HCII Impacts

Measuring 30 Years of Impact and Innovation from the HCII

The Human-Computer Interaction Institute is a hub for innovation, education, and research.

While technology has changed substantially since we founded the HCI Institute in the early 1990s, our founding principles have not. We continually keep our focus on people like you as we use human-centered methods to solve complex problems.

The HCII's commitment to excellence and societal well-being is unwavering. From pioneering innovations to developing new industry tools, our dedicated researchers are committed to creating a future with more useful, usable, and ethical technologies.

We invite you to take a look at the following as we highlight some of our impactful research projects now directly benefiting society.

Looking at HCII's Impacts...

Nesra sits at a NoRILLA table and reaches for a tower of blocks

NoRILLA Interactive Mixed-Reality Science for Kids

Our novel, mixed-reality intelligent science stations bridge the physical and virtual worlds. Millions of children and families across the US are learning more science and improving their critical thinking skills after predicting, observing and explaining experiments with our patented system at their schools and museums.

screenshot of the game Anti-Phishing Phil, named after an orange fish in an underwater world that helps players to learn more about phishing

Protecting Millions of People from Phishing Scams

We studied the social aspects of phishing attacks and protected millions of people through education and training. This work led to new educational methods to raise awareness, effective anti-phishing warnings, and algorithmic detection of phishing attacks.

Grading Your Smartphone Apps on Their Privacy Practices

We created a model that analyzed over 1 million smartphone apps on their privacy and data collection practices, and then assigned them a public-facing privacy grade. This easy-to-follow grading system raised public awareness and led to improved privacy practices from several app developers.

hands interacting with a black touch screen with labeled inputs of fingernail, knuckle and pad

TapSense Improved Touch Detection on Millions of Smartphones

We trained smartphones to reliably detect four different touchscreen inputs – for example, a tap by a finger pad as compared to a knuckle – which created opportunities for new interactions and features.

screenshot from PAT, a cognitive tutor for algebra

Millions Learned More Math with Our AI Tutor

Millions of middle school and high school students across the US have learned more math as a result of our decades of work with AI-based cognitive tutoring systems.

proposed data label for IoT devices, modeled after a nutritional label

Human-Centered Privacy for the Internet of Things

As more gadgets become “smart” things and the Internet of Things (IoT) expands to tens of billions of connected devices, we want consumers to be aware of what their devices are doing with their personal data.

Improved Math Mastery with the Decimal Point Game

We explored the learning analytics behind our digital learning game to see how student learning responds to curriculum changes to the game. Over the past 10 years, over 1,500 students have benefited from the Decimal Point game and curriculum materials.

Zensors Turns Cameras Into Smart Sensors

In one application installed at the Pittsburgh International Airport in 2019, Zensors use existing cameras as powerful general-purpose sensors to provide wait time estimates for the security line, which benefits almost 10M PIT travelers per year.