Our work in human-centered computing explores and enhances the ways in which people and communities engage with and experience technology.
Our research considers the personal, educational, cultural, and ethical implications of innovation. Drawing upon techniques from human-computer interaction, learning sciences, sensing and more, we aim to maximize the potential benefits of technology while minimizing potential harms to individuals, groups and society.
Groups & Labs
Security and Privacy Research Lab
The Security and Privacy Research Lab works on a variety of topics, ranging from studying and addressing security and privacy risks in existing technologies, to anticipating future risks in emerging technologies.
Makeability Lab
The Makeability Lab specializes in Human-Computer Interaction and applied machine learning for high-impact problems in accessibility, computational urban science, and augmented reality.
Allen School Faculty
Assistant Teaching Professor
Associate Teaching Professor
Professor
Assistant Teaching Professor
Centers & Initiatives
The Transportation Data Equity Initiative (TDEI) aims to enhance the quality and accessibility of travel services by building open source data collection and vetting tools, transportation data digital infrastructure, and governance frameworks that enable public-private data sharing and interoperability. The TDEI is a project sponsored by The Complete Trip, an ITS4US Deployment Program.
The Community-Engaged Computing Initiative (CECI) is a joint initiative to support community-centered scholarship and research within the broad computing and information field. Co-led by the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering, and the Information School, the initiative was launched in 2025 through a gift from Google. CECI supports projects that bring UW faculty and graduate students together with community partners to bring sustainable, equitable, and inclusive technology into real-world contexts.
Highlights
Allen School News
Itani, who works with Allen School professor Shyam Gollakota in the Mobile Intelligence Lab, was recognized for exceptional early-career research advancing AI systems for “superhuman” hearing.
HearingTracker
A technology known as semantic hearing developed in Allen School professor Shyam Gollakota’s lab could let users create acoustic bubbles, isolate chosen voices, and control individual sounds in their environment.
Fast Company
Allen School professor Jon Froehlich talks about how Project Sidewalk empowers communities by crowdsourcing data on pedestrian infrastructure, from curb ramps to broken pavement, to improve accessibility.