Advances in low- and no-power sensing, communication and interaction technologies offer new possibilities for blending digital innovation with our physical environment.
From gesture recognition that allows people to interact with objects in new ways, to low-power sensors that collect and transmit data about temperature, air quality, urban accessibility and more, our researchers are tapping into the potential of computation to transform how we experience the world around us.
Research Groups & Labs
Makeability Lab
The Makeability Lab specializes in Human-Computer Interaction and applied machine learning for high-impact problems in accessibility, computational urban science, and augmented reality.
Graphics & Imaging Lab (GRAIL)
The work of the Graphics & Imaging Laboratory spans computer graphics, computer vision, generative AI, computational photography, virtual reality, animation and games.
Allen School Faculty
Assistant Professor
Professor
Professor
Assistant Professor
Centers & Initiatives
The Transportation Data Equity Initiative (TDEI) aims to enhance the quality and accessibility of travel services by building open source data collection and vetting tools, transportation data digital infrastructure, and governance frameworks that enable public-private data sharing and interoperability. The TDEI is a project sponsored by The Complete Trip, an ITS4US Deployment Program.
Society + Technology is a cross-campus, cross-disciplinary initiative and community at the University of Washington that is dedicated to research, teaching and learning focused on the social, societal and justice dimensions of technology.
Highlights
UW News
Researchers in the Allen School’s Mobile Intelligence Lab developed VueBuds, the first system that incorporates tiny cameras in off-the-shelf wireless earbuds as a less-intrusive, more privacy-preserving alternative to smart glasses.
Allen School News
The ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) recently honored Froehlich (Ph.D., ‘11) for his work to improve pedestrian infrastructure across the globe and tackle a range of other accessibility challenges using AI and HCI.
GeekWire
Allen School undergraduate Prisha Hemani and teammates won the grand prize in the 2026 Hollomon Health Challenge for CPRight, a real-time CPR feedback device. The annual competition is hosted by the UW’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship in the Foster School of Business.