Learning in a Digital Age

Ning Wang conducts research in the area of artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction and intelligent tutoring systems. She leads the HRI-Trust project, which works to calibrate trust in human-robot interactions through the algorithmic development of automatically generated explanations for robots. She also leads the DELTA project that investigates the use of virtual role-play and digital doppelgängers to improve learning transfer and facilitate attitude and behavior change. She is a research assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and a research scientist at Institute for Creative Technologies. She received her B.S. in Computer Science and Technology from Hunan University and completed her Ph.D. dissertation on computational social intelligence in pedagogical agents at USC’s Center for Advanced Research in Technology for Education of the Information Sciences Institute. Her research interests include computational social intelligence, pedagogical agents, intelligent tutoring systems, explainable AI, and persuasive technologies. She is currently the chief scientist at Curious Lab.

Marientina Gotsis has a broad background in arts, design and engineering with a special interest in interactive entertainment applications for health, happiness and rehabilitation. She founded and leads USC’s Games for Health Initiative since 2007, connecting health professionals with innovation in various forms of interactive media. She is cofounder and director of the Creative Media & Behavioral Health Center, an organized research unit between the School of Cinematic Arts and the Keck School of Medicine. This center designs, develops and evaluates entertainment applications at the intersection of behavioral science, medicine and public health. Gotsis has tackled a wide range of knowledge domains and disease topics that include developmental neuroscience, wellness, obesity, nutrition, vision health, exercise, autism, child injury prevention, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and upper limb rehabilitation. She earned a BFA in Photography/Film/Interactive Media and an MFA in Electronic Visualization from the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Prior to EVL, Gotsis was classically trained as a fine artist in Greece at Athens College and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Gotsis has lectured about her research and practice at Apple and Karten Design, presented findings at ACM, IEEE and HCI journals and conferences, as well as medical and public health outlets. She has been an invited think-tank participant at the White House, the Institute For The Future and various NIH/NSF/EU-funded workshops.