IEEE World Haptics Conference 2025
Plenary Talks
IEEE World Haptics Conference 2025
Plenary Talks
Plenary Talks
Plenary Speakers
We are pleased to announce the renowned and influential plenary speaker line-up for IEEE WHC 2025. The following visionary speakers will share their experiences and insights on the latest trends and developments in the field of haptics.
Plenary Talk I
Plenary Talk II
Plenary Talk III
Plenary Talk IV
×
Dr. Sangok SEOK
(Chief Executive Officer of NAVER LABS, Korea)
Title: New Connections: Spatial AI, Digital Twin, Cloud, and Robotics for Future Cities
Biography
Dr. Sangok Seok, CEO of NAVER LABS, is leading NAVER’s next-generation technology platform research through the integration of robotics, AI, autonomous driving, digital twin, etc. Holding a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University and a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his research paper on the MIT Cheetah was selected as the best paper at IEEE/ASME in 2016. After working in National Instruments and Samsung Electronics, Dr. Seok joined NAVER in 2015, spearheading NAVER’s robotics field and filing over 60 robot-related patents. Since becoming the CEO of both NAVER LABS (in 2019) and NAVER LABS Europe (in 2020), he has been leading world-class researchers to prepare for the future of NAVER with advanced technologies that connect people, machines, space, and information. In 2022, Dr. Seok received much attention from international corporations · media · research institutions for the “1784 Project,” under which NAVER’s second headquarters was constructed as the world’s first robot-friendly building. With recognition for the first domestic installation of local 5G networks, he was awarded the Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit. In 2023, Dr. Seok was appointed as vice chair of the Business Executive Council at the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, and in 2024, he has been awarded the Academic Award, Technology Sector from the Korea Robotics Society(KROS) in recognition of the innovative robot platform’s contribution to the global robot service industry.
×
Dr. Sangok SEOK
(Chief Executive Officer of NAVER LABS, Korea)
Title: New Connections: Spatial AI, Digital Twin, Cloud, and Robotics for Future Cities
Lecture Summary
NAVER LABS’ spatial intelligence technology is at the forefront of innovation, creating new connections between the physical and digital worlds. We’d like to explain how we are expanding into innovative services such as robotics, autonomous driving, AR/VR, and smart cities. Then, we’d like to share our vision and the future we can create together
×
Dr. Anatole Lecuyer
(Inria Rennes/IRISA, France)
Title: Welcome to my haptic illusion factory: pseudo-haptics, persuasive haptics, haptic motion, and more!
Biography
Anatole Lécuyer is senior researcher at Inria, the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control, in Rennes, France. His research interests include haptics, virtual reality, 3D user interfaces, and brain-computer interfaces. He served notably as secretary of the IEEE Technical Committee on Haptics (2006-2011), program chair of the IEEE Virtual Reality conference (2015 and 2016), and general chair of the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference (2025). He was associate editor of several journals including IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, and Presence. He is the author or co-author of more than 250 scientific publications and 15 patents. Anatole Lécuyer obtained the Inria-French Academy of Sciences Young Researcher Prize in 2013, the IEEE VGTC Technical Achievement Award in Virtual/Augmented Reality in 2019 and was inducted in the inaugural class of the IEEE Virtual Reality Academy in 2022.
×
Dr. Anatole Lecuyer
(Inria Rennes/IRISA, France)
Title: Welcome to my haptic illusion factory: pseudo-haptics, persuasive haptics, haptic motion, and more!
Lecture Summary
In this talk I will reflect on more than 25 years of haptics research, much of it devoted to the design of interactive systems that push the boundaries of haptic perception. I will start with my personal motivations, which can be traced back to a childhood fascination with interactive technologies, in particular the first virtual reality systems and haptic interfaces of the 1990s. Another source of inspiration was human perception and its flaws, such as haptic illusions, which pave the way for perceptual magic tricks to fool the human brain. I will then present my main results in this area, starting with pseudo-haptic feedback, a technique introduced in the early 2000s that allows haptic sensations to be modified or generated using visual feedback. I will also present more recent results such as “persuasive haptics”, which can artificially enhance social interactions and verbal communication, or “haptic motion”, an alternative haptic paradigm capable of inducing powerful self- motion illusions using haptic feedback. In short, this talk is an exotic journey into the simulation of alternative haptic perceptions and the design of disruptive technological devices: welcome to my haptic illusion factory!
