dexterous interaction lab

靈巧互動實驗室

  • A helping hand that extends from your smartwatch. (UIST26 Demo)
  • See-through the wall when bouldering in Augmented Reality. (UIST26 Demo)
  • A sensory substitution device that translates vision to tactile images to assist Blind users. PDF (CHI25)
  • An exoskseleton combining eletrical stimulation and mechanical braking to pose a user's hand. PDF (UIST21)
  • Embodied AI assistance through electrical stimulation suit that moves the user's body. PDF (CHI26)
  • A smartwatch that moves fingers through electrical stimulation (e.g., for navigation). PDF (UIST24)
  • A fingernail device that provides the sense of pressing a button in Augmented Reality PDF (CHI21)
  • Skin-like tactile devices that balance real-world and virtual manual dexterity. PDF (CHI24)
  • Making objects feel softer by leveraging a tactile illusion on the fingerpad. PDF (UIST21)
  • Assisting drawing with force feedback on tablets using a robotic arm. PDF (SIGGRAPH ASIA 16)
  • A self-sustaining haptic wearable that utilizes energy harvesting in Virtual Reality. PDF (UIST22)
  • Soft and inflatable devices for simulating different shapes in Virtual Reality. PDF (UIST18)
  • Shape-changing floors for generating body-scale shapes in Virtual Reality. PDF (UIST19)

靈 /ling/: agile, sensitive; spirit;
巧 /qiao/: skillful, delicate; craft;
靈巧 dexterous: done with mental or physical skill, quickness, or grace —Merriam-Webster

From using chopsticks to playing musical instruments, humans skillfully perform a wide variety of physical tasks; yet there is very little guidance provided by computing systems. Our lab envisions futures for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that can augment our dexterity.

The key to human dexterity lies in technologies that enhances our senses and motor capabilities. Humans rely on a combination of senses—vision, audio, and the precise sense of touch and forces—to perform tasks. Our lab specifically eningeers haptic devices that can be integrated in everyday wearables in assisting phyiscal tasks such as repairing, music playing, and more. We also explored how sensory experiences can be transformed, such as from vision to haptics for Blind users, or augmenting vision, to support user’s manual interaction. Beyond the senses, we look into how to enhance motor capabilities, exploring various ways to integrate devices that can move the user’s body, such as muscle stimulation, exoskeletons, and robotics can be worn on the user’s body.

These efforts allow us to explore a future—10, 20, or 50 years from now—where humans can be effectively empowered, and we can also examine how technology might reshape our perception, both physically and cognitively.

Dexterous Interaction Lab (DexLab) is a research lab led by Prof. Shan-Yuan Teng (PhD, University of Chicago) of the Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering at National Taiwan University (NTU), Taipei, Taiwan.

Lab members


Shan-Yuan Teng [CV] Assistant Professor
Lab director

Che-wei Hsu Master's student

Artur Merkel
Master's student

Tzu-Feng Tseng
Master's student

Yi-Hsin Lin
Collab. Master's student (NTUST)

Ping-Jhao Hsu Undergrad researcher
(NCKU)

Wei-Tang Hsu
Undergrad researcher

Yan-Yao Yang
Undergrad researcher

Tzu-Cheng Yang
Undergrad researcher

Yen-Chang Chen
Undergrad researcher

Lady Clarita Sayuti
Undergrad researcher

Cheng-Yen Li
Undergrad researcher

Marling Abel
Undergrad researcher

See Apply to the lab if you are interested!

Lab alumni


Jung-Sheng Hung

Ting-Chen Lu

Pin-Yu Chen

Show alumni…

News

  • Two UIST 2026 Demos got accepted:
    • Augmenting Smartwatch with a Rollable Tentacle, led by Ping-Jhao Hsu
    • See Through With The Hands: Seamless Occluded Interactions in Augmented Reality, led by Wei-Tang Hsu
  • Shan-Yuan is leading a workshop at UIST 2026 in Detroit (2026/11/2): Workshop on Augmenting Human Dexterity Join us!
  • Shan-Yuan will give a talk at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (2026/10/5), and National Taiwan Normal University (2026/10/14)
  • Our posters won awards at TAICHI 2026, annual Taiwanese HCI conference (2026/8/6)
    • Tactile Musical Track: A Wearable for Blind Musicians to Feel Preemptive Cues During Performance, led by Jung-Sheng Hung, Ting-Chen Lu, and Yen-Chang Chen, won Best Poster Award
    • Emoji Sonification for Inclusive Texting: The Effect of Vocal Bursts and Prosodic Voices on Ambiguous Messages, led by Sophia Greiwe (visiting student, RWTH Aachen University), won People's Choice Poster Award
  • We have Prof. Chen-Chieh Liao & Prof. Erwin Wu from Institute of Science Tokyo visit the lab! (2026/7/31)
  • Super glad to have Prof. Jingyi Li (Pomona College) and Prof. Hyunyoung Kim (University of Birmingham) to visit the lab and gave talks at the department! (2026/6/9)
  • Shan-Yuan gave a talk at National Tsing Hua University. Thank Prof. Ya-Chun Liang for hosting! (2026/5/20)
  • Shan-Yuan gave a guest lecture in CSIE5421: Embodied Vision (2026/5/18)
  • Shan-Yuan gave a talk at Academia Sinica. Thank Prof. Jun-Cheng Chen for hosting! (2026/5/15)
  • Shan-Yuan gave a talk at National Chengchi University (Department of Computer Science). Thank Prof. Hsin-Ruey Tsai (Ray) for hosting! (2025/5/7)
  • Shan-Yuan and Che-wei attended CHI 2026 in Barcelona to present and demo papers in collaboration with the University of Chicago (2025/4/13-17):
  • Che-wei Hsu has successfully repaired the awesome project JBL Quantum GuidePlay that sonifies game elements for Blind users to play Counter-Strike 2 game on Steam (Windows). Check out Che-wei's repo! Yawei1234 / JBLQuantumGuidePlay (2026/3/16)
  • Welcome Prof. Michitaka Hirose and folks from Tokyo University of Technology to visit the lab! (2026/2/3)
  • Shan-Yuan gave a talk at National Taipei University of Technology (Department of Interaction Design). Thank Prof. Ping-Hsuan Han for hosting! (2025/12/12)
  • Shan-Yuan gave a talk at seminar in the department. Thank Prof. Lung-Pan Cheng for hosting! (2025/12/5)
  • Shan-Yuan gave guest lecture in CSIE3015: Computer Science and Information Technology (2025/11/14)
  • Shan-Yuan wrote AI policy for the lab.
  • The lab space renovation is done! See lab hacks for a glimpse of fun, and self-hosted for things behind the scene.

Show all...

Classes

Contact

Email Shan-Yuan tengshanyuan@csie.ntu.edu.tw
*Shan-Yuan is the first name; Email in English or Chinese (Traditional)

Lab space

We are in CSIE Building Room 344, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10617 (Google Maps) Feel free to contact Shan-Yuan for a visit.

Supported by

Ministry of Education, Taiwan
Yushan Young Fellowship
玉山青年學者



National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan
國家科學及技術委員會