Tsukada Lab’s D3 student Vishal Chauhan attended CHI 2026 (ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems) in Barcelona, Spain, from 13 to 17 April 2026. CHI is one of the most important international conferences in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Researchers, students, and industry members from many countries gathered there to share new ideas and recent research. It was a valuable opportunity for him to learn about new work and meet people from different research communities.
At the conference, Vishal presented the paper titled “Don’t Worry, Just Follow Me: Prototyping and In-the-Wild Evaluation of Smart Pole Interaction Unit with Mobility.” This research focuses on how the Smart Pole Interaction Unit (SPIU) can support communication between pedestrians and autonomous vehicles in shared spaces. Through a real-world field study, the work examined how infrastructure-based interaction can improve pedestrian understanding and crossing experience. The paper received an Honorable Mention Award at CHI 2026.
During the conference, Vishal attended technical sessions, visited posters and company booths, and spoke with many researchers and participants. These experiences provided new ideas and motivation for his future research. The attached photos show his presentation, the conference venue, the award certificate, poster and exhibition spaces, and moments with other participants. Participating in CHI 2026 was a very meaningful experience for him and an important step in his research journey at The University of Tokyo.
