STaR Centre is growing our networks and our new collaborators based in Auckland Bioengineering Institute are changing the world with a vision to Humanize the Technology.
The Augmented Human Lab led by Associate Professor Suranga Nanayakkara is a team of interdisciplinary experimenters. “Specifically, we aim to foster smart, new and stunning experiences that change the way people live and experience the world.”
Suranga Nanayakkara is an Associate Professor at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, the University of Auckland (UoA). Before joining UoA, Suranga was an Assistant Professor at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and a Postdoctoral Associate at the Fluid Interfaces group, MIT Media Lab. He received his PhD in 2010 and BEng in 2005 from the National University of Singapore. In 2011, he founded the “Augmented Human Lab” to explore ways of creating ‘enabling’ human-computer interfaces as natural extensions of our body, mind and behaviour.
Suranga is among that rare breed of engineers that has a sense of “humanity” in technology. This ranges from practical behavioral issues, understanding real-life contexts in which technologies function, and understanding where technologies can be not just exciting or novel, but have a meaningful impact on the way people live. The connection he feels to the communities in which he lives and with whom he works is a quality that will ensure his research will always have real relevance.
Examples of projects:
- “FingerReader”, that allows blind users to access information simply by pointing at objects and asking questions;
- “Muss-Bits”, that allows deaf users to ‘feel’ music;
- “GymSoles”, a smart insole that enables users to perform exercises with the correct body posture; “Sparsh”, that enables users to move digital media between devices by simply grabbing them into their hands.
Learn more about Augmented Human Lab
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