Gregory Gerling Email & Phone Number

Charlottesville, Va, Us

Charlottesville, Virginia

The field of haptics seeks to understand how we use our sense of touch to interface with the world and to augment that sense via the design of technological interfaces. Although not yet as well understood as vision and audition, a thorough understanding of our sense of touch is vital as people and machines are increasingly brought together in daily interactions.My research program is engaged in projects that are highly collaborative and interdisciplinary, that bridge computational neuroscience, engineering, medicine and psychology. We perform computational analysis and modeling of how populations of touch-sensitive neurons, which are embedded in the skin, encode an object’s features into peripheral neuronal signals. My lab builds and analyzes computational models using solid mechanics, differential equations and statistical techniques, designs and prototypes devices using electronics, software and silicone-elastomers, and conducts psychophysical (behavioral) experiments. I have a substantial background in the skin and receptor physiology related to tactile sensation – specifically SAI mechanosensitive afferents which innervate Merkel cells. I have been either the PI or co-Investigator on several previous university- and federally-funded grants. I teach courses related to human computer interaction and user experience design. This has involved the firsthand design of graphical, virtual, and physical user interfaces to display information and afford work processes customized to the mental models, cognitive and perceptual capabilities, and tasks and work domains of end users. An important topic is function allocation in automated systems, as well as interacting with large sets of data. My group is unique because while most groups either focus on evaluation or design or implementation, we strive to bring together this intersection into functional, real-world systems.

Charlottesville, Virginia Area

Consult on the design of products and user interfaces. These have been focused primarily in the medical domain. Several of the user interfaces I've designed are now operable in the field. More information is available upon request.