JASMINE LU 🌱
is a Human Computer Interaction researcher and PhD student supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and UChicago Computer Science Liew Family Fellowship. She is a part of the Human Computer Integration Lab and is advised by Pedro Lopes. Through her work, she explores how we might build the future of interactive technologies to be more sustainable and center ecological thinking. Her research interests include e-waste, critical making, sustainable interaction design, and living media interfaces.
Jasmine’s most recent work, Unmaking Electronic Waste, is published in the journal, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI). In it, she interviews experts who engage with unmaking e-waste. This work explores their practices through the lens of unmaking both when devices are physically unmade and when the perception of e-waste is unmade once waste becomes, once again, useful.
Her work has been covered by the The New Scientist, Forbes, Gizmodo, UChicago News, Nerdist, Communications of the ACM, and more.
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Read more in ‘About Me’Selected Publications
Unmaking Electronic Waste.
Jasmine Lu, Pedro Lopes. In ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI). Volume 31, Issue 6.[ paper ]
HCI primarily focuses on designing and understanding device interactions during one segment of their lifecycles—while users use them. Leaving significant space overlooked: when devices are no longer “useful” to the user, such as after breakdown or obsolescence. We argue that HCI can learn from experts who upcycle e-waste and give it second lives, exploring their practices through the lens of unmaking both when devices are physically unmade and when the perception of e-waste is unmade once waste becomes, once again, useful. Read more in Unmaking Electronic Waste (page coming soon).
ecoEDA: Recycling E-Waste During Electronics Design.
Jasmine Lu, Beza Desta, K D Wu, Romain Nith, Joyce Passananti, Pedro Lopes. In Proc. User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) ’23.🏅Honorable Mention
[ paper ] [ video ]
E-Waste is the fastest growing consumer waste-stream in the world. Inside any device that might typically become e-waste, one can find dozens to hundreds of reusable components. Despite the abundance of components in e-waste, existing electronic design tools assume users will buy all components anew. To tackle this, we created a tool called ecoEDA that facilitates component reuse during the design process. Read more in ecoEDA: Recycling E-Waste During Electronics Design.
Integrating Living Organisms in Devices to Implement Care-based Interactions.
Jasmine Lu, Pedro Lopes. In Proc. User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) ’22.[ paper ] [ video ] [ talk ]
We explore how embedding a living organism (in this case a slime mold, Physarum Polycephalum) as a functional component of a device, changes the user-device relationship. In our design, the user needs to care for the living organism (through providing food and water) in order for the device to work. When healthy, the organism participates in the device’s functionality by acting as a physical wire that enables power to the watch’s heart rate sensor. As such, caring for the device is intrinsic to its interaction design. Read more in Integrating Living Organisms in Devices to Implement Care-based Interactions.
Recent News
October 2024Extremely grateful to be selected as a PhD grant winner from the newly established Climate and Energy Institute at UChicago. Read more about my project here.
July 2024
Had a great time at DIS2024 in Copenhagen! My first in-person DIS. Had a great time participating in the Doctoral Consortium and presenting our paper: “Designing Plant Driven Actuators for Robots to Grow, Age, and Decay”.
June 2024
So proud to announce the release of the XRDS Summer Issue: Tech and Social Justice! Honored to be the lead editor on the issue and collaborate with Cella Sum and Alicia DeVrio (guest editors) on it. Read the amazing issue here.
Read more in ‘News’
Selected Press
UChicago Climate and Energy Institute News. Grant Winners Display Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration, New Ecosystem. October 2024.Adafruit Blog. ecoEDA: Recycling E-waste During Electronics Design. March 2024.
Hackaday. ecoEDA Integrates Your Junk Bin Into Your Designs. October 2023.
IFL Science. Smartwatch Powered By Slime Mold Is Like Having A Tamagotchi On Your Wrist. January 2023.
UChicago News. Scientists create living smartwatch powered by slime mold. December 2022.
Read more in ‘Press’