[Colloquium] Jas Brooks Candidacy Exam/Mar 26, 2024

[Megan Woodward]

This is an announcement of Jas Brooks's Candidacy Exam.
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Candidate: Jas Brooks

Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Time:  9 am CST

Location: JCL 298

Title: Chemical interfaces: new methods for interfacing with the user’s senses

Abstract: Since the advent of computer interfaces, significant advances have been made toward delivering high-fidelity visual, auditory, and haptic experiences, notably propelled by the rise of virtual and augmented reality. Yet, the stimulation of new senses like smell, taste, and temperature has severely stagnated over the last decades. I argue that this stems from the predominant reliance on actuators from mechanical and robotic engineering, which are not scalable or adaptable for these senses. I posit that completely new interfacing techniques are needed to fully engage users’ senses. As such, I explore the integration of these crucial senses by proposing a new class of devices, which I call “chemical interfaces.” These devices interface directly with the chemical dimension of our sensory pathways – tapping into our smell receptors, taste receptors, and even temperature receptors. Through the precise delivery of specific chemicals to areas like the user’s skin or tongue, I have dramatically increased the level of immersion of virtual (and real) experiences by adding temperature, smell, and taste. My findings reveal that, in contrast to conventional methods originating from robotics or mechanical engineering, chemical interfaces offer distinct benefits and advantages. These include a significant reduction in power consumption for temperature feedback (CHI’20 Best Paper), rich skin sensations like tingling, stinging, numbing, and hot or cold (UIST’21), the ability to modify the taste of virtual and real foods (UIST’23), and endowing users with new abilities, such as sensing harmful gases when they inhale (CHI’21). My approach paves the way for richer digital interactions (e.g., in VR or AR), but also lays the groundwork for future health interventions, such as for helping people with smell and taste disorders.

Advisors: Pedro Lopes

Committee Members: Pattie Maes, Tanzeem Choudhury, Ben Zhao, and Pedro Lopes







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