Technology has become ubiquitous and greatly affects our interactions in daily life. Ubiquitous and so-called ‘smart’ systems change the position of ‘the user’ in tech society. The user is no longer always in control in a world in which technology goes beyond the desktop that has become almost invisible [35; 36], and one that seems increasingly monitored (e.g. [32]). New interactions are happening [34], with more computing and more stakeholders, in which new skills are expected [8], and new knowledge is assumed, for making new sense [30]. Dr Kanis considers this development with a positive critical eye and seeks ways and tools in that users can become truly smarter in today’s pervasive ‘smart’ society (e.g. [19]). She is enthusiastic about the opportunities ‘smart’ systems and emerging technology offer, but also critical of its often invisible and pervasive nature, with issues such as loss of autonomy, control, literacy and transparency [12; 24]. She is not only critical but also actively seeks new tangible knowledge, physical forms (e.g. [6; 12; 23; 26]), methods [6], pedagogical forms [18], partnerships, financing and solutions [25] to address this.
She is particularly interested in the crossover between virtual and physical interactions -making the invisible physical, as creating a tangible space for democratic discussion [23] and learning [37], a place for imagination [14], connecting [20; 27], creativity [13], persuasion [31], empowerment and smart thinking.

She stands for technical emancipation of the user (as not being ab-used) [22], for the democratization of technology, the enhancement of data literacy [18] and -most of all- for addressing their needs (e.g. [3; 33]). Technology has the potential to be an instrument of positive and social innovation, to improve physical [4], social [1] and mental wellbeing [17]. She actively investigates, looks for and develops new practices and understanding that stimulate this potential [15], even remotely in pandemic times (e.g. [4; 29]). She initiates and pushes for publication and academic rigor (with e.g. [11]) to accumulate better knowledge, explores methods, tools and solutions that help make sense of the world around us (e.g. [19]) and accelerate richer understanding of ‘the user’. She explores technologies that can be playful, sustainable [5], empowering, critical [21], creative, social [9] and insightful, but most of all should be happiness enhancing [2; 7; 16]. She strives to do this with different stakeholders, research communities, users, students and professionals while not forgetting about academic methods and standards. She does this through academic and professional writing, through mentoring students and colleagues towards their first or better publication, through connecting to the real world [10] such as studying new solutions in so called living labs [28] while engaging with the professional field, by designing, evaluating and showing concrete tools and alternatives. This is not done for the purpose of making technology ‘smarter’, but in the pursuit of making us -the user- smarter and happier.

References
[1] Stefan Agamanolis, 2005. New technologies for Human Connectedness. ACM Interactions 12, 4, 33-37.
[2] Aristotle, 350 B.C.E. Nicomachean ethics.
[3] R. F. Baumeister and M. R. Leary, 1995. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological bulletin 117, 3, 497-529.
[4] Maaike Bommerson, Amy Lith, Marije Kanis, and Berber Nauta, 2020. Leuke tips & tricks voor (digitaal) bewegen http://www.digitallifecentre.nl/redactie/resources/foldertipstricksdigitaalbewegenbaat.pdf. Mens in Beweging, Hogeschool van Amsterdam.
[5] Lilian Bosch and Marije Kanis, 2013. Encouraging sustainable fashion with a playful recycling system. In Proceedings of HCI'13.
[6] Lilian Bosch, Marije Kanis, Julia Dunn, Kearsley Stewart, and Ben Kröse, 2019. How is the caregiver doing? Capturing caregivers’ experiences with a reflective toolkit. JMIR Mental Health, Special issue CHI 2019 4th Symposium on Computing and Mental Health: Designing Ethical eMental Health Service 6, 5.
[7] B. L. Fredrickson, 2003. The value of positive emotions. American Scientist 91, 4, 330-333.
[8] Ed Glossary, 2016, 21st century skills, https://www.edglossary.org/21st-century-skills/
[9] Marije Kanis, 2004. iBand: A social networking device for handshake augmented exchange of personal design and information. In Proceedings of Open Doors, Project leaders round table.
[10] Marije Kanis, 2012. Co-design in real-world settings for addressing varying community needs. In United we act. A scoping study and a symposium on connected communities, J.L. BITTON, A. CAVACO, L. GAYE and B. JONES Eds. http://www.lulu.com/shop/jo%C3%ABlle-bitton-and-andreia-cavaco-and-lalya-gaye-and-ben-jones/united-we-act-a-scoping-study-and-a-symposium-on-connected-communities/paperback/product-20122783.html.
[11] Research Checklist - English edition, http://www.digitallifecentre.nl/redactie/resources/researchchecklistgbenglayout2.0.docx.pdf
[12] Marije Kanis, 2019. Physical sensemaking: Crafting for an invisible world of data. In Proceedings of CHI2019 Workshop: Troubling Innovation: Craft and Computing Across Boundaries.
[13] Co-Well: Connected creative, https://connectedcreative.futuretechnologies.nl/
[14] Marije Kanis, Stefan Agamanolis, Cati Vaucelle, and Glorianna Davenport, 2003. The WANDerful alcove: Encouraging constructive social interaction with a socially transforming interface. In Proceedings of INTERACT'03 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, IOS Press.
[15] Marije Kanis and Et Al, 2014. New approaches for engaging seniors in pervasive technology design. In Proceedings of CHI 2014 Workshop on Participatory design for people with cognitive and sensory impairments.
[16] Marije Kanis, Willem Paul Brinkman, and Mark Perry, 2009. Designing for positive disclosure: What do you like today? International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 39, 3, 564-572.
[17] Marije Kanis and Willem-Paul Brinkman, 2008. Designing technologies that encourage the sharing of positive emotions. In Emotion in HCI: Joint proceedings of the 2005-2007 International Workshops Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, Stuttgart.
[18] Marije Kanis, Shavonda Kewaldar, and Monique Pijls, 2019. Zichtbaar slimmer: Resultaten in beeld. In http://www.digitallifecentre.nl/redactie/resources/zichtbaar-slimmer-boekje-v7-compressed-1.pdf, Hogeschool van Amsterdam.
[19] Marije Kanis and Ben Kröse, 2014. Slimme systemen voor de toekomst. In http://www.digitallifecentre.nl/redactie/resources/hvaslimmesystemenfinal.pdf, Hogeschool van Amsterdam.
[20] Marije Kanis, Wouter Meys, Mettina Veenstra, Maarten Groen, and Wout Slakhorst, 2011. BiebBeep: an interactive screen for supporting public Library 2.0 information and social services (video), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnUUSMYMpSo. In CHI'11Extended abstracts, ACM.
[21] Marije Kanis, Mark Perry, and Willem-Paul Brinkman, 2008. Minimal Connectedness: Exploring the effects of positive messaging using mobile technology. In CHI '08 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, ACM Press.
[22] Marije Kanis, Saskia Robben, Judith Hagen, Anne Bimmerman, Natasja Wagelaar, and Ben Kröse, 2013. Sensor monitoring in the home: Giving voice to elderly people. In Proceedings of Pervasive Health'13 IEEE, Venice, Italy, 97-100-197-100.
[23] Marije Kanis, Saskia Robben, and Ben Kröse, 2012. Miniature play: Using an interactive dollhouse to demonstrate ambient interactions in the home. In Proceedings of DIS'12, Newcastle, UK.
[24] Marije Kanis, Saskia Robben, and Ben Kröse, 2015. How are you doing? Enabling older adults to enrich sensor data with subjective input. In Human Behaviour Understanding. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Proceedings of Ubicomp 2015, Workshop on Human Behavior Understanding: Behavior analysis for the elderly), A.A. SALAH, B. KRÖSE and D. COOK Eds. Springer.
[25] Marije Kanis, Saskia Robben, Mettina Veenstra, and Ben Kröse, 2012. Visualizing ambient user experiences: Any how. In Workshop on Crafting urban camouflage, DIS 2012, New Castle, UK.
[26] Marije Kanis, Chantal Steur, Wouter Kievit, Steven Versluis, Duane Blaauw, Marcel Bolten, and Mettina Veenstra, Using an interactive model for designing public displays. In Proceedings of Geodesign Summit Europe 2013.
[27] Marije Kanis, Niall Winters, Stefan Agamanolis, and Cian Cullinan, 2004. iBand: a wearable device for handshake- augmented interpersonal information exchange. In Adjunct Proceedings of Ubicomp'04, ACM.
[28] Ben Kröse, Marije Kanis, Mettina Veenstra, and Saskia Robben, 2012. Living Labs as educational tool for ambient intelligence. In Proceedings of AmI'12, Springer.
[29] Amy Van Lith, Maaike Bommerson, Marije Kanis, and Berber Nauta, 2020. Behoefte-onderzoek naar bewegen op maat met ouderen 65+: Bevindingen met on-line vragenlijst en co-creatie activiteiten toolkit Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Amsterdam.
[30] Saskia Robben, Mario Boot, Marije Kanis, and Ben Kröse, 2013. Identifying and visualizing relevant deviations in longitudinal sensor patterns for care professionals. In Proceedings of Pervasive Health'13 Workshop on Lifelogging.
[31] Marco Rozendaal, Aadjan Van Der Helm, Walter Aprile, Arnold Vermeeren, Tilde Bekker, Marije Kanis, and Wouter Middendorf, Designing persuasive interactive environments: A hands-on workshop to explore interactivity and persuasion in design. In International Joint Conference on Ambient Intelligence (AmI-12), http://studiolab.ide.tudelft.nl/studiolab/dpe2012, Pisa, Italy.
[32] Sean Sabeti, Sander Bakkes, Marije Kanis, Marijn Rijken, and Ben Krose, 2011. Telemonitoring for assisted living residences: The medical specialists' view.
[33] Mettina Veenstra, Marije Kanis, Maarten Groen, Wouter Meys, and Wout Slakhorst, 2011. Beyond advertising: Large displays for supporting people's needs and activities in public space. In CHI'11 Workshop on Large displays in urban life.
[34] Mettina Veenstra, Niels Wouters, Marije Kanis, and Andrew Vande Moere, 2015. Should public displays be interactive? Evaluating the impact of interactivity on audience engagement. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Pervasive Displays (PerDis) 2015, ACM.
[35] Mark Weiser, 1991. The computer for the 21st century. Scientific American 265, 3, 94-104-194-104.
[36] Mark Weiser, 1994. The world is not a desktop. Interactions 1, 1, 7-8.
[37] Niall Winters, Marije Kanis, Stefan Agamanolis, and Richard Noss, The Ubiquitous Learning Space. In CAL 2005, Bristol, UK.