Advisor: Pedro Lopes
Yudai Tanaka is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science at University of Chicago advised by Prof. Pedro Lopes. In his research, Yudai explores computer interfaces that output sensory feedback by intercepting the user’s brain or nervous system. These interfaces free up the user’s body from hardware in touch interactions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6G8Htzq_gQ), or even envision a new form of interactive experiences by presenting sensations directly to the brain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y61l38F81s). Yudai has published work at top HCI conferences including ACM CHI and UIST, with Best Paper Award (CHI 2023), Best Paper Honorable Mention (CHI 2024, UIST 2024), and Best Demo Award (CHI 2022) & Honorable Mention (UIST 2024). His work has been covered by IEEE Spectrum and New Scientist.
When outputting information to our senses, almost all wearable interfaces follow the same principle: externally generating stimuli (e.g., lights, sounds, vibrations) and then presenting them via devices placed at the endpoints of our sensory system, such as head-mounted displays in front of the eyes and vibration motors on the skin. While this intuitive approach of stimulating the endpoints might be sufficient for audiovisual interfaces, I argue that when it comes to engaging the sense of touch (i.e., haptics), it will fail to support a wide variety of interactive experiences. Even a single haptic device on the hand will obstruct users from touching or grabbing objects in the real world, making it undesirable for mixed reality. Let alone scaling this approach to a larger portion of the body, which would restrict the user’s whole body.
My research introduces an alternative approach to haptic output: instead of stimulating endpoints with external stimuli, I explore interactive devices that “internally” send electrical signals to the nervous system — intercepting the user’s nervous system. My approach creates haptic sensations beyond the point where the device is worn, establishing a basis for enabling haptic feedback while keeping the user’s body free, and scaling haptic interfaces to work for the entire body.
