Nuwan T. Attygalle

About Me

I recently completed my PhD, specializing in sensing gestures through materials using mm-wave radar. Now I am a researcher at Université catholique de Louvain. My research interests lie at the intersection of human-computer interaction, signal processing, and machine learning.

Throughout my academic journey, I have had the privilege of collaborating with multinational researchers. In addition to my PhD thesis, I have made contributions to various fields. My published works span topics such as language learning with virtual realities, protein structure analysis, and synthesizing human handwriting using generative and recurrent networks.

Before my PhD, I worked as a research scientist and a senior full stack developer, bringing over three years of experience in software and analytical roles.

Research Interests

🏆 Awards & Honors

Selected Publications

Books

• Radar-Based Human-Computer Interaction 📖 Editor
  K. Čopič Pucihar, R.-D. Vatavu, D. Salami, N.T. Attygalle (Eds.)
  Human–Computer Interaction Series, Springer, 2026 (Accepted/In Press)

Journal Articles

• Telling Human and Machine Handwriting Apart
  L.A. Leiva, M. Diaz, N. Attygalle, M.A. Ferrer, R. Plamondon
  IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, Vol. 55(10), pp. 7130-7141, 2025
  DOI
• Solids on Soli: Millimetre-Wave Radar Sensing through Materials 🏅 Best Paper Honorable Mention
  K. Čopič Pucihar, N.T. Attygalle, M. Kljun, C. Sandor, L.A. Leiva
  Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 6(EICS), pp. 1-19, 2022
  DOI
• No Interface, No Problem: Gesture Recognition on Physical Objects Using Radar Sensing
  N. Attygalle, L.A. Leiva, M. Kljun, C. Sandor, A. Plopski, H. Kato, K. Čopič Pucihar
  Sensors, Vol. 21(17), p. 5771, 2021
  DOI
• Interactive Web Documentaries: A Case Study of Video Viewing Behaviour on iOtok
  J. Ducasse, M. Kljun, N. Attygalle, K. Čopič Pucihar
  International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, Vol. 38(10), pp. 949-972, 2021
  DOI
• Quantitative Analysis of Visual Codewords of a Protein Distance Matrix
  J. Pražnikar, N. Attygalle, B. Kobe
  PLOS ONE, Vol. 17(2), e0263566, 2022
  DOI

Conference Papers

• Text-to-Image Generation for Vocabulary Learning Using the Keyword Method 🥇 Best Paper Award
  N. Attygalle, M. Kljun, A. Quigley, K. Čopič Pucihar, J. Grubert, V. Biener, L.A. Leiva, J. Yoneyama, A. Toniolo, A. Miguel, H. Kato, M. Weerasinghe
  Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI '25), pp. 1381-1397, 2025
  DOI
• Gesture Recognition on Deformable Objects Using Millimeter-Wave Radar
  N. Attygalle, K. Čopič Pucihar, M. Kljun
  ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS '25), 2025
  DOI
• Context-Aware Adaptive Visualization for Critical Decision Making
  A. Lopez-Cardona, M. Masias Bruns, N. Attygalle, et al.
  Proceedings of the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI 2025), IOS Press
  DOI
• Towards Hand Gesture Recognition Prototype Using the IWR6843ISK Radar Sensor and Leap Motion
  N. Attygalle, U. Vuletic, M. Kljun, K. Čopič Pucihar
  Proceedings of the 8th Human-Computer Interaction Slovenia (HCI SI) Conference 2023, Vol. 3657, pp. 78-88
• VocabulARy Replicated: Comparing Teenagers to Young Adults
  M. Weerasinghe, V. Biener, J. Grubert, J.A. Deja, N. Attygalle, K. Trajkovska, M. Kljun, K. Čopič Pucihar
  IEEE ISMAR Adjunct 2022, pp. 283-285
  DOI

Book Chapters (2026, In Press)

• Digital Signal Processing Tools for Radar-Based Human-Computer Interaction
  N. Attygalle, M. Kljun, K. Čopič Pucihar
  In: Radar-Based Human-Computer Interaction, Springer, pp. 33-51
• Comparative Testing of Radar Signal Representations when Sensing Through Materials
  N. Attygalle, M. Kljun, U. Vuletic, K. Čopič Pucihar
  In: Radar-Based Human-Computer Interaction, Springer, pp. 51-70
• Radar-Based Human-Computer Interaction when Sensing Through Materials
  N. Attygalle, M. Kljun, A. Sluÿters, K. Čopič Pucihar
  In: Radar-Based Human-Computer Interaction, Springer, pp. 71-94
• Radar-Based Gesture Recognition on Deformable Objects
  K. Čopič Pucihar, M. Kljun, N. Attygalle
  In: Radar-Based Human-Computer Interaction, Springer, pp. 117-135
• Current State and Future Research Directions of Radar-based Human-computer Interaction
  K. Čopič Pucihar, D. Salami, N. Attygalle
  In: Radar-Based Human-Computer Interaction, Springer, pp. 257-290

Experience

Employment

Education

Certifications

• Advanced Machine Learning and Signal Processing (Coursera)
• Applied AI with Deep Learning (Coursera)
• Designing, Running, and Analyzing Experiments (Coursera)

Research Visits

• April 2022 – University of Luxembourg, under Prof. Dr. Luis A. Leiva
• February 2023 – University of Luxembourg, under Prof. Dr. Luis A. Leiva
• July 2023 – ESSAI & ACAI Summer School on Artificial Intelligence (Scholarship recipient)

Professional Activities

Academic Service

• Program Committee Member – International Workshop on Human-in-the-Loop Applied Machine Learning (HITLAML 2023)
• Web Chair – HCI SI Conference (2023, 2024)
• Reviewer – International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS)
• Reviewer – International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI)

Teaching Experience

• Computer Practicum 1 (Linux, Bash scripting, C programming) – University of Primorska (2019-2024)
• Introduction to Java – University of Sri Jayewardenepura (2017-2019)

Student Supervision

• Marc Anthony Berends (BSc, July 2022) – "The effect of depth of field controlled by eye tracking in 3D environments" (Co-advisor)