Steven Feiner
Also known as Steve Feiner, Steven K. Feiner
Steven Feiner is a computer scientist whose early augmented-reality work used artificial intelligence to explain practical tasks. He earned degrees in music and computer science at Brown, then developed KARMA with colleagues as a see-through prototype for laser-printer maintenance. His lab began Mobile Augmented Reality Systems research in 1996 and published the Touring Machine paper in 1997. He received SIGCHI's Lifetime Research Award in 2018. As of October 2026, he is a professor at Columbia and advises a PhD candidate in its Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Lab.
Timeline
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1973–1987
Degrees at Brown
He earns a B.A. in music from Brown in 1973 and a Ph.D. in computer science in 1987.
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1993
AI for task explanations
By 1993, his group explores AI techniques to generate explanatory graphics overlaid on the real world.
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1993
KARMA for printer repair
With Blair MacIntyre and Dorée Seligmann, he develops KARMA, a see-through augmented-reality prototype for laser-printer maintenance.
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1996
Mobile augmented reality
His lab begins Mobile Augmented Reality Systems research in 1996 to explore the combination of augmented reality and mobile computing.
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1997
The Touring Machine paper
His 1997 paper with Blair MacIntyre, Tobias Höllerer, and Anthony Webster describes the Touring Machine as a prototype for exploring urban environments with mobile augmented reality.
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2018
A SIGCHI research award
In 2018, he receives the SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award.
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As of October 2026
Professor and PhD adviser
As of October 2026, he is a professor at Columbia University and advises a PhD candidate in the Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Lab.
Sources and credits
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