Research Overview

My research interests span the areas of haptics, human-computer interaction and assistive/rehabilitative technology. In particular, I explore the sense of touch as a receptive channel in the context of information delivery via electronic devices and displays. My research focus targets both (1) applied and (2) core research contributions within haptics: (1) Assistive haptics technologies for individuals who are blind such as social interaction assistants, and rehabilitative haptics technologies for individuals with motor impairments such as stroke; and (2) Psychophysics, multimodal displays, and device design. I completed my dissertation, "Somatic ABC's: A Theoretical Framework for Designing, Developing and Evaluating the Building Blocks of Touch-Based Information Delivery", in 2012 under the guidance of Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan.

Selected Publications

[1] T. McDaniel, M. Goldberg, D. Villanueva, L.N. Viswanathan, S. Panchanathan, “Motor learning using a kinematic-vibrotactile mapping targeting fundamental movements,” in proceedings of the 19th ACM International Conference on Multimedia, 543-552, 2011.

[2] T. McDaniel, S. Panchanathan, “The Building Blocks of Somatic Information Delivery,” in proceedings of the 19th ACM International Conference on Multimedia, 877, 2011.

[3] L.N. Viswanathan, T. McDaniel, S. Panchanathan, “Audio-haptic description in movies,” In C. Stephanidis (Ed.), HCI International 2011 – Posters’ Extended Abstracts (414-418). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2011.

[4] J. Rosenthal, N. Edwards, D. Villanueva, S. Krishna, T. McDaniel, S. Panchanathan, "Design, implementation, and case study of a pragmatic vibrotactile belt," IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 60, Issue 1, 114-125, Jan. 2011.

[5] T. McDaniel, D. Villanueva, S. Krishna, S. Panchanathan, “MOVeMENT: a framework for systematically mapping vibrotactile stimulations to fundamental body movements,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and Games, 2010, 13-18.

[6] T. McDaniel, D. Villanueva, S. Krishna, S. Panchanathan, “Vibrotactile stimulations for motor skill training,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and Games (HAVE), 2010, 192-193.

[7] T. McDaniel, S. Krishna, D. Villanueva, S. Panchanathan, “A haptic belt for vibrotactile communication,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and Games (HAVE), 2010, 194-195.

[8] D. Villanueva, T. McDaniel, S. Panchanathan, “InfoStone: bridging the gap between ambient and direct manipulation devices,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and Games (HAVE), 2010, 199.

[9] L.N. Viswanathan, T. McDaniel, S. Krishna, S. Panchanathan, “Haptics in audio described movies,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and Games (HAVE), 2010, 200-201.

[10] T. McDaniel, D. Villanueva, S. Krishna, D. Colbry, S. Panchanathan, "Heartbeats: a methodology to convey interpersonal distance through touch," in Proceedings of the 28th International Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2010, 3985-3990.

[11] S. Krishna, S. Bala, T. McDaniel, S. McGuire, S. Panchanathan, "VibroGlove: an assistive technology aid for conveying facial expressions," in Proceedings of the 28th International Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2010, 3637-3642.

[12] N. Edwards, J. Rosenthal, D. Moberly, J. Lindsay, K. Blair, S. Krishna, T. McDaniel, S. Panchanathan, "A pragmatic approach to the design and implementation of a vibrotactile belt and its applications," in Proceedings of the IEEE International Workshop on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and Games (HAVE), 2009, 13-18.

[13] T. McDaniel, S. Krishna, D. Colbry, S. Panchanathan, "Using tactile rhythm to convey interpersonal distances to individuals who are blind," in Proceedings of the 27th International Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2009, 4669-4674.

[14] T. McDaniel, S. Krishna, V. Balasubramanian, D. Colbry, S. Panchanathan, "Using a haptic belt to convey non-verbal communication cues during social interactions to individuals who are blind," in the Proceedings of the IEEE International Workshop on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and Games (HAVE), 2008, 13-18.

[15] S. Panchanathan, N. Krishnan, S. Krishna, T. McDaniel, V. Balasubramanian, "Enriched human-centered multimedia computing through inspirations from disabilities and deficit-centered computing solutions," in Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Human-Centered Computing, 2008.

[16] T. McDaniel, K. Kahol, D. Villanueva, S. Panchanathan, "Integration of RFID and computer vision for remote object perception for individuals who are blind," in Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Ambient Media and Systems, 2008.

[17] T. McDaniel, S. Panchanathan, "Perceptual surface roughness classification of 3D textures using support vector machines," in Proceedings of the IEEE International Workshop on Haptic, Audio and Visual Environments and Games (HAVE), 2007, 154-159.

[18] T. McDaniel, K. Kahol, S. Panchanathan, "An interactive wearable assistive device for individuals who are blind for color perception," Human-Computer Interaction International (HCII), 2007, 751-760.

[19] K. Kahol, J. French, T. McDaniel, "Augmented virtual reality for laparoscopic surgical tool training," Human-Computer Interaction International (HCII), 2007, 459-467.

[20] K. Kahol, T. McDaniel, S. Panchanathan, "Methodology for efficient perception in exclusively haptic environments," in Proceedings of the IEEE International Workshop on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and their Applications, 2006, 140-145.

[21] T.L. McDaniel, K. Kahol, S. Panchanathan, "A Bayesian approach to visual size classification of everyday objects," in Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR), 2006, 255-259.

[22] K. Kahol, P. Tripathi, T. McDaniel, L. Bratton, S. Panchanathan, "Modeling context in haptic perception, rendering, and visualization," ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications, Vol. 2, Issue 3, 219-240, 2006.

[23] T.L. McDaniel, S. Panchanathan, "A visio-haptic wearable system for assisting individuals who are blind," ACM SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing Newsletter, Issue 86, 2006, 12-15.

[24] T. McDaniel, K. Kahol, P. Tripathi, D.P. Smith, L. Bratton, R. Atreya, S. Panchanathan, "A methodology to establish ground truth for computer vision algorithms to estimate haptic features from visual images," in Proceedings of the IEEE International Workshop on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and their Applications (HAVE), 2005, 94-99.

Awards and Honors

1. Nominated for Outstanding PhD Thesis Award, Department of Computer Science and Engineering,
School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Spring 2012.

2. Awarded ACM Multimedia 2011 Volunteer Leadership Award for outstanding leadership in volunteer activities during the conference

3. Awarded ACM Multimedia 2011 Student Scholarship Award for attending conference

4. Awarded Ford Graduate Engineering Fellowship for the 2011-2012 academic year

5. Awarded Graduate and Professional Student Association at ASU (GPSA) Graduate Research Grant

6. Awarded Best Student Paper at the IEEE International Workshop on Haptic
Audio Visual Environments and Games 2008 (HAVE 2008) for paper "Using a haptic
belt to convey non-verbal communication cues during social interactions to
individuals who are blind"

7. Awarded the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholarship for the
2010-2011 academic year

8. Awarded the ARCS scholarship for the 2009-2010 academic year

9. Awarded the ARCS scholarship for the 2008-2009 academic year

10. Awarded the ARCS scholarship for the 2007-2008 academic year

11. Awarded the ARCS scholarship for the 2006-2007 academic year

12. Awarded the Departmental Fulton Fellowship for the 2005-2006 academic year