Design Research

HCI students win Bose Challenge, Designing for Augmented Reality with Sound

the four team members sit around a square table in the HCII lobby

More than 100 Carnegie Mellon University students participated in an on-campus challenge last month, designing solutions for an emerging field so new that the technology, a pair of Bose augmented reality (AR) glasses, wasn’t even available to the participants.

The upcoming Bose AR technology will enable developers to superimpose sound on top of the real world based on location or head gestures, creating opportunities for novel experiences with learning, music, travel, and more.

Actuation Gives New Dimensions to an Old Material

white paper actuators in front of black background

One of the oldest, most versatile and inexpensive of materials — paper — seemingly springs to life, bending, folding or flattening itself, by means of a low-cost actuation technology developed at Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute.

Increasing Design Innovation

scatterplot graph of the landscape of HCI literature using machine learning

Design innovation often follows technical advances. For example, when Philips invented the cassette recorder in 1962, designers innovated this technology to create new things like the boombox, Walkman, and car audio player. Designers innovate by situating a known technology in a new place and in a new form that brings value to people's lives. Today, everyone's talking about AI. Interestingly, we see very little design innovation happening with this material.

ClassInSight

teacher's view of 3 wide rows students and desks from the front of the classroom with the Class In Sight technology overlay

While much of education research is focused on student performance, this research turns the focus to the development of the teacher.

Thermorph: Flat Materials Self-Fold When Heated

a piece of flat, white plastic being dipped in warm water and folding into a rose

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have used an inexpensive 3-D printer to produce flat plastic items that, when heated, fold themselves into predetermined shapes, such as a rose, a boat or even a bunny.

Digital Exhibit Labels: Enhancement or Distraction for Museum Visitors

the Bronze Age Innovations display with digital rails in the front at the Field Museum

Does a touchscreen display distract visitors from the cultural museum artifacts it supports?

A team of learning scientists and computer scientists collaborated with museum curators to analyze the role of digital display technology in visitor learning in a collections-based exhibit.

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