AFTER YANG

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Shihan Lu is a researcher and final-year PhD student in the Computer Science Department at the University of Southern California. Working with Dr. Heather Culbertson, his doctorate is focused in the areas of haptics and robotics. Prior to USC, he obtained his Master Degree at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He received a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from Hefei University of Technology.

During his master’s study, he worked in the Interaction & Collaboration Research Lab under Prof. Jessie Yang and Robotics and Motion Lab under Prof. David Remy.  He worked as a Research Assistant in the Thermoacoustics Laboratory at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) and the Laboratory of Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in his senior year of undergraduate studies.

ABOUT THE TALK:

For this Science on Screen presentation, ahead of the film AFTER YANG, join us for a discussion with Shihan Lu from the University of Southern California. As technology rapidly advances, what will the future relationships between robots and humans look like? The research being done today shows trends. In our interactive session with Shihan, we will discuss his research areas and past lab experience specifically looking at the science of touch and how that is being incorporated into modern day robots. In the Haptics Robotics and Virtual Interaction lab at the University of Southern California, researchers explore how humans interact with our world, robots, and technology through touch. Shihan’s paper titled “Active Acoustic Sensing for Robot Manipulation” had many conclusions for this interaction. We will hear the research behind these current studies and Shihan’s thoughts on the future.

ABOUT THE FILM:

When his young daughter’s beloved companion, an android named Yang, malfunctions, Jake searches for a way to repair it. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing before him as he reconnects with his wife and daughter.

In the film, Yang is a robot companion going through the day-to-day of life and human-robot interaction with his family. What are the real-world implications of touch and how are they built and formed before being deployed? Go behind-the-scenes with us in this conversation about touch sensing with researcher Shihan Lu, whose work is focused on haptics and robotics.

FORMAT: DCP

DISTRIBUTOR: A24

COUNTRY: USA

An initiative of the COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE, with major support from the ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.