Kristen Grauman, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded the prestigious 2026 Hill Prize in Artificial Intelligence for her research on understanding models that help people gain physical and procedural skills. Her research highlights a key step in helping these systems support people through their everyday activities.
The Hill Prizes are awarded to researchers accelerating high-risk and high-impact science and innovation. Dr. Grauman’s research addresses the challenge of teaching an AI model to interpret human activity from first-person videos.
With the prize money, Dr. Grauman and her team aim to analyze AI systems’ methods for perceiving human movement, reason across time, and deliver personalized feedback. These innovations can apply to contexts like physical therapy, sports training, and household repairs.
Co-PIs: Georgios Pavlakos, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, The University of Texas at Austin; Amy Pavel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley; Hao-Yuan Hsiao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Kinesiology & Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin; Travis Vlantes, Director, Applied Sports Science, The University of Texas at Austin