The Machine Intelligence and Human-Robot Interaction Laboratory (MItHRIL) is a research group dedicated to improving interactions between people and machines. Situated within the Stephen J.R. Smith Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s University in the beautiful city of Kingston, Canada, MItHRIL conducts multi-disciplinary research on human-robot interactions, social robotics, virtual/augmented reality, machine learning, haptics, and human psychomotor behaviours. MItHRIL is also embedded within the Ingenuity Labs Research Institute – an interdisciplinary initiative at Queen’s University focused on combining artificial intelligence, robotics, and human-machine interaction to create future intelligent systems and robotic machines that enhance human productivity, safety, performance, and quality of life.
Mission Statement
The name of our research group is derived from the word ‘mithril’ – a fictional metal invented by J. R. R. Tolkien. First appearing in Tolkien’s seminal work The Lord of the Rings, mithril is described as a remarkable material that is lighter, stronger, and more workable than steel and is prized for both its beauty and usefulness.
“Mithril! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim.”
– J. R. R. Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring
Drawing on the characteristics of its namesake, the MItRHIL research group aims to create human-machine interactions that are remarkable and useful. The mission of MItHRIL is to advance and quickly disrupt the state of these interactions to the point where they can be useful across multiple industries and application areas such as manufacturing, healthcare, entertainment, hospitality, and the community. We strive to make interactive systems and robotics safer, smarter, and faster. Ultimately, the technologies we develop aim to improve performance, abilities, and quality of life for all people, regardless of background, and foster mutual understanding and collaboration between humans and robots.
Partners and Sponsors
