What makes it different: it doesn't just show you similar cases — it traces how changing each attribute moves the outcome, like an agent walking you through adjustments on a comparable property.
Paper: doi.org/10.1145/3772...
@ABI_bioeng #XAI #HCI [2/2]
Presenting at #CHI2026 this week: Comparables XAI 🎉
How do you explain an AI decision intuitively? We borrow from real estate: comparable examples + counterfactual traces that walk attribute-by-attribute from each comparable to the subject.
Result: highest faithfulness + user accuracy [1/2]
His Google Scholar has 50,000+ citations. His ideas are in labs, devices, and research groups around the world.
📎 empathiccomputing.org/team/mark-billinghurst/
📚 scholar.google.com/citations?user=S-J_ItYAAAAJ [3/3]
#MeetTheTeam #AugmentedReality #EmpathicComputing #HCI #ResearchCommunity
Today he leads ECL at the University of Auckland, exploring:
🔬 Augmented Reality interfaces
🖐️ Multimodal input (gaze, gesture, speech)
🤝 Spatial collaboration tech [2/3]
👋 Meet the Team: Prof. Mark Billinghurst, Part II
In 2002, Mark invented the Magic Book — an AR storybook where characters leap into the real world through a headset. That early spark became a career defining the future of how humans and computers coexist. [1/3] #ECLMeetTheTeam
We're here! 🇪🇸 ECL has arrived in Barcelona for #CHI2026. Excited to connect, share ideas, and present our work this week. Come find us!
#HCI #Research #CHI2026 @aucklanduni.bsky.social
What's the most important thing to get right when communicating science outside your field?
Kunal's panel from the ABI Research Forum has some answers.
youtu.be/OdldwQTPn3I
#SciComm #Research
Absolutely. Hopefully, this will lead to some tech that can help deal with cognitive overload, in addition to other problems for accessibility.
That is such a shame. We definitely understand the feeling of realising your work is changing a user's experience for the better. We have a lab member working on haptic feedback to "hack" the biofeedback that increases anxiety, to provide an offramp from anxiety. youtu.be/Ickb2neXMg0
That is fantastic! What was your favourite part of working on it?
This is brilliant. Thank you.
Thank you! Our team leader, Mark Billinghurst, is very intent on using technology to improve access and help people. If you are interested in TBI research, we also have a PhD student working on using VR for TBI rehabilitation and retraining on everyday tasks.
AR + collaboration + HCI + mental health tech. That's the lab. That's Mark. 🧠💻
[5/5]
🔗 empathiccomputing.org/team/mark-bi...
#MeetTheTeam #AugmentedReality #HCI #WearableComputing #EmpathicComputingLab
His research vision: what happens when you put ubiquitous computing ON the body, layer virtual objects over reality, and let people interact through voice, gaze, and gesture — all at once? [4/5]
Mark leads the Empathic Computing Lab @UoAuckland, pioneering research in Augmented Reality, wearable computing, and multimodal human-computer interaction. [3/5]
He invented the Magic Book — an AR children's book that springs to life through a head-mounted display. That was 2002. He hasn't stopped since. 🪄📖 [2/5]
🌟 Meet the Team: Prof. Mark Billinghurst, Director of @EmpathicCompLab 👋 empathiccomputing.org/team/mark-billinghurst/ [1/5] #ECLMeetTheTeam
It was really good to be able to show some of the things that are day-to-day with disability. Hopefully we can get some more people with lived experience to work on this project with - co-design is really important for our lab.
One of the workshop attendees (*me*) is neurodivergent and in a wheelchair due to chronic pain. So it was cool to be able to share how simple things can be so inaccessible.
Absolutely! It was an excellent opportunity to notice how difficult the world can be for those with TBIs and other disabilities.
[8/8] We'll be posting live from Barcelona, April 13–17 🌍📱
Follow along for updates from the sessions, demos, and everything in between.
#CHI2026 #HCI #EmpathicComputingLab #InclusiveRealityLab @ABI_bioeng
[7/8] 🤝 Big shoutout to our partners @InclusiveRealityLab, also presenting at #CHI2026:
📄 Invisible Users in Digital Health (Fri 17 Apr)
🖼️ 4 posters on XR, haptics, memory, social robots & Tai Chi
Outstanding work in XR, health equity & inclusive design 💪
[6/8] 🎮 Interactive Demo: LyreFlute — a sensor-based musical experience for COPD rehabilitation
Valente, Cotto, Billinghurst & Gupta
🔧 Workshop: XR for Challenging Environments — human performance & agency under stress
Tue 14 Apr
#CHI2026
[5/8] 🖼️ ECL Posters:
• C-A2Meet — malleable, role-aware AI for video conferencing
• Dependency-Aware AR Guidance for replaying non-linear work
• Collective Heartbeat Haptic Feedback — social connection through shared audiovisual experiences
#CHI2026 #HCI
[4/8] 📄 Paper 3: Cognitive Bridge — AI-generated boundary objects for cross-functional collaboration 🤝
Gunasekaran, Lim, Gupta, Bai, Pai & Billinghurst
[programs.sigchi.org/chi/2026/program/content/222303](programs.sigchi.org/chi/2026/pro...)
#CHI2026
[3/8] 📄 Paper 2: AI of Oz — using AI to assist human moderators in Wizard of Oz studies 🧙
Wen, Gupta, Nanthakumar, Han, Hoermann, Billinghurst, Nassani, Allan & Piumsomboon
Thu 16 Apr | Research Methodology & UX session
#CHI2026
[2/8] 📄 Paper 1: The Ocular Command Center — how eye responses to luminance, colour, tunnelling & visual suppression shape physiological states in VR 👁️
Valente, Esteves & Billinghurst
Tue 14 Apr | Experiencing Virtual Worlds (XR) session
#CHI2026
ECL is heading to CHI 2026 in Barcelona! 🇪🇸🎉 3 papers. 3 posters. 1 demo. 1 workshop. Plus our friends @InclusiveRealityLab bringing 4 posters + 1 paper of their own. Auckland HCI showing up. 🤝 Details 👇 @ABI_bioeng #CHI2026 #HCI
At our XR4Rehab workshop, we asked: what should a virtual rehabilitation agent actually do?
Not a chatbot. A system that knows when to speak and when to stay quiet.
Keep your eyes open for more details 👀
#XRrehab #TBI #ConversationalAI #HCI #EmpathicComputingLab #Rehabilitation
Time for a new video from ABI Research Forum: Kunal Gupta & Massi Hesam share their research journeys, science communication tips, and a deep dive on grants.
Watch the ABI panel: youtu.be/OdldwQTPn3I
#GrantWriting #ResearchFunding #EarlyCareerResearchers #PhDLife