Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, Ph.D

Principal Investigator (PI)

Founding Director, Hybrid Body Lab
Associate Professor, Cornell University
2026-2027 Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Fellow, Harvard Radcliffe Institute

ABOUT

Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, Ph.D. 高新綠

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Bio (Long). Dr. Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao is a computer scientist, interdisciplinary designer, and Associate Professor at Cornell University, where she founded and directs the Hybrid Body Lab. She is also the 2026-2027 Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Her research focuses on Hybrid Skins—culturally inspired, conformable interfaces that often take the form of smart tattoos or close-body textiles. Hybrid Skins operate at multiple scales of human experience, uniquely integrating technological innovation with social and cultural perspectives. By merging traditional crafts with miniaturized sensor devices, robotics, and advanced materials, Kao’s work creates Hybrid Skins that serve social, cultural, and technological purposes while enabling the expression of personal identity. She is committed to shaping more inclusive and diverse futures for soft wearable technologies, while also pioneering novel digital fabrication methods for creating technology designed to be worn close to the body. She has received numerous academic honors, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC) Test-of-Time 10-Year Impact Award, and numerous Honorable Mention and Best Paper Awards from leading computer science conferences (ACM CHI, UIST, IMWUT, ISWC, and DIS). Her work has been covered by major media outlets, including Forbes, CNN, TIME Magazine, Fast Company, and WIRED. Kao has also served as program chair for ACM ISWC, the premier academic venue for wearable computers.

Kao and her lab also strive to make an impact in the design and art communities. To this end, Kao's work has been exhibited internationally in venues including the Pompidou Centre in Paris, Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria, the Seattle Museum of Pop Culture, and on the New York Fashion Week runway, along with over a dozen award recognitions from the design community through the A'Design Award, the Fast Company Innovation by Design Award Finalist, an Ars Electronica STARTS Prize Nomination, and the SXSW Interactive Innovation Award.

She holds a Ph.D. from the MIT Media Lab, a Master's degree in Computer Science, and two Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Technology Management, all from National Taiwan University. Kao was born and raised in Taiwan.

Bio (short). Dr. Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao is a computer scientist, interdisciplinary designer, and Associate Professor at Cornell University, where she founded and directs the Hybrid Body Lab. She is also the 2026-2027 Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Fellow at Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Kao’s research centers on Hybrid Skins—culturally inspired, conformable, wearable interfaces that merge traditional crafts with cutting-edge miniaturized technology. Her accolades include the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the ACM ISWC Test-of-Time 10-Year Impact Award, and multiple Best Paper and Honorable Mention awards from leading ACM computer science conferences. As an interdisciplinary designer, Kao has exhibited her work internationally at venues such as the Pompidou Center in Paris and New York Fashion Week, earning distinction through the SXSW Interactive Innovation Award and Ars Electronica STARTS Prize Nomination. Through her research and design practice, she aims to foster inclusive futures for soft wearable technologies, like smart tattoos and textiles, and pioneers novel digital fabrication methods. Her work has been featured in Forbes, CNN, TIME, Fast Company, and WIRED. Kao holds a Ph.D. from MIT Media Lab and was born and raised in Taiwan.

 

CONTACT

  • Email for Cornell-related matters: cindykao AT cornell DOT edu

  • Email for other matters: cindy AT cindykao DOT com

 

Select recorded Talks

2026 Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellows’ Talk

2024 University of Washington Design Use Build (dub) Seminar

2024 MIT CSAIL HCI Seminar

2018 Cornell University Information Science Colloquium

Upcoming talks and engagements

  • 2026/10/16, 1:30pm, Rhode Island School of Design, Jewelry and Metalsmithing Department, Getting Phygital Conference, Providence, RI, “Jewelry as an Interface in Hybrid Body Craft” (host: Timothy Veske-McMahon)

  • 2026/10/22, 12pm, MIT Morningside Design Academy, DesignPlus, Cambridge, MA, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: John Ochsendorf)

  • 2026/10/30, 10:30am, Tufts University, Mechanical Engineering Department, Human Factors Seminar, Boston, MA, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: Dave Miller)

  • 2026/10/30, 4pm, MIT Media Lab, Critical Matter Guest Lecture, Cambridge, MA, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: Behnaz Farahi)

  • 2026/11/16, 11am, MIT Media Lab, Space Enabled Guest Lecture, Cambridge, MA, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: Danielle Wood)

  • 2026/11/20, 12:00pm, Harvard University, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Applied Physics/Applied Mechanics Colloquium, “Designing Hybrid Skins“

  • 2026/12/03, 4-6pm, MIT Museum, Wearable Futures, Cambridge MA, “Designing Hybrid Skins for Human Flourishing “

  • 2027/02/25, Harvard University, Computer Science Department, CHARM Seminar, “Designing Hybrid Skins“

 

APPOINTMENTS

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

 

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. MIT Media Lab, 2018

  • M.S. in Computer Science, National Taiwan University, 2013

  • B.S in Computer Science & B.B.A. in Technology Management (double major), National Taiwan University, 2011

 

Abbreviated Vitae (updated 09/2026)

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

Professional Honors:

Academic Paper Awards (Top 1% or 5% of papers in ACM venues):

  • Best Paper Award, ACM Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2025

  • Best Pictorial Honorable Mention Award, ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), 2025 Ÿ  

  • ISWC Design Exhibition Award: Best Aesthetics, ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC), 2025

  • Best Paper Award, Augmented Humans Conference, 2025

  • ACM Distinguished Paper Award, ACM Journal on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (UbiComp), 2024

  • ACM CHI Special Recognition for Sustainable Practice, Runner Up, ACM Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2024

  • ISWC Design Exhibition Award: Best Aesthetics, ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC), 2023

  • ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC'22) Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, 2022

  • Augmented Humans, Best Poster Award, 2022

  • ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS'21) Best Paper Award, 2021

  • ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS'21) Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, 2021

  • ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS'20) Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, 2020

  • ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS'20) Best Demo Award, 2020

  • ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC'19) Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, 2019

  • ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC'18) Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, 2018

  • ACM UIST'16 Best Paper Award, 2016

  • ACM CHI'15 Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, 2015

Design & Innovation Awards

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

ACADEMIC SERVICE

General Chair

• General Co-Chair, ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication (ACM SCF) 2023

Paper Chair and Sub-Committee Chair:
• Program Co-Chair (Papers Chair), ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC), 2021

• Subcommittee Co-Chair, ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), for the“Experiences, Artefacts, and Technology” subcommittee (DIS), 2021

Associate Editor
• ACM Journal on Interactive Mobile Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 2021-present

Program Committee Member (Associate Chair)

· ACM Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2022--2027

· ACM User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021

· ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC), 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2018

· ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), 2020, 2019

· ACM Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI), 2019

· ACM Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI), 2019

·   Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DesForm), 2019

Steering Committee

·       ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC) Steering Committee

·       ACM International Symposium on Computational Fabrication (SCF) Steering Committee

 Best Paper Award Committee

·       ACM User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), 2021

·       Augmented Humans (AH) conference, 2020

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Centre Pompidou, Paris, France. DuoSkin | La Fabrique du Vivant (Feb 2019)

Seattle Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle, WA. Kino | A queen within: Adorned Archetypes (May 2019)

New York Fashion Week (NYFW), NY, NY, DuoSkin | NYFW:Men’s Dyne (Jan 2017)

Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria, DuoSkin | STARTS Prize (Sept 2017)

Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA, Hybrid Body Craft | #techstyles Fashion Tech Exhibition Opening (March 2016)

Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, NailO, DuoSkin, Kino | Manifestations (Oct 2017)

Museo Del Gioiello, Vicenza, Italy, DuoSkin | Jewelry and the Future (Jan 2019)

New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, Kino | A queen within: Adorned Archetypes (Feb 2018)

TechTextil : International trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens), Frankfrut, Germany, EcoThreads  (April 2024)

Centre de design de l’UQAM , Montreal, Canada, WovenProbe | Textile Design Now (Nov 2023-Feb 2024)

Center for Craft, Asheville, NC, KnitDermis: Tactile On-Skin Interfaces | Material Reasoning (Sept 2022-Jan 2023)

Ars Electronica Outpost at Hyundai Motorstudio, Beijing, China. DuoSkin | Human (un)limited (Jan 2020)

Platform 28, Tehran, Iran, Kino | Plat + Forms (Dec 2017)

Fast Company’s Innovation Festival, NY, NY, DuoSkin | Innovation by Design Award Showcase (Oct 2017)

Being Material Conference, Boston, MA, DuoSkin and Kino | Being Material (April 2017)

South by South West Interactive, Austin, TX, DuoSkin | SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards (March 2017)

TETEM Art Space, Enschede, The Netherlands, NailO and DuoSkin | Internet of Women Things (Feb 2017)

MIT Museum, Boston, MA, DuoSkin | FebFest (Feb 2017)

Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria, On-body robots as mobile wearables | Radical Atoms and the alchemists of our time (Sept 2016)

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

DEA 6040 FUTURE BODY CRAFT: FABRICATING ON-SKIN INTERFACES
Semesters Offered: Typically each Fall at Cornell
This course explores the intersectional field of Hybrid Body Craft, which applies design, engineering, and social science research for hybridizing emerging slim technology with body decoration practices. Examined through the lens of on-skin interfaces (i.e., smart tattoos and bandages) and electronic textiles in Human-Computer Interaction and Wearable Computing, students will develop prototyping skills in soft circuitry through tailored hands-on labs developed by the Hybrid Body Lab and critically reflect on representative papers in the field through readings and discussions. The skills students develop in the course will cumulate in the prototyping and design of a final project: a Future Body Craft of their choice.

DEA 1110/COGST 1111 MAKING A DIFFERENCE BY DESIGN
Semesters Offered: Typically each Fall at Cornell
This course provides a broad overview of design applied various disciplines, scales, and problem contexts, and how design can offer an alternative, and often more human-centered perspective towards solving the problems around us. With a focus on designing with a human-centered mindset in this age of technology, we will examine topics on the role of design in wearable computing, virtual and tangible interfaces, robotics to biology. We will also apply the lens of design to issues on sustainability, healthy environments, diversity and inclusion, and designing for social good. Each week, through case studies and familiar examples, DEA 1110 explores how designing is part of every discipline.

DEA 2200 ART+SCIENCE
Semesters Offered: Typically each Spring at Cornell
The relationship between art and science has been thoroughly discussed by philosophers. This course will review the discussion on this topic and investigate the role of art/science in a variety of professions and its role in creativity. Sustainability, multiculturalism and transdisciplinarity will be explored as manifestations of integrated minds and communities.






COURSES TAUGHT AT THE MIT MEDIA LAB:
INSTRUCTOR & COURSE CREATOR
"Fabricating On-Skin User Interfaces"
Independent Activities Period Course, 2017 Winter, MIT
This course introduces processes for creating on-skin interfaces which also reflect personal style. It provides students with the fabrication skills and hardware know-how to generate interactive temporary tattoos. With these skillsets, students expand into their own designs and applications for a hands-on final project. We aim to expand student thinking on the future of on-skin interfaces and the applications they would envision for this possible future.

 

SELECTED PRESS

Web - Project coverage

Forbes (08/16/2016): “The Surprisingly Simple Chemistry In DuoSkin, Temporary Tattoos That Control Your Phone.”

CNN (08/15/2016): “This tattoo that controls a smartphone may be a glimpse of the future”

Washington Post (03/17/2017): “These temporary tattoos turn you into a temporary cyborg”

TIME (04/17/2015): "Get Ready To Turn Your Thumb Into a Miniature Trackpad"

TechCrunch (08/12/2016): “MIT’s DuoSkin turns temporary tattoos into on-skin interfaces”

DesignBoom (03/29/2017): “DuoSkin electrical temporary tattoos a success at new york fashion week”

Dezeen (12/13/2016): Dezeen's top 10 visions for the future according to 2016

WIRED UK (11/01/2016): From smog-eating towers to ocean-cleaning barriers, how design is inspiring innovation

Cornell Chronicle (05/05/2025): Plants you wear: LivingLoom weaves seeds into textiles

DAZED Magazine (3/28/2025): Tattoo machine nails and lasers: Is the future of nail art functional?

Cornell Chronicle (10/24/2024): On-body electronics can monitor health, support creative expression

New Atlas (4/26/2023): KnitDema glove puts the electronic squeeze on swollen fingers

Cornell Chronicle (11/03/2022): SkinKit offers versatile, wearable on-skin computing

FreeThink (11/13/2022): “SkinKit” lets ordinary people build their own “smart tattoos”

Cornell Chronicle (07/14/2020) “Kao weaves craft techniques with on-skin tech”

MIT News (04/17/2015): "Thumbnail track pad: Unobtrusive wearable sensor could operate digital devices or augment other device interfaces."

CNET (04/16/2015): "NailO turns your fingernail into a tiny trackpad"

WIRED (04/21/2015): "This Adorable Thumbnail Trackpad Could Actually Be Useful"

Fast Company (04/20/2015): "From MIT: This Shiny Nail Art Is Actually A Tiny Bluetooth Trackpad"

DesignBoom (07/15/2020) “with hybrid body lab's 'wovenskin,' you can feel alerts directly on your skin”

(cont’d) Web - Project coverage
Dezeen (08/17/2016): “DuoSkin temporary tattoos can remotely control devices”
Quartz (08/17/2016): “MIT shows off a smart tattoo that can turn your skin into a touchpad”
Allure (08/17/2016): “MIT Develops High-Tech Flash Tats”
Cosmopolitan UK (08/16/2016): “DuoSkin tattoos: the metallic tattoos that double up as a touch screen”
InStyle (08/16/2016): “No Joke: Someone Created a Temporary Tattoo That's Also a Touch Screen”
CNET (08/15/2016): “Metallic fake tattoos are interactive, look like fashion accessories”

Web – Features, Profiles, and Topical coverage:

Tocco (08/28/2025) “Top 20 Designers in Wearables”

MIT Technology Review 125 anniversary issue (08/15/2024), “What the future holds for those born today”     

Cornell Chronicle (09/09/2021) “Weaving Inclusivity, Style into Wearable Technology.”

PCMag (07/27/2021) “You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Tiny Printed Circuit Board”

Cornell Chronicle (10/21/2020) “Silver linings: Innovation, kits, tech animate a hybrid semester” (feature on DEA 6040 Future Body Craft)

Ars Electronica (01/07/2020) “Like a Second Skin”
Print Magazines and News
TIME Magazine (09/05/2016): “Smart Tattoos Bring Technology to Body Art”

Spur Magazine (01/23/2025): “Pioneers Share their visions for 2025”

MIT Technology Review (Sept/Oct 2024): “The Future Starts Now: A look at what the coming decades hold for those born today”

MIT Technology Review (July/August 2015): “Computing at your fingertips”

Boston Globe (04/18/2015): “MIT Media Lab Researchers Create Touchpad Nail Art”

TV, Radio, Podcasts
Ｗonderland Podcast with Steven Johnson (01/28/2017): “For the Fun of It (Or, the Play in Great Work): Creativity at the MIT Media Lab; Featuring Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao”
ARTE (11/06/2016): “Amplified Skin”
CNBC (08/17/2016): Control your device with this temporary tattoo
CBC Spark Radio (06/07/2015): "The future of wearable tech is on your fingertip"
Radio Taiwan International (05/04/2015): "Trackpad on your fingernails?"
CNN (05/01/2015): "Tiny trackpad fits on your fingernail"
BBC Radio 5 (04/20/15): “NailO: Fingernails as an Input Surface”

 

SELECTED PUBLIC TALKS

  • 2025, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Women in Computing Seminar (WiCS) in the Computer Science and Engineering division, Ann-Arbor, Michigan, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: Ke Wu)

  • 2025, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Design and Material Cultural Lecture Series, Madison, Wisconsin, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: Mengni Zhang)

  • 2025, ACM UbiComp 2025, Networking Network Women (N2) Research Panel, Espoo, Finland, Faculty Panelist

  • 2025, Cornell Biomedical and Biological Sciences (BBS) 2025 Symposium, Ithaca, NY, Faculty Panelist 

  • 2025, Digital Weaving Norway, TC2 30th Anniversary Conference, Invited Speaker, “Designing Woven Hybrid Skins”, Krokkleiva, Norway (host: Vibeke Vestby)

  • 2024, University of Washington design.use.build (dub) Seminar, Seattle, WA, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: James Fogerty)

  • 2024, Cornell Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL) Retreat 2024, Keynote, Ithaca, NY, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: Kirstin Petersen)

  • 2024, Dutch Soft Robotics Conference, Keynote, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, “Designing Robotics Skins and Textiles” (host: Amy Winters)

  • 2024, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Human Computer Interaction Seminar, Cambridge, MA, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: Crystal Lee)

  • 2024, Wearables Collectives Symposium at UC Davis, Keynote, Davis, California, “Designing Hybrid Skins” (host: Gozde Goncu)

  • 2024, Lymphatic Education and Research Network (LE&RN), LE&RN Online Sympoisum, NY, NY, “Designing Robotic Textiles for Hand Edema Rehabilitation“ (host: Phyllis Fried)

  • 2024, Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, Panelist, Ithaca, NY, “Future of Mental Health in the Community Context: Technology, Place and Program” (host: Mardelle Shepley)

  • 2024, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), Seminar, Cambridge, MA, “Hybrid Skins: Overview of Hybrid Body Lab Research.” (host: Michelle Farrington)

  • 2023, Dagstuhl Seminar, Germany, Designing the Human Machine Symbiosis Seminar, invited participant (host: Pattie Maes, Ellen Do, Florian Mueller)  

  • 2023, Transmedia Research Institute, Keynote (Virtual), Fano, Italy, “Hybrid Skins: Conformable Interfaces for Living With”

  • 2023, TTI/Vanguard, Data, AI and Robotics Conference, Cambridge, MA, “Designing Robotics Skins and Textiles”

  • 2022, Milstein Lecture, Cornell Milstein Program in Technology & Humanities, “Crafting Tech on the Body”

  • 2021, Oberlin College, Crafting Change Symposium, keynote, “Crafting the Hybrid Body”

  • 2021, University of New Mexico, CS Colloquium, “Crafting the Hybrid Body” (host: Leah Buechley)

  • 2021, MIT Media Lab, Tangible Interfaces Guest Lecture, “Designing the Hybrid Body” (host: Hiroshi Ishii)

  • 2021, MIT Media Lab, Cognitive Augmentation Guest Lecture, “Designing the Hybrid Body” (host: Pattie Maes)

  • 2021, Tsing Hua University, Future Lab Symposium, virtual keynote, “Designing the Hybrid Body”(host: Ying Hua)

  • 2020, Rhode Island School of Design Textile Department Seminar, Designing the Hybrid Body” (host: Joy Ko)

  • 2020, ACM International Symposium for Wearable Computers Design Panel, panelist on the design process for wearable tech research

  • 2020, New York Textile Month, panelist on “Textiles of Tomorrow”

  • 2019, Accenture Technology Labs, San Francisco, CA, “Designing the Hybrid Body” (host: Alex Kass & Andreea Danielescu)

  • 2019, Women of Wearables, NY, NY, “Designing the Hybrid Body”

  • 2019, National Chiao Tung University, Global Research & Industry Alliance (GLORIA), Hsinchu, Taiwan “Designing the Hybrid Body” (host: Ken Wu)

  • 2018, Royal College of Art, Fashion Design Programme, London, UK, “Hybrid Body Craft” (host: Helene Steiner)

  • 2018, National Taiwan University, Dept. of Computer Science, Taipei, Taiwan “Hybrid Body Craft” (host: Jane Hsu)

  • 2018, Quanta Computer Incorporated, Taoyuan, Taiwan “Aesthetically and culturally designed wearables” (host: Ted

  • 2018, HOSOO Textiles, Kyoto, Japan, “Hybrid Body Craft”

  • 2018, LA TEXTILE, Los Angeles, CA, Keynote Speech: "Hybrid Body Craft"

  • 2018, Snapchat Research, Los Angeles, CA, "Hybrid Body Craft"

  • 2018, Samsung Design Innovation Center, San Francisco, CA, “Hybrid Body Craft” (host: Fredrico Casalegno)

  • 2018, Cornell University Information Science Colloquium, Ithaca, NY, "Hybrid Body Craft" (host: Francois Guimbretiere)

  • 2018, BostonCHI keynote, Boston, MA, "Hybrid Body Craft"

  • 2017, The New Context Conference, San Francisco, CA, Becoming Cyborgs session | “Hybrid Body Craft”

  • 2017, MIT Museum, Boston, MA, Living in the Future Series | “Kino: Robotic Jewelry”

  • 2017, IEEE Consumer Electronics Boston Chapter, Boston, MA, "Hybrid Body Craft"

  • 2017, Future of Innovation, Technology &Creativity (FITC) Conference, Toronto, Canada, “Hybrid Body Craft”

Updated Oct 2025