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 am also an Assistant Professor (part-time) at Utrecht University, within the Multimedia group. At CWI DIS, 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 currently Chair of 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
- [Sept 2024] Started as part-time Assistant Professor at Utrecht University within the Multimedia group, where I'm currently lecturing in the Game and Media Technology master's program
- [Jun 2024] CHIWORK 2025 is coming to Amsterdam! Stay tuned!
- [Jun 2024] CHI NL and myself featured in People of ACM European Chapters - Abdallah El Ali
- [Jun 2024] We will be organizing Experience & Beyond 2024, stay tuned!
- [May 2024] Our ShareYourReality paper wins a special recogniton award at CHI 2024 for sustainable practices
- [Apr 2024] Gave talk on "Transparent and Trustworthy Human-AI Interaction" at the ERCIM Visionary Event 2024 in Brussels
- [Feb 2024] Late-breaking work on AI disclosure transparency obligations accepted at CHI '24
- [Feb 2024] SIG on transforming HCI research with Large Whatever Models accepted at CHI '24
- [Feb 2024] Gave a talk introducing CHI Nederland (CHI NL) at the MMI Platform meeting
- [Feb 2024] We are organizing a semester program at CWI on AI's impact on society, media & democracy
- [Feb 2024] Gave guest lecture at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on "Affective Augmentation Systems" for the Human-Computer Interaction bachelor course
- [Jan 2024] Two papers cond. accepted at CHI '24: (1) GenAI in UXD (2) Haptics in Avatar Co-embodiment
- [Jan 2024] Case study on AI, Media, Democracy lab accepted at CHI '24
- [Dec 2023] Workshop on integrating physiological signals in HCI accepted at CHI '24
- [Nov 2023] Gave talk on "Affective Augmentation Systems" for Game and Media Technology Colloquium at Utrecht University
- [Nov 2023] Will serve as CHI '25' Video Showcase Co-chair
- [Nov 2023] Attended Dagstuhl seminar on protecting against cognitive vulnerabilities in social engineering
- [Nov 2023] Will serve as MUM '24 Workshops Co-chair
- [Oct 2023] Gave talk on "Affective Augmentation Systems" at Cyber-physical Technologies for Affective Wellbeing workshop
- [Oct 2023] Will serve as ICMI '24 LBW Co-chair
- [Sept 2023] Gave talk on "Affective Interactive Systems" part of CWI-INRIA research collaboration
