I am a PhD candidate studying under Robert Jacob in the Human-Computer Interaction lab at Tufts University. My research involves using the brain as passive input to adaptive interfaces using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). More broadly, I am interested in understanding how we can digest information better - how, when, and in what quantity our brains should consume information in a complex environment.
In particular, I am interested in the cognitive advantages and disadvantages of different visualization techniques. I have been collaborating with Remco Chang and Sara Su to understand fNIRS (an unobtrusive brain-imaging technique) as it applies to the visualization community. My current research involves developing visualizations that adapt in realtime to best accommodate a user's cognitive load.
For a broad understanding of brain-computer interfaces, read the article I wrote for ACM XRDS, From Brains to Bytes. For a more general article that focuses on our work at Tufts, read my Invisible Computing column in the December issue of IEEE Computer titled Your Brain, Your Computer, and You. Finally, for a more detailed description of our lab's work over the past couple of years, read our chapter in the Springer book Brain-Computer Interfaces: Applying our Minds to Human-Computer Interaction, From Brain Signals to Adaptive Interfaces: Using fNIRS in HCI.
Note: I currently am in the process of reformatting my CV (both pdf and html), but if you would like to download a slightly outdated version, click my academic cv at the top of this page.
I graduated from Gordon College in the spring of 2008, where I majored in computer science and minored in creative writing. During undergrad, I researched volunteer computing games with Charles Cusack at Hope College. Specifically, we explored using casual gaming to promote the public use of processing power and intellect to compute NP-Complete problems in graph theory. I worked on two projects: Wildfire Wally and PebbleIt, games designed to help solve the maximum clique problem and graph pebbling.
I also spent a semester independently studying science journalism under Karl Giberson, exploring cultural tensions between religion and science (pdf). When I'm not in the lab, I'm a coffee nerd, sports enthusiast, and violinist (acoustic and electric). Recently, I've been recording and performing with Happiest Lion in the Boston area. If you'd like to get in touch, my email address is listed at the top of this page, or you can find me on Twitter at @EvanMPeck.
 |
fNIRS for Perception: Replicated perception experiments by Cleveland & McGill and Maureen Stone to investigate the use of fNIRS in measuring cognitive load during perceptual tasks (submitted for publication). |  |
Adaptive Maps: Inspired by map cognition research, I created a prototype of an adaptive GPS system that slowly changes the level of detail on the map depending on the cognitive load of the driver (click picture for video demonstration). |
 |
WTF!rustration: Used EEG to measure frustration during a computer interface task. A follow-up study is needed to confirm results. |  |
QuakeView: Plugging into Bing maps, an interactive visual explorer of earthquakes over the last year (click picture for video demonstration). |
 |
Tuition v. Income: A quick interactive visualization comparing the average household income with the average cost of rising tuition (click picture for sketch. Java required). |  |
Branches: A hierarchical visualization that allows a user to explore his/her twitter stream at different levels of detail. (click picture for video demonstration). |
