New Modalities for Sensing, Interaction, and Human Experience

Program

15:00 Coffee

15:15-15:45 Presentation and music example performance by Joseph Paradiso

15:45-16:15 Panel discussion

Abstract

We are living in an era driven by ubiquitous sensing.  The visions that many of us touted in the early days of ubiquitous/pervasive computing have largely come to pass in this age of IoT, and now sensors of all kinds are embedded in smart devices across our environments that draw very little power and connect seamlessly to widespread networking infrastructure that becomes ever smarter and more responsive.  Where do we go next?  The crux of much of this will be in how this information connects to people, and how our perception, cognition, and identity effectively expand beyond our corporeal confines.  This talk will explore this viewed through the lens of recent projects happening in my Responsive Environments research group that involve new platforms for sensing at various scales in the physical world (wearables, smart buildings, connected landscapes, and space missions) and how this information connects to people in different ways, from manifesting sensed or inferred phenomena in virtual analog environments to interfaces modulated by user attention and focus or augmented by real-time AI.  

Bio

Joe Paradiso is the Alexander W. Dreyfoos Professor in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where he directs the Responsive Environments group and currently serves at the Academic Head.  He received his PhD in Physics from MIT in 1981 and a BS in Electrical Engineering and Physics from Tufts University in 1977, then joined the Media Lab in 1994 after developing spacecraft control and sensor systems at Draper Laboratory and high-energy physics detectors at CERN Geneva and ETH Zurich.  He is a pioneer in the development of the Internet of Things and renowned for work in wearable sensing systems, energy harvesting technology, and electronic music controllers.  His current research broadly explores how sensor networks and AI augment and mediate human experience, interaction and perception.  This has encompassed wireless sensing systems, wearable and body sensor networks, ubiquitous/pervasive computing and the Internet of Things, human-computer interfaces, space-based systems, sensate materials, digital twins in virtual worlds, and interactive music/media. He has written 400 articles and papers and holds over 25 patents in these areas.  Joe has also been designing, building, and using his own electronic music synthesizers since the early 1970s.  He has always enjoyed composing electronic soundscapes and seeking out edgy and unusual music from around the world.

Panel:

• Prof. Joseph Paradiso, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
• Prof. Niklas Elmqvist, Aarhus University, Danmark
• Prof. Albrecht Schmidt, LMU Munich, Tyskland, Germany

Moderators: 

• Prof. Morten Fjeld, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
• Prof. Palle Dahlstedt, University of Gothenburg, Sweden