Profile Sharma

I am an Academy Research Fellow in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) working on empowerment, inclusion, and accessibility using emerging and interactive technologies for, with, and by children. With my recent project ATOM: Age Against the Machine funded by the Research Council of Finland (Sep 2025- Aug 2029), I will explore the future of human-machine-nature relationships with children (ages 12-15years) in different countries, including Finland, India, Japan, Uruguay, South Africa, and USA. ATOM utilises critical, participatory, and speculative design approaches to engage children in world building and filmmaking as they envision and design inclusive and ethical futures. 

ATOM builds on my previous project PAIZ: Participatory AI with Schoolchildren, also funded by the Research Council of Finland (Sep 2021- Aug 2024) where I worked with children in Finland, India, Japan, and the USA. PAIZ focused on critical AI literacy, using various tools (like Teachable Machine, ChatGPT), to discuss the impact of AI on themselves and on society with an emphasis on fairness and human agency and oversight in algorithmic decision-making, and envision future schools. I am also interested in children relationship with social AI and AI companions, which I am exploring in the Besties project (funded by the Hybrid Intelligence NRI initiative at the University of Oulu). I have also worked with children in Oulu exploring future technologies to reduce bullying in schools (see the MAD project), among other work. 

I am also interested in diversifying design futuring through projects with children and workshops with adults (e.g., through the Researchers' toolbox of the future workshop and seminar series), and creating diverse approaches for designing for the future (please see my work at alt.CHI 2021 paper and alt.CHI 2022 paper and presentation). During my PhD research, I worked on gesture-based interaction for neurodiverse children (children with autism) and collaborative language learning approaches for children from low socio-economic backgrounds in New Delhi, India (PhD thesis).

Please  email me (firstname.lastname(at)oulu.fi) if you'd like to know more about my work or to collaborate!

For a complete list of publications, please see GoogleScholar.

For work experience, please see LinkedIn.