GEISTHuman-Centered Information Systems · TU Clausthal

Professor and head of the chair

Prof. Dr. Kai Kunze

Smart eyewear and eye tracking, wearable sensing, human augmentation, affective computing, reading and cognition

In the group since 2026

Kai Kunze
Portrait · Kai Kunze

Prof. Dr. Kai Kunze has held the W3 professorship for Human-Centered Information Systems at the Institut für Informatik of TU Clausthal since 2026. Before his appointment he was Professor at the Graduate School of Media Design at Keio University in Yokohama, Japan, and earlier Assistant Professor at Osaka Prefecture University; he received his PhD from the University of Passau. He is known for his work on eyewear computing and on activity recognition that stays robust across sensor placements.

Topics

Wearable sensingSmart eyewear and eye trackingAffective computingReading and cognitionActivity recognitionHealth and care

Publications

Recent publications

All 274 publications

  1. Human–Computer Co-Regulation: A Review of Biofeedback for Meditative Practice

    Mengxi Liu, Danyang Peng, Sizhen Bian, Lala Shakti Swarup Ray, Yajun Cheng, Bo Zhou, Siyu Yuan, Kanyu Chen, Kai Kunze, Kouta Minamizawa, Paul Lukowicz

    IMWUT 2026journal

  2. NASA-Task Load Index in CHI: A Comprehensive Review and Subscale Meta-Analysis with Implementation Guidelines

    Juyoung Lee, Thad Starner, Kai Kunze, Thomas Kosch, Maria Pospelova, Woontack Woo

    TOCHI 2026journal

  3. Characterizing In-the-Wild Personal Listening Device Use to Inform Earable Application Design

    Supraja Ramesh, Jonas Hummel, Silvia Becker, Christopher Clarke, Jake Stuchbury-Wass, Kai Kunze, Axel Loewe, Michael Beigl, Tobias Röddiger

    arXiv 2026other

  4. Floating Companion: Exploring Design Space for Soft Floating Robots in Indoor Environments

    Mingyang Xu, Yanheng Li, Burcu Nimet Dumlu, RAY LC, Giulia Barbareschi, Matthias Hoppe, Jie Li, Kouta Minamizawa, Kai Kunze

    DIS 2026conferenceBest Paper Award, ACM DIS 2026

  5. Creating Empowering Counter-Narratives through Collective Digital Art by Disabled People

    Giulia Barbareschi, Chihiro Sato, Dunya Chen, Sifan Chen, Eimi Koga, Jason Wilsher-Mills, Kai Kunze

    DIS 2026conferenceHonorable Mention, ACM DIS 2026

  6. Qìfield: Externalizing Qi as a Palmar Haptic Field for Volitional Extension in Tai Chi Practices

    Wei Lan, Yilin Ren, Mingda Si, Changfei Feng, Danyang Peng, Kai Kunze, Ximing Shen, Yun Suen Pai, Hiroshi Ishii, Kouta Minamizawa

    CHI EA 2026extended abstract

  7. Sensing Your Vocals: Exploring the Activity of Vocal Cord Muscles for Pitch Assessment Using Electromyography and Ultrasonography

    Kanyu Chen, Rebecca Panskus, Erwin Wu, Yichen Peng, Daichi Saito, Emiko Kamiyama, Ruiteng Li, Chen-Chieh Liao, Karola Marky, Kato Akira, Hideki Koike, Kai Kunze

    CHI 2026conference

  8. Towards EMG-Driven Pseudo-Haptic Feedback for VR Surgical Training

    Wei Lan, Danyang Peng, Zicheng Xia, Tobias Langlotz, Stefanie Zollmann, Kai Kunze

    IEEE VRW 2026workshop

  9. OpticalAging: Real-time Presbyopia Simulation for Inclusive Design via Tunable Lenses

    Qing Zhang, Zixiong Su, Yoshihito Kondoh, Kazunori Asada, Thad Starner, Kai Kunze, Yuta Itoh, Jun Rekimoto

    AHs 2026conference

  10. Inbody Interactions

    Suranga Nanayakkara, Masahiko Inami, Kai Kunze, Elizabeth Churchill, Kanyu Chen, Danyang Peng, Prasanth Sasikumar, Yize Wei, Mia Huong Nguyen

    AHs 2026conference

Research

Projects

All research
  • A Placebo Concert paper figure: VR piano concert with abstract visuals

    Active

    A Placebo Concert

    Telling people that abstract visuals represent audience physiology changes a VR concert more than whether the data is real (CHI '25).

  • Abstraction Beats Realism paper figure: abstract visualisation of audience arousal in a VR concert

    Active

    Abstraction Beats Realism

    Abstract visualisations of audience arousal synchronise VR concert visitors with the original live audience better than 360-degree video (AHs 2026).

  • J!NS MEME academic prototype with sensor wiring on a glass table

    Active

    Augmented Perception

    Smart glasses and wearables as a sensing and actuation platform that sits directly at the human senses.

  • Overview figure of cognitive activity recognition with eyewear computing

    Active

    Cognitive Augmentation

    Wearable sensing that captures reading, attention and gaze synchrony, applied to cognitive health and dementia prevention.

  • Cuddle-Fish, a helium-filled soft robot with flapping wings (paper figure)

    Active

    Cuddle Fish

    A soft floating robot with flapping wings that people can safely touch, pat and hug (AHs '25).

  • Dancers on stage during the Boiling Mind performance

    Active

    Digitalized Emotion

    Making emotional states measurable, transferable and shareable, from audience physiology at live performances to digital empathy.

Supervision

Open topics

All theses

News

In the news

All news
  • Annotated figure of a helium-filled soft floating robot that a person reaches for, and its wingspan against a doorframe

    Event · Singapore

    Best Paper Award and Honorable Mention at ACM DIS 2026

    At the ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2026 in Singapore the chair received a Best Paper Award for Floating Companion and an Honorable Mention for a paper on collective digital art.

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