Research projects in Information Technology

Play is fundamental and one of the main methods children learn skills, gain independence, and practice daily tasks that lead into adulthood. TechToy Library is an innovative, co-designed initiative creating toys specifically designed for children with cerebral palsy, empowering them to play, learn, and connect. Through collaboration with families, allied health professionals, and people with lived experience, the project develops inclusive toys using cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality and 3D customisation.

For decades, the primary way people who are blind or have low vision (BLV) interact with computers has been through screen readers. These linearise an application or document interface, presenting content as synthetic speech or on a single-line braille display, which the user navigates using keyboard shortcuts or touch gestures on a smartphone. Screen readers have a major limitation: they cannot show graphics. Instead, they rely on alternative text descriptions, which are often incomplete or inadequate.

World models are becoming an important direction in artificial intelligence and robotics. Instead of responding only to what is currently observed, an intelligent agent can use an internal model of the world to represent its surroundings, anticipate what may happen next, and reason about the consequences of possible actions. This ability is particularly important for robots operating around people, where behaviour is dynamic, uncertain, and strongly influenced by context.

Presence is the subjective feeling of "being there" that differentiates virtual reality (VR) systems from other forms of computer interfaces, and has long been thought to be beneficial in applications of VR such as training and psychotherapy. The quantification of presence has largely revolved around the use of subjective questionnaires, despite longstanding problems with existing questionnaires.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have produced highly accurate diagnostic models across a wide range of medical applications. However, these systems often provide little insight into how decisions are made, limiting clinician confidence and adoption in healthcare settings.

Medical VLMs - especially if they can be deployed inside "corporate firewalls" or under the direct governance of health services - potentially offer great advantages over general purpose VLMs for a range of reasons.

However there are fundamental questions over their performance and suitability for deployment inside healthcare, and as to whether they can compete given the mega-infrastructure and ability to upgrade that is available to the big players (OpenAI, Anthropic etc). 

Overview

This project proposes a novel quantum-enhanced learning analytics framework for higher education, focusing on early identification of at-risk students and optimisation of intervention strategies using hybrid quantum-classical approaches. While current learning analytics systems rely on classical statistical and machine learning techniques, they often struggle to capture the complex, uncertain, and multi-dimensional nature of student learning behaviours.

Digital health (DH) technologies promise significant improvements in healthcare delivery, but their successful implementation requires rigorous evaluation to ensure they meet clinical and operational needs.

There is a key opportunity for specialist work in an emergent intersection area which we can call Value-Based Digital Health (VBDH).

To expand further, VBDH is a discipline area that sits at the intersection of DH, HTA and IS and is focused on defining, delivering and measuring value in all parts of the lifecycle of DH products. (Prof C Bain, 2024)

In order to achieve ubiquitous success in AI for Pathology around the world (in particular in histopathology), a number of key technical issues and challenges need to be addressed. These - and potential remedial approaches - will be explored in this research program and they include (as examples): 

Understanding protein structures is fundamental in food science, but traditional 2D representations often fail to convey their complex 3D shapes and interactions. This project aims to develop VR/AR applications that allow users to explore protein structures interactively and immersively, enhancing comprehension of protein function, behavior, and their roles in food systems.