'll feel, sound and look; and how users will perceive them.
These interactions are finding their way into clothing and mobile devices, robots, furniture and the walls of your home; into expressive applications where current interaction mechanisms fail, like computer music handlers and media control; therapeutic tools which leverage emotional, responsive touch; sensorially overloaded environments, like car interiors; and into the language and tools we use to create touch-based applications themselves.
SPIN people come from many backgrounds -- human computer interaction, machine learning, robot design, visual arts, mechatronics, psychology, music -- and learn from each other.
