Hi! My name is Abdallah (or Abdo for short). I am a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researcher with a background in Cognitive Science.
Currently: I am a (tenured) research scientist at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), within the Distributed & Interactive Systems (DIS) group. I lead the research area on Affective Interactive Systems (AIS). I am also affiliated with the AI, Media, and Democracy Lab, where I lead Human-AI Interaction research focusing on AI transparency in media. I am also part of the executive board for CHI Nederland (CHI NL), the local Dutch SIGCHI chapter which we reinstated in August, 2020.
Previously: I did my Postdoc at the HCI Oldenburg lab, part of the Media Informatics and Multimedia Systems group at the University of Oldenburg / OFFIS (Germany). I received my PhD in Computer Science from the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), working at the (former) Information and Language Processing Systems (ILPS) group.
RESEARCH
- Affective Interactive Systems: I combine advances in sensing and actuation, eXtended Reality, and Artificial Intelligence to augment human cognitive, affective, and social interactions.
- Trustworthy Human-AI Interaction: Despite all the benefits AI brings, the surge in fake media poses serious threats to a well functioning democratic society. As such, within the AI, Media, and Democracy Lab, a current focus is on designing and building transparent and trustworthy AI, using the EU AI Act as a point of departure.
→ Check the Students page for master's thesis topics in HCI, Human-centered AI, and/or Design.
NEWS
- Late-breaking work on AI disclosure transparency obligations accepted at CHI '24
- SIG on transforming HCI research with Large Whatever Models accepted at CHI '24
- Gave a talk introducing CHI Nederland (CHI NL) at the MMI Platform meeting
- We are organizing a semester program at CWI on AI's impact on society, media & democracy
- Gave guest lecture at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on "Affective Augmentation Systems" for the Human-Computer Interaction bachelor course
- Two papers cond. accepted at CHI '24: (1) GenAI in UXD (2) Haptics in Avatar Co-embodiment
- Case study on AI, Media, Democracy lab accepted at CHI '24
- Workshop on integrating physiological signals in HCI accepted at CHI '24
- Gave talk on "Affective Augmentation Systems" for Game and Media Technology Colloquium at Utrecht University
- Will serve as CHI '25' Video Showcase Co-chair
- Attended Dagstuhl seminar on protecting against cognitive vulnerabilities in social engineering
- Will serve as MUM '24 Workshops Co-chair
- Gave talk on "Affective Augmentation Systems" at Cyber-physical Technologies for Affective Wellbeing workshop
- Will serve as ICMI '24 LBW Co-chair
- Gave talk on "Affective Interactive Systems" part of CWI-INRIA research collaboration
