Forget about the Google Glass, Apple Watch or 3-D TV: UF students are coming up with different technology entirely.
Two human-centered computing doctoral students of the Human Experience Research Lab at UF, Marvin Andujar and Chris Crawford, are researching the interaction between advanced technology and humans.
The following is a sampling of some of the tools the Human Experience Research Lab is using:
Video Game Violence Project
Andujar, 25, is actively involved in The Video Game Violence Project, which monitors players’ brain waves while playing violent video games in order to track when and why video gamers become aggressive.
The hope is that someday the group will create a product that will reduce levels of aggression in gamers, and in turn, prevent violent tendencies.
Humanoid and Human Interaction
Crawford, 25, is researching people’s reactions to using humanoids in the workplace.
UF is specifically using a robot manufactured by Aldebaran, a company that makes companion robots.
The humanoid’s big blue eyes, small mouth and rounded features make it more approachable to humans than earlier humanoid models.
The robot’s cameras, microphones and touch sensors also allow it to interact with humans by listening, talking and moving.
The UF lab is currently still in the process of naming the roughly 20-inch robot.
Coming Up
In the future, the research lab will merge science and art to allow users to paint images using their brain.
[A version of this story ran on page 20 on 4/22/2015]
