Welcome to the EPIC Lab. We stand for Energy, Printed Infrastructure and Interactive Computing (EPIC).

We are a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research lab nestled near the scenic Smoky Mountains. We aim to advance smart and connected interactive technologies that address community-centric challenges in built environments, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Our focus areas include sustainability, education, mobility, health, food, and water security, as we seek to understand how to design technologies such as IoT, AI, and Robotics for human-centered computing to enhance the quality of life and sustainability within communities.

Publications

SIGCSE 2025

Rooted in the Collective: A Culturally Situated Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education Workshop For Urban Farmers

Sukanya Kannan Moudgalya, Carmen Palileo, Srinayana Patil, Rhema Linder, Sai Swaminathan

RESPECT 2024

Toward Data Sovereignty: Justice-oriented and Community-based AI Education

Sukanya Kannan Moudgalya, Sai Swaminathan

UbiComp 2024

NeuroCamTags: Long-Range, Battery-free, Wireless Sensing with Neuromorphic Cameras

Danny Scott, Matthew Bringle, Imran Fahad, Gaddiel Morales, Azizul Zahid, Sai Swaminathan

CHASE 2024

Enhancing Dementia Care with Social Robot-Guided Music Interventions

Tyler Morris, Sydney Walker, Laython V. Holder, Eric Vaughan, Darina V. Petrovsky, Sai Swaminathan, Xiaopeng Zhao

ISVLSI 2024

In-Sensor Motion Recognition with Memristive System and Light Sensing Surfaces

Hritom Das, Imran Fahad, SNB Tushar, Sk Hasibul Alam, Graham Buchanan, Danny Scott, Garrett S. Rose, and Sai Swaminathan

npj Flexible Electronics 2022

Flexible Computational Photodetectors for Self-Powered Activity Sensing

Dingtian Zhang, Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, Raaghesh Vijayan, Yang Zhang, Yunzhi Li, Jung Wook Park, Yiyang Wang, Yuhui Zhao, Nivedita Arora, Ali Mirzazadeh, Youngwook Do, Tingyu Cheng, Saiganesh Swaminathan , Thad Starner, Trisha L. Andrew and Gregory D. Abowd

UbiComp 2021

Duco: Autonomous Large-Scale Direct-Circuit-Writing (DCW) on Vertical Everyday Surfaces Using A Scalable Hanging Plotter

Tingyu Cheng, Bu Li, Yang Zhang, Yunzhi Li, Charles Ramey, Eui Min Jung, Yepu Cui, Saiganesh Swaminathan, Youngwook Do, Manos Tentzeris, Gregory D. Abowd, HyunJoo Oh.

CHI 2021

From Tactile to NavTile: Opportunities and Challenges for Multi-Modal Feedback in Guiding Surfaces during Non-Visual Navigation

Saiganesh Swaminathan , Yellina Yim, Scott E Hudson, Cynthia L Bennett, and Patrick Carrington.

UbiComp 2020

OptiStructures: Fabrication of Room-Scale Interactive Structures with Embedded Fiber Bragg Grating Optical Sensors and Displays

Saiganesh Swaminathan ,Jonathon Fagert, Michael Rivera, Andrew Cao, Gierad Laput, Haeyoung Noh, and Scott E. Hudson.

CHI 2019

FiberWire: 3D Printing Mechanically Strong, Lightweight Carbon-Fiber Composite Devices with Embedded Electronic Function.

Saiganesh Swaminathan , Kadri Bugra Ozutemiz, Carmel Majidi, Scott E. Hudson.

UbiComp 2019

Input, Output and Construction Methods for Custom Fabrication of Room-Scale Deployable Pneumatic Structures

Saiganesh Swaminathan, Michael L. Rivera, Runchang Kang, Zheng Luo, Kadri B. Ozutemiz, and Scott E. Hudson.

CSCW 2019

Learn2Earn: Using Mobile Airtime Incentives to Bolster Public Awareness Campaigns

Saiganesh Swaminathan, Indrani Medhi Thies, Devansh Mehta, Edward Cutrell, Amit Sharma and Bill Thies

🏅 Best Paper Honorable Mention Award

UIST 2017

WearMail: On-the-Go Access to Information in Your Email with a Privacy-Preserving Human Computation Workflow

Saiganesh Swaminathan, Raymond Fok, Fanglin Chen, Ting-Hao (Kenneth) Huang, Irene Lin, Rohan Jadvani, Walter S. Lasecki, Jeffrey P. Bigham

W4A 2017

The Crowd Work Accessibility Problem