@EmpathicCompLab

The Empathic Computing Laboratory is an academic research group exploring ways for technology to enable better understanding and better lives.

linktr.ee/empathiccomputinglab
Joined November 2021
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74Media
Should Aotearoa build its own public-sector language model? Two University of Auckland law and tech researchers argue yes, on price, auditability and access. auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/… [1/2]
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They cite Switzerland's Apertus and Singapore's SEA-LION, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a reason a local model would behave differently. A question we sit with too: who holds the data when sensing gets intimate? #AI #Aotearoa [2/2]
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OpenAI's GPT-Live-1.1 landed last week: 13 new ChatGPT voices and more natural pronunciation across languages. theneuron.ai/news/chatgpt-gp… [1/4]

GPT-Live-1.1 Adds 13 Voices to ChatGPT

ChatGPT’s GPT-Live-1.1 adds 13 voices and promises better multilingual speech. Explore what changes for users and what remains unproven about accuracy.

theneuron.ai
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OpenAI says more research is needed. Credit to them for reporting it openly, and a reminder that a more natural-sounding voice needs its own safety testing. [3/4]
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Making a system sound warmer makes it easier to talk to, and easier to lean on. For us, empathic systems should support connection between people, not replace it. [4/4]
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XREAL's new 1 Pro+ display glasses: 1,200 nits, 57° FOV, 3DoF spatial anchoring, US$599, plugs into a USB-C phone. androidheadlines.com/2026/10… [1/3]

XREAL 1 Pro+ Smart Glasses Bring 1,200 Nits Brightness and Smoother 3D for $599

XREAL has introduced the 1 Pro+ AR glasses, featuring 1,200 nits of peak brightness and smoother 3D video playback for $599.

androidheadlines.com
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The spec sheet is nice, but the form factor is the interesting part. Heavy headsets shape how participants behave and cap how long a study session can run. [2/3]
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Lightweight glasses at this price make longer, in-the-wild AR collaboration studies much easier to imagine. What would you test first? [3/3]
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UoA celebrated its 2026 Research Excellence Awards last week — five medals, plus recognition for the professional staff who keep research running. auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/… [1/2]
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Our empathic computing studies run on that scaffolding — technicians, research support, the people who make participant sessions happen. Congratulations to everyone recognised this year. [2/2]
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Mistral has released Mistral Large 4, a ~1T-parameter multimodal model. For now it's reachable only via a guarded endpoint, with open weights promised in about three weeks. techcrunch.com/2026/10/06/mi… [1/3]

Mistral’s new 1T model aims to leapfrog closed and open rivals | TechCrunch

French AI lab Mistral AI has released Mistral Large 4, a new large multimodal model aiming to leapfrog both American and Chinese rivals.

techcrunch.com
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The part we are watching isn't the benchmark race (results are still pending), it's the open weights. Running a capable model locally means sensitive physiological data from our studies can stay in the lab. [2/3]
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That changes what we can reasonably ask participants to share. One to revisit once the weights actually land. How much does open-weight access matter in your own work? [3/3]
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Congratulations to our ABI colleagues - the Heart Foundation has awarded $2.32m across eight University of Auckland heart research projects. auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/… [1/2]
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Two of them sit close to our own patch: a smartphone tool that reads tiny neck-skin movements to assess the pulse, and AI modelling to take manual work out of heart ultrasound analysis. Camera-based physiological sensing, put to clinical use. [2/2]
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ISMAR 2026 has wrapped in Bari — the 25th edition ran 5-9 October, and the recorded paper and poster talks are now up on the ISMAR YouTube channel. ieeeismar.net/2026/ [1/3]
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ISMAR has long been a home venue for research on AR collaboration and shared experience, and a lot of our lab's work has gone through it. The recordings are a good way to catch up on where mixed reality research sat this year. [2/3]
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Next stop: ISMAR 2027 in Kobe, Japan. We'll be reading through this year's programme in the meantime. Anything from Bari you think deserves more attention? [3/3] Watch: youtube.com/@ismarconf/playl…

International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR)

ISMAR (International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality) is the premier international conference on research into the science, technology, applications, and uses of Mixed and Augmented Reality.

youtube.com
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Google has moved Gboard's federated learning into trusted execution environments, so its differential-privacy guarantees can be verified from outside the company rather than taken on trust. research.google/blog/toward-… [1/3]

Toward provably private learning from federated data

research.google
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Access policies go into a public transparency log; operators see only anonymised weights and metrics. Attested rather than promised. A whitepaper is linked from the post. [2/3]
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We work with faces, voices, heart rate and gaze: data people share because they trust the setup. Verifiable rather than merely claimed feels like the right bar. Would you share physiological data if the guarantee were auditable? #EmpathicComputing #Privacy [3/3]
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