The Social Emotional Technology Laboratory (SET Lab) is an interdisciplinary research team affiliated with the Computational Media department at University of California, Santa Cruz. The mission of the lab is to design, implement and study human computer interaction technologies that enhance physical, social, and emotional experiences.

We are always looking for motivated students to join our group or to help out on projects. For questions about how to get involved with UCSC SET Lab, please email kisbiste@ucsc.edu or stop by the lab, located in E2-262.

Computational MediaBaskin School of Engineering
Katherine, MJ, and Linda at CHI '26 at Barcelona
Katherine, MJ, and Linda at CHI '26 at Barcelona

Announcements

Sep, 2026Welcome to our incoming PhD students, Rita Tesfay and Thais Alvarenga!
Sep, 2026Katherine is giving the keynote at Expanded 2026 at Ars Electronica!
Sep, 2026Katherine and Samir will be attending the Expanded Conference Summer School in Hagenberg, Austria!
Sep, 2026Congratulations Samir, as part of the CIDER Drone Pilot Training Program for passing the FAA licensing for commercial drone piloting. We can now conduct research flights!
Jul, 2026At SIGGRAPH Spatial Storytelling, Samir will be presenting his XR spatialization of the AI WAR CLOUD project!
May, 2026Congratulations Dr. MJ Johns for a successful doctorate defense!!!!!
May, 2026Katherine and Samir will be attending Questioning Reality 2026 hosted at the University of Toronto.
Apr, 2026Congratulations Katherine for receiving the CHI Academy Award!
Apr, 2026A great showing at CHI! Our team presented two TOCHI papers, one full paper, and one poster.
Apr, 2026Congratulations Samir for receiving Top Paper at MeaningfulXR 2026. See demos and papers from the SET Lab in Portland in May!
See all announcements →