As a tenure-track assistant professor, Hamed is a founding member of the Digital Interactions Lab.

Hamed's research explores the future of human interactive experiences with built environments, with a particular focus on co-designing inclusive spaces at both the building and urban scales.

At the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and the built environment, Hamed's design-oriented research is driven by two fundamental questions: What do we design for, and who do we design for? He investigates how future (smart) environments can embody the complexity of human diversity—not only physical and cognitive but also cultural and social. He also examines the human values that should guide research, design practices, and ultimately, policymaking in this domain.

Many smart environment projects are not necessarily moving in the right direction. For centuries, something as simple as opening or closing a window has provided remarkably sophisticated human experiences: to regulate temperature, light, air quality, acoustics, privacy, and even social interactions between indoor and outdoor spaces. However, the rise of automated smart building systems is set to transform this dynamic. What will be the consequences of such an efficiency-oriented smart agenda in built environments for the humans who inhabit them?

Methodologically, Hamed is interested in how HCI can contribute to the evolution of buildings and urban spaces as they increasingly integrate artificial intelligence, context-aware automation, and interactivity. He argues for shifting the focus from optimizing infrastructure to designing human experiences with and within built environments.

What are the specific attributes of building that Human-AI Interaction researchers should take into account when shifting attention and scale from "artefact" to "architecture", from usability to engagement, and from (often) short lifespan or discretionary to durable and immersive experiences? These and other questions that embody the complexity of our interactive experiences with built environments define the scope of Hamed's research, which he has been developing with the notion of Human-Building Interaction.


Hamed holds a PhD in Computer and Communication Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL). His doctoral research focused on the application of ubiquitous technologies in classroom education, particularly ambient interfaces that encourage and support collaborative learning..