Human-Centered Systems (HCS)

The Division of Human-Centered Systems is part of the Department of Computer and Information Science. Research and teaching at HCS is highly interdisciplinary.

Photo credit Jonas JärmenResearch and Teaching

Human-Centered Computing

We do research and teaching on human-computer interaction, multimodal interfaces including natural language and augmented reality, interaction and service design, collaborative and social computing, as well as ubiquitous and mobile computing, and accessibility.

Cognitive Science

In this field, we do research and teaching on distributed and situated cognition, cognitive ethnography, learning technologies, and design cognition.

We also do research on artificial intelligence including knowledge representation, machine learning, and natural language processing.

In cognitive systems, we cover human factors, cognitive ergonomics, man-machine interaction as well as command and control, emergency and disaster management, safety management, and resilience engineering.

Information Systems

In this field, the research and teaching focuses on decision support systems, data mining, semantic web, and ontologies.

News at HCS

News and major articles

First researchers in the new Fenomenmagasinet

When the science centre Fenomenmagasinet opens its new premises in the Valla leisure area, it also opens the possibility of closer collaboration with LiU. Researchers Aseel and Erik Berglund will be among the first to move in.

New doctor in Cognitive Science: Emma Mainza Chilufya

On March 28, Emma Mainza Chilufya at the Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA) successfully defended her thesis about human-computer interaction. "Being a PhD student at IDA has been eye-opening and inspiring", she says.

Server room and data on black background.

Machine Psychology – a bridge to general AI

AI that is as intelligent as humans may become possible thanks to psychological learning models, combined with certain types of AI. This is the conclusion of Robert Johansson, who in his dissertation has developed the concept of Machine Psychology.

Research at HCS

The joy in reading – a co-design project around students’ interaction with social robots

A study investigating the ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) can contribute to students' reading. It examines how key reading activities and situations in school can be designed for interaction between a social robot and 10-year-old students.

A group of students are working sitting down by tables

Just Transitions Graduate School

The aim of Just Transitions graduate school is to build knowledge and competence around how to implement just climate transition in a local context. The graduate school is based on seven doctoral projects and a platform for knowledge exchange.

Semantic Web

The Semantic Web is an extension of the traditional Web in which interlinked data with well-described semantics has been added in a machine-processable form.

Latest publications

2025

Franziska Babel, Sam Thellman, Tom Ziemke (2025) Who's Behind the Service Robot? The Impact of Avatars on Priority Decisions SOCIAL ROBOTICS, ICSR + AI 2024, PT I (Conference paper)

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Oscar Bjurling, Mattias Arvola, Jens Alfredson, Erik Prytz, Tom Ziemke (2025) Trajectories of attention and control in human-machine interactions: the case of swarms in maritime search and rescue Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science (Article in journal)

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Huanyu Li, Jana Vataščinová, Ondřej Zamazal, Ying Li, Patrick Lambrix, Eva Blomqvist (2025) Development and Outlook of the Circular Economy Track at the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative

Åsa Elwér, Evelina Rennes, Karin Nilsson, Lina Cederborg, Daniel Holmer, Arne Jönsson (2025) Including people in the automatic text adaptation process: empirical findings from students with intellectual disability Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology (Article in journal)

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Erik Marsja, Sam Thellman, Anna Anund (2025) Trust in automated shuttle buses predicts intention to use and behavioral expectations Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Article in journal)

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Anna Martín Bylund, Linnéa Stenliden, Mattias Arvola (2025) Slow Torture, Magic Books or Potentially Worth Further Exploring: Mapping Young Students' Thoughts About Reading and Creative Alternatives PCE2025 Conference Proceedings (Conference paper)

Valentina Fantasia, Katie Winkle, Katherine Harrison, Tom Ziemke, Dominika Lisy, Anna Dobrosovestnova (2025) Rethinking (Human) Bodies in HRI: Embodied Interactions Every Day Social Robots with AI: Prospects, Risks, and Responsible Methods: Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2024, 19–23 August 2024, Aarhus University, Denmark, and online, p. 703-707 (Conference paper)

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Huanyu Li, Jana Vataščinová, Ondřej Zamazal, Ying Li, Patrick Lambrix, Eva Blomqvist (2025) Results and Discussions from Aligning Ontologies in the Circular Economy Domain Proceedings of The 3rd International Workshop on Knowledge Graphs for Sustainability (KG4S 2025) co-located with the 22nd Extended Semantic Web Conference (ESWC 2025), p. 13-24 (Conference paper)

Ana Moreira, Patricia Lago, Rogardt Heldal, Stefanie Betz, Ian Brooks, Rafael Capilla, Vlad Constantin, Leticia Duboc, Joao Paulo Fernandes, Ola Leifler, Ngoc-Thanh Nguyen, Shola Oyedeji, Birgit Penzenstadler, Anne-Kathrin Peters, Jari Porras, Colin C. Venters (2025) A Roadmap for Integrating Sustainability into Software Engineering Education ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, Vol. 34, Article 139 (Article in journal)

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Marcus Jessen, Mattias Arvola, Sam Thellman, Tom Ziemke (2025) Reading with Robots: A Research-through-Design Study International Journal of Social Robotics, Vol. 17, p. 1381-1394 (Article in journal)

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Contact us

Management

Head of Division

Head of Unit Knowledge Modelling and Cognitive Systems (KMACS)

Head of Unit Cognition and Interaction Lab (COIN)

Head of Unit Interaction and Service Design Research Group (IxS)

Head of Unit HCS Education

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Staff at HCS

All staff

Lars Ahrenberg

Professor Emeritus

Mattias Arvola

Senior Associate Professor, Head of Division

Franziska Babel

Assistant Professor

Peter Berggren

Adjunct Associate Professor, Docent

Principal Research Engineer

Anton Björnqvist

Johan Blomkvist

Associate Professor, Docent

Eva Blomqvist

Professor, Head of Unit

Head of Department, Professor

Vanessa Esperance Rodrigues

Professor, Head of Unit

Associate Professor, Docent

Mikael Christer Öyvind Lindekrans

Agathe Malbet

PhD student

Jalal Maleki

Lecturer, Head of Unit

Adjunct Assistant Lecturer

Max Pettersson

Erik Prytz

Senior Associate Professor

Senior Associate Professor

Katarina Wetter-Edman

Adjunct Associate Professor, Docent

Tom Ziemke

Professor, Head of Unit

About the department

Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA)

The Department of Computer and Information Science is one of the largest departments in northern Europe in its field. Research activity covers artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, software and computer systems, and data science.

Human-Centered Systems (HCS)

Photo credit Jonas JärmenResearch and Teaching

Human-Centered Computing

Cognitive Science

Information Systems

News at HCS

News and major articles

First researchers in the new Fenomenmagasinet

New doctor in Cognitive Science: Emma Mainza Chilufya

Machine Psychology – a bridge to general AI

Best student paper award to Riley Capshaw

Robots are common in the care of older adults

Game at work – for your health

Studying whether a robot can awaken children’s interest in reading

Where to place lifesaving bleeding control first aid equipment

LiU Game Awards 2023: finalists announced

SEK 39 million for graduate school on just climate transition

SEK 4.1 million awarded to the ERASMUS project Women STEM-UP

Minister for Energy and Digital Development visits IDA

Projects focussing on sustainable industry receive EU funding

SEK 9 million for research into a sustainable energy megagame

AI creates texts for people with reading difficulties

A rude robot designed by students

Laypeople have difficulty estimating severity of blood loss

"Curiosity, passion, and excitement"

Sofia Thunberg: "The AI systems we use today are often extremely specific"

AI can predict septic shock

First master’s graduates in design

Exploring Designing for Nomadic Welfare

People´s adaptability makes systems safer

Designing urban service futures

Research at HCS

The joy in reading – a co-design project around students’ interaction with social robots

Just Transitions Graduate School

Semantic Web

Changing the game of consumption

Switching the Current

Women STEM-UP

Nomadic Welfare

Digital inclusion in the networked society for groups with special needs

Language technology tools for digital inclusion

Design and Policy

WASP at Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA)

Latest publications

2025

Contact us

Management

Head of Division

Head of Unit Knowledge Modelling and Cognitive Systems (KMACS)

Head of Unit Cognition and Interaction Lab (COIN)

Head of Unit Interaction and Service Design Research Group (IxS)

Head of Unit HCS Education

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Staff at HCS

All staff

About the department

Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA)

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