I will give a keynote talk at ACM Symposium on Applied Perception 2022.

Superception: Exploring a new ‘Self’ in the integration of humans and computers

With the emergence of computer technologies, computers are no longer just tools of humans but are deeply intervening in our bodies and behavior. When humans integrate with computers and acquire abilities and different bodies beyond what we have, to what extent are we ourselves? Through my research framework, “Superception” for extending and transforming human perception and cognition using computer technology, I have worked on investigating how the “self” can be shaped when humans and computers integrate. In this talk, I would like to explore what the “self” will be like when computers and humans integrate through three research directions. First about 1) Self in Human-computer integration. For truly harmonized human augmentation to assist and extend human abilities, we should design systems as a user perceives actions as our own. I will present a series of investigations of the human and computer integrated action using electric muscle stimulation and human-robot system and how we attribute it to self. Then taking it a step further, I will introduce explorations about 2) Beyond one mind one body. Cybernetic avatars technology will make a significant paradigm shift in the relationship between mind and body. Mind and Body will no longer be just one-to-one, but one mind to many bodies, or many minds to one body. I will present our recent explorations for “N minds M bodies” by using robotic arms or virtual reality systems. And last and most importantly, I will highlight our projects to explore 3) the contours of self in the computer-mediated cross reality. Lastly, I would like to discuss the potential agenda of science in human-computer integration through circulating perceptual research and experience design.