wchci Laboratory

Welcome to the Wellesley College Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory.

Here at wchci we are dedicated to innovation and investigation of next- generation technology. Over the past two decades, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research has generated a broad range of interaction styles that move beyond the desktop into new physical and social contexts. Key areas of innovation in this respect are tangible, table-top, and embodied user interfaces. These interaction styles share important commonality: leveraging users' existing knowledge and skills of interaction with the real non-digital world such as naive physics, spatial, social and motor skills. Such interfaces offer a more natural, intuitive, and accessible form of interaction that reduces the mental effort required to learn and operate a computational system and supports high-level cognition.

Currently we are investgating how next-generation interaction techniques can benefit and enhance collaborative brainstorming and scientific discovery in areas where vast amount of abstract information must be accessed and manipulated.