From desktops and laptops to phones and tablets to virtual reality, wearable devices, the Internet of Things, and robotics, technologies based on computing are all around us. The field of human-computer interaction (HCI) studies how we interact with these technologies, and how those technologies in turn shape our world. HCI researchers seek to improve how humans interact with technology, to understand the societal impact of technologies, and to invent new technologies that alter the way we perceive and navigate the world around us.

UChicago CS includes many researchers and lab groups that investigate these angles using interdisciplinary, user-centered, and physical-computing approaches. Faculty and students design more usable privacy and security tools, improve how users interact with robots, programming languages, and IoT devices, and make technologies more inclusive for marginalized and underserved populations. Other groups design wearable devices and user interfaces that augment human abilities and create more seamless integration between the virtual and natural environments.