Michel Maharbiz is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and a Co-Director of the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Maharbiz's research interests include building micro/nano interfaces to cells and organisms and exploring bio-deprived fabrication methods. His long term goal is to understand developmental mechanisms as a way to engineer and fabricate machines.

The distance between the real and the virtual is clearest at the interface layer. The ways that our bodies interact with the physical world are rich and elaborate while digital interactions are far more limited. I present my concept of perceptual engineering, which aims to increase the level of direct and intuitive interaction with the virtual world. My goal is to raise computing devices from external systems that require deliberate usage to those that are truly an extension of us, advancing both the state of research and human ability.