Sharath Chandra Ramakrishnan

Sharath Chandra Ramakrishnan serves as Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with dual appointments in the School of Art and Design and School of Information Sciences. His research pioneers multimodal cognitive media interfaces that augment human perception through auditory and haptic systems, challenging conventional approaches to assistive hearing technologies and cultural heritage representation.

Education:

• M.S. in Artificial Intelligence, School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh
• Ph.D. in Arts, Technology and Emerging Communication, School of Arts and Humanities, The University of Texas at Dallas

Research Trajectory: Dr. Ramakrishnan's work critically interrogates the oralist history embedded in hearing disability frameworks through transdisciplinary integration of cognitive psychology, sound studies, and media arts. His socio-technical design methodology creates interfaces that transcend visually dominant paradigms, particularly in virtual environments and auditory display systems for cochlear implant users. Current projects explore ecological soundscapes as sites for interspecies communication and aural diversity.

Publication Themes: Recent outputs (2024-2025) reveal three convergent trajectories: 1) Ecological sound archives as political spaces (e.g., 'Parliament of NonHuman Listeners'), 2) Temporal auditory displays for accessibility ('Temporal Imagery for Aural Diversity'), and 3) Art-science syntheses in environmental contexts ('Resonant Timekeepers'). These consistently bridge technical innovation with critical disability studies and decolonial sound practices.

Professional Network: His community technology activism spans 15+ years, including co-founding the Center for Internet and Society's policy lab in Bangalore and collaborations with HONF Foundation (Indonesia), Bricolabs, and Plato Hedro (Colombia). As amateur radio operator VU3HPA, he executes 'transmission art' projects that materialize electromagnetic spectra as public engagement platforms.

Research Infrastructure: Current work extends pre-doctoral cultural heritage informatics at Edith O'Donnell Institute (Oplontis Villa project) and National Institute of Mental Health/Neurosciences collaborations on multimodal cognition funded by India's Department of Biotechnology. His lab integrates critical making practices with grassroots technology networks across South Asia and South America.