With the advancement of technology, we are heading towards a future where we will be interacting, coordinating, and collaborating with different forms of intelligent technology in almost every aspect of our lives. As technology (computers, machines, robots, systems, etc.) becomes more intelligent and human-like, the relationship and interaction patterns between humans and technology are expected to evolve, become interdependent, and approach symbiosis leading to Human-Technology Symbiosis. In such a future, our abilities and our machines' abilities would complement one another, allowing us to pursue goals that they nor we could achieve alone.
As outlined in a recent journal article published by Nature, the modern-day Internet of Things (IoT) could become the Internet of Bodies (IoB), enabling humans to upgrade their link with technology by wearing devices or by embedding sensors or chips in their bodies. Brain chips, like Elon Musk's Neuralink, may further improve the connection and bandwidth between humans and machines and blur the boundaries between them. There can be several such examples of Human-Technology Symbiosis. At the Research Group on Data-Driven Innovations for Human-Technology Symbiosis (DDIHTS), we explore the intersections of Big Data, Data Analysis, Human-Computer Interaction, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing to contribute towards advancing research in the areas of human-technology interactions, coordination, and collaborations for the future of Human-Technology Symbiosis.
Dr. Nirmalya Thakur is the Director of the Research Group on Data-Driven Innovations for Human-Technology Symbiosis (DDIHTS). He is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Prior to joining the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, he worked as an Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Science at Emory University for two years. His research interests include Big Data, Data Analysis, Human-Computer Interaction, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing. He has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in these fields. He completed his PhD at the University of Cincinnati, where he received numerous accolades including the Dean's Fellowship, the Distinguished Thesis Award, the Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship, the Risk Management Awareness Award, and the Engineer of the Month Award. Dr. Thakur has received research funding for his research projects in the form of multiple fellowships and grants including a grant from the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Thakur has received several awards, honors, and recognitions both at a national and international level. He has been featured on the cover page of Millennium Magazine, interviewed by IEEE TV, featured by Yahoo News, Business Insider, and multiple other news outlets for his contributions to the field of Computer Science. He received the Young Scientist of the Year Award at the 2nd International Business and Academic Excellence Awards, the Excellent Researcher of the Year Award at the 2nd International Academic and Research Excellence Awards, the Young Innovator Award at the 2nd Universal Innovators Leadership Awards, and the Best Presenter Award at the 5th International Conference on Data Science, and Information Technology. He was was recently featured in the American Scientist Magazine.To learn more about this work, please visit: www.nirmalyathakur.com
Dr. Thakur has advised and mentored several students who have co-authored papers in different international conferences and professional journals such as the Journal of Future Internet (Impact Factor 2.8), Journal of Computers (Impact Factor 2.6), Journal of Data (Impact Factor 2.2), and Journal of Computation (Impact Factor 1.9). Some of the recent conferences where his students co-authored papers include the 26th HCI International Conference (HCII 2024) in Washington, United States, the 12th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2024) in Venice, Italy, the 25th HCI International Conference (HCII 2023) in Copenhagen, Denmark, the 5th International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE 2022) in Guilin, China, and the 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022) in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2022, two students from his research group received Research Fellowships to support their research projects. Please visit the publications section of this website to learn more about these incredible success stories of students in DDIHTS!
DDIHTS is actively seeking dedicated and motivated students to join our team!
DDIHTS has an opening for one Master’s student starting in Spring 2025 or Fall 2025, in a research project at the intersections of Data Mining, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing (NLP), that will lead to an MS thesis. This project will focus on analyzing public discourse and misinformation on social media surrounding recent virus outbreaks, including COVID-19 and Mpox
DDIHTS has an opening for one undergraduate student in an ongoing research project at the intersections of Data Science and Natural Language Processing. This project specifically focuses on detecting stress and anxiety in the public discourse on social media.
Five members of DDIHTS - Kesha A. Patel, Audrey Poon, Rishika Shah, Nazif Azizi, and Changhee Han are co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "Investigation of the Global Fear Associated with COVID-19 Using Subjectivity Analysis and Deep Learning", which was accepted for publication in the Journal of Computation.
Six members of DDIHTS Vanessa Su, Mingchen Shao, Kesha A. Patel, Hongseok Jeong, Victoria Knieling, and Andrew Bian are the co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "A labelled dataset for sentiment analysis of videos on YouTube, TikTok, and other sources about the 2024 outbreak of measles", which was accepted for publication at the 26th HCI International Conference (HCII 2024) in Washington, United States.
Two members of DDIHTS Shuqi Cui and Audrey Poon are the co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "Emoji Retrieval from Gibberish or Garbled Social Media Text: A Novel Methodology and A Case Study", which was accepted for publication at the 26th HCI International Conference (HCII 2024) in Washington, United States.
DDIHTS member Victoria Knieling is the co-author on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Young Adults: Findings from a User Diversity-based Analysis", which was accepted for publication at the 12th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2024) in Venice, Italy.
DDIHTS member Kesha Patel is the co-author on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "Dissemination of Misinformation about COVID-19 on TikTok: A Multimodal Analysis", which was accepted for publication at the 26th HCI International Conference (HCII 2024) in Washington, United States.
Four members of DDIHTS - Shuqi Cui, Victoria Knieling, Karam Khanna, and Mingchen Shao are co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "Investigation of the Misinformation about COVID-19 on YouTube Using Topic Modeling, Sentiment Analysis, and Language Analysis", which was accepted for publication in the Journal of Computation.
Seven members of DDIHTS - Shuqi Cui, Kesha A. Patel, Nazif Azizi, Victoria Knieling, Changhee Han, Audrey Poon, and Rishika Shah are co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "Marburg Virus Outbreak and a New Conspiracy Theory: Findings from a Comprehensive Analysis and Forecasting of Web Behavior", which was accepted for publication in the Journal of Computation.
Five members of DDIHTS - Shuqi Cui, Karam Khanna, Victoria Knieling, Yuvraj Nihal Duggal, and Mingchen Shao are co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "Investigation of the Gender-Specific Discourse about Online Learning during COVID-19 on Twitter Using Sentiment Analysis, Subjectivity Analysis, and Toxicity Analysis", which was accepted for publication in the Journal of Computers.
Four members of DDIHTS - Shuqi Cui, Kesha A. Patel, Isabella Hall, and Yuvraj Duggal are co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - A Large-Scale Dataset of Search Interests related to Disease X originating from different Geographic Regions", which was accepted for publication in the Journal of Data.
Five members of DDIHTS - Kesha A. Patel, Audrey Poon, Rishika Shah, Nazif Azizi, and Changhee Han are co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "A Comprehensive Analysis and Investigation of the Public Discourse on Twitter about Exoskeletons from 2017 to 2023", which was accepted for publication in the Journal of Future Internet.
Four members of DDIHTS - Karam Khanna, Shuqi Cui, Nazif Azizi, and Zihui Liu are co-authors on a paper along with Dr. Thakur titled - "Mining and Analysis of Search Interests related to Online Learning Platforms from Different Countries since the Beginning of COVID-19", which was accepted for publication at the 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Denmark.
DDIHTS member Isabella Hall is the co-author on a paper along with Dr. Thakur and Dr. Chia Y. Han titled - "A Comprehensive Study to Analyze Trends in Web Search Interests Related to Fall Detection Before and After COVID-19", which was accepted for publication at the 5th International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering in China (ACM conference).
DDIHTS member Saumick Pradhan is the co-author on a paper along with Dr. Thakur and Dr. Chia Y. Han titled - "Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on Online Learning-based Web Behavior", which was accepted for publication at the 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022) in Switzerland.
DDIHTS member Cat Luong is the co-author on a paper along with Dr. Thakur and Dr. Chia Y. Han titled - "An Approach to Investigate Public Opinion, Views, and Perspectives Towards Exoskeleton Technology", which was accepted for publication at the 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022) in Switzerland.