Ad Spiers

Lecturer (Assistant Prof) in Robotics, Machine Learning & Haptics at @ImperialCollege. Co-Founder of @MakeSense_Tech. Music producer & DJ. Neurodiverse.

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

This Thursday I'll be participating in #ImperialLates by giving a lightning talk titled 'Shapeshifting, time-saving tech for the visually impaired' at 19:15.
The whole evening is focused on the subject of time ⏰⌚️⏲️
More info:
https://t.co/AQgBapOnmI

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

Great job by my PhD student Qihan Yang, who just gave his first presentation at a #haptics conference.
If you squint, you can just about see him to the left of the *gigantic* screen!
At #WHC2025 in Suwon, South Korea 🇰🇷

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

I arrived in Atlanta for #ICRA2025 yesterday. After failing to figure out public transport at the airport, I jumped in a cab to my hotel.

The driver had covered their speedometer with a big sticker of the Virgin Mary😬

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

The 2nd #ICRA2025 graphical abstract is from Igor Bodnar & accompanies his paper on proprioceptively determining object shape and size via in-hand-manipulation with a variable friction #robotic gripper. The neat thing is the method doesn't require tactile or visual sensors.

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

In the run up to #ICRA2025 I've decided to gradually post the graphical abstracts from my lab.
The first is from Qiyang (Roy) Yan et al and presents a neat method for achieving IHM with variable friction grippers using a combination of RL, IL and diffusion.
#robotics #grippers

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The crazy thing about this line of work is that illness does not mean a day off. Those deadlines are not going anywhere.

3/3

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

I was recently joking with colleagues that March is when I schedule my annual burnout (after the yearly pattern of months of combined deadlines related to teaching, assessment, admissions, publication reviews and funding).

1/3

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

Right on cue I've been ill for two days and this morning started hallucinating the spoken voice of our departmental elevators while brushing my teeth at home. Given my history with mental health, this is not a good sign.

2/3

[Imperial College Robotics Forum @ImperialRobots]

🚀 Something exciting is coming...

Imperial College London is delighted to announce the launch of its inaugural Robotics Summer School taking place from 21st – 25th July!

Join this opportunity to dive into the world of robotics together with all of our very best roboticists. With state-of-the-art equipment and classrooms, you’ll learn the fundamental and specialised concepts of robotics, with hands-on learning and group work.

Immerse yourself in a week-long group project embedded within one of our cutting-edge laboratories—choose from the Hamlyn Centre, our flagship Aerial Arena, Dyson Robotics Lab, Multi-limb Virtual Environment (aka Dr. Octopus 🐙) and more!

📆 21st – 25th July 2025
📍Imperial College London, South Kensington & White City Campuses

Applications close on the 25th April 2025

Don’t miss your chance to explore the future of robotics with Imperial’s top roboticists at the heart of the world’s best student city.

Apply now at https://t.co/XomoZinL55
#ImperialRoboticsSummerSchool

@YiannisDemiris, @Ed__Johns, @AdSpiers, @fmryb, @AjdDavison, @thrishlab, @ImperialX_AI, @aeroimperial, @ICComputing, @RobotTalkPod, @UKRAS_STEPS, @UKRAS, @Imperial_CEE, @imperialeee, @ImperialBiz

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

This made me chuckle😆

I haven't published a paper related to surgery in about a decade.

Also, clicking unsubscribe brings up a 'malicious website' warning.

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

There's nothing like #ICRA2025 decision emails appearing a few days early to suddenly raise your heart rate! 💜
2 out of 3 accepted for our lab this year. It appears that this round of reviewers really like variable friction grippers. I mean, who doesn't?! ;-)
See you in Atlanta!

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

Very cool to see our latest Shape-changing #haptics work as at New Scientist video feature! 😎

@newscientist

https://t.co/80wPvkkkj7 via @YouTube

[Anthony Bonato @Anthony_Bonato]

As a mathematician, I must repost this every Christmas season. I don’t make the rules

[Imperial College London @imperialcollege]

A new shape-changing device from @MakeSense_Tech can help those with visual impairments perform a location task just as well as sighted people.

This new device could shape the future of navigation tech for those with visual impairments ⬇️

https://t.co/QutJc5yfYA

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

Furthermore, participants preferred the shape-changing feedback to vibration.
I'm very proud of this work and the team behind it. Shape-changing haptic interfaces is still an emergent field, but this paper really shows their potential.

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

Delighted to announce our latest paper in @Nature Scientific Reports. We developed a shape-changing #haptic navigation device and conducted a target finding task in our lab. The surprising result was that vision-impaired people found the targets as well as sighted users! 1/2

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

@randeepk Followed on IG. Hope you are doing well my man

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

A few weeks back I had a little rant about PhD applications that refer to papers that are irrelevant to the candidate's proposed intrests.
Some people on LinkedIn thought I was being unreasonable, so I annotated an application email I received today.

#PhD #academia

[Ad Spiers @AdSpiers]

I absolutely LOVE @IEEESpectrum's Video Friday, so it's really nice that they featured our recent work on barometric tactile sensing! Thanks a lot @BotJunkie!
https://t.co/DenUm1QPw9
#Robotics #tactilesensing #machinelearning