About .

The Human Factory LLC is a research lab founded by cognitive scientist, Dr. Mark Changizi, with the aim of bringing cutting edge insights from the cognitive and brain sciences to the next generation of human-centered technology. 

discoveries fueling the factory

Mark has written over 40 journal articles on his research, such as
  • The origin and function of color vision is for seeing emotions, health and state on the bare skin of others. paper
  • Forward-facing eyes are designed for seeing within cluttered, forested habitats. paper
  • Letter shapes across human writing systems are shaped like natural object junctions, thereby harnessing the visual object recognition system for reading. paper
  • How illusions are due to the brain trying to correct for the neural delay from retina to perception. paper, paper
  • A way of tricking your visual brain into carrying out arbitrary computations. paper
  • How writing systems are evolved UX designs. paper

innovating human tech

Mark is also an inventor and entrepreneur. 
  • Founder and CEO of VINO OPTICS, optical tech hacking the human visual system, and thereby enhancing perception of veins and health states. No battery or electricity required.
  • The Emotion Chip, a breakthrough in understanding the origins and meanings of emotional expressions, teeming with applications for affective computing and emotional artificial intelligence.

books on the human experience

Mark is the author of many books, including
  • BRAIN FROM 25000 FEET -- "This is a very rich and exceedingly well-written book. I learned a lot." Dan Ryder, University of Connecticut
  • VISION rEVOLUTION -- “...one of the best works of theoretical vision science since Gibson," Dan Simons, author of The Invisible Gorilla. 
  • HARNESSED -- “Top 10 Books of 2011” New Scientist.
  • HUMAN 3.0 -- What’s next, after humans.
  • ON THE ORIGIN OF ART -- The book associated with the 2016 exhibition at MONA Museum, where Mark curated an exhibition based on his user-experience research, with co-authors Steven Pinker, Geoffrey Miller and Brian Boyd.
  • POKER ORIGINS OF EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS -- The innovative new grand unifying theory of emotional expressions and affective computing. 

TED talks on our brilliant design

Mark appears often in public settings, including these TED talks.
  • Why we see illusions. link
  • How pruney fingers are optimal human rain treads. (Human factors is not just about perception and cognition!) link and paper
  • Why we have color vision. And, the unknown human factor issue of "health blindness" among clinicians. link​
Some companies we've worked with