UW CSE professor Shyam Gollakota devises ways to pull power out of thin air to enable the growth of a true Internet of Things. This awesome ability to harvest the airwaves — with implications for health care, security, sustainability, and a host of other potential applications — has earned him a place in Popular Science’s “Brilliant 10” of 2016 celebrating the most brilliant minds in science and engineering.
Gollakota leads the Networks & Mobile Systems Lab at UW… Read more →
UW researchers target Fitbit guilt
Researchers from UW CSE and UW Human Centered Design & Engineering have released the results of a new study that examines how people’s experience with Fitbit and other personal tracking tools could be improved with different design approaches. Their insights could help inspire people who have abandoned such tools to reconsider that “device in the drawer” and get back on track. From the UW News release:
“The research team surveyed 141 people who had lapsed in using Fitbit. They… Read more →
UW’s HemaApp takes the sting out of blood screening
Researchers in UW’s UbiComp Lab led by CSE and EE professor Shwetak Patel have developed a new mobile tool that enables the non-invasive monitoring of blood hemoglobin. HemaApp uses a smartphone’s camera flash to shine light through a patient’s finger and analyzes the color of his/her blood to estimate the concentration of hemoglobin. The app provides a way to screen for anemia and other conditions, and to monitor patients’ response to treatment, without the pain or risk of infection associated… Read more →
UW CSE+EE wireless power startup WiBotic exits stealth mode
GeekWire reports:
“‘WiBotic is creating the infrastructure for robots to charge whenever and wherever – so companies can focus on robot tasks rather than keeping their robots charged,’ WiBotic CEO and co-founder Ben Waters said in a statement. ‘Enabling better access to power and autonomous charging opens up a whole new world of possibilities for robots.’
“WiBotic also said its adaptive near-field wireless charging technology provides higher efficiency than standard inductive and other resonant systems, while also minimizing… Read more →
UW CSE’s Oren Etzioni: We need “AI guardians” that adhere to human law and values
In a thought-provoking new piece published in the Communications of the ACM, UW CSE professor and Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence CEO Oren Etzioni and sociologist Amitai Etzioni of George Washington University make the case for development of “AI guardians” to provide oversight for increasingly autonomous AI systems. (Aside: How cool is it to publish papers with your parent?!?!) The guardians, they argue, would ensure that operational AI adheres to our laws and ethical norms. They write:
“All societies throughout… Read more →
How Seattle became “King of the Cloud” (with help from UW CSE)
GeekWire’s Dan Richman published an excellent article today examining the Seattle region’s dominance in cloud computing and how our region is poised, once again, to transform technology.
“The rise of Amazon Web Services — along with the growth of Microsoft Azure, a burgeoning cloud startup scene, and a vibrant cloud and IT developer community — has turned the Seattle region into the epicenter of cloud technology, in the view of many tech and business leaders,” Richman writes.
“Silicon Valley is… Read more →
UW team captures Best Paper at SIGCOMM 2016 for interscatter
A team of UW CSE and EE researchers has won the Best Paper Award at ACM SIGCOMM 2016 for interscatter, the groundbreaking technology that enables implanted devices to communicate using Wi-Fi and has the potential to transform health care as we know it. Interscatter was developed by EE Ph.D. students Vikram Iyer and Bryce Kellogg, CSE postdoc and EE Ph.D. alum Vamsi Talla, CSE professor Shyam Gollakota, and CSE and EE professor Josh Smith. The… Read more →
Remembering UW CSE Ph.D. alum Jonathan Ko
Jonathan Ko, a UW CSE Ph.D. alum who worked with professor Dieter Fox in the Robotics and State Estimation Lab, passed away earlier this month after a courageous five-year battle with cancer.
During his early Ph.D. research, Jonathan was a member of UW CSE’s Centibots research team working on DARPA’s Software for Distributed Robotics (SDR) project. The Centibots framework enabled large teams of robots to explore, plan and collaborate on search and surveillance tasks in previously unknown environments.… Read more →
UW CSE’s Richard Ladner recognized by SIGACCESS for outstanding contributions in accessible computing
UW CSE professor Richard Ladner has been selected the 2016 winner of the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computing and Accessibility by the Special Interest Group in Accessible Computing (SIGACCESS). In announcing the honor, SIGACCESS cited Ladner’s 30+ years of research, advocacy and leadership in the field of accessible computing.
From the award citation:
“Richard’s steadfast support and advocacy for people with disabilities have tangibly increased their participation in STEM fields….Richard was one of the first people to address the… Read more →
UW’s interscatter enables implanted devices to communicate using Wi-Fi
A team of UW CSE and Electrical Engineering researchers have developed a novel communication system called interscatter that enables smart contact lenses, medical implants and credit cards to “talk” to smartphones and smartwatches using Wi-Fi. This groundbreaking technology, which was developed by students and faculty in the UW’s Networks & Mobile Systems Lab led by CSE professor Shyam Gollakota and the Sensor Systems Lab led by CSE and EE professor Josh Smith, has the potential to transform health care… Read more →