Staff Page - Peggy Wu

Ms. Wu’s research interests include optimizing information flow between humans and machines by leveraging theoretically based concepts from sociology and human factors domains. Ms. Wu is currently the Principal Investigator of an AFRL sponsored Phase I SBIR titled “Concepts for the Integrated Visualization of Effects (CONCEIVE)” (Contract # FA8650-09-M-6974, TPOC Denise Aleva). The goal of this program is to use a well grounded human factors method called Ecological Interface Design to study the environment of Air Operation Centers and create novel data visualizations to improve performance. She also served as PI for an OSD Phase I SBIR effort, “Sensing Using Physical and Psychological Observations for Rehabilitating Troops (SUPPORT) (Contract # W81XWH-08-C-0738, TPOC: Ashley Glenn). The goal of this program is to create “socially aware” human-computer interfaces based on a theory of human-human interaction that can encourage a therapeutic alliance between a patient with mild traumatic brain injuries and his/her assistive device. In the domain of multi-cultural study, Ms. Wu has served as PI and technical lead for SIFT’s Interactive Phrasebook program, a Phase I SBIR effort sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory. Interactive Phrasebook is a mission rehearsal tool aimed at increasing cultural awareness and sensitivity for soldiers. She also served as the technical lead for Etiquette for Directives, a Phase II SBIR effort sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory. In this program, she has been responsible for the design and development of an experimental testbed that investigates the effects of etiquette on human compliance and performance. Prior to joining SIFT, Ms. Wu was a Research Associate at Honeywell’s Research Laboratories. She was largely responsible for the design and implementation of the user interface of a $5.1M NIST-Honeywell joint research program, Independent LifeStyle Assistant (I.L.S.A.), for home automation in the elder-care domain. She was also fundamental in the design of the infrastructure of said system, and the analysis of field test data. Before joining Honeywell, Ms. Wu was a human factors and user interface designer for MGI Software (now Roxio International). Her work has resulted in multiple industry recognized awards for a line of video and image editing products, as well as multi-million dollar contract wins with Intel and other large industry partners.

Ms. Wu has co-authored more than 20 published papers in the field of human computer interaction, has authored a book chapter regarding computational models of etiquette, has served as a session co-chair for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society conference, and holds two U.S. patents.

Sample Publications