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April 21, 2026

TEI Conference 2026

Rough Notes

A very interesting mix between technical, artistic, sociological research papers. My kinds of people! Not being an academic, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a conference. I really appreciated the respect that each presenter or student was given. Details below. They did a decent job for remote attendees, but I might attend the 2027 conference in Lisbon.

Awesome opening keynote by Henrik Jäger, a physics professor at U Chicago on what he calls “aliatory assemblies” — the idea that designed systems built from disordered, irregular components can outperform regular ones in adaptability, robustness, and trainability.

Loose particles (coffee, sand, recycled Z-shapes) can be jammed into rigid structures by confinement, then unjammed to reconfigure. No glue, no fasteners. The “jamming gripper” (a balloon of coffee grounds) picks up arbitrary objects including eggs — no grasp planning needed.
Rock structures with no mortar held together by interlocking Z-shaped recycled plastic pieces. Fully disassemblable by pulling a string.
Embrace disorder. Non-uniform, irregular systems gain robustness (no cleavage planes), reconfigurability, and adaptability that ordered systems cannot have.

Awarded Papers

Best Paper

OfficeSense Tracked environmental (temp, humidity) in an office, with cute LED output device, user input.

From Piping to Printing 3D printing food fabrication system SPICE generates continuous tool paths that encode cooking actions.

Honorable Mention GlassIO Social experiments using stained glass. Apparently stained glass can be conductive and interactive

Foldflatables: Programmable Folding in Inflatable Structures with Stiffness-Tunable Thermoplastic Hinges Inflatable, folding plastic tubes with hinges that can be programmed with heat to bend into complex shapes when inflated.

PileUp: A Tufting Approach to Soft, Tactile, and Volumetric E-Textile Interfaces Interactivity via tufted conductive yarns. When the yarn pile loop compresses, the number of contact points between adjacent conductive yarns leads to a measurable decrease in resistance.

Chair’s Award

Printegrated Circuits Neat building technique. There exists conductive 3D printing filament. They demonstrated 3D printing conductive traces inside a model to directly connect a touch sensitive pad to the microcontroller. “Printjection” shows carefully printing inside the solder pin hole of the microcontroller pad.

ROomBOT A Room as an Assistive Robotic Interface based on Cable-Driven Parallel Robotics Attaching motorized wires to corners of the room to move a grabber similar to TV cameras over football games

Personal Picks

Printegrated Circuits Really neat for prototyping
Where am I? Investigating Compound Textile User Interfaces for Eyes-Free Use Testing 3D icons in fabric for User Interfaces
MakeDevice: Easing the path from hardware prototyping toolkits to manufacturable devices Used Microbit. A way of prototyping boards using JacDac. Interesting, but seems to have the common problem, of being too expensive to prototype. Could they do it without JacDac chips?
Finding Our Tempo: Exploring Embodied Synchrony Through Full-Body Play in Children Neat to orchestrate kids play, get them running around the room. sad that it has to be in a dark room for the projector to work
ChromoLCD: LCD-based Compact Reprogrammer for On-the-fly High-Resolution Images on Photochromic Surfaces Uses light to “reprogram” color printing on a T shirt
Mag-Chain: Reconfigurable 6-DOF Tangible Interfaces Using Magnetic Chains Neat idea for passive magnets as input
PixBric: Precision Morphological Control of Pre-Stretched Fabrics Through Tessellated Primitive Geometries Pre-stretched fabrics with 3D printed solid elements will snap into 3d, can be designed to make specific forms. Speaker noted they wear out pretty fast.

Program Highlights

Opening keynote: Prof. Heinrich Jaeger (U. Chicago, Physics) — Aleatory Assemblies: Designing with Chance and Material Agency
9 talk sessions across 3 days, mixing in-person and remote presenters with live Q&A
Poster lightning talks (1 min each) at end of morning sessions
Demo + Art Exhibit Reception (Mon, Griffin MSI) — 45+ exhibits under “Resurgence and Convergence” theme
SDC Demo (Tue) — 21 student projects on “Sensory Rituals” theme
20th TEI Memorial Exhibit “TIED to TIDE” — 20-year retrospective (in-person; virtual equivalent TBD)
20th Anniversary Panel (Wed 11:10 am) — TEI @ 20+: contemplations, anticipations, and aspirations with Ali Mazalek, Caroline Hummels, Hiroshi Ishii, Fiona Bell, HyunJoo Oh, Paul Strohmeier
Closing: Awards for Demo, Poster, SDC, and Lasting Impact

TEI Papers Mentioned in Talks

Research Papers

1. OfficeSense: Fostering Situated Data Sensemaking to Enhance Office Well-being

Office sensor systems often fail to present environmental data related to office well-being in ways that are accessible and comprehensible for non-expert users. To address this, we introduce Situated Data Sensemaking, a…

2. MakeDevice: Easing the path from hardware prototyping toolkits to manufacturable devices

As hardware prototyping toolkits and accessible programming environments become more widespread, it is easier than ever to build functional prototypes of interactive devices. Yet moving beyond a prototype towards…

3. Towards Understanding The Design of (Un)Fortunate Superpowers Through A Flytrap-Inspired Hand Augmentation

Physical augmentation technologies can extend human abilities beyond biological limitations, creating “superpower” experiences. However, as these technologies integrate with the human body, they can also…

4. LumiBite: An In-the-Wild Technology Probe Exploring Personalized bottom-up Lighting Lunchbox for Enhanced Dining Experiences

Food perception is a multisensory experience shaped by environmental cues such as ambient lighting. Previous studies have demonstrated that lighting can impact how satisfied we feel while dining. However, many of…

5. Stitching Together Body, Land, and Data through Embroidered Geographies

Craft has a long history of being an embodied and tangible way to explore various forms of data in HCI and design. In this paper, I trace the impetus and process of hand embroidering seven GIS-generated maps over the…

6. Using a Digitally Augmented Snack Bowl to Explore Group Snacking Behaviour

Group snacking contexts are typically unstructured and frequently associated with the consumption of snack product FMCGs (fast-moving consumer goods). Snacks are generally low value, shared and potentially over…

7. Finding Our Tempo: Exploring Embodied Synchrony Through Full-Body Play in Children

This study advances the design of timing-sensitive, full-body interactive experiences supporting both collaboration and individual agency in children’s group play. We investigate how temporal structuring within an…

8. GlassIO: Long-Term In-Home Study of Hybrid Craft Through Interactive Stained Glass

Hybrid crafts blend traditional materials with embedded interactivity, yet everyday use of such artefacts remains underexplored. This paper contributes the study of lived experience with high-fidelity hybrid craft…

9. Designing and Evaluating Museum Exhibit Prototypes to Foster Middle Schoolers’ AI Literacy through Creativity and Embodiment

Museums play a critical role in promoting public understanding of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), but it is unclear what design features lead to learning about AI in museums. We contribute a…

10. Mapping the Body: Developing Body Maps as Research Tool to Derive Quantifiable and Context-Sensitive Design Insights

Researching body experiences poses challenges due to their inherently subjective and intangible nature. In TEI, more broadly in HCI, methods like body maps capture these experiences. We advance body maps by…

11. Printegrated Circuits: Personal Fabrication of 3D Printed Devices with Embedded PCBs

Consumer-level multi-material 3D printing with conductive thermoplastics enables fabrication of interactive elements for bespoke tangible devices. However, large feature sizes, high resistance materials, and limitations of…

12. ChromoLCD: LCD-based Compact Reprogrammer for On-the-fly High-Resolution Images on Photochromic Surfaces

Color-changing materials, such as photochromic pigments, allow objects to have reprogrammable multicolor surface images. Existing systems that reprogram these images are based on projectors and LEDs, each with…

13. A Two-Week In-the-Wild Study of Screen Filters and Camera Sliders for Smartphone Privacy in Public Spaces

Smartphone usage in public spaces can raise privacy concerns, in terms of shoulder surfing and unintended camera capture. In real-world public space settings, we investigated the impact of tangible…

14. “I Want to Keep My Phone Away From the Bed”: Designing a Smart Pillow for Sleep Onset

Pre-sleep digital consumption is widespread. While it is a common concern for bedtime procrastination, recent research also highlights its importance in fulfilling various pre-sleep needs, such as claiming “me time”….

15. Where am I? Investigating Compound Textile User Interfaces for Eyes-Free Use

The haptic properties of textile interfaces support eyes-free use well. However, user interfaces often require composing many controls, which complicates orientation by palpation. We investigated three composition concepts that…

16. Retargeted Sketching: Sketching on Tangible Interfaces via Kinesthetic Retargeting

We investigate retargeted sketching, a concept for leveraging tangible interactions for sketching on 3D virtual objects. Retargeted sketching enables users to draw curves on virtual objects using physical proxies while…

17. GadJets: Air-Jet-Actuated Passive Materials and Mechanisms for Actuated and Shape-Changing Interfaces

We propose GadJets, an approach to remotely actuating passive materials and mechanisms using air jets for interactive and shape-changing tangible user interfaces (TUIs). Compared to previous HCI research in…

18. Artistry meets algorithm: Exploring the multimodality of artificial intelligence in interaction design prototyping

Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven services for design and prototyping are increasingly used in professional design environments. Although existing studies have often focused on isolated aspects of AI integration into design…

19. Breathe, Focus, Perform: Examining AR-Haptic Breathing Guidance in Fine Motor Skill Development

Developing fine motor skills requires complex coordination between physical and mental processes, which can be challenging for novices as they manage multiple sensory inputs while executing precise movements. To…

20. PixBric: Precision Morphological Control of Pre-Stretched Fabrics Through Tessellated Primitive Geometries

3D printing onto pre-stretched fabrics has emerged as a promising technique for fabricating self-shaping textiles. However, resulting morphing behaviors are often dictated by heuristics or arbitrarily selected parameters. We present…

21. Foldflatables: Programmable Folding in Inflatable Structures with Stiffness-Tunable Thermoplastic Hinges

Inflatable structures have been widely explored in architecture, robotics, and Human-Computer Interaction for their expandability and shape-retention capability. However, conventional designs are limited to a…

22. Sound of Kigumi: A Playful VR Joinery Adjustment with Hammering Sound Feedback

Traditional carpentry faces a critical shortage of skilled workers due to limited opportunities for potential apprentices to access onsite woodworking experience. Through expert interview, we learned the…

23. SonicSlate: A Walkable Flat-Panel Speaker Interface for Embodied Sound Interaction

We present SonicSlate, a walkable flat-panel speaker interface designed for embodied sound interaction. This low-cost, easy-to-install system integrates conventional modular flooring mechanics, layering auditory…

24. “Why would you persist through the pain?” Understanding Pen-Based Gestures for Artists Living with Upper Limb Motor Impairments

Digital art-making can be transformative for people living with disabilities. However, accessibility challenges force artists to use lengthy workarounds and interrupt their creative processes. We employed a…

25. PopTuber: Discretely Reshaping High Resolution 3D Curves with “Serial Multistable” Tubes

The vision of programmable matter — materials that can change shape or properties in a programmable way — has inspired decades of research across robotics, materials science, and HCI. However, many line-based…

26. From Piping to Printing: An Action-Based Approach to Computational Food Fabrication

Current 3D food printing systems impose engineering paradigms onto culinary practice, requiring users to design food as geometric models and slice them into discrete layers. This approach fundamentally…

27. WiReSens Toolkit: An Open-source Platform towards Accessible Wireless Tactile Sensing

Past research has widely explored the design and fabrication of resistive matrix-based tactile sensors for creating touch-sensitive devices. However, real-world deployment of resistive tactile sensing systems…

28. Making Connections: Understanding How Students Enact Interdisciplinary Linkages in Computational Making for Learning Science in the Classroom

In computational Making, Makers integrate areas like electronics and 3D fabrication with computation. When used for learning formal subjects like science, computational Making adds not only interdisciplinary content…

29. Touching Movement: 3D Tactile Poses for Supporting Blind People in Learning Body Movements

Visual impairments create barriers to learning physical activities, since conventional training methods rely on visual demonstrations or often inadequate verbal descriptions. This research explores 3D-printed…

30. Why (Not) ReacTIVision: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities for Building Tangible User Interfaces with Computer Vision Toolkits

Outdated Computer Vision (CV) toolkits for Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) have led to fragmented practices, diminished reproducibility, and reduced community support. This paper examines the past, present,…

31. Between Flow and Hustle: Attending to Time Constraints in E-Textile Workshops

In HCI, material engagement is often conceptualised as an ongoing dialogue between designer and material. However, how such dialogues are situated in time remains underexplored, which is particularly relevant in…

32. Supporting entrainment using latent space mappings and generative sound feedback during dyadic movement exercises

Entrainment offers a rich theoretical understanding of how rhythmic stimuli are embodied in movement. Behavioural research examines how entrained coordination arises in the presence of sound and interpersonal interactions,…

33. ROomBOT: A Room as an Assistive Robotic Interface based on Cable-Driven Parallel Robotics

We present ROomBOT, a novel concept of intelligent and embodied space where the room itself functions as an assistive robotic interface. Most prior research on intelligent spaces has focused on context sensing and home…

34. Exploring Gestural and Vocal Interactions for an Intuitive and Embodied Human-AI Music Co-production Process

While generative AI has gained immense popularity, its application in specialized fields, particularly in music production, remains challenging. Little research has been done on how music producers can most…

35. FluxLab: Creating 3D Printable Shape-Changing Devices with Integrated Deformation Sensing

We present FluxLab, a system comprising interactive tools for creating custom 3D-printable shape-changing devices with integrated deformation sensing. To achieve this, we propose a 3D printable nesting structure,…

36. HyperDance: Real-Time Vibrotactile Stimulation Feedback of Inter-Brain Connectivity in Partner Dance

Building on the growing interest in technology-supported dance practice, neural imaging offers novel opportunities to reveal dancers’ internal states and expand the possibilities for augmented, embodied interaction. Despite…

37. PileUp: A Tufting Approach to Soft, Tactile, and Volumetric E-Textile Interfaces

We present PileUp, a tufted pile e-textile sensing approach that offers unique affordances through the tactile expressiveness and richness of its continuous, threaded-volume construction. By integrating conductive…

38. BubbleFab: A Rapid, Lightweight, and Multi-resolution Shape Forming Method Using Plastic Balloons

Bubbles are lightweight, can be instantly created from minimal material, and their size can be controlled. In this paper, we propose BubbleFab, a fabrication method that enables rapid volumetric prototyping by…

39. DataCrumb: A Physical Probe for Reflecting on Background Web Tracking

Cookie banners and privacy settings attempt to give users a sense of control over how their personal data is collected and used, but background tracking of personal information often continues unnoticed. To explore how such…

40. Mag-Chain: Reconfigurable 6-DOF Tangible Interfaces Using Magnetic Chains

We present a novel, simple method for creating reconfigurable 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) tangible interfaces using diametrically magnetized cylindrical magnetic chains, termed Mag-Chains. These…

41. Exploring Remote Affective Communication Through a Haptic Wearable and Socially Assistive Robot

Both haptic signals and simple, non-anthropomorphic robots can convey complex emotions and enhance remote communication. In this study, we integrated a zoomorphic socially expressive Blossom robot and a haptic…

42. Culturally Situated Computational Thinking: Interactive Physical Computing in Cultural K-12 Contexts

This systematic literature review examines interactive physical computing methods that promote computational thinking (CT) and enhance student engagement in K-12 education, with a particular focus on non-native…

Pictorials

1. Reimagining Upcycled Plastic Bags: Integrating Electronics Through Design for Disassembly

Material waste is an ongoing global challenge, with conventional recycling often proving neither economically viable nor environmentally sustainable. This pictorial explores an alternative approach by upcycling…

2. Staying with the Underwater Trouble: Exploring the Hydrocommons through Freediving.

In recent years, Posthuman HCI research has started exploring noticing as a method for design research that shifts focus away from anthropocentric views to embrace more entangled ecological perspectives. Through…

3. Designing for the Leaky Body: Exploring Biomaterial Absorption as Body-Material Interaction

Leaking bodies are often concealed or disregarded in both society and design. Likewise, bodily fluids are rarely leveraged as triggers for material interaction in HCI. In this pictorial, we investigate how fluid-responsive…

4. Rewilding Human Life: An Annotated Portfolio of Seasonal Crafts with Children

We explore rewilding human life as a deliberate engagement with the environments people care about to cultivate wonder. This is through an annotated portfolio of seasonal crafts completed by the first author in…

5. Data Collaging as Analysis: Crafting Research Through Art Data

Incorporating artistic practice into HCI research need not be limited to data collection methods. This pictorial demonstrates an experiment with arts-based qualitative data analysis in the form of hand-crafted Data…

6. KiriOri Food: Embedding Functionalities into Natural Food Ingredients

In our everyday eating habits, we benefit from the diverse properties of natural food ingredients, from their taste and aroma to their texture. To further expand this potential, we draw inspiration from architected materials,…

7. Sketching More-than-human Times: Rethinking Temporal Representations through Embodied, Entangled, and Deep time

Temporal representations can have a socio-political impact and change how we see the world and design technologies. In this pictorial, we depart from a critique to classic representations of time that have long guided…

8. Designing Loofah Wearables For Embodied Ecological Reflection

Amid escalating ecological challenges, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers have begun adopting More-than-Human design (MtHD) approaches as a means of reimagining and strengthening the bonds…

9. Queue Player: On the Anatomy of a Slow Technology for Co-Listening In, Over, and Across Time

As music streaming libraries continually grow and digitally capture elements of our evolving life histories , finding meaningful ways to revisit, reflect on, and share these collections—both individually and socially—has…

10. Pouches and Pivots: Revealing Unmaking in Tangible Interaction Design Research Journeys

Reflecting on a one-year design-research project, we examine design drifts by documenting and analyzing three distinct conceptual and technical shifts that took place. We extend the notion of drifting by framing through…

11. Crafting Remote Intimacy: Designing Onni for Affective Haptic Communication Across Distance

This pictorial presents Onni, a replicable open-source toolkit and tangible interface designed to support affective haptic interactions in long-distance relationships. Onni enables remote partners to share gestures and…

12. Into the Makerverse: Communal Tangible Making and Place-Based Futuring with AI

This pictorial presents a case study of “Into the Makerverse”, a community workshop that engaged about 250 children and parents in combining AI and tangible making to express desired futures for our city. We…

13. Qualities of physical, everyday, interactive things: an exploration of keys

Daily interactions with things are becoming increasingly virtual and hidden, tucked away in minimalist UI’s or dependent on clear voice commands. Motivated by a love for physical interactions, this work uses keys, a…

14. In-Situ Seeding: Entangling Place & Technology through Sensory Data Dialogues

Interactive technology design is situated within environmental and sociocultural context. This pictorial develops an In-Situ Seeding method for engaging with site-specific sensory experiences. This method…

15. From Tacit to Tangible: Prototyping Connectedness with Older Adults

Society is more technologically connected than ever, yet older adults are often excluded from design considerations. As a result, technologies may fail to meet their needs and can exacerbate loneliness and social isolation….

Demos

1. ArUcoTUI: Software Toolkit for Prototyping Tangible Interactions on Portable Flat-Panel Displays with OpenCV

Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) that integrate digital information with physical interaction require specialized hardware and complex calibration, limiting their adoption in portable or mobile display systems. This paper…

2. Rest Assured: An IoT Ambient Notification System For Human-Dog Remote Interactions

What if instead of constant surveillance, technology could nurture a calm, reciprocal connection between us and our furry babies? Rest Assured is an IoT ambient notification system for pet dog owners to feel confident and…

3. How Can Children’s Handmade Humanoid Figures Come to Life in the Digital World?

For children, “making” is a fundamental form of expression that supports creativity, communication, and social development. With the advancement of digital technology, creative activities are extending beyond physical…

4. Rig-a-Doodle: Tangible Kit for Dynamic Hand-drawn Character Animation

Character animation remains challenging for novices and children despite advances in digital tools. While recent tangible interfaces have lowered barriers by enabling creators to animate their drawings on paper, they…

5. Lighting the Reef: Modular Paper Circuits as Ecological Metaphor

We present Lighting the Reef, an interactive installation that uses modular 3D paper circuits to explore ecological fragility. Participants build coral structures from foldable paper blocks with copper tape and low-voltage…

6. SenseKit: A Modular Approach to Human-Data Interaction in the Workplace

Modern workplaces increasingly rely on embedded sensors to monitor environmental conditions, yet these systems often operate opaquely—collecting data without user awareness, understanding, or agency. As a result,…

7. WePrism: Constructive Data Physicalization for Family Reflection in the Home

Families often reflect on shared experiences, but few tools support this process through tangible, collaborative interaction. WePrism explores this space by introducing a constructive data physicalization toolkit designed…

Blind and low vision (BLV) people face challenges in accessing charts, often relying on assistive technologies with limited interactivity. This paper presents the design process of a tangible companion supporting data…

9. PufFab: Making Shape Transformable Rice Paper for Playful Food Fabrication

We demonstrate PufFab, an interactive design-to-fabrication pipeline that enables customizable edible shape transformation using Vietnamese rice paper. The pipeline combines a user interface with a modified 3D…

10. AeroShelter: Presence as Interface: Designing for Presence-as-Input Interaction in Public Space

AeroShelter is an early-stage interactive public structure that explores a No-UI interaction paradigm, where the presence of wind, light, or nearby bodies serves as input. This is framed as “presence as input,”…

11. ReHome Earth: A VR-Based Concept Validation for AI-Driven Space Homesickness Interventions

Space exploration has advanced rapidly, but the emotional needs of astronauts on long-duration missions remain underexplored. We present ReHome Earth, a dual-component design approach addressing space…

12. Position Estimation Method Using Compact Magnetic Resonant Coupled Coils for Shape-Changing User Interfaces

This paper presents a position estimation method for shape-changing user interfaces composed of multiple small modules. The method employs compact resonant coils for both communication and position estimation…

13. Object View of Contested Collection: An Interactive Installation for Embodied Reflection on Repatriation

Museums are often perceived as objective sources of information on cultural objects and their histories. However, the colonial, political, and institutional contexts behind these objects are frequently obscured or excluded,…

14. Robots that Make You Feel: Understanding Perceptions of Robotic Biofeedback for Emotion Regulation

This study aims to explore human perceptions towards a robotic biofeedback system designed to support emotion regulation for non-clinical populations. We developed and implemented a robot-based emotion regulation…

Stress-tracking technologies based on physiological data have been widely used to promote self-awareness, yet most of them remain focused on the individual self. In this context, digitally shared stress data to foster…

16. RoboTheater: A Multi-Robot Storytelling Platform from LLM Scripts to Stage Performance

We present RoboTheater, a multi-robot storytelling platform, designed to explore and demonstrate the expressive capabilities of robots in stage execution. RoboTheater bridges computational narrative…

17. TESI: A Toolkit for Tangible and Embodied Sound Interaction

Sound offers unique affordances for interaction designers, enabling immediate, embodied, and expressive experiences. Yet sound is often treated as peripheral, limited to simple notifications rather than being explored as a…

18. Touchable Sound: Exploring Spatial Ocean Data Through Tangible and Auditory Displays

Museum exhibits often rely on visualizations or graphics to communicate scientific data to the general public. These visual representations render the benefits of these exhibits inaccessible to blind and low vision (BLV)…

19. Life Blocks: Making DNA Tangible Through a Phygital Kinetic Artifact

This paper introduces Life Blocks, a phygital kinetic DNA experience that transforms genomic data into an interactive tangible installation. The artifact features a modular mechanical display that visualizes fifty DNA bases…

20. Designing Tangible and Embodied Interaction for Montessori Elementary Mathematics Education

This paper presents insights from a Research through Design investigation exploring the integration of tangible and embodied interaction (TEI) technologies into Montessori elementary mathematics education….

21. TensiChrome: A Design Space for Mechanochromic Interfaces Using Hologram Films

Mechanochromic films are micro-structured reflective surfaces that usually shift color from red to green to blue depending on the amount of deformation. While prior research has focused on the fabrication of these…

22. The Connected Prayerwheel: A Tangible Design Fostering Everyday Cultural Connectedness for Bhutanese families over Distance

This paper presents Connected Prayerwheels, a pair of augmented cultural objects using gesture sensors, ambient lights, and a song sharing feature designed to enhance everyday cultural connectedness for Bhutanese…

23. Reimagining the Differential Analyzer as a Resource for Dynamic Systems Education

Dynamic systems theory provides a framework for understanding and modeling systemic phenomena. Yet, dynamic systems concepts are difficult for novices to master. The difficulties of learning dynamic…

24. Urashima Tarō Mirror: An Interactive Portrait of the Fictional Self in Time

This article presents the Urashima Tarō Mirror (UTM), an interactive installation that allows users to visually experience self-transformation associated with aging through AI-generated portraits. UTM generates a…

25. Ephemeral Breath: Non-contact Biofeedback System in Habitual Behaviors for Everyday Mindfulness

We present Ephemeral Breath, a self-contained, contactless biofeedback system that invites brief, spontaneous moments of mindfulness during everyday interludes in semi-public spaces. Motivated by the challenge…

26. A Contactless Operating Method for a Smartphone by Irradiating Resonant Frequency Sound to a Built-in Capacitive Accelerometer

Accelerometers built into devices, such as smartphones and smartwatches, are used for applications including activity tracking and health management. A method has been proposed that intentionally modifies sensor…

27. Designing for Defamiliarization with Thermal Painting: Exploring Experiences of Dynamic Warmth in Painters’ Creative Processes

Thermal Painting is a probe to explore multisensory painting, aiming to defamiliarize, or present the familiar creative practice of painting in an unfamiliar way for artists. The system provides dynamic thermal feedback…

28. Evaluating TUI Design for Tacit Knowledge: Perceived Effects and Interface Efficiency in Woodworking

Capturing and communicating tacit knowledge remains a challenge for tangible interaction design. This project presents the third stage out of four of an educational interface evaluation for a tacit knowledge project…

29. COSMITO: Cognitive Outer Space Monitor and Individual Therapeutic Outfit

COSMITO is an interactive therapeutic system designed to enhance mental resilience during prolonged required isolation and confinement (PRIC), conditions that can disrupt cognitive performance, emotional…

30. Enhancing Touch Gesture Interaction through Dynamic Tilting on Actuated Mobile Touchscreens

This paper proposes an actuated mobile touchscreen that dynamically tilts in response to user interactions to enable richer touchscreen interactions on mobile devices. This approach applies force to the user’s fingertips…

31. Lighthouse Stylus: An Accessible 6-DoF Input Device for Projection-Based CAD/CAM Interfaces

Lighthouse Stylus is a replicable, open source, low-cost, 6-DoF spatial input device with <1mm accuracy for spatial augmented reality interface research. It addresses the availability problem of low-cost, high-accuracy,…

32. Flobile: An LLM-Integrated Indexical Sensor and Display for Indoor Airflow Monitoring

Indoor airflow carries rich ambient information, yet remains invisible and overlooked in everyday environments. We present Flobile, an LLM-integrated indexical sensor and display that detects and visualizes subtle air…

33. Just Warming Up: Exploring Heat and Wearables for Data Physicalization

This work explores the implications of using thermal channels alongside physical tokens on a glove to create a wearable data physicalization that offers both public and private data displays. Encoding data using thermal…

34. Asking Water with Stones: Designing Playful Dialogues with Water System to Build Connection between Human and Water Ecosystems

The more-than-human field has contributed numerous opportunities for interacting with nature, animals, plants, and microorganisms. However, few studies have examined water ecosystems. Current water-related work…

35. Uncomfortable Materiality: Engaging with Tangible Negative Experiences

Negative experiences challenge the familiar ideals of ease, usability, and control that often shape interaction design practice. This work-in-progress investigates how such experiences can be intentionally engaged and…

36. Entangled Histories Radio: Exploring Ecological Justice and Civil Rights Through Tangible Interactions

Entangled Histories Radio is a tangible interface that investigates the connection between local ecologies and the voices of the American Civil Rights Movement. The system senses real-time ecological data from the base of…

37. Augmented Assembly: Object Recognition and Hand Tracking for Adaptive Assembly Instructions in Augmented Reality

Recent advances in Augmented reality (AR) have enabled interactive systems that assist users in physical assembly tasks. In this paper, we present an AR-assisted assembly workflow that leverages object recognition and…

38. Two Studies to Gauge Observable Kinesthetic Empathy in Interactive Music Performance

Kinesthetic empathy is a term used in performance and kinesthetic interaction, defined as the ability of participants to “read, decode and react to each other’s input” [16]. In prior research, the perception of kinesthetic…

39. Variations on a TEI token: iterations toward tangibles for engaging large document corpora

Despite long effort, few tangible interfaces are presently accessible in reproducible, generalizable form; accompanied by paths for hybrid physical and virtual realization; or coupled with bindings to extended content of…

40. FocuShift: Actuated Intervention to Prevent Smartphone Overuse via Phone-Attached Shape-Changing Device

With instant gratification constantly available at the tap of a screen, smartphone overuse has quickly become a widespread problem. Many digital applications have been built to combat this issue, either by blocking…

Studios

1. Session Summary Podcast: Session 4: Studios

An AI-generated podcast companion article to augment the Studios Session of the TEI ‘26 NOTE: AI content can contain errors and should be double-checked before use.

2. deLIGHTful Interactions: Designing Sustainable & Experimental Luminaires

The goal of this studio is to explore the design of sustainable experimental lighting fixtures—otherwise known as luminaires. We will first examine the unique interactions that occur between material and…

3. Rapid Prototyping of Shape-Morphing Fabrics through Parametric Design

This studio explores rapid prototyping of shape-morphing fabrics as tangible interfaces by combining parametric modeling tools with accessible 3D printing techniques. Participants will experiment with two…

4. Hardware Reincarnation: the Electronic Vape Synth and Other Upstream Salvaged Circuit

This full-day studio invites participants to explore Upstream Salvage as a design method—a mindset that transforms broken, discarded, or obsolete electronics into sites of creativity, experimentation, and care. Building on…

5. Attention-Preserving Tangible Interfaces: Using Physicality and Materiality to Preserve Attention in the Home

Ambient interfaces and calm technology have tried to address attention concerns by operating peripherally in the background. However, as smart home devices increasingly demand attention, we propose a different…

6. From Text to Tangible: Build Your Own AI Companion

From Text to Tangible: Build Your Own AI Companion introduces attendees to industrial design approaches that can embody AI by exploring various materials, physical forms, and tangible interfaces. Participants will translate…

7. Living Textiles and Microbiomes as Tangible Data Interfaces

This studio introduces Living Textiles as an emerging frontier in Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, where microbiomes become active components of interactive systems. How can textiles be…

8. Tangible Intangibles: Exploring Embodied Emotion Mixed Reality for Art Therapy

This in-person studio explores how mixed reality (MR) and biometrics can make intangible emotional states tangible through embodied art practices. We begin with two well-established modalities, clay sculpting and…

9. Perception VR Studio: Tangible and Soft Interfaces for Embodied Cognition Exploring Material Cognition through Air, Heat, Softness, and Scent in VR Environments

This full-day studio investigates how tangible and soft interfaces can serve as cognitive companions in virtual environments. Rather than optimizing usability or learning outcomes, the workshop explores how perception…

Art Installations & Performances

1. Crafting Data Physicalizations with Textiles

This studio uses knit textiles in order to engage with questions around data and computing. We aim to explore how we can use data more creatively in data physicalizations, walking away with an…

2. Light-Material Dialogues: A Series of Sustainable & Experimental Luminaires

This installation consists of a collection of light fixtures—also known as luminaires—ranging from table lamps to hanging pendants to wall sconces. As both functional objects and artistic artifacts, our luminaires aim…

3. ClearDose: AI Overfunctioning at the Boundaries of Care

ClearDose is an AI-driven speculative device that scans users’ facial features and prescribes individualized treatments and affirmations. Drawing from divination and physiognomic prediction—the practice of…

4. Place Untitled: A Real-time Performance of Memory and Presence Through Embodied Interaction

Place Untitled is a real-time performance that explores how memory is carried across space and reactivated through the body. Drawing from the artist’s lived experiences in different cities, the work layers site-specific…

5. Micro Orchestrism: Musical co-creation of human and sake yeast to interrogate creative hierarchy

With more-than-human perspectives in design gaining attention among HCI researchers, a growing body of work attends to the hidden labor of nonhumans. Building on Chen et al.’s work that surfaces nonhuman labor,…

6. Washing My Hands: A Musical Instrument from Lake Michigan

Washing My Hands brings natural materials from nearby bodies of water into the exhibition space, creating an immersive sound environment shaped through the tactile actions of participants. The TEI2026 installation…

7. Squeeker: The Mouse Coach

Hundreds of millions of mice are used annually in biomedical research to understand human health—they get fat, depressed, or glow in the dark, all for our benefit. Squeeker inverts this dynamic: what if mice…

8. The Idol: Performing the Algorithmic Body

This project reanimates the “idol body” through an interactive installation that merges algorithmic entertainment with embodied spectatorship. Addressing the platform-governed world of K-pop idol culture,…

9. MirrorMorphose: A Gaze-Diving Experience into the Past, the Other, and the Self

MirrorMorphose is an interactive mirror that uses gaze as an emotional portal between space and time. When the viewer maintains eye contact with their reflection, the image gradually morphs into a childhood version of…

10. Originless Paleobeast

Originless Paleobeast begins with the dinosaur imaginary, rejecting the notion that “truth” equates to the indexical truth of fossils. Instead, it transforms the process of image-making into a shared practice for the audience….

11. Embodied and Interoceptive Morse: Encoding and Decoding for eXtending Intelligence

Embodied and Interoceptive Morse explores how bodily rhythms can become a language of eXtended Intelligence. The performance consists of two linked zones: encoding and decoding. In the encoding zone, the artist…

12. Green Rhythms: Symbiotic Interaction Between Humans and Plants

Green Rhythms is a symbiotic interactive installation that translates the circadian rhythm of plants into a tangible sensory experience shared between humans and plants. Grounded in more-than-human design and…

13. String Theory: Participatory Sonification Performance of Naturalistic Conversation

String Theory is an interactive, participatory sonification installation exploring the paradoxical dynamics of conversation, especially among strangers. Inspired by and based upon the CANDOR corpus (Conversation: A…

14. Contained Attraction: Kinetic Sculpture and Material Agency

Contained Attraction is an interactive kinetic sculpture that explores material agency through mediated human-material interaction. The sculpture uses capacitive sensing to sense human presence, and electromagnetic…

15. How to Stitch Together a Paper in 14,306 Minutes

In creating an academic paper, many hours of work are spread across planning, conducting research, analyzing findings, designing figures, and writing up the results. Ultimately, the effort can be obscured behind the…

16. Enduring Tides: A Water Lantern Memorial Transforming an Ancient Ritual of Grief into a Sustainable Act of Remembrance

This submission introduces Enduring Tides, an interactive installation that reimagines East and Southeast Asian water lantern ceremonies as sustainable and accessible memorial practice. Participants experience three stages that…

17. Waste Speaker: Reimagining Sound Through E-Waste

The rapid pace of technological development over the past several decades has led to an exponential rise in electronic waste, or “e-waste.” As devices become obsolete through cycles of innovation and planned obsolescence,…

Graduate Student Consortium

1. Bioactuated Tapestry: An Installation Exploring Temporalities of Textile Craft and Moisture-Responsive Biomaterials

Bioactuated Tapestry is an installation that explores how biomaterials and textile craft unfold multiple temporalities of interaction. Structured in three zones, the installation moves from milk-based bioplastic samples that…

2. Session Summary Podcast: Session 6: Graduate Student Consortium

An AI-generated podcast companion article to augment the Graduate Student Consortium Session of the TEI ‘26 NOTE: AI content can contain errors and should be double-checked before use.

3. Designing for Public Enlightenment: Enhancing Generative AI Literacy on Socio-technical Aspects in Informal Learning Spaces

Generative AI presents a critical paradox: widespread public use coexists with a significant “literacy gap” in understanding its true socio-technical perils and benefits, including misinformation, bias, and…

4. Comparing Inductive and Deductive Geometric Reasoning in Augmented Reality

This study compared how students engage in inductive and deductive geometric reasoning using augmented reality (AR) by analyzing their geometric thinking elements, gestures, and cognitive functions of actions while…

5. WaveWaste: Exploring an Interactive Movement-Based Reflection System to Support Graduate Student Emotional Well-Being

Graduate students face persistent challenges including high stress, self-doubt, and limited opportunities for meaningful emotional expression. Traditional reflection tools in higher education emphasize text-based journaling,…

6. Designing Democratic Toolkits for Making Expressive Interactive Physical Prototypes

Designers rely on various tools to create probes, prototypes, and artifacts. However, many of these tools are dependent on complex or resource-intensive fabrication methods that are not widely accessible and are often unsuited…

7. Between Hands and Pixels: Maternal Making for Tender Digital Holding

Between Hands and Pixels examines how maternal holding, with its slow labour, conflicting pulls, and sustained-but-fractured attention, can inform new perspectives on digital touch. Holding is treated as multidimensional,…

8. AI-Augmented Tangible Programming: Extending Tangible-MakeCode for Creative Learning

Tangible programming environments make computation visible and graspable, helping beginners connect code with physical actions. Yet these systems often rely on predefined blocks, limiting opportunities for learners to…

Student Design Challenge

1. Designing with Embodied Metaphors in XR for ADHD

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) presents ongoing challenges with focus and self-regulation, particularly for young adults navigating academic and occupational demands. This research explores…

2. Designing an In-Home Body Double Robot to Support College Students with ADHD

In-home socially assistive robots (SARs) can provide daily assistance to support neurodivergent young adults, enabling increased independence and autonomy. My research investigates how robots can facilitate body…

3. Puffer: Breathing Regulation Through Sequential Soft Robotics

Breathing is a natural, continuous process, yet stress often disrupts our awareness of it, leading to shallow and irregular patterns. To address this, we introduce Puffer, a social robot that guides users’ breathing through…

4. Interactive Bakhoor: Reimagining Fire-Safe Ritual Through Multisensory Robotics

Certain cultural rituals involve the burning of wood or incense, which is prohibited by many apartment complexes and dorm rooms. Our project, “Interactive Bakhoor” takes a look specifically at the Arabic ritual of burning…

5. The Loops: An Interactive Artwork on Reclaiming Agency in Involuntary Repetition

People move through many forms of involuntary repetition, from daily routines to scrolling through screens, often without noticing how these loops shape their sense of agency. When they do become aware of them,…

6. Memory Bottle

Think back to a moment in the last year—what do you remember? Did a photo or video capture that feeling? Memory Bottle is a tangible user interface (TUI) that bridges the gap between how we document moments and…