Research Fellow · Monash University
Dr. Rakesh
Patibanda
Senior researcher and product leader working at the intersection of HCI, embodied technology, and human behaviour. I turn complex evidence into strategies that ship — across academia, healthcare, and industry.
About
I work at the edge of what bodies and machines can do together.
Over the past decade I have led mixed-methods research across academia and industry, turning complex qualitative and quantitative evidence into product strategy, service design, and deployable technology.
My work spans wearable sensing, Electrical Muscle Stimulation, AR/VR, gamification, and human-computer integration. I am equally at home writing DECRA grant proposals, facilitating co-design workshops with 2,000 users, or shipping features that move engagement metrics.
Currently a Research Fellow at Monash University and Research Associate at the University of Nottingham’s Mixed Reality Lab, collaborating with researchers at UCL, Cambridge, Waterloo, and LMU Munich.
What I do
Three ways I create value
From foundational research to shipped product — I operate across the full spectrum.
Mixed-Methods Research Leadership
I design and lead research programmes combining qualitative depth with quantitative rigour — from 1:1 interviews and Wizard-of-Oz testing to longitudinal studies with 100,000+ participants.
Human-Centred Product & Service Design
I translate research into action — improving products, services, and user journeys. At RMIT I reduced credentialing errors by 40% and saved 1,000+ faculty hours. At 7 Cups I drove a 50% engagement surge.
Emerging Technology & Embodied Interaction
My research explores how wearables, EMS, AR/VR, and AI-enabled systems reshape bodily experience, agency, play, and wellbeing — evaluated rigorously in real-world settings.
Selected Impact
Research that moves numbers
- ★Best Paper Award ×2 — ACM CHI 2018 & 2024Top 1% of all global submissions at the world’s premier HCI conference
- 🎓Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Thesis ExcellenceMonash University 2024 — highest academic honour for doctoral research
- 🏆Best Interactivity — ACM CHI PLAY 2023Audience Choice Award for most innovative interactive system demonstration
- 🌍Invited talks at 8 universities across 4 countriesCambridge, UCL, Nottingham, Waterloo, Queensland, LMU Munich & more
- 💡Contributor — €6.5M UKRI Somabotics ProgrammeAI, robotics & embodied arts at the University of Nottingham MRL
“Visionary HCI researcher and product leader bridging embodied technology and commercial impact — from award-winning academic work at CHI to measurable engagement lifts in live products.”
— Dr. Rakesh Patibanda · Research Fellow, Monash UniversityFeatured Work
Select publications
A cross-section of peer-reviewed output — from foundational theory to playful systems.
Experiencing the Body as Play
PsiNet: Brain-to-Brain Interfaces for Augmenting Inter-Brain Synchrony
Auto-Paizo Games: Unifying Player’s Body and the Virtual World
Shared Bodily Fusion: Inter-Body EMS for Social Play
Drone Chi: Somaesthetic Human-Drone Interaction
Human–Computer Integration
Get in touch
Let’s work together.
Whether you’re looking for a research collaborator, UX strategy partner, keynote speaker, or PhD supervisor — I’d love to hear from you.