The CHCI excels in cross-disciplinary research on interactive computing that extends into the everyday life of individuals, groups, and societies. As information technologies proliferate and become more ubiquitous (from smart phones to gigapixel and 3D interactive displays) their potential to support human activity can be fully realized when interactive devices function in concert with an understanding of the human agent in a diverse technology environment. Information and communication tools need to interoperate effectively with mutually supporting, interacting, and cooperating (or competing) technology elements. Central to all of these is the human agent. The CHCI leads technology design and research for a society and economy in which technology is pervasive, and empowers individuals to function more effectively both as individuals and as members of society. There are close to 30 faculty formally affiliated with the Center. Over the past three years, Center affiliated faculty have collaborated with a much larger pool of over 80 faculty on submitted research proposals, representing 40 departments across 8 colleges.

MISSION: The mission of the CHCI is to advance Virginia Tech’s world-class strength in understanding and designing the human use of computing as it extends into (1) better use of new and existing devices and (2) the systems that people must now manage in everyday life and practice.

VISION: The CHCI will continue to lead national and global research and education defining the future interactions among people, information, and technology with a focus on both the ubiquity and the connectedness of computing devices. The center's research is applied to multiple real-world problem domains including education, decision-making, e-commerce, and international development, treating each as constituting socio-technical ecologies.

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is the overarching research area of the CHCI. This is a broad and diverse domain. Although the work of the affiliated faculty is equally broad and diverse, we have identified four key focus areas for the future of the Center. We believe that these foci represent specific sub-areas of HCI for which the Center can obtain or maintain a world-class standing. The four areas are:

• Ecologies of Displays and Devices
• Visual Interactive Communications
• Social Collaborative Computing
• Data, Information and Knowledge