Don Samitha Elvitigala is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Centred Computing at Monash
His research investigates novel human augmentations that can enhance human capabilities by implicitly understanding humans’ physical and mental behaviours. In particular, he explores how we can utilise everyday clothes and clothing accessories to develop augmented human interfaces. He has published his work in premier peer-reviewed HCI conferences and journals, such as CHI, UIST, MobileHCI, UbiComp, and ToCHI. Some of his publications have received honourable mention award and best paper award.
Before joining Monash Don Samitha was a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW, Sydney where he co-created HCI BoDi Lab. At UNSW he investigated how a network of human augmentations can serve a community by context and environmental sensing.
He completed his Ph.D. in human-computer interaction (Uncovering the Potential of the Foot for Novel I/O Interfaces) at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) of the University of Auckland, New Zealand in July 2021. The concept of his Ph.D. dissertation was runner-up for the best presentation at the doctoral colloquium of UbiComp 2018. Also, his thesis won the best thesis award in ABI for 2021, was selected to the Graduate School dean’s list, and was nominated for the ACM dissertation award.
You can download my CV from here
Projects
Press & Media
- Our Studio Foot Augmentation 101: Design Your Own Augmented Experience has been accepted to TEI 2024.
- November 2nd 2023 Don presented his RadarFoot at UIST 2023
- July 16th 2023 Don presented his work at Dagstuhl SportsHCI Seminar
- November 1st 2022: Don presented his tickle foot paper UIST 2022
- April 18th 2022 : Don Presented at HCC of Monash University
TickleFoot: Watch a foot-tickling machine discover the most ticklish spot on feet (NewScientist UK, March 2022)
Touch Me Gently recreates natural touch sensation using shape-memory-alloy matrix (hackster.io, March 2020)
FootSense: New technology to take temperature of the feet of diabetic (The University of Auckland)
GymSoles featured in Global GradShow 2019
This Doormat can tell who you are for Multi-Factor Authentication. (hackster.io, May 2019)
GymSoles Help You Improve Your Squats and Deadlifts by Monitoring and Correcting Your Form. (hackster.io, March 2019)
Swimming: Sight-based starting system a green signal for deaf swimmers. (Straits Times, Jul 2017)
SwimSight: A Sound of Hope for Deaf Swimmers. (The Sunday Times Apr 2014)
Publications
Journal anc Conference Papers
Elvitigala, D.S., Wang, Y., Hu Y. and Quigley, A.J., 2023. RadarFoot: Fine-grain Ground Surface Context Awareness for Smart Shoes. In UIST’23: The ACM Symposium on User Interface Software Technology, Oct 29 – Nov 2, SF, USA
Somarathna, S., Elvitigala, D.S., Yan, Y., Quigley, A.J., and Mohammadi, G., 2023. Exploring User Engagement in Imeersive Virtual Reality Games through Multimodal Body Movements. VRST’23: In proceedings of thr 29th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology, Oct, Christchurch, New Zealand
Hu, Y., Yeo, H., Yuan, M., Fan, H., Elvitigala, D.S., Hu W. and Quigley, A.J., 2023 MicroCam: Leveraging Smartphone Microscope Camera for Context-Aware Contact Surface Sensing. In Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technology (IMWUT), Volume 7, Issue3
Dissanayake, V., Tang, V., Elvitigala, D.S., Wen, E., Wu, M., and Nanayakkara, S.C., 2022 Tori: Towards understanding users perspectives to mobile automatic emotion recognition system in their natural setting. In the Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Volume6, Issue MHCI, Articile No:203.
Elvitigala, D.S. , Boldu, R., Matthies, D. J. C., and Nanayakkara, S. 2022. TickleFoot: Desogn Development and Evaluation of a Novel Foot-Tickling Mechanism That Can Evoke Laughter. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. Volume 29, Issue 3, Pages 1-23.
Elvitigala, D.S. , Scholl, P.M., Suriyaarachchi, H., Dissanayake, V., and Nanayakkara, S. 2021.StressShoe: A DIY Toolkit for just-in-time Personalised Stress Interventions for Office Workers Performing Sedentary Tasks. In MobileHCI’21: The ACM International Conference on Mobile Human-Computer Interaction, September 27-30,2021, Touluse, France. ACM. Honorable Mention Award!
Muthukumarana S., Elvitigala D.S., Wu Q., Pai Y.S., Nanayakkara S.C. 2021. Jammify: Interactive Multi-sensory System for Digital Art Jamming. In Human-Computer-Interaction – INTERACT 2021, Springer International Publishing, Cham, 23–41
Elvitigala, D.S. , Nanayakkara, S. and Huber, J. 2021.Augmented Foot: A Comprehensive Survey of Augmented Foot Interfaces.In Augmented Humans International Conference 2021 (AHs ’21), February22–24, 2021, Rovaniemi, Finland.ACM.
Elvitigala, D.S., Matthies, D.J.C., Weerasinghe, C., and Nanayakkara, S. 2021. GymSoles++: Combining Google Glass withSmart Insoles to Improve Body Posture when Performing Squats. In the 14th PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments Conference (PETRA 2021), June 29-July 2, 2021, Corfu, Greece. ACM. Best Student Paper Award!
Matthies, D.J.C, Elvitigala, D.S., Fu, A. Yin, D., and Nanayakkara, S., 2021. mobiLLD: Exploring the Detection of Leg Length Discrepancy and Altering Gait with Mobile Smart Insoles. In The14th PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments Conference (PETRA 2021), June 29-July 2, 2021, Corfu, Greece.ACM.
Elvitigala, D.S.; Matthies, D.J.; Nanayakkara, S. StressFoot: Uncovering the Potential of the Foot for Acute Stress Sensing in Sitting Posture. Sensors 2020, 20, 2882.
Elvitigala, D.S., Matthies, D.J.C., David, L., Weerasinghe, C., & Nanayakkara, S. (2019). GymSoles: Improving Squats and Dead-Lifts by Visualizing the User’s Center of Pressure. In Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Proceedings (CHI 2019), May 4–9, 2019, Glasgow, Scotland Uk. ACM
Muthukumarana, S., Elvitigala, D.S., Cortes, J.P.F., Matthies, D.J.C., and Nanayakkara, S. 2020, April. Touch me Gently: Recreating the Perception of Touch using a Shape-Memory Alloy Matrix. In Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Proceedings (CHI 2020), April 25–30, 2020, Honolulu, Hawai’i, USA. ACM.
Benjamin Petry, Thavishi Illandara, Don Samitha Elvitigala, and Suranga Nanayakkara. 2018. Supporting Rhythm Activities of Deaf Children using Music-Sensory-Substitution Systems. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 486:1–486:10
Dissanayake V., Elvitigala D.S., Zhang H., Weerasinghe C., Nanayakkara S. (2019). CompRate: Power Efficient Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability Monitoring on Smart Wearables. In 25th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST ’19), November 12–15, 2019, Parramatta, NSW, Australia.
Elvitigala, D.S., Matthies, D.J.C., Dissanayaka, V., Weerasinghe, C., & Nanayakkara, S. (2019) 2bit-TactileHand: Evaluating Tactons for On-Body Vibrotactile Displays on the Hand and Wrist. In Augmented Human International Conference 2019 (AH2019), March 11–12, 2019, Reims, France, ACM.
Don Samitha Elvitigala, Daniel Wessolek, Attila Victor Achenbach, Chanaka Singhabahu, Suranga Nanayakkara, SwimSight: Supporting Deaf Users to Participate in Swimming Games. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Australian Special Interest Group for Computer Human Interaction (OzCHI ’16). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 567-570.
Don Samitha Elvitigala, Roshan Peiris, Erik Wilhelm, Shaohui Foong, and Suranga Nanayakkara. GrabAmps: Grab a wire to sense the current flow. In Proceedings of the 8th Augmented Human International Conference (AH’17). ACM, Silicon Valley, LA, USA, Article No. 30.
POSTERS & DEMOS
Elvitigala D. S., Somarathna R., Yan Y., Mohammadi G., Quigley A., 2022. Towards using involuntary body gestures for measuring the user engagement in VR gaming. In adjunct proceedings of the 35th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, (UIST’22) Oct 28–Nov 02, 2020, Bend. Oregan, USA
Elvitigala D. S., Matthies D. J. C., Weerasinghe C., Shi Y., Nanayakkara S., 2020. GymSoles++: Using Smart Wearables to Improve Body Posture when Performing Squats and Dead-Lifts. In AHs ’20: Augmented Humans International Conference (AHs ’20), March 16–17, 2020, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Matthies, D.J.C., Elvitigala, D.S., Muthukumarana, S., Huber J., & Nanayakkara, S. (2019). CapMat: A Smart Foot Mat for User Authentication. In Augmented Human International Conference 2019 (AH2019), March 11–12, 2019, Reims, France. ACM.
Muthukumarana S., Matthies, D.J.C., Weerasinghe, C. Elvitigala, D.S., & Nanayakkara, S. (2019). CricketCoach: Towards Creating a Better Awareness of Gripping Forces for Cricketers. In Augmented Human International Conference 2019 (AH2019), March 11–12, 2019, Reims, France. ACM.
Elvitigala D. S., Exploring the Potential of the Foot to Infer on User Information. In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM International Joint Conference and 2018 International Symposium on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Wearable Computers (UbiComp ’18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 1805-1808.
Elvitigala D. S., Uncovering the Potential of the Foot as a Source of User Information. In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM International Joint Conference and 2018 International Symposium on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Wearable Computers (UbiComp ’18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 541-546.
Elvitigala, D. S., Chan, S. W. T., Howell, N., Matthies, D. J. C., & Nanayakkara, S. (2018). Doodle Daydream: An Interactive Display to Support Playful and Creative Interactions Between Co-workers. In Proceedings of the Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (pp. 186-186). ACM.
Muthukumarana, S., Elvitigala, D.S., Cortes, J.P.F., Matthies, D.J. and Nanayakkara, S., 2019, November. PhantomTouch: Creating an Extended Reality by the Illusion of Touch using a Shape-Memory Alloy Matrix. In SIGGRAPH Asia 2019 XR (pp. 29-30). ACM.
Anusha Withana, Shanaka Ransiri, Tharindu Kaluarachchi, Chanaka Singhabahu, Yilei Shi, Samitha Elvitigala, Suranga Nanayakkara, waveSense: Ultra Low Power Gesture Sensing Based on Selective Volumetric Illumination, In proceedings of the 29th Annual Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST ’16)
Awards
Doctor of Philosphy Examination – Dean’s List
My name has been placed on the Dean of Graduate Studies List (Dean’s List) of the University of Auckland, New Zealand in recognition of excellence achieved with my doctoral thesis. This award is made to only a few recipients each year from the large number of doctoral students completing their thesis.
Honorable Mention Award in MobileHCI 2021 (Sept-Oct 2021)
My paper “StressShoe: A DIY Toolkit for just-in-time Personalised Stress Interventions for Office Workers Performing Sedentary Tasks” won the honuorable mention award in MobileHCI 2021 (The ACM International Conference on Mobile Human-Computer Interaction).
Best Student Paper Award in PETRA 2021 (June-July 2021)
My paper “GymSoles++: Combining Google Glass withSmart Insoles to Improve Body Posture when Performing Squats.” won the best paper award in PETRA 2021 (PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments Conference)
New Zealand Best Design Awards 2020
GymSoles won New Zealand Best Design Awards Bronze medal in Student Digital Technology Category
Jammify won New Zealand Best Design Awards Silver medal in Student Digital Technology Category
Jammify won New Zealand Best Design Awards Bronze medal in Student Spatial Installations Category
Pride in Lights won New Zealand Best Design Awards Gold medal in Lighting Design Category
Pride in Lights won New Zealand Best Design Awards Gold medal in Exhibition and Temporary Structures Category
Touch me Gently Selected as a finalist in New Zealand Best Design Awards Student Digital Technology Category
Doctoral Colloquium Best Presentation Award Runner-Up (Oct 2018).
My PhD research project presentation won runner-up award at Doctoral Colloquium of UbiComp 2018 (The 2018 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing)
Velocity Innovation Challenge, PhD Category winner ( May 2018)
I won PhD category prize in 2018 Velocity Innovation Challenge, The University of Auckland entrepreneurship program.
I have been awarded a full Scholarship by The University of Auckland Bioengineering Institute to Pursue Doctoral Research. (2018-2022)
NUS Medical Grand Challenge (Aug 2017).
I was awarded third price in NUS Medical Grand challenge, an inter university students competiton for medical innovation organized by National University of Singapore.