I’m an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. My research in human-computer interaction focuses on augmented reality and spatial computing. I lead Princeton’s Situated Interactions Lab (Ψ Lab) as part of the Princeton HCI Group.
Prior to joining Princeton, I was a visiting research scientist at Meta Reality Labs Research. I received my doctoral degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, working with James Landay and Sean Follmer. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto, as part of the Engineering Science program.
Research Themes
Wearable devices take the notion of “display” from 2D screens to information that can be presented through multisensory channels, at any time, and within its real-world context. At Ψ Lab, we build and study novel interactions and intelligent interfaces that are situated in the physical world, extend our abilities, and augment our cognition. Our research follows 3 general themes:
Intelligent interfaces
Timely information presented in situ, with the appropriate representation and sensory modality.
Input on-the-go
Low-effort multimodal input techniques that account for uncertainty and preserve user privacy.
Interactions w/ situated AI
Facilitating user interactions with physically situated AI (e.g., robots and IoT devices) and eliciting user input for robot learning.
Publications
Designing Haptic Feedback for Sequential Gestural Inputs
Shan Xu, Sarah Sykes, Parastoo Abtahi, Tovi Grossman, Daylon Walden, Michael Glueck, and Carine Rognon
Transferable Microgestures Across Hand Posture and Location Constraints: Leveraging the Middle, Ring, and Pinky Fingers
Nikhita Joshi, Parastoo Abtahi, Raj Sodhi, Nitzan Bartov, Jackson Rushing, Christopher Collins, Daniel Vogel, and Michael Glueck
STAR: Smartphone-analogous Typing in Augmented Reality
Taejun Kim, Amy Karlson, Aakar Gupta, Tovi Grossman, Jason Wu, Parastoo Abtahi, Christopher Collins, Michael Glueck, Hemant Surale
Beyond Being Real: A Sensorimotor Control Perspective on Interactions in Virtual Reality
Parastoo Abtahi, Sidney Hough, James Landay, Sean Follmer
From Illusions to Beyond-Real Interactions in Virtual Reality
Parastoo Abtahi
Understanding Physical Practices and the Role of Technology in Manual Self-Tracking
Parastoo Abtahi, Victoria Ding, Anna Yang, Tommy Bruzzese, Alyssa Romanos, Elizabeth Murnane, Sean Follmer, James Landay
Paper | Website | Social Media
Beyond The Force: Using Quadcopters to Appropriate Objects and the Environment for Haptics in Virtual Reality
Parastoo Abtahi, Benoit Landry, Jackie (Junrui) Yang, Marco Pavone, Sean Follmer, James Landay
I’m a Giant: Walking in Large Virtual Environments at High Speed Gains
Parastoo Abtahi, Mar Gonzalez-Franco, Eyal Ofek, Anthony Steed
Assistant Professor
Computer Science Department
Princeton University
NEWS I'm hiring 2 graduate student interns to join my research group for summer 2024. Apply if you're interested:
