Tokyo, here we come! A new demo was accepted to the ACM Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI) conference, which will be held this year in Tokyo. The demonstration will present Augmented-Genomics, a tool for protecting privacy for clinical genomics with inferential interfaces. The work is the first fruit of our collaboration with Noam Shomron from the Faculty of Medicine in Tel Aviv University, in designing and evaluating solutions for genomic privacy. It is based on the research of Netta Rager, and the works of three undergrad students, Tal Florentin, Dan Linenberg, and Daya Sellman.

The system implements a vision of user-controllable privacy of genetic information in complex clinical situations. The system infers the risk of exposing certain parts of the genome, providing a simple interface for users that allows them to set their level of desired exposure according to the inferred gene exposure risk. Patients and caregivers (such as doctors) exchange visual keys that are used to decrypt genomic data and indirectly foster discussion and negotiation over the patient’s privacy. After the patient provides the permission, the caregiver can access information about essential genes and mutations through a mobile interface or an augmented reality glasses.