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Subfield · Computer Science

Human-Computer Interaction research

Human-Computer Interaction is a subfield of Computer Science. Science Explorer counts 172k research works in it since 1950. 19.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: academic discipline.

Research works
172k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
33k
per year above
Top-10% rate
19.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
8
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+29%
the tick is no change

What is Human-Computer Interaction research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Virtual Reality, Social Interaction, Human-Computer Interaction, Embodiment, Presence, Gesture Recognition. Gaining share since 2009–13: Embodiment, Presence, Social Interaction, Virtual Reality, Hand Gesture. Losing share: Mobile Applications, Usability, User-Centered Design, Interaction Techniques.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 21 words, with their numbers
  1. Virtual Reality20k▲ 1.38×2 topics
  2. Social Interaction18k▲ 1.61×2 topics
  3. Human-Computer Interaction15k▼ 0.80×3 topics
  4. Embodiment13k▲ 1.91×1 topic
  5. Presence13k▲ 1.91×1 topic
  6. Gesture Recognition11k▼ 0.86×2 topics
  7. Hand Gesture7,126▲ 1.27×1 topic
  8. Sign Language7,126▲ 1.27×1 topic
  9. Eye Tracking6,592◆ 0.89×1 topic
  10. Gaze Estimation6,592◆ 0.89×1 topic
  11. Design Research6,460◆ 1.06×1 topic
  12. User Experience6,460◆ 1.06×1 topic
  13. Computer-Mediated Communication4,877◆ 1.14×1 topic
  14. Emoticons4,877◆ 1.14×1 topic
  15. Interaction Techniques4,321▼ 0.56×1 topic
  16. Tangible User Interfaces4,321▼ 0.56×1 topic
  17. User-Centered Design3,302▼ 0.42×2 topics
  18. Data-Driven1,834◆ 1.06×1 topic
  19. Personas1,834◆ 1.06×1 topic
  20. Mobile Applications1,469▼ 0.24×1 topic
  21. Usability1,469▼ 0.24×1 topic

Which countries lead Human-Computer Interaction research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Human-Computer Interaction. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (6.8k and 5.9k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 17.8% top 10% · 6.8k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 21.1% top 10% · 5.9k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 23.5% top 10% · 2.1k works
  4. 4 India · #9 all time 10.2% top 10% · 3.5k works
  5. 5 Germany · #4 all time 18.3% top 10% · 2.3k works
  6. 6 South Korea · #10 all time 21.5% top 10% · 1.2k works
  7. 7 Italy · #8 all time 22.8% top 10% · 1.2k works
  8. 8 Australia · #6 all time 26.5% top 10% · 986 works
  9. 9 Canada · #5 all time 21.1% top 10% · 1.1k works
  10. 10 Hong Kong · #18 all time 30.0% top 10% · 386 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 39 countries ranked in Human-Computer Interaction. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Human-Computer Interaction

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 6.8k works
  2. 2 United States 5.9k works
  3. 3 India 3.5k works
  4. 4 Germany 2.3k works
  5. 5 Japan 2.1k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 2.1k works
  7. 7 Indonesia 1.4k works
  8. 8 South Korea 1.2k works
  9. 9 Italy 1.2k works
  10. 10 Canada 1.1k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 24.8%United States: 21.4%India: 12.7%Germany: 8.5%6 others listed: 32.7%25%largest
China6,842 · 24.8%United States5,902 · 21.4%India3,513 · 12.7%Germany2,346 · 8.5%6 others listed9,019 · 32.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Human-Computer Interaction research?

Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong) ranks first in Human-Computer Interaction on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Washington and Tsinghua University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong · Hong Kong · #28 all time 33.2% top 10% · 120 works
  2. 2 University of Washington United States · Seattle · #2 all time 33.7% top 10% · 118 works
  3. 3 Tsinghua University China · Beijing · #29 all time 22.7% top 10% · 148 works
  4. 4 Carnegie Mellon University United States · Pittsburgh · #1 all time 28.0% top 10% · 128 works
  5. 5 Georgia Institute of Technology United States · Atlanta · #3 all time 25.0% top 10% · 104 works
  6. 6 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #4 all time 34.0% top 10% · 68 works
  7. 7 Beihang University China · Beijing · #89 all time 19.1% top 10% · 114 works
  8. 8 Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou · #77 all time 25.8% top 10% · 99 works
  9. 9 Cornell University United States · Ithaca · #18 all time 29.7% top 10% · 84 works
  10. 10 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China · Shanghai · #70 all time 22.7% top 10% · 122 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 64 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Human-Computer Interaction.

Top 100 Human-Computer Interaction institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 The University of Tokyo Japan 151 works
  2. 2 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology South Korea 151 works
  3. 3 Tsinghua University China 147 works
  4. 4 Binus University Indonesia 129 works
  5. 5 Carnegie Mellon University United States 128 works
  6. 6 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China 122 works
  7. 7 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong 120 works
  8. 8 University of Washington United States 119 works
  9. 9 SRM Institute of Science and Technology India 117 works
  10. 10 Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands 117 works

Who are the leading researchers in Human-Computer Interaction?

Among the most productive authors in Human-Computer Interaction, Andrew Zisserman, Jitendra Malik and Seyedali Mirjalili rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Andrew Zisserman United Kingdom · #3 worldwide 25k citations · 241 works
  2. 2 Jitendra Malik United States · #39 worldwide 12k citations · 179 works
  3. 3 Seyedali Mirjalili Australia · #98 worldwide 7.6k citations · 164 works
  4. 4 Alex Pentland United States · #100 worldwide 6k citations · 219 works
  5. 5 Takeo Kanade United States · #140 worldwide 4.8k citations · 188 works
  6. 6 Bernt Schiele Germany · #159 worldwide 6.9k citations · 215 works
  7. 7 Michael J. Black Germany · #699 worldwide 3.4k citations · 129 works
  8. 8 Richard E. Mayer United States · #706 worldwide 4.7k citations · 233 works
  9. 9 Donald A. Norman United States · #1,026 worldwide 2.6k citations · 91 works
  10. 10 Mel Slater United Kingdom · #1,307 worldwide 2.4k citations · 100 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,526 highest-output authors in Human-Computer Interaction. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Human-Computer Interaction researchers

Where is Human-Computer Interaction research done?

The largest centres of Human-Computer Interaction research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Shanghai (China) and Seoul (South Korea). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Marina del Rey, Wels and Rovaniemi.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 1.3k works
  2. 2 Tokyo Japan 854 works
  3. 3 Shanghai China 577 works
  4. 4 Seoul South Korea 524 works
  5. 5 London United Kingdom 481 works
  6. 6 Chennai India 396 works
  7. 7 Nanjing China 353 works
  8. 8 Hangzhou China 348 works
  9. 9 Guangzhou China 346 works
  10. 10 Hong Kong China 315 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Marina del ReyUS · 26.8 works30×
  2. WelsAT · 30.2 works16×
  3. RovaniemiFI · 20.9 works14×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Human-Computer Interaction than the world average.

See Human-Computer Interaction on the map

Human-Computer Interaction research by country

The best places for Human-Computer Interaction research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Human-Computer Interaction?

Among universities, judged by research, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Carnegie Mellon University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 27.22%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University: 76, 17.6%Hong Kong Polytechnic University: 120, 33.2%Carnegie Mellon University: 128, 28.0%Hong Kong University of Science and Technology: 59, 25.8%Eindhoven University of Technology: 117, 20.3%IT University of Copenhagen: 40, 27.3%University of Washington: 118, 33.7%University of Colorado Boulder: 61, 34.1%City University of Hong Kong: 56, 35.4%Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology: 151, 16.8%Hong Kong Polytechni…Carnegie Mellon Univ…Hong Kong University…Xi’an Jiaotong-Liver…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University China 66.717.6%8.4×76 +346.4%
2Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong 64.933.2%3.2×120 +44.1%
3Carnegie Mellon University United States 64.128.0%7.4×128 +2.5%
4Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong 61.925.8%3.6×59 +197.5%
5Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands 61.020.3%7.7×117 +19.6%
6IT University of Copenhagen Denmark 59.827.3%17.7×40 -11.3%
7University of Washington United States 58.533.7%2.8×118 +53.1%
8University of Colorado Boulder United States 58.534.1%3.8×61 +124.9%
9City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 58.035.4%2.3×56 +62.4%
10Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology South Korea 57.716.8%7.6×151 +5.7%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Human-Computer Interaction research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 29% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Innovative Human-Technology Interaction, Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts and Persona Design and Applications.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Innovative Human-Technology Interaction+216%
  2. Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts+193%
  3. Persona Design and Applications+149%
  4. Hand Gesture Recognition Systems+149%
  5. Gaze Tracking and Assistive Technology+131%
  6. Digital Communication and Language+116%
  7. Usability and User Interface Design-30%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Human-Computer Interaction include?

Virtual Reality Applicat…37kVirtual Reality Applications and Impacts: 37k fractional worksGaze Tracking and Assistive Technology: 26k fractional worksHand Gesture Recognition Systems: 24k fractional worksInteractive and Immersiv…23kInteractive and Immersive Displays: 23k fractional worksInnovative Human-Technol…22kInnovative Human-Technology Interaction: 22k fractional worksUsability and User Interface Design: 17k fractional worksDigital Communication and Language: 16k fractional worksPersona Design and Appli…Persona Design and Applications: 6,879 fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.