Jennifer Jacobs
CRML Affiliated Faculty
Assistant Professor, Media Arts and Technology and Computer Science (by courtesy)
The Expressive Computation Lab's objective is to foster the development of expressive computational tools for art, design, and engineering. We envision a future for computational production where software and hardware tools are truly shaped by the people who use them. In line with this vision, ECG builds new computational tools that enable artists, designers, and engineers to integrate core computational affordances with their own knowledge and practices. We create new hardware and software interfaces that allow practitioners to combine computational abstraction, automation, and generativity with direct-manipulation, manual control, and physical materials. We develop domain-specific programming languages that allow practitioners to extend and modify software tools as they create. In the course of our research, we explore new methods to integrate iterative systems engineering with professional creative practices
Jennifer Jacobs is Assistant Professor in Media Arts and Technology and Computer Science (by courtesy) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is director of the Expressive Computation Lab — a group whose research spans computational art and design, human computer interaction, and systems engineering. Trained in computer science, design, and fine art, Jacobs received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab and completed her postdoctoral research in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University. She also received an M.F.A. and B.F.A from Hunter College and the University of Oregon respectively. Her research has been presented at international venues including SIGGRAPH, DIS, CACM, Ars Electronica and CHI, where her research has received multiple best paper awards.