Empathic Computing Laboratory

TBI rehabilitation is one of the hardest problems in neurorehab. Riku's People's Choice-winning 3MT talk asks: what if empathy itself could be designed into the recovery environment? What surprised you most? youtu.be/OameG04ALdA

#TBI rehabilitation is one of the hardest problems in neurorehab. Riku's People's Choice-winning #3MT talk asks: what if empathy itself could be designed into the recovery environment? What surprised you most? youtu.be/OameG04ALdA #VR #rehab

Tomorrow: Tamil's full 3MT talk drops. @ABI_bioeng research forum. "We didn't lose connection because of technology. We lost it because technology couldn't see what was missing." What do you think is missing?

No empathy. No recovery. 🧠 Riku Otono's People's Choice-winning 3MT talk explores how VR environments can transform rehabilitation for TBI patients. Full talk on YouTube: youtu.be/OameG04ALdA #Research #VR #AffectiveComputing #SciComm #PhDResearch

Full 3MT talk is live: Riku Otono — No Empathy, No Recovery. 🏆 People's Choice. VR environments designed for TBI rehabilitation — because recovery isn't just physical. Watch: youtu.be/OameG04ALdA @ABI_bioeng #Research #VR

Tomorrow: the full 3MT talk from Riku Otono — 🏆 People's Choice winner at the @ABI_bioeng research forum. "Empathy makes the difference between giving in and pushing forward.” What role do you think empathy plays in brain injury rehab? #VR #Rehab #3MT #NewResearch

this is a visual metaphor for spending $10,000 on claude tokens and shipping nothing

Over his PhD, Zhuang published 8 first-authored papers: 4 journal articles, 1 full conference paper, and 3 short papers — an incredible output. Congratulations, Zhuang — we can't wait to see what's next! 🚀 #PhDLife #Research #MixedReality #AffectiveComputing

🎉 Congratulations to Zhuang Chang on successfully defending his PhD, "EMiRAs: Empathic Mixed Reality Agents"! His research uses biosensing to enhance empathy in MR virtual agents — contributing to more responsive human–AI interaction. @ABI_bioeng #PhDDefence #MixedReality #AI

Full edited talks are dropping soon. Turn on notifications or subscribe so you don’t miss them.

Team Riku, Team Tamil, or Team Andreia? Watch the #3MT highlights reel: youtu.be/QCaTQAe133E Reply with your favourite moment. @ABI_bioeng #Research #AffectiveComputing

Shoutout to @ABI_bioeng for hosting the research forum where this 3MT happened — such a great showcase of the work happening across the institute. ECL highlights reel: youtu.be/QCaTQAe133E

Full-length versions of each #3MT video coming soon—stay tuned. #research #UoA #PhDLife #HCI

Which 3MT talk was your favourite (and why)? Highlights reel: youtu.be/QCaTQAe133E Riku — People’s Choice | Tamil — Runner Up | Andreia — Overall Winner

Andreia Valente, Tamil Selvan, and Riku Otono each had 180 seconds to convince a panel of judges their research mattered. All three placed. We're not saying the Empathic Computing Lab has a secret weapon. But we are strongly implying it. youtu.be/QCaTQAe133E

What happens when your face appears on someone’s hand, or even on the objects they are interacting with in VR? Read “The Effect of Facial Cue Placement in Virtual Collaboration” published in Springer Nature Virtual Reality. rdcu.be/e6zei #VRChat #VR

🎉 Congrats to Jiashuo Cao on the acceptance of his paper “Digital Humans for Depression Assessment and Intervention Support: Scoping Review” in JMIR Mental Health! 👏 Check it out: mental.jmir.org/2026/1/e79954

Interested in social interaction with mixed reality agents? Check our recently published paper: "Postures and Locomotion in Mixed Reality Agents: Effects on Social Perception of Virtual Opponents and Assistants" tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10… #agents #mixedreality #EEG

🎉 Congrats to Dr. Kunal Gupta from ECL on receiving the 2025 Marsden Fast-Start Grant from the Royal Society Te Apārangi! His project explores how VR can support early detection of depression through insights into memory, emotion & biosignals. auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2025/1…

ECL people at ISMAR 2025: facebook.com/share/p/1CJoZ8…