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Human-Centered Computing

Our work in human-centered computing explores and enhances the ways in which people and communities engage with and experience technology. 

Our research considers the personal, educational, cultural, and ethical implications of innovation. Drawing upon techniques from human-computer interaction, learning sciences, sensing and more, we aim to maximize the potential benefits of technology while minimizing potential harms to individuals, groups and society.


Groups & Labs

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Wildlab

The Wildlab explores how technology can be biased against people who are unlike those who created it — and to build systems that help designers, developers, and researchers better support the needs and perspectives of different people.

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Interactive Data Lab

The Interactive Data Lab aims to enhance people’s ability to understand and communicate data through the design of new interactive systems for data visualization and analysis.


Allen School Faculty

Assistant Teaching Professor

Professor

Associate Professor


Centers & Initiatives

TCAT harnesses the power of open-source technology to develop, translate, and deploy accessible technologies, and then sustain them in the hands of communities. Housed by the Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science & Engineering, TCAT centers the experience of people with disabilities as a lens for improving design & engineering, through participatory design practices, tooling and capacity building.

Computing for the Environment (CS4Env) at the University of Washington supports novel collaborations across the broad fields of environmental sciences and computer science & engineering. The initiative engages environmental scientists and engineers, computer scientists and engineers, and data scientists in using advanced technologies, methodologies and computing resources to accelerate research that addresses pressing societal challenges related to climate change, pollution, biodiversity and more.

Highlights


Allen School News

Allen School faculty recognized 2025 alumni Wei and Zhu for their outstanding doctoral dissertation research identifying new methods for tackling online harassment introducing more secure techniques for generating digital signatures, respectively.

Allen School News

Itani, who works with Allen School professor Shyam Gollakota in the Mobile Intelligence Lab, was recognized for exceptional early-career research advancing AI systems for “superhuman” hearing.

HearingTracker

A technology known as semantic hearing developed in Allen School professor Shyam Gollakota’s lab could let users create acoustic bubbles, isolate chosen voices, and control individual sounds in their environment.