Marynel Vázquez

I am an Assistant Professor in Yale’s Computer Science Department, where I lead the Yale Interactive Machines Group (IMG). My main area of research is Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). An updated list of my publications can be found here and in Google Scholar.

Before Yale, I was a Post-Doctoral Scholar at the Stanford Vision and Learning Lab working on the JackRabbot project. I closely collaborated with Disney Research while I was a Ph.D. student in the Robotics Institute (RI) at Carnegie Mellon University, and worked on assisted photography while pursuing my M.S. degree at the RI as well. Even before then, I built and learned how to fly a remote controlled helicopter! This allowed me to work on video stabilization for my bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering at Universidad Simón Bolívar.

Research

I study fundamental problems to enable group human-robot interactions. For instance, my work investigates social group phenomena in HRI, including spatial patterns of behavior typical of group conversations and group conformity. Further, I work on advancing autonomous, social robot behavior, both in terms of perception and decision making. An example is our work on social robot navigation. I also enjoy building robotic systems to demonstrate ideas in practice (Chester, Shutter). More details about my research can be found in my lab’s website. A recent presentation at the Stanford HCI Seminar can be seen here.

If you are interested in joining my lab, please read this note about open positions at Yale IMG before contacting me.

News

Below are a few recent news from my research group and events that I have participated in: See the News page for more highlights about my work.

Teaching

• Building Interactive Machines, Yale University

  This project-based course brings together methods from Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Robotics, and Human-Computer Interaction to enable interactive machines to perceive and act in dynamic environments. Part of the course examines approaches for perception with a variety of devices and algorithms; the other part focuses on methods for decision making. The course is a combination of lectures, reviews of state-of-the-art papers, discussions, coding assignments, and a final team project.

  Course Offerings: Fall 2020 (CPSC 459/559), Fall 2019 (re-numbered to CPSC 459/559), Fall 2018 (CPSC 659)

• Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction, Yale University

  This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). It covers principles and techniques in the design, development, and evaluation of interactive systems, and provides students with an introduction to UX Design and User-Centered Research. Additionally, some classes will focus on emergent areas within HCI, like Human-Robot Interaction, AR/VR, and Fabrication. The course is organized as a series of lectures, presentations, a mid-term exam, and group projects on designing new interactive systems.

  Course Offerings: Spring 2021 (re-numbered to CPSC 484/548), Spring 2019 (CPSC 429/529)