Computational Media Research

Principal Investigator: Sri Kurniawan

The Assistive Sociotechnical Solutions for Individuals with Special Needs using Technology (ASSIST) Lab's long-term research agenda is to help people with special needs (PSN) maintain a high quality of life through technology. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Jim Whitehead

The Augmented Design Lab focuses on developing basic understandings of the building blocks of design, as well as creating computational assistants that enhance the capacity of humans to perform design activities. Learn more

Founded in 2010 with a focus on games and playable media, the Center's mission has grown to encompass a broad range of computationally enabled activities--from VR stroke rehabilitation, to apps that help users track and manage mood, to wearables that assist conversational balance, as well as cutting edge games and playful experiences. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Angus Forbes

Creative Coding is a team of interdisciplinary researchers and artists focusing on applied research in interaction and visualization, as well as on the exploration of experimental and creative works based on current techniques in human-computer interaction, scientific and information visualization, graphics, computer vision, immersive environments, and machine learning. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Adam Smith

The Design Reasoning Lab considers applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the design and development process for interactive media. This includes procedural content generation and machine playtesting. Additionally, the lab is developing a new generation of search engines that allow semantic search within the space of play for individual games as well as across many interactive media titles. Learn more

Principal Investigators: Michael Mateas & Noah Wardrip-Fruin

EIS is a technical and cultural research group exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, art, and design. A major thrust of this work is advanced AI for interactive narrative and video games. This includes autonomous characters, story generation, automated asset creation, game data analysis, and intelligent support for media design. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Steve Whittaker

The Human Computer Interaction Lab studies how technology is affecting fundamental aspects of our everyday lives, and uses insights from Cognitive and Social Science to design new digital tools to support memory and collaboration and to help manage personal information. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Leila Takayama

The Re-Embodied Cognition Lab studies how people make sense of, interact with, and relate to new technologies. As social scientists, we specialize in human-robot interaction, and research the (often strange) behaviors and attitudes that surround human interactions with new technologies. Learn more

Director: Katherine Isbister

The Social Emotional Technology Laboratory (SET Lab) is an interdisciplinary team with researchers from Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, and Digital Arts and New Media. The mission of the lab is to design, implement and study human computer interaction technologies that enhance physical, social, and emotional experiences. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Jim Whitehead

The Software Introspection Laboratory focuses on the structure of software and how it evolves over time. As a lab, we're interested in how bugs get introduced into software and are working on techniques to identify and fix errors reliably. Learn more

Principal Investigator: David Lee

The Tech4Good Lab does research in social computing, the intersection of computational systems and human interaction. We integrate design, modeling, and algorithms towards creating novel environments for the future of work, education, governance, and community engagement. We are currently focused on scaling situated and experiential learning, supporting job search and transitions, and supporting communities in collaborating around causes. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Eddie Melcer

The Alternative Learning Technologies and Games (ALT Games) Lab is an interdisciplinary team with projects ranging across multiple domains such as Human-Computer Interaction, Learning Science, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, and Digital Arts. The mission of the lab is to create and explore the potential of alternative controllers, novel interfaces, and other forms of unique input/output. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Norman Su

The Authentic User Experience Lab (AUX Lab) is part of the Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz. We integrate empirical and humanistic methods to do research with subcultures. We publish in human-computer interaction (HCI) and other related venues (e.g., CHI, DIS, CSCW, ECSCW, ICWSM). Learn more

Principal Investigator: Magy Seif El-Nasr

Game design, interactive arts, interactive media are a new emerging inter- and multi-disciplinary fields that combine different disciplines, including computer science, design, art, engineering, psychology, social science, science, and business. Members of the GUII Lab focus on this emerging areas with emphasis on contributions on understanding the user experience, expanding and applying new artificial intelligence algorithms, and engineering new engaging designs. Learn more

Principal Investigator: Elin Carstensdottir

More information coming soon.