The Empathic Computing Laboratory is an academic research group exploring ways for technology to enable better understanding and better lives.
Joined November 2021
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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. techcrunch.com/2026/10/06/mi… [1/3]
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]
Congratulations to our ABI colleagues - the Heart Foundation has awarded $2.32m across eight University of Auckland heart research projects. auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/… [1/2]
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. ieeeismar.net/2026/ [1/3]
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]
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: youtube.com/@ismarconf/playl…
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. research.google/blog/toward-… [1/3]
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]
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]
Aotearoa's first Indigenous Tech Summit is at Tākina, Wellington, 26-27 Nov: Māori, Pacific and Indigenous leaders worldwide on who shapes AI and on whose terms. waateanews.com/2026/10/02/wh… [1/3]
The question underneath it - who governs the data a system learns from - sits close to our own work. We build systems that read faces, voices and physiological signals. About as personal as data gets. [2/3]
Which is why consent and governance cannot be an afterthought for us. What should a lab like ours be doing differently? #DataSovereignty #EmpathicComputing [3/3]
IEEE ISMAR turns 25 this week. The 25th International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality opens today in Bari, Italy, running 5-9 October. ieeeismar.net/2026/ [1/2]
ISMAR has shaped a quarter-century of AR and MR research, and much of our lab's work on shared AR workspaces and social presence grew out of it. ACM SUI follows in Bari 10-11 Oct. Which paper or demo should we all be reading? #EmpathicComputing #XR [2/2]
NZ academics are calling for a national AI office, as Australia, the UK, Canada, Singapore and Japan have — to coordinate work here and give Aotearoa a voice in international AI governance. itbrief.co.nz/story/new-zeal… [1/2]
Meta Connect's keynote is Wed 23 Sept, 4pm PT (11am Thu NZ). Previews point to camera-free AI glasses and a light tethered headset with eye tracking. engadget.com/2262932/what-to… [1/2]
