Sile O'Modhrain is an Associate Professor in Performing Arts Technology at the school of Music, Theatre and Dance and an Associate Professor of Information, School of Information at the University of Michigan.
Her research focuses on human-computer interaction, especially interfaces incorporating haptic and auditory feedback. She earned her master's degree in music technology from the University of York and her PhD from Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). She has also worked as a sound engineer and producer for BBC Network Radio. In 1994, she received a Fulbright scholarship, and went to Stanford to develop a prototype haptic interface augmenting graphical user interfaces for blind computer users.
For a recent summary of Sile's work, see her TED talk.
Before taking up her position at the University of Michigan, Sile taught at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queens University Belfast and, from 2001-2005 directed the Palpable Machines group at Media Lab Europe. Here, her work focused on new interfaces for hand-held devices that tightly couple gestural input and touch or haptic display.