Pedro Lopes

@pedrolopes.org

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Associate Professor at University of Chicago, Computer Science. Runs the Human-Computer Integration Lab (https://lab.plopes.org) & also a musician.

Watch a dancer controlled by muscle stimulation.
Demo of the device, video shows key insertion and haptics to provide directional force
Two photos of our lab during CHI 2026. Both photos are part of the article and have alt text on the html page, follow the link to read it.
Title of the video says novel devices we showcased ayt ACM CHI 2026
A quadrant of four images each showing the seeing with hands prototype ion action. All of these are from the paper and have alt text on the paper so you can read them via text as well: https://lab.plopes.org/published/2025-CHI-SeeingWithTheHands.pdf
TPC clapping at the closing event
Slide of the town hall with all conference logos
Bruno Felalaga holding a camera while wearing an EMG device and muscle stimulation, he is shooting a photo of a bird, and the Myo Action device will wait for his EMG signal and then fire the EMS in a few milliseconds, so so so fast that EMS can build up muscle contraction EXTREMELY fast and speed up bruno's finger that presses the button.
Shan yuan presenting at CHI
Figure 1 of the paper: a chart showing we need to balance haptic fidelity in virtual world (y axis) with that of REAL world (X axis)
Two images of these respective papers side by side. One showing a hand being accelerated by Myo Action and the other is a diagram of new haptic actuators.
Jon on stage showing a slide that says "but that's not HCI"--hci luminary (as in a statement he is quoting from such a person)
Making coffee with model correct EMS is easier. This user is happy pushing down his coffee grounds.
Making coffee with EMS is hard, this user is struggling to replicate a force as they push down on the coffee grounds
Pedro and Romain smiling after ordering all the PCBs
Everyone celebrating with jasmine
Everyone celebrating with Jasmine in front of her PhD slide!
Images (with consent from participants and blurred where requested) of people interacting with our system to perform real tasks, like use a analogue camera they ever used before, or a weird tool (a magnetic sweeper).
Two usages of our system, here, the same request "EMS help me" generates two different instructions because, a spray can with paint should be shaken and only then pressed, but a spray can with oil should only be pressed (no need to shake): the multimodal AI gets this entirely from context (i.e., sensors, POV image from smart glasses, etc) = no custom code!
System diagram from our embodied ai, note how it uses many sensors, smart glasses to see what the user sees, microphone to hear them, in order to generate contextually relevant instructions
Four tasks our system can do, bike rack, open pill bottle, spray and open a weird window.
A photo of affordance++ paper
A person being moved by electrical muscle stimulation (controlled by an AI system we made) to put their bike on the bus rack.
Jun delivering his lecture at UTokyo
Alex rocking his chemical haptics device that lets you modulate friction using liquids.
Pedro and Yudai with a TMS coil. Laughing.
Door of my lab and the printed paper of the vision talk
Six thumbnails, each a figure from one of our six UIST 2025 papers.
Thad with his google glass.
User trying to grab a VR fire extinguisher but failing, then he tries to hit a button but fails.
A person on a photo of street view with a shirt that has the location marker used in street view.
Photo of our team at CHI
Dextrerous Interaction lab, with three projects shown. On the left is a tactile device that allows you to feel touch on the fingerpad and yet keeps the fingerpad free (I know, mindblowing!), the middle is a force feedback glove with muscle stimulation that helps you play guitar, and the last is a sensory substitution device that allows you to see by feeling. All co-authored by Prof. Teng.
photos of our meeting participants
Jun Rekimoto giving a talk next to my lab's banner that says Human Computer Integration (lab name and my motto for 15+ years), which is really nice to see! The talk was very inspiring and you can see his energy in his way of gesturing at the slide.