Join visionary Dutch FashionTech designer Anouk Wipprecht as she explores how fashion, science, and technology merge to shape the future of wearable design. From her iconic Spider Dress to collaborations with Intel, Disney, and Cirque du Soleil – Wipprecht’s talk will delve into the exciting frontier where fashion becomes interactive and technology meets the human body.
Drawing on machine learning, biomimicry, sensors, and animatronics, Wipprecht’s designs behave like living systems – breathing, reacting, and redefining how we interact with our environment. She invites us to imagine a future where clothing doesn’t just express who we are, but actively interfaces, protects, and communicates with the world around us.
A Public Talk with Anouk Wipprecht presented by University of Canberra’s Collaborative Robotics Lab in collaboration with Canberra Museum + Gallery. Part of the UC-CRL Robots Among Us talk series.
As cities become increasingly datafied and algorithmically governed, the role of digital media in shaping civic participation, public voice, and community advocacy is more critical than ever. In this talk, Professor Marcus Foth explores the conceptual and practical groundwork that drives a national research collaboration between QUT and civil society organisations focused on participatory data practices, digital rights, and community empowerment. The talk introduces the notion of a Living Data Lab, that is, a participatory civic infrastructure designed to support data literacy and digital inclusion, community-led storytelling, and grassroots political advocacy backed by genAI. It responds to growing concerns about opaque data regimes, tokenistic engagement practices in urban planning, and the erosion of public trust by championing co-designed, accessible, and ethical alternatives to top-down smart city approaches. Drawing on years of interdisciplinary work across urban informatics, critical data studies, and digital civics, Prof. Foth reflects on how participatory approaches to data visualisation and advocacy can enable citizens to contest extractive data logics, defend civil liberties, and shape just urban futures. This talk offers timely provocations for scholars in media and communication studies, digital inclusion, and civic tech who are interested in reimagining digital civics in an era of genAI and datafication.
Biography
Professor Marcus Foth
Marcus Foth is a Professor of Urban Informatics in the School of Design and a Chief Investigator in the QUT Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. For more than two decades, Marcus has led ubiquitous computing and interaction design research into interactive digital media, screen, mobile and smart city applications. Marcus founded the Urban Informatics Research Lab in 2006 and the QUT Design Lab in 2016. He is a founding member of the QUT More-than-Human Futures research group. Marcus has published more than 290 peer-reviewed publications. He is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society and the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Distinguished Member and Distinguished Speaker of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and currently serves on Australia’s national College of Experts.
Related Readings:
Mann, M., Mitchell, P., Foth, M., & Anastasiu, I. (2020). #BlockSidewalk to Barcelona: Technological sovereignty and the social license to operate smart cities. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 71(9), 1103–1115. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24387
Foth, M., Anastasiu, I., Mann, M., & Mitchell, P. (2021). From Automation to Autonomy: Technological Sovereignty for Better Data Care in Smart Cities. In B. T. Wang & C. M. Wang (Eds.), Automating Cities: Design, Construction, Operation and Future Impact(pp. 319–343). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8670-5_13
Foth, M., Emamjome, F., Mitchell, P., & Rittenbruch, M. (2022). Spatial data in urban informatics: Contentions of the software-sorted city. In S. Carta (Ed.), Machine Learning and the City: Applications in Architecture and Urban Design (pp. 367–378). Wiley.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119815075.ch28
Sheikh, H., Foth, M., & Mitchell, P. (2023). From Legislation to Obligation: Re-thinking Smart Urban Governance for Multispecies Justice. Urban Governance, 3(4), 259-268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ugj.2023.09.003
In person: Data61 Immersive Environments Lab, Acacia Room, Ground Floor, Building 801, CSIRO Black Mountain (please email Mingze.Xi@data61.csiro.au to sign-in)
In future telecommunications, it is expected that people will be able to communicate with each other in the cyber/virtual space with objects and information from the physical/real space they are located. The successful key to realize such rich telecommunication is to unlock “communication with nonverbal information” by appropriately conveying the subtleties of “non-spoken signals,” which plays an important role in our daily interpersonal understanding. In this talk, the future of rich telecommunication through appropriate transmission and reception of nonverbal information and XR technologies will be discussed with my colleagues.
Biography
Yoshifumi Kitamura is Professor at Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. From 2023, he also serves as Director of the Interdisciplinary ICT Research Center for Cyber and Real Spaces. His research interests include interactive content design, human computer interactions, 3D user interfaces, virtual reality, and related fields. He has been active in academic and professional communities, and serves in positions such as Japan Liaison for IFIP TC-13 (Human-Computer Interaction) (2012-), the Liaison for Japan and Chair of ACM SIGCHI Asian Development Committee (2015-2021), Chair of Japan ACM SIGCHI Chapter (2016-2021), Steering Committee Chair of ACM VRST, SIGGRAPH Asia 2015 Conference Chair, ACM CHI 2021 General Chair, and so on. His notable awards received include such as the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Service Award (2025), and he was inducted into the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy (2024).
This event is brought to you by the Collaborative Robotics Lab, The University of Canberra.
Abstract
With an estimated 253 million people worldwide and 500,000 in Australia living with blindness or low vision, there remains a significant gap in solutions that support fluid mobility and social participation. In response, we — in partnership with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and supported by the ARC and TPG — are developing an AI-powered robotic system to enhance independence and mobility for those who need it most.
Built on a quadrupedal robotic platform, the system integrates advanced perception, social-aware locomotion, and intuitive human–robot interaction through appropriate feedback. This human-centred technology enables confident navigation across complex environments such as stairs, tight corridors, and busy areas. Designed in collaboration with the blind community and guide dog experts, the robotic guide is expected to provide reliable navigation assistance while fostering greater confidence in everyday life. It represents a scalable, inclusive step forward in assistive mobility technology.
Biography
Professor Sarath Kodagoda is a leading expert in robotics and mechatronics, driving innovation in research, education, and industry. As Director of the UTS Robotics Institute, former President of the Australian Robotics & Automation Association (ARAA), and NSSN ambassador, he has significantly contributed to advanced robotics in Australia. With over 25 years of experience, his expertise lies in robotic sensing and perception, earning him eight prestigious awards, including international water industry accolades. A passionate educator, he pioneered UTS’s mechatronics courses, received three teaching awards, and integrated research into education. He has published over 200 articles, secured major grants, and serves as Technical Editor for IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics.
University of Canberra, Building 1 Level A Room 21 (1A21), near Mizzuna Cafe
Title
How to prevent an AI and robot apocalypse: Designing and deploying AI, robots and other autonomous systems responsibly, safely, securely and ethically
Abstract
Over the past 15-20 years, we have seen rapid technological developments in AI, robotic and autonomous systems such that they are fast becoming ubiquitous within many workplace domains (e.g. healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, transport) and are becoming ever present within domestic and social contexts. Self-driving cars, industrial and domestic robots, augmentation of reality, and smart AI agents are no longer something of fiction. Such technologies can, for example: increase productivity; complete repetitive tasks; streamline operations; reduce errors, incidents and accidents typically caused by humans; and in a growing number of cases – support decision making. However, they are not flawless, yet are being developed and deployed at a rapid pace. Lisanne Bainbridge (1983) warned of the ‘ironies of automation’; Raja Parasuraman and Victor Riley (1997) the ‘misuse, disuse, and abuse of automation; John Lee and Katrina See (2004) ‘designing automation for appropriate reliance’; and Alexandra Kaplan and colleagues (2023) ‘factors that have no bearing on AI performance impacting trust in AI’. Are we then risking an AI and robot apocalypse? A judgement day? Quite possibly! Unless such technologies are designed, developed, and tested responsibly, safely, securely, and ethically by humans and crucially with end-users. I will present example research findings, recommendations, notes of caution and many tales of hope from projects spanning a 20+ year career (to date) in Human Factors Psychology and Cognitive Science – across application domains including aerospace, defence, emergency services, environmental intelligence, healthcare, and transportation. Furthermore, almost all these technologies are at risk of being cyber attacked, due to us – humans – often being the weakest link. I will discuss how we can better understand and measure our cyber vulnerabilities in order to fight back and achieve a state of seamless security and privacy in symbiosis with the AI, robotic and autonomous systems in which we increasingly share the world with.
Phillip Morgan – Professor of Human Factors and Cognitive Science School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK
Prof Phil Morgan holds a Personal Chair (as a Senior Professor) within the School of Psychology at Cardiff University. He is Director of the Cardiff University Human Factors Excellence (HuFEx) Group, Director of Research within the Centre for AI, Robotics, and Human-Machine Systems (IROHMS), Transportation and Human Factors and Cognitive Science Lead within the Digital Transformation Innovation institute (DTII), Director of the Airbus – Cardiff University Academic Centre of Excellence in Human-Centric Cyber Security (H2CS) and Co-Academic Lead of a partnership between Airbus and Cardiff University. Prof Morgan is also Visiting Professor at Luleå University of Technology – Psychology, Division of Health, Medicine & Rehabilitation, Sweden, and Distinguished Visiting Fellow within the Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics at the University of Canberra, Australia.
Formally trained as a Cognitive Experimental Psychologist, Prof Morgan is an international expert in human aspects of AI and automation, trust in new/disruptive technologies, Cyberpsychology, transportation human factors, HMI design, HCI, interruption and distraction effects, and adaptive cognition and has published extensively (>130 outputs) across these areas. With >50 grants (~£40million, e.g. Airbus, CREST, ERDF, ESRC, EPSRC, HSSRC, IUK, NCSC, SOS Alarm, Wellcome); often as Principal Investigator / Institution Lead, he has significant project management experience. He supervises PhD students (with many past completions) in areas including human aspects of AI, automation, cyber security, transportation and robotics.
Prof Morgan was a Human Factors lead on the IUK (~£5m, 2015-18) Venturer Autonomous Vehicles for UK Roads project, Co-I and Human Factors lead on the IUK (~£5.5m, 2016-19) Flourish Connected Autonomous Vehicles project, PI on an ESRC-JST (~750k, 2020-2023, with universities in Japan – e.g. Kyoto and Osaka) project Rule of Law in the Age of AI: Distributive Liability for Multi-Agent Societies – focussing on factors such as trust, blame and implications for standards and legislation in the event of accidents involving autonomous vehicles. Amongst other current projects, Prof Morgan is Co-Leading a cross-cutting Human-Centred Design Work Package within an EPSRC (~£12m, 2024-2029) AI for Collective Intelligence (AI4CI) hub (https://ai4ci.ac.uk/).
Recently, Prof Morgan established HumaniFAI Ltd – a research and consultancy company focussed on human-centred, assured, ethical, responsible, and safe design and use of AI, robotic and autonomous systems.
The event is brought to you by the Collaborative Robotics Lab at the University of Canberra and the ACM SIGCHI Chapter for Canberra. The University of Canberra Visiting Distinguished Fellow Scheme has funded Professor Phil Morgan’s visit.
The “smart city” agenda is about installing ubiquitous computing infrastructure and IoT devices to drive efficiency and productivity through big data analytics, automation, and optimisation. Yet, what evidence is there to suggest that the smart city can provide genuine answers to the climate emergency and the prospect of a planetary ecocide?
While the smart city agenda has started to move beyond the technology and data hype and come to terms with social and environmental issues, the challenges are vast. Climate change already has a great impact on cities with a notable increase in adverse weather events and insurance and rebuilding costs, and some thought leaders actively seek to reconcile the smart city with the resilient city. This talk ponders the question whether the human-centric focus is in fact worth rethinking in order to imagine the post-anthropocentric city in ‘more-than-human futures.’ With society’s current limited perspective that centres around humans, we risk to forget how we are entangled with and connected to other living beings, the environment, and the wider ecosystem that keeps us alive. Can we reconceptualise the smart city as a place where people and place meet to make a climate-positive contribution to the world?
Marcus Foth is a Professor of Urban Informatics in the School of Design and a Chief Investigator in the QUT Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. For more than two decades, Marcus has led ubiquitous computing and interaction design research into interactive digital media, screen, mobile and smart city applications. Marcus founded the Urban Informatics Research Lab in 2006. He is a member of the QUT More-than-Human Futures research group. Marcus has published more than 280 peer-reviewed publications. He is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society and the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Distinguished Member of the international Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and currently serves on Australia’s national College of Experts.
