On Spatial Intelligence

Since the beginning of civilization, we have sought ways to understand and shape the space around us—from the geometry of stars to the architecture of cities and homes. These were not just acts of measurement, but expressions of a deeper impulse: to extend thought into the world. Today, as computation begins to inhabit physical environments, that impulse returns in new form.

I contend that spatial intelligence—the ability of machines to perceive, interpret, and respond to the physical world—is becoming a foundational thread in computing. From extended reality to ambient AI, from sensor-rich wearables to responsive environments, the systems we are building no longer operate in abstract data alone—they live in space, and must learn to make sense of it.i That conviction is what led me to build this lab: a place for exploring how computation becomes truly aware of the world it inhabits.

It may seem that the scope of this challenge is too broad to treat as a single research agenda. That is likely true, and I wish to be careful with the generality of the research directions I chart in this lab. But I do not think the diversity within this domain defeats the purpose of considering it as a whole. In fact, I believe it is useful—even necessary—to do so, in order to unsettle traditional boundaries that separate visual perception from networked computers, hardware from software behaviors, or system from experiences.

At SINRG, my focus is to build systems that take space seriously—not merely as a backdrop, but as an active medium through which intelligence unfolds. This means asking new questions: How should devices reason about proximity, motion, and shared environments? What does it mean to transmit not just data, but presence? How can we design runtime systems that respond to the subtle rhythm of human activity?

These questions do not sit neatly within a single discipline, and I do not pretend to resolve them alone. But by treating spatial intelligence as a first-class concern—rather than a feature layered on top—I hope to uncover new structures, abstractions, and possibilities for how computing lives in the world.

–Mallesh