Centre For HCi Research To House Researchers And Facilities: Somjit Amrit, CEO, IIT Mandi iHub

What inspired the creation of the HCi Centre at IIT Mandi, and what are the key strategic goals you are aiming to achieve through this initiative?

The creation of Human-Computer Interaction (HCi) was done with significant thought and planning when the bids were submitted for the grant from Department of Science and Technology under the National Mission for Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NMICPS). We are a new generation IIT competing for a differentiated space among the other IITs, the first-generation ones who have formidable reputation built over the years and the new ones which are vying for recognition. The technology offerings which could grow from the inherent strength of the IIT Mandi.

Broadly keeping these two in the backdrop HCi was chosen. It is deeply inter-disciplinary in nature being at the confluence of Computer Science, Cognitive Science, and Industrial Design. Drawing strength from across the disciplines, of the new Institute with its young faculty from various engineering disciplines ranging from Computer Science, Engineering Science and Social Sciences HCi seemed to be the most appropriate fit.

Strategically selecting this area, did not put our IIT Mandi in a direct competition in select and singular disciplines like Computer Science (aka AI and ML) or Communication Engineering (aka Telecommunications and Internet of Things), to name a few.

Industry problems do not come seeking a solution through a defined discipline of engineering. Problems need to be solved through interdisciplinary approach drawing from multiple disciplines of science and engineering. Our goal is to build meaningful solutions to real-life problem statements with an interdisciplinary approach towards problem solving, which HCi eminently promises. 

The second goal is the define the discipline of HCi in a comprehensive and holistic manner yet keeping its speciality alive and visible. Our the stated mission of the Technology Innovation Hub is  "Technology in harmony with Human needs" elegantly highlighting the core purpose. HCi is not only Industrial design, nor it is only Machine Learning, and nor it is only Mixed Reality. It is a discerning blend of all and many more with the core focus and purpose to meet human needs, tangible and intangible. 
So, our research team would call themselves as Humanist-Technologists.

Could you share insights into some of the most innovative projects currently underway at the Centre? How do these projects leverage areas like assistive technologies and brain-computer interaction to impact various industries?

The Centre for HCi was formally inaugurated on the 8 May 2024. The intent is to create Research Centre and build an environment to help researchers in the field of HCi, engage  in close collaboration, and raise  a pool of technologists in this rapidly evolving technology.

The hub is instrumental in getting the centre established in our host institute at IIT Mandi. This is supported by the grant-based funds received from the Department of Science and Technology, under NMICPS.

The Hub has been engaged in various innovative projects in the last couple of years. It is worth noting that our projects cover the four activities that define the innovation hubs, namely translational research, skill development, incubation and acceleration  startups and industry collaboration.

With the Centre being established as the defined entity for research in  HCi, we will be housing the researchers, and the relevant facilities and assets to aid the research activities .

Let me bring in our  focus  on Translational Research.

Translational Research works in two ways.

1.    A problem could be defined by the industry user, and we could attempt to address this with existing experience in similar areas through aid of research.
2.     Laboratory-based research may have  been completed with publications  and we could try to pick up a known  problem and put to use  the primary research already done. Here we could have an angel customer , who has taken that leap of faith to engage.
We believe on following the "Toothbrush Model when it comes to deciding on Translational Research, where frequency ( that is number of uses ) and amplitude ( the level of usage) is key.

Two projects which have potential to be termed as  "Breakthrough Technologies" for the Hub,  addressing real-life and meaningful problems statements are the following :

a.    Building the Legal domain Large Language Model (LLM) and setting up the enabling Digital infrastructure for Indian Judiciary.

Indian judiciary suffers from "pendency of cases" which potentially erode 1-1.5% of India's GDP. While we may see multiple reasons for that, we believe that emerging technologies like Generative AI with its ability to manage large language formats, found in the legal domain, could address this.

The raw strength of LLMs is in the areas of "Summarization" and "Paraphrasing". We are trying to exploit these with accuracy and speed, with the goal to be a serious factor in reducing the pendency of cases.

We have received a sizeable contract from the High Court in couple of states in Northern India. This is the example of the first type.

b.    Numerous research papers have been written (more than 0.4 million) on Driver Alert Management Systems (DAMS) with the use of a multitude of technologies covering Computer Vision, EEG signals, PPG signals and many more.

While these may have been introduced in private vehicles, they have not been implemented in public transport systems due to inherent challenges in collecting contextual data and building models given the  increased diversity in the eco-system.

We have successfully collected data on Indian conditions for public transportation(aka buses)  and have run a successful  pilot in a leading government transport undertaking. This gives us the confidence of taking  research in labs to the practice on the field leveraging Machine Learning, Computer Vision and a combination of context rich algorithms. This is the example of the second type. Here again impact is importance rather than outcome , where we understand that accidents with its loss of assets and causalities impact 0.47% and 0.18 % of GDP.

We consciously monitor the Technology Readiness Levels ( TRLs ) and Business Readiness Levels ( BRL) in a structured and measured manner which would remove guestimates. The tool is available for free download and is named as "Innovo-Meter."

How crucial are collaborations with industry, academia, and start-ups to your strategy, and how is the Centre integrating emerging technologies like AI and machine learning to enhance HCi?

Collaboration with industry is critical and the success  in Translational Research is determined by this factor.

The more proactive we are, in reaching out ,  the more benefits would accrue to both Industry and Academic research.

For example, Samsung Research has an interesting program called "PRISM" (Preparing and Inspiring Student Minds ) , which tries to enlist select interns from engineering colleges early on, by providing a industry-accepted  problem statement, involving the faculty of the institute while providing industry led mentorship over a period of the project. This develops a healthy and collaborative eco-system which if nurtured can create significant impact. Again it is a proven method to "catch them young and early".

Research says that the top innovation led economies and hubs gravitate around leading technological universities and the industry cluster follows. Examples from the world suggest that- when the question is posed on who should take the leadership position for driving Deep Tech ecosystem, the answer in Universities and the enabling Government.

The few examples to emulate are:
1.    Stanford University through Stanford Research Park
2.    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) played a key role in development of Greater Boston as an innovation hub; 60 other academic institutions have made unique and distinctive contribution.
And the enabling Government, with examples as 
1.    United States Government - National Science Foundation (NSF), Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
2.    Singapore - public R&D, global collaboration and entrepreneurial activities
3.    Israel - Public R&D support, Yozma Program
And Industry clusters could follow.

India is currently ranked 40 in the Global Innovation Index and the successful implementation in building an industry- academia - government eco-system often called the "Triple Helix" , could help improve our rankings at the Global level.

What are the primary challenges you face in advancing HCi? Conversely, what unique opportunities does IIT Mandi's location and ecosystem offer to your team?

While challenge may not be the right word, let us rephrase this as opportunities to explore. Here  I would say defining the world of HCi is key.

HCi has evolved from the humble "mouse" which we use in our daily life to work on the computer to promising to be "screenless and keyboard less" and moving in the nuanced space of Brain-Computer Interaction ( BCI).

Acknowledging and celebrating the interdisciplinary nature of HCi, not making it as an insular domain of Industrial Design, or Computer Science or Cognitive Science, but respecting  the strengths and embracing the focus to  address real-life problem statements is the key. Here industry  and academia need to shed inhibitions and work closely and proactively. That would require a few changes in defining Key Performance indicators aligning to understanding and delivering Translational Research  and making it win-win.

IIT Mandi's location gives it an inherent advantage of being far from the “madding crowd” yet staying connected with the world with technology. I have seen start-up founders keen to come and work here to ideate and build prototypes in close collaboration with faculty and young researchers. No wonder today we are supporting 92 start-ups in HCi with 14 of them in TRL levels 7 and above.

Our strengths in key areas which constitute HCi as a research area is being built with a very young and vibrant team of researchers. The Centre for HCI is an inflexion point in our growth journey.

What are the future directions for the HCi Centre over the next decade, and how does the Centre support researchers and entrepreneurs financially and through other resources?

While the Centre for HCi will focus on areas like 
a.    Assistive Technologies 
b.    Experience Technologies 
c.    Device-Led Technologies 
d.    Generative Design

We want to focus on emerging sub- areas like Heritage Science, Brain Computer Interaction in the coming months and have made significant investments to foster the research and strive to engage the industry in these areas.

Reconstructing History , understanding lost scripts of ancient history, tacking the neuro-degenerative   diseases like Dementia are some of the exciting areas we are planning to engage in.

A few Grand Challenge projects have been initiated to cover soon-to-be popular areas like Digital Smell , Digital Taste and Digital Touch. For this we will be establishing collaborations with other leading institutes in India and abroad.

Our highly successful Call for Proposals(CfP) invites researchers from academia and industry to share their areas or research along with the problems they would like to address, and these projects go through stringent evaluation process and get fully funded.

Similarly, start-ups are invited through Call for Innovation(CfI) and funding them as per the stage of the projects and product development with product -market fitness.

We are contemplating to get freshly minted PhD scholars to pursue the path from lab research to industry prototype through a specially designed program which could be launched shortly.

The motivation is due to the fact that most of the start-ups in India is from BTech students and less that 1% of the PhD students move to building a start-up. We would like to address this gap by supporting PhD students.

How is the Centre planning to extend its impact globally, and what initiatives are in place to develop HCi skills among students and professionals?

The centre in the coming years would start working with leading Universities in the specific areas. Our first goal is to build a formidable body of knowledge and applied research in India with the leading institutes and industry research bodies in collaborations with government. Once this is done, we can go with a unified way to the Global market.

We have a successful skill development program where we address skilling two segments of the society.

1.    The marginalised is supported through fully funded vocational training on key areas of HCi which will make them employment worthy. Drone training in Human Drone Interface, Solar PV panel training, and training on IoT systems are a few popular programs. These are very well run with 100 % passing rate and making the students employment-worthy with high employment figures. This has received the attention of the President of India for its uniqueness in training girl students in areas like Human-Drone Interface, nomenclature as "Drone Didi" program.

2.    For the corporate executives we are working on upskilling and reskilling programs by setting up partner pods in places like Chandigarh and Delhi with leading institutes namely Panjab University and XLRI to name a few, thereby reaching out to corporate hubs in metros and min metros. This could offset the perceived locational disadvantage of the IIT Mandi being in Himachal Pradesh.