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dr. C.M. Epa Ranasinghe (Champika)

Lecturer

About Me

I am a lecturer in Computer Science at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science (EEMCS). My current teaching involves Data Physicalization, Human-Computer Interaction, Smart Technology, and Research and Design for User Experience. 

I received a PhD  from the University of Munster in Germany. My PhD thesis focused on overlapping ares of Mobile & Ubiquitous Computing,  Information Visualization and Human Computer Interaction. I completed my Master's degree in Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka. I also obtained a second Master's degree from the School of Computing, University of Colombo, and a BSc (Honours) degree in Statistics and Computer Science from the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. Prior to joining the University of Twente, I worked as a Content Manager at Innodata (https://innodata.com) and as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka (https://uom.lk). I completed the University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) and have obtained SEDA (UK) accreditation for teaching, learning, and assessing in higher education.

I am interested in T-shaped research that combines the strengths of multiple disciplines to design solutions that empower humans and the environment. My current research focuses on the overlapping areas of three fields of computer science: Smart Technology/ Physical Computing, Data Science, and Human-Computer Interaction. I do research that focuses on combining the strengths of these three fields to add tangibility and physicality to computing and to materialize the de-materialized world in a healthier and impactful way. My research along this this line spans along two main directions: Data  Physicalization and Tangible Interaction.

My current research in Data physicalization focuses on physical and mutisensorial visualization of data. I explore various physical means for representing data to provide more graspable and impactful human data experiences. My current research in Data Physicalization aims at (i) Exploring sensing and actuation as material for representing data, (ii) Making data representations everyday objects (moving away from traditional screen-based visualizations, let's embed data to our real-life spaces), (iii) Exploring human skill-based interaction methods (let's say goodbye to the mouse), and (iv) Exploring smart-object based realtime modelling and processing of data to enable smart data objects (smart data objects that sense, process, learn and adapt their behavior themselves!). You can find more information @ https://www.utwente.nl/en/eemcs/dmb/research/hdi/

Organisations

Research

I am interested in T-shaped research that combines the strengths of multiple disciplines to design solutions that empower humans and the environment. My current research focuses on the overlapping areas of three fields of computer science: Smart Technology/ Physical Computing, Data Science, and Human-Computer Interaction. I do research that focuses on combining the strengths of these three fields to add tangibility and physicality to computing and to materialize the de-materialized world in a healthier and impactful way. My research along this this line spans along two main directions: Data  Physicalization and Tangible Interaction.

My current research in Data physicalization focuses on physical and mutisensorial visualization of data. I explore various physical means for representing data to provide more graspable and impactful human data experiences. My current research in Data Physicalization aims at (i) Exploring sensing and actuation as material for representing data, (ii) Making data representations everyday objects (moving away from traditional screen-based visualizations, let's embed data to our real-life spaces), (iii) Exploring human skill-based interaction methods (let's say goodbye to the mouse), and (iv) Exploring smart-object based realtime modelling and processing of data to enable smart data objects (smart data objects that sense, process, learn and adapt their behavior themselves!).  You can find more information about my research @ https://www.utwente.nl/en/eemcs/dmb/research/hdi/

Publications

Recent
de Kreij, S. , Epa Ranasinghe, C. M., & Degbelo, A. (Accepted/In press). Data Physicalization and Tangible Manipulation for Engaging Children with Data: An Example with Air Quality Data. In IDC '24: Proceedings of the 23rd ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference ACM Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1145/3628516.3655788
Dullaert, S. , Epa Ranasinghe, C. M., Degbelo, A. , & Bouali, N. (Accepted/In press). Data Physicalization with Haptic Variables: Exploring Resistance and Friction. In CHI '24: Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems ACM Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3651011
Peeters, D. , Ranasinghe, C., Degbelo, A. , & Ahmad, F. (2023). EmoClock: Communicating Real-Time Emotional States Through Data Physicalizations. In J. Abdelnour Nocera, M. K. Lárusdóttir, H. Petrie, A. Piccinno, & M. Winckler (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) - Interact 2023 (Vol. 14142, pp. 416-425). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42280-5_26
Postma, D. B. W. , Ranasinghe, C. M., Constantinou, C., Diks, V. P. G., Rhee, Y., van Dijk, W. H. P., Sassanian, A. , & Reidsma, D. (2023). WashWall: An Interactive Smart Mirror for Motivating Handwashing Among Primary School Children. In J. Abdelnour Nocera, M. Kristín Lárusdóttir, H. Petrie, A. Piccinno, & M. Winckler (Eds.), Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023: 19th IFIP TC13 International Conference, York, UK, August 28 – September 1, 2023, Proceedings, Part II (pp. 234-253). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 14143). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42283-6_14
Postma, D. B. W., de Ruiter, A. , Reidsma, D. , & Ranasinghe, C. (2022). SixFeet: An Interactive, Corona-Safe, Multiplayer Sports Platform. In TEI 2022 - Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (pp. 1-7). Article 3505570 ACM Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1145/3490149.3505570
Epa Ranasinghe, C. M. , & Bouali, N. (2022). Physicalizing Sustainable Development Goals Data: An Example with SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). In S. Barbosa, C. Lampe, C. Appert, & D. A. Shamma (Eds.), Physicalizing Sustainable Development Goals Data: An Example with SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) Article 346 ACM Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3519638
Ranasinghe, C., Brewster, S. (Ed.), Kun, A. (Ed.), Riener, A. (Ed.), & Shaer, O. (Ed.) (2021). Multimodal (and more physical) Interaction to Improve In-Car User Experience. In Human-Computer Interaction to Support Work and Wellbeing in Mobile Environments (pp. 33-34). (Dagstuhl Reports; Vol. 11, No. 5). Dagstuhl. https://doi.org/10.4230/DagRep.11.5.23
Ranasinghe, C., Holländer, K., Schneegass, S., Currano, R., Sirkin, D., Moore, D., & Ju, W. (2020). Autonomous Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction Across Cultures: Towards Designing Better External Human Machine Interfaces (eHMIs). In R. Bernhaupt (Ed.), CHI EA '20: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–8). ACM Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3382957
Ranasinghe, C., & Kray, C. (2019). Adapting Navigation Support to Location Information Quality: A Human Centered Approach. In G. Gartner, & H. Huang (Eds.), Adjunct Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Location Based Services (LBS 2019), LBS 2019, 11–13 November 2019, Vienna, Austria (pp. 71-83). Vienna University of Technology.
Epa Ranasinghe, C. M., Pfeiffer, M., Heitmann, S., & Kray, C. (2019). Evaluating User Experience under Location Quality Variations: A Framework for in-the-wild Studies. In MobileHCI '19: Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services ACM Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1145/3338286.3344392
Ranasinghe, C., Schiestel, N., & Kray, C. (2019). Visualising Location Uncertainty to Support Navigation under Degraded GPS Signals: a Comparison Study. In MobileHCI '19: Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and ServicesOctober 2019 Article (pp. 1-11). ACM Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1145/3338286.3340128

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Visiting Address

University of Twente
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Zilverling (building no. 11)
Hallenweg 19
7522NH  Enschede
The Netherlands

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University of Twente
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Zilverling (building no. 11), room 4049
Hallenweg 19
7522NH  Enschede
The Netherlands

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University of Twente
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Zilverling (building no. 11), room 1054
Hallenweg 19
7522NH  Enschede
The Netherlands

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Mailing Address

University of Twente
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Zilverling
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands

Organisations

University of Twente Drienerlolaan 5
7522 NB Enschede
+31 (0)53 489 9111
info@utwente.nl
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