<rant>That's what happens when you have massive budget but have done maybe (and it's really a maybe) one good movie (which happens to be terminator, again, maybe). I feel like Hollywood ratings should be scaled to the budget: 5 starts with huge budget, goes down to 2 stars :))) </rant>

Learn what we work on: lab.plopes.org
All application details: lab.plopes.org/apply
cc @tengshanyuan.info @xjasminelu.bsky.social @uchicagocs.bsky.social

First was a compelling talk by @pedrolopes.org on moving from human computer interaction to HC integration at @acmuist.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1sn... (2/8)

If we do this right, computers won’t pull us deeper into screens—they may bring us back into our bodies: more physical, embodied, and present.
Thanks Paul Rand for the conversation 🙏
🎧 Full episode: news.uchicago.edu/big-brains-p...
Learn/apply as PhD to our lab: lab.plopes.org 10/10

Listen to the episode of @BigBrainsUC podcast:
Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-iT...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0dUe...
Just web player: news.uchicago.edu/big-brains-p... (includes transcript)
Some insights below of our discussion 👇2/

If we do this right, computers won’t pull us deeper into screens—they may bring us back into our bodies: more physical, embodied, and present.
Thanks Paul Rand for the conversation 🙏
🎧 Full episode: news.uchicago.edu/big-brains-p...
Learn/apply as PhD to our lab: lab.plopes.org 10/10

Our lab looks at this from many angles, namely safety!
When technology can act through the body, we must design for: agency and safety. (We publish often on how to keep agency!) The goal isn’t to replace humans.
It’s to augment our abilities while keeping in the driver’s seat 9/

he future of computing isn’t just about faster chips.
It’s about the relationship with the body. For instance, what if we accelerate reaction time? (We have done this with muscle stimulation and brain stimulation and made it to the world records: guinnessworldrecords.com/world-record...). 8/

Paul asked me about where this sits relative to @neuralink? Key difference:
💡 Our work = wearable = removable.
🧠 Neuralink = implanted = surgery
Implants can be transformative, but they raise different risks compared to integrated wearables.
p.s.: yes, we do brain-stim too. 7/

Imagine bidirectional neural interfaces that guide your body the way a mentor would:
• correct when you hit the wrong piano key
• teach how to use a tool you’ve never seen
• learn physical skills by feeling, not just videos
(these are real papers: lab.plopes.org) 6/

In my lab at UChicago, we ask: 👉 What happens when computers stop merely interacting with us…
…and start integrating with us? You can read more about this at lab.plopes.org since all our research is centered around this question. 5/

We’re entering a new era where computers don’t just sit in our pockets — they sit on our skin and soon may integrate with our bodies.
Wearables are becoming smaller, more intimate, and more powerful. I talked about this in my #UIST2025 vision talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1sn... 4/

Smartwatches changed how we measure our bodies.
But what if future wearables could also act through our bodies—moving muscles, correcting skills, even teaching us to play the piano? In fact we recently made a smartwatch that can move your fingers: lab.plopes.org/published/20... 3/