News

  • Tech Unbound Podcast EP5: Robot Able to Instantly Identify Household Materials Without Touching Objects

    GVU Center at Georgia Tech, Jul 17, 2019

    Georgia Tech researchers have developed a scalable and cost-effective way robots can identify materials of objects in the home without touching the objects. PhD robotics student Zackory Erickson, advised by Charlie Kemp, joins the Tech Unbound Podcast to share how it works.

    Using near-infrared light, similar to what’s used in TV remotes, the robot can identify common materials used in household objects to better inform its actions. This might allow intelligent machines to understand, for example, the right bowl (paper versus metal) to put in a microwave or how hard to grasp a cup made of glass versus plastic.

  • Robot Able to Instantly Identify Household Materials Using Near-Infrared Light

    No Contact is Required with Objects by Using Inexpensive, Handheld 'Light-Reading' Device

    July 8, 2019

    Robots aren’t yet household fixtures, but Georgia Tech researchers have already come up with a way domestic bots might recognize materials around the home.

  • IC's Dhruv Batra Named PECASE Winner, One of Three at Georgia Tech

    July 5, 2019

    The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government to outstanding scientists and engineers beginning independent research careers.

  • Is Our AI On the Way to Becoming Control?

    StarTrek.com, Jul 2, 2019

    The powerful computer easily took control on 'Discovery.' Associate Professor Mark Riedl contributes to this discussion on whether or not that popular portrayal is a realistic representation of artificial intelligence.

  • Georgia Tech Team Wins New Fetch Robot at ICRA's FetchIt! Mobile Manipulation Challenge

    June 28, 2019

    A team of Georgia Tech master’s and Ph.D. students, advised by Sonia Chernova, won the challenge by successfully assembling three kits with its robot in 39 minutes.

  • IC Researchers Earn 2018 IJRR Paper of the Year for Impactful Robotics Research

    June 28, 2019

    With the award comes a $1,000 prize. Boots attended the Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) conference in the Freiburg, Germany, this week, where he accepted the award on behalf of his team.

  • Tech Unbound Podcast EP4: Smart Dog Toys Help Save Time and Money to Train Service Dogs

    GVU Center at Georgia Tech, Jun 17, 2019

    How do dogs get jobs? Well first they have to go to dog school, but not every dog makes the grade. Finding out if canines have the right temperament to become service animals or train for other jobs takes time and money. 

    On this episode of Tech Unbound, Ceara Byrne, Ph.D. student in computer science, shares how her team can predict the suitability of service animals by using smart dog toys. Yes, that’s right, dogs are getting their own smart devices to help them get ready for the job market. The research is poised to save millions of dollars in training costs.

  • IC Researchers Awarded Outstanding Study Design Paper Award at ICWSM-19

    June 14, 2019

    The paper, titled A Social Media Study on the Effects of Psychiatric Medication Use, was presented by IC Ph.D. student Koustuv Saha and included fellow IC Ph.D. student Benjamin Sugar and IC Assistant Professor Munmun De Choudhury.

  • She Designs High-Tech Responses to Human Health Problems

    National Geographic, Jun 14, 2019

    Like other computer scientists, Elizabeth Mynatt uses cutting-edge tech. What sets her apart is her holistic, humanistic approach. “I always say I’m designing for both sides of the equation,” she says. “And the people side is always the hardest.” Read More.

  • The Interaction Hour: Zvi Galil and the Online Revolution at Georgia Tech

    The School of Interactive Computing, Jun 14, 2019

    When Zvi Galil, the outgoing John P. Imlay Jr. Dean of Computing, came to Georgia Tech in 2010, there was no such thing as OMSCS. True online degree programs were still a dream, AI teaching assistants unnecessary, and the College of Computing, while excellent, in many ways mirrored its peers in higher education. Over nearly a decade that he has led the College, however, it has experienced dramatic growth both in size and reputation. As he prepares for the final month of his deanship at the College of Computing, we chat with Dean Galil about what brought him to Georgia Tech, his mission and how he fulfilled it, and, of course, the world-renowned online degree program for which he will be most remembered.

  • Neha Kumar Appointed Chair of the Association for Computing Machinery's Future of Computing Academy

    June 7, 2019

    Kumar is an assistant professor with a dual appointment in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing.

  • ICML 2019: Georgia Tech Researchers Present at Global Machine Learning Conference

    June 4, 2019

    Georgia Tech will present 18 papers at the International Conference on Machine Learning.

  • The Interaction Hour: Exploring Social Media's Role in Opioid Addiction Recovery

    The School of Interactive Computing, May 30, 2019

    In the late 1990s, the United States saw a sharp increase in the number of opioid overdose deaths – rising by nearly 600 percent between 1999 and 2017, according to data provided by the CDC. It has, appropriately, been labeled an epidemic, and in 2018 the country’s life expectancy dropped for the third consecutive year, reflecting the ongoing drug crisis and rising suicide rates. As researchers and clinicians continue to examine the quality of different approaches to treatment, many seeking recovery have taken matters into their own hands. Our guest, School of Interactive Computing Ph.D. student Stevie Chancellor, will present a paper on this subject next week at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Glasgow, Scotland. What exactly do these addiction support communities entail? What alternative strategies are people pursuing in recovery, and why? How can we ensure that clinicians are well-informed about the types of self-treatments being used outside of their care?

  • Tech Unbound Podcast EP3: Battling Bias and Making Better Decisions Using Visual Data Interactions

    GVU Center at Georgia Tech, May 28, 2019

    May 28, 2019 - We lean on data a lot - in catching bad guys to making hiring decisions and even planning the weekly grocery list. But we’re biased creatures, and sometimes we get it wrong.

    Host Joshua Preston talks with Emily Wall, Ph.D. student in computer science, about how technology can allow us to better understand how we interact with visual data and use that understanding to make better decisions.

  • AIs and Humans Become ‘Creative Equals’ with New Design Tool

    Video Game Developers Use an AI partner In Wildly Different Ways, From Friend to Boss

    May 16, 2019

    Will video game developers welcome AI assistance in their workflow? In short, yes, and in wildly different ways, based on research from Georgia Tech published this month.

  • Tech Unbound Podcast EP2: Computers Dissect Every Minute of HBO's Game of Thrones to Reveal the Show's Dominant Colors and Dialogue

    GVU Center at Georgia Tech, May 13, 2019

    May 13, 2019 - Winter has arrived. The end of a pop culture era is here with the final episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones airing on Sunday. Fans of the show express their fandom in many different ways, but none quite like those at Georgia Tech.

    On today’s show, we discuss an interactive data visualization that analyzes the color and dialogue in every single minute of every single episode of the first six seasons of the hugely popular television fantasy show based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. 

    Host Joshua Preston talks with Fred Hohman, Ph.D. student in computational science and engineering and computer science, one of the creators of the data visualization that is aptly named "A Viz and Ice and Fire." 

    Explore "A Viz of Ice and Fire - Summarizing Entertainment Video Using Color and Dialogue."

    Also check out more Georgia Tech love for Game of Thrones.

  • Two Georgia Tech Alums Receive Prestigious Awards at CHI 2019

    May 8, 2019

    Jennifer Mankoff, one of Professor Gregory Abowd’s first of 30 Ph.D graduates in 2001, was inducted into the prestigious CHI Academy this week, and Gillian Hayes (2007), also advised by Abowd, was awarded the Social Impact award.

  • IC Researchers Seek to Improve Treatment for Schizophrenia Under New $2.7 Million NIMH Grant

    May 1, 2019

    This grant offers researchers the opportunity to apply findings of past research to real-world clinical settings.

  • Tech Unbound Podcast EP1: A.I. Agent Plays Frogger and Convinces Spectators It Knows What It’s Doing

    GVU Center at Georgia Tech, Apr 30, 2019

    Why did the frog cross the road? Georgia Tech’s newest artificial intelligence (AI) system plays the video game Frogger and can offer up explanations to human spectators about why it makes each move.

    Upol Ehsan, Ph.D. student in computer science at Georgia Tech, talks about the AI system. 

    The work takes a formative step towards understanding the role of natural language AI explanations and how humans perceive them. It’s a human-centered approach to developing AI agents, one that Upol says is needed in order to make black-boxed AI systems explainable to everyday users.

  • IC’s Caitlyn Seim to Serve as Spring Ph.D. Commencement Speaker

    April 30, 2019

    Seim, who is advised by IC Professor Thad Starner, was chosen by a committee of leaders from across campus, including the Office of the Dean of Students, various faculty, and commencement officials.

  • CHI 2019: Georgia Tech Research Integrates Human Capabilities with Machine Advances for Positive Impact in Society

    GVU Center at Georgia Tech, Apr 30, 2019

    Georgia Tech faculty and students from across the Institute are bringing their broad interdisciplinary research approach and expertise to the Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2019), May 4-9 in Glasgow, UK.

    Among more than 700 institutions and 2,600 researchers participating, Georgia Tech is a Top 10 institution with accepted research. This research includes an expansive portfolio of work that uses technology to address tough social issues, such as drug addiction and mental health problems, and builds techniques to advance human capabilities in areas including creativity, advocacy, policy, and education.

  • Georgia Tech's Child Study Lab Sees Computer Science as New 'Microscope' for Autism Research

    April 28, 2019

    Georgia Tech’s Child Study Lab, which was established in 2010 by a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation, and collaborators at Weill Cornell Medical College were awarded last year with a $1.7 million grant from the NIH.

  • IC's Miranda Parker Uncovering Factors that Lead to CS Programs in Georgia

    April 25, 2019

    Miranda Parker is investigating the qualities in high schools that lead to having a CS program in Georgia. One thing she’s learned, which can be said for a majority of research in IC, is that it comes down to the people.

  • The Interaction Hour podcast: Autism and Computing

    The Interaction Hour - School of Interactive Computing, Apr 23, 2019

    In the late 1990s, Professor Gregory Abowd of Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing developed a tool to allow people to collect and reflect upon memories over a long period of time. Motivated by his father’s collection of 30 years worth of videos, Gregory wanted to create something that assisted in annotating and searching videos to create short memories. Around 2002, he began using this for his own family memories and made a discovery while watching one of the videos. His oldest son, who was then 5 years old and already diagnosed with autism, demonstrated stark differences in behavior and communication between videos at 18 months and others at 26 months. Amazed by what he saw in the videos, Gregory began to consider other more serious applications of this memory-capturing tool. In the coming years, it would become a key research initiative for Gregory and others at Georgia Tech.

  • People May Be Able to Find Images on a Computer Based Solely on Their Eye Movements

    April 12, 2019

    What if we could find images on our computer just by tracking our eye movements? ML@GT assistant professor James Hays explores this idea in new research that will be presented next month at CHI 2019.

  • IC Student Brianna Tomlinson Earns Campus Life Scholarship

    April 11, 2019

    The scholarship provides $5,000 from Campus Services and offers a lunch to honor recipients on April 18.

  • In The News: Will Artificial Intelligence Replace the Military?

    Tech Register, Apr 9, 2019

    School of Interactive Computing Professor Ron Arkin offers some insight on the question of lethal autonomous weapons. What are the pros and cons of utilizing artificial intelligence in the military?

    Related: The Interaction Hour -- Don't Call Them Killer Robots, With Professor Ron Arkin

  • Georgia Tech’s Newest AI System Explains Its Decisions to People in Real-Time to Understand User Preferences

    April 9, 2019

    Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have developed an artificially intelligent (AI) agent that can automatically generate natural language explanations in real-time to convey the motivations behind its actions.

  • HackGT Hopes to be a ‘Catalyst’ for Underserved Atlanta Students

    April 5, 2019

    Set for April 13 on the Georgia Tech campus, Catalyst is a one-day workshop, blended with traditional hackathon challenges.

  • The Streets Were Never Free. Congestion Pricing Finally Makes That Plain

    New York Times, Apr 4, 2019

    Congestion pricing has the potential to significantly change how traffic flows through Manhattan streets, how commuters get around the city, how companies like Uber and Lyft operate. But most radically, if the policy spreads it could challenge a deeply embedded cultural idea, requiring people to pay for something Americans have long demanded — and largely believe they’ve gotten — free of charge. Congestion pricing is premised instead on the notion that public roads are a valuable and scarce resource. And we should pay in some places to use it not primarily to gin up revenue, but to help manage access for everyone. “It’s a huge departure from how we’ve culturally thought about this over the years,” said Kari Watkins, a professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

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