Sile O'Modhrain is a researcher and musician working at the intersection of human-computer interaction, haptics, and music technology. She is Professor of Performing Arts Technology in the School of Music, Theatre and Dance, and Professor of Information in the School of Information at the University of Michigan.[1][2] Her research focuses on the design and evaluation of interfaces that incorporate haptic (touch) and auditory feedback, with a particular emphasis on accessibility for people with visual impairments.[1] She is legally blind, and is noted as one of a very small number of blind researchers with deep expertise in haptic and tactile interface design, both as a researcher and as an end-user of the technologies she studies.[3]

O'Modhrain holds a master's degree in music technology from the University of York and a PhD from Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).[1] In 1994, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to develop a prototype haptic interface at Stanford, aimed at augmenting graphical user interfaces for blind computer users — work that established the central direction of her subsequent career.[1][2]

Before entering academia, O'Modhrain worked as a sound engineer and producer for BBC Network Radio, grounding her later research in practical audio production experience.[1]

From 2001 to 2005, O'Modhrain directed the Palpable Machines group at Media Lab Europe. Her work there focused on new interfaces for handheld devices that tightly coupled gestural input with touch and haptic display.[1][2]

Following her time at Media Lab Europe, O'Modhrain held a Senior Lecturer position at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queens University Belfast, where she continued developing her research in haptic and auditory interfaces.[1][4]

IN 2011, O'Modhrain joined the University of Michigan, where she holds dual professorships in Performing Arts Technology (School of Music, Theatre and Dance) and Information (School of Information).[1][2] The University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre and Dance describes her research focus as haptics — touch and gesture — and its relationship to music performance, and the development of new interfaces for technology-enhanced instruments.[2]

O'Modhrain's research sits at the intersection of music technology, haptics, accessibility, and human-computer interaction.[1][5] Recurring themes include:

• Haptic interfaces and touch feedback — O'Modhrain's early Fulbright research on haptic interfaces for blind users established touch-based computing as a central focus. She has over 25 years of experience designing and prototyping haptic and tactile interfaces.[3]
• Accessibility and visual impairment — Much of her work addresses the needs of users with visual impairments, including research on refreshable Braille displays, the accessibility of data visualizations for screen reader users, and how blind users navigate digital and physical environments.[5][6]
• Music technology and new interfaces — O'Modhrain has published extensively on new interfaces for musical expression, including tactile interfaces for granular synthesis and the role of touch in performer-instrument interaction.[7]
• Sonification — She has contributed research on using audio to analyse scientific data, including work on audification of time-series data from space physics.[8]
• Embodied interaction design — O'Modhrain's 2026 book A Dialogue of the Senses presents a comprehensive theory of embodied cognition for interaction design, arguing that designers must account for the body in motion rather than treating users as abstract inputs and outputs.[9][10]

In 2019, O'Modhrain co-founded NewHaptics with Alex Russomanno and Professor Brent Gillespie of the University of Michigan's School of Engineering.[11][12] The company grew out of the "Holy Braille Project," research that began around 2013, which aimed to develop a full-page Braille tablet using microfluidic actuation — a technology that modulates air pressure to raise and lower tactile pins.[12][13]

NewHaptics has received multiple Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation, including a $1 million Phase II award in April 2023, described as its fourth SBIR award.[14] In 2023, the company was selected as a finalist for the MIT Solve Global Challenge in Digital Inclusion, having been chosen from over 1,800 submissions.[15] The same year, it raised a round of venture funding from the Accelerate Blue Fund.[15]

O'Modhrain serves as Chief Experience Officer (CXO) of NewHaptics.[3]

O'Modhrain has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers. Her Google Scholar profile records significant citation impact across the fields of haptics, human-computer interaction, and accessibility.[5]

A Dialogue of the Senses: Designing Interaction with the Body in Mind, MIT Press, April 2026 (ISBN 978-0-262-05239-9).[9] The book has been described by Chris Harrison, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, as a book that "will fundamentally shift how you think about designing" interfaces, and by Tod Machover of MIT Media Lab as "destined to become an instant classic."[9]

• "Perceiving Slope and Acceleration: Evidence for Variable Tempo Sampling in Pitch-Based Sonification of Functions," IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 221–231 (2026).[8]
• "The Accessibility of Data Visualizations on the Web for Screen Reader Users: Practices and Experiences During COVID-19," ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, 16(1), Article 4 (2023).[6]
• "We can go anywhere: Understanding Independence through a case study of ride-hailing use by people with visual impairments in metropolitan India," Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 2, Article 85 (2018). (ACM CSCW Best Paper Award).[6]
• "Evaluating approaches to rendering braille text on a high-density pin display," IEEE Transactions on Haptics, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 476–481 (2018).[8]
• "Refreshing Refreshable Braille Displays," IEEE Transactions on Haptics, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 287–297 (2015).[8]
• "Designing Media for Visually-Impaired Users of Refreshable Touch Displays: Possibilities and Pitfalls," IEEE Transactions on Haptics, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 248–257 (2015).[8]
• "The Bird's Ear View of Space Physics: Audification as a Tool for the Spectral Analysis of Time Series Data," Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, vol. 119, no. 7 (2014).[8]

• "Once More, With Feeling: Revisiting the Role of Touch in Performer-Instrument Interaction," in Musical Haptics, Springer Series on Touch and Haptic Systems (2018).[7]
• "Tactile Interfaces for Granular Synthesis," in The New Interfaces for Musical Expression Reader, Springer (2017).[7]

In May 2017, O’Modhrain delivered a Ted talk entitled "Unnatural selection: Survival in the digital age" at TEDxLondonBusinessSchool, describing her journey from analogue sound engineering to digital accessibility research.[1][16]

• Fulbright Scholarship (1994) — awarded to develop haptic interface technology at Stanford University.[1]
• ACM CSCW Best Paper Award (2018) — for research on ride-hailing use and independence among people with visual impairments in India.[6]
• Recognition for Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion — ACM CSCW 2021, for research on accessibility and collaboration in programming for people with visual impairments.[6]
• MIT Solve Global Challenge Finalist — Digital Inclusion category, selected from over 1,800 submissions (NewHaptics, 2023).[15]

1. Sile O'Modhrain, Academic Portfolio. https://sileomo.github.io/ (accessed May 2026)
2. University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, faculty profile. https://smtd.umich.edu/profiles/sile-omodhrain/ (accessed May 2026)
3. NewHaptics Team page. https://www.newhaptics.com/our-team (accessed May 2026)
4. ZoomInfo profile, Sile O'Modhrain. https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Sile-Omodhrain/125261797 (accessed May 2026)
5. Google Scholar profile, Sile O'Modhrain. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=81JmIOoAAAAJ (accessed May 2026)
6. Sile O'Modhrain, Publications page. https://sileomo.github.io/publications/ (accessed May 2026)
7. Sile O'Modhrain, Publications (legacy site). https://www.somodhrain.net/palpable/publications.html (accessed May 2026)
8. IEEE Xplore / ResearchGate — individual paper records as listed on sileomo.github.io/publications
9. MIT Press, A Dialogue of the Senses: Designing Interaction with the Body in Mind. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262052399/a-dialogue-of-the-senses/ (accessed May 2026)
10. University of Michigan School of Information news, "New book by Sile O'Modhrain explores how the human body shapes interaction design experiences." https://www.si.umich.edu/about-umsi/news/new-book-sile-omodhrain-explores-how-human-body-shapes-interaction-design (accessed May 2026)
11. University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships, "NewHaptics works to Commercialize Multiline Braille and Graphical Tactile Display." https://innovationpartnerships.umich.edu/stories/newhaptics-works-to-commercialize-multiline-braille-and-graphical-tactile-display-nicknamed-the-holy-braille-project/ (accessed May 2026)
12. NewHaptics, "Building a MultiLine Braille Display." https://www.newhaptics.com/post/building-a-multiline-braille-display (accessed May 2026)
13. SBIR.gov, "Microfluidic technology for a full-page braille and graphical tactile display." https://legacy.www.sbir.gov/node/1681453 (accessed May 2026)
14. PRNewswire, "NewHaptics Awarded NSF SBIR Phase II Grant to Develop Microfluidic Technology for a Multiline Braille and Graphical Tactile Display," 6 April 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newhaptics-awarded-nsf-sbir-phase-ii-grant-to-develop-microfluidic-technology-for-a-multiline-braille-and-graphical-tactile-display-301791949.html
15. NewHaptics, News page. https://www.newhaptics.com/news (accessed May 2026)
16. YouTube / TEDxLondonBusinessSchool, "Unnatural selection: Survival in the digital age," May 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrjHURQiffA

• Academic portfolio: https://www.somodhrain.com
• Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=81JmIOoAAAAJ
• NewHaptics: https://www.newhaptics.com
• TED Talk –
  • Unnatural selection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrjHURQiffA
  • https://www.ted.com/talks/sile_o_modhrain_an_e_display_for_the_blind
• MIT Press book: “A Dialogue of the Senses”: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262052399/a-dialogue-of-the-senses/