- Director of Research in Computer Technology
Peter Robinson is Professor of Computer Technology at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory in England, where he is part of the Rainbow Group working on computer graphics and interaction.
Please note that I retired from full-time employment in 2022 and am no longer able to take on interns, postgraduate students studying for MPhil or PhD degrees, or post-doctoral researchers. Potential applicants should consult the Departmental web pages for information about internships, admissions and vacancies.
Research
Professor Robinson's research concerns problems at the boundary between people and computers. This involves investigating new technologies to enhance communication between computers and their users, and new applications to exploit these technologies. The main focus for this is human-computer interaction, where he has been leading work for some years on the use of video and paper as part of the user interface. The idea is to develop augmented environments in which everyday objects acquire computational properties through user interfaces based on video projection and digital cameras. This led to work on desk-size projected displays and tangible interfaces.
With rapid advances in key computing technologies and the heightened user expectation of computers, the development of socially and emotionally adept technologies is increasingly important. He has led investigations of the inference of people's mental states from facial expressions, vocal nuances, body posture and gesture, and other physiological signals, and also considered the expression of emotions by robots and cartoon avatars. This has involved considerations of what it means to be human in an age of increasingly human-like machines.
He has also pursued a parallel line of research into inclusive user interfaces. Collaboration with the Engineering Design Centre has investigated questions of physical handicap, and research students have considered visual handicaps. This has broader applications for interaction with ubiquitous computers, where the input and output devices themselves impose limitations.
