Vincent Lévesque

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Software and IT Engineering at École de technologie supérieure (Montréal, Canada) and the director of the Haptic User Experience (HUX) research group.

My research investigates the value of haptic technologies in current and future human-computer interaction paradigms. I consider how modern and future haptic technologies will impact interactive experiences, from touch interfaces to AR, VR and the Internet of Things. I demonstrate the value of new haptic experiences using a broad range of quantitative and qualitative user research, focusing not only on performance metrics but also on the subjective response of users. My research interests include:

I co-authored more than 26 scientific publications and I am a co-inventor on more than 76 patents and patent applications. I am the recipient of several awards including Best Reviewer Awards at the 2016 ACM ICMI and 2010 IEEE Haptics Symposium, Best Paper Awards at the 2012 IEEE Haptics Symposium and the 2011 ACM CHI Conference for my work on touch interaction with programmable friction, the Best Demonstration Award at the 2008 IEEE Haptics Symposium for my work on dynamic tactile graphics, and a Best Paper Award at the 2007 IEEE World Haptics Conference for my work on refreshable Braille.

I received a B.Eng in Computer Engineering (2000) and a M.Eng. (2003) and Ph.D (2009) in Electrical Engineering from McGill University. My Ph.D. research, under the supervision of Prof. Vincent Hayward, was on the virtual display of Braille and tactile graphics using a novel tactile array operating by lateral skin deformation. I was then a Postoctoral Fellow in the Computer Science Department at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) from 2009 to 2011 where I worked with Prof. Karon MacLean on improving the user experience of touch interfaces with programmable friction. Before joining ÉTS Montréal in 2017, I was also a research scientist at Immersion Corp. (Montréal, Canada) from 2011 to 2016 where I explored applications of haptic technologies for consumer electronics. I was also the General Co-Chair of the 2021 IEEE World Haptics Conference and an Associate Editor for the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) from 2018 to 2021 and for the IEEE Transactions on Haptics (ToH) from 2016 to 2019.

Short Biography

Vincent Lévesque is an Associate Professor in the software and IT engineering department at École de technologie supérieure and the director of the Haptic User Experience (HUX) research group. He was the General Co-Chair of the 2021 IEEE World Haptics Conference and an Associate Editor for the the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) from 2018 to 2021 and for the IEEE Transactions on Haptics (ToH) from 2016 to 2019. He was a research scientist with Immersion Corp. from 2011 to 2016 and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Computer Science Department at the University of British Columbia from 2009 to 2011. He received a B.Eng. in Computer Engineering (2000), and a M.Eng. (2003) and PhD (2009) in Electrical Engineering from McGill University. His research interests are at the intersection of haptic technologies and human-computer interaction, and include mobile and wearable haptics, tactile displays, and surface haptics. He is the recipient of several awards including the biannual TCH Early Career Award of the IEEE Technical Committee for Haptics in 2019, Best Reviewer Awards at the 2016 ACM ICMI and the 2010 Haptics Symposium, Best Paper Awards at the 2012 Haptics Symposium and the 2011 ACM CHI Conference for his work on touch interaction with programmable friction, the Best Demonstration Award at the 2008 Haptics Symposium for his work on dynamic tactile graphics, and a Best Paper Award at the 2007 IEEE World Haptics Conference for his work on refreshable Braille.