Empathic Computing Laboratory

The Empathic Computing Laboratory is an academic research group exploring ways for technology to enable better understanding and better lives.

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Making a system sound warmer makes it easier to talk to, and easier to lean on. For us, empathic systems should support connection between people, not replace it. [4/4]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

OpenAI's GPT-Live-1.1 landed last week: 13 new ChatGPT voices and more natural pronunciation across languages. https://t.co/sHk0skFR5w [1/4]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

OpenAI says more research is needed. Credit to them for reporting it openly, and a reminder that a more natural-sounding voice needs its own safety testing. [3/4]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Lightweight glasses at this price make longer, in-the-wild AR collaboration studies much easier to imagine. What would you test first? [3/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

XREAL's new 1 Pro+ display glasses: 1,200 nits, 57° FOV, 3DoF spatial anchoring, US$599, plugs into a USB-C phone. https://t.co/9p1SjXjcZU [1/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

The spec sheet is nice, but the form factor is the interesting part. Heavy headsets shape how participants behave and cap how long a study session can run. [2/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Our empathic computing studies run on that scaffolding — technicians, research support, the people who make participant sessions happen. Congratulations to everyone recognised this year. [2/2]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

UoA celebrated its 2026 Research Excellence Awards last week — five medals, plus recognition for the professional staff who keep research running. https://t.co/rKvTGSyOlI [1/2]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

@BoboLinNotes @BoboLinNotes Appreciate you pushing on it, that was a good thread.

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Google has moved Gboard's federated learning into trusted execution environments, so its differential-privacy guarantees can be verified from outside the company rather than taken on trust. https://t.co/dG3PVb8xO2 [1/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

That changes what we can reasonably ask participants to share. One to revisit once the weights actually land. How much does open-weight access matter in your own work? [3/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Mistral has released Mistral Large 4, a ~1T-parameter multimodal model. For now it's reachable only via a guarded endpoint, with open weights promised in about three weeks. https://t.co/tnRXDqWH8c [1/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

The part we are watching isn't the benchmark race (results are still pending), it's the open weights. Running a capable model locally means sensitive physiological data from our studies can stay in the lab. [2/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Two of them sit close to our own patch: a smartphone tool that reads tiny neck-skin movements to assess the pulse, and AI modelling to take manual work out of heart ultrasound analysis. Camera-based physiological sensing, put to clinical use. [2/2]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Congratulations to our ABI colleagues - the Heart Foundation has awarded $2.32m across eight University of Auckland heart research projects. https://t.co/ugoJS4qkYH [1/2]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Next stop: ISMAR 2027 in Kobe, Japan. We'll be reading through this year's programme in the meantime. Anything from Bari you think deserves more attention? [3/3]
Watch: https://t.co/2Wk9zD9Cv3

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

ISMAR 2026 has wrapped in Bari — the 25th edition ran 5-9 October, and the recorded paper and poster talks are now up on the ISMAR YouTube channel. https://t.co/reB5XOSDOG [1/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

ISMAR has long been a home venue for research on AR collaboration and shared experience, and a lot of our lab's work has gone through it. The recordings are a good way to catch up on where mixed reality research sat this year. [2/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

@BoboLinNotes Agreed, that’s the open question. Attestation pins a specific build, so every update has to be just as checkable. Curious whether independent researchers will get the access and tooling to keep up.

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

We work with faces, voices, heart rate and gaze: data people share because they trust the setup. Verifiable rather than merely claimed feels like the right bar. Would you share physiological data if the guarantee were auditable? #EmpathicComputing #Privacy [3/3]

[Empathic Computing Laboratory @EmpathicCompLab]

Access policies go into a public transparency log; operators see only anonymised weights and metrics. Attested rather than promised. A whitepaper is linked from the post. [2/3]