Listening to the Body: Soft Electronics, Electrophysiology and the Physics of Human–Machine Interfaces

Oct 7 SPECIAL IRON’S LECTURE COLLOQUIUM

Listening to the Body: Soft Electronics, Electrophysiology and the Physics of Human–Machine Interfaces

Date and Time: Wednesday, October 07, 2026, 03:30pm –

Location: Zoom and/or 330W in the Physics and Astronomy Building

Speaker: Yael Hanein, Tel Aviv University

Abstract: The human body continuously generates electrical signals that reflect neural activity, muscle activation, eye movements, cardiac function, and cognitive state. Accessing this rich information outside the laboratory, however, requires interfaces that can conform to the body, remain stable during natural behavior, and resolve weak physiological signals in the presence of motion and environmental noise. In this talk, I will describe our development of soft, wearable electrode technologies that bring electrophysiological measurements from controlled laboratory experiments into everyday environments. I will discuss how advances in materials, electrode–skin interfaces, sensing electronics, and signal analysis enable high-quality EEG, EMG, EOG, and ECG recordings using unobtrusive wearable systems. Examples will include mapping facial muscle activity, decoding gestures and silent speech, monitoring sleep, and quantifying physiological and cognitive states. I will conclude with our current efforts to move from sensing to interaction, combining multimodal physiological measurements, AI, and electrical stimulation to create adaptive human–machine interfaces that can infer state and intention and ultimately interact with the nervous system in closed loop.

For more information (and zoom links) go to our colloquium webpage:  https://physics.rutgers.edu/events/colloquium