Biography

Marianna Obrist is Professor of Multisensory Interfaces in the Department of Computer Science at University College London (UCL). She pioneers research on touch, taste, and smell in human-computer interaction (HCI), with applications spanning virtual reality, healthcare, and wellbeing. Her recent projects include the EPSRC/NIHR Smell Care initiative on digital smell training and testing, the EU FET Touchless.AI project on touchless social interaction, and the UKRI Textile Circularity Centre on immersive textile experiences. She is also co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Hynt Labs Limited, a spin-out developing digital scent technologies for personalised sleep solutions. Marianna has authored over 150 publications in leading journals and conferences and co-wrote Multisensory Experiences: Where the Senses Meet Technology (Oxford University Press). Further information, including the xSense Design Cards, is available at multisensoryexperiences.co.uk.

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Keynote Abstract

Multisensory experiences are intrinsic to how we perceive, interact with, and make sense of the world around us. Yet, despite the richness of human sensory perception, digital technologies and immersive environments continue to rely predominantly on vision and hearing, leaving the potential of touch, taste, and smell largely unexplored. Drawing on advances in multisensory human-computer interaction (HCI), I will showcase emerging interfaces that bring these often-overlooked senses into interactive spaces and virtual environments, highlighting the challenges and possibilities of their integration. Beyond immersion, I will explore how such innovations can enable more meaningful, personalised, and adaptive interactions, with applications ranging from entertainment to health and wellbeing. Finally, I will reflect on the wider implications and responsibilities of designing for the senses, inviting us to rethink not only what is technologically possible, but also how we shape the future of human interaction with digital environments.

Biography

Anastasia Bezerianos is a full professor at Université Paris-Saclay, in the Polytech engineering school, where she is the co-head of the CS department (Informatique et Ingénierie Mathématique). She is also part of the LISN research lab in the IaH (Interaction avec l'Humain) department, as well as a member of the ILDA research team. Her interests lie in novel interaction and visualization design and evaluation, especially on large high resolution displays.

She completed her PhD at the dgp lab of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto on interacting with wall-sized displays. She is currently investigating visualization design on non-flat displays and collaborative design around shared displays in projects funded by the French government. She has served as an area paper chair for IEEE VIS and subcommittee chair for ACM CHI. For more information, see her website.