Thomas Langerak

Thomas Langerak

PhD Student
Advanced Interactive Technologies Lab, ETH Zürich

E-Mail
thomas.langerak@inf.ethz.ch
Address
Stampfenbachstrasse 48, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
Room
ETH Zurich, Department of Computer Science, STD, G 28



Biography

I am a PhD student in the Advanced Interactive Technologies lab at ETH Zurich. I have double-degree in Human-Computer Interaction & Design from Aalto University, Finland and the University of Twente, the Netherlands. During my master's I did an internship in the User Interfaces group led by Antti Oulasvirta at Aalto University. Before that I completed a B.Sc. in Industrial Design at the University of Technology Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Research Interests

My current research is at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction, Optimization and Reinforcement Learing. I focus on modelling user interactions with their environment via heirarchical control strategies. Prior to this I focused on haptic feedback systems. Specifically I built custom actuators and developed novel control strategies for haptic interactions in Virtual and Augmented Reality.

Teaching

Courses

Theses

I am always looking for motivated Bachelor and Master students interested in doing their thesis with me. Please contact me directly for that.

Publications

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Hedgehog: Handheld Spherical Pin Array based on a CentralElectromagnetic Actuator

AuthorsA. Aline, J. Zarate, T. Langerak, V. Vechev, O. Hilliges
In ProceedingsWorld Haptics Conference, 2021

Honorable Mention - Best Paper Award

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Omni: Volumetric Sensing and Actuation of Passive Magnetic Tools for Dynamic Haptic Feedback

AuthorsT. Langerak*, J. Zarate*, D. Lindlbauer, C. Holz, O. Hilliges
In ProceedingsProceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, Virtual Event, USA, 2020
* These two authors contributed equally to this work.

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Optimal Control for Electromagnetic Haptic Guidance Systems


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Contact-free Nonplanar Haptics with a Spherical Electromagnet

AuthorsJ. Zarate*, T. Langerak*, B. Thomaszewski, O. Hilliges
In Proceedings2020 IEEE Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS), 2020
* These two authors contributed equally to this work.

Other

Teaser-Picture

Generalizing User Models through Hybrid Hierarchical Control