The Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC) is a not-for-profit research institute of the State University System of Florida, with locations in Pensacola and Ocala, Florida. IHMC scientists and engineers investigate a broad range of topics related to building systems aimed at amplifying and extending human cognitive, physical and perceptual capacities.

IHMC is focused on developing science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human cognition, perception, locomotion, performance, and resilience. IHMC research falls under three primary areas of scientific inquiry, with collaboration among them: (1) Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning; (2) Robotics; and (3) Healthspan, Resilience & Performance. Within and across these primary areas, IHMC's active research is focused on: human/machine teaming; robotics; exoskeletons; agile and distributed computing; cybersecurity; mechanisms of resilience and optimal performance; interventions to optimize health, resilience and performance; computational biology; human-machine communication & natural language understanding; intentions, beliefs & trust; knowledge discovery, data science, learning from big data; expertise studies; augmentics; and visualization & human-centered displays. Robotics research includes Humanoid Robots and Avatars, Powered Exoskeltons for Paraplegic Mobility, Bipedal and quadrupedal walking, and Human-machine system design.

Federal government research sponsors include the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Naval Research (ONR) as well as other agencies and departments. In addition to government sponsored research, IHMC collaborates with numerous corporate partners.

IHMC was founded by Dr. Kenneth M. Ford, Dr. Alberto Cañas, and Dr. Bruce Dunn on the campus of the University of West Florida, in 1990. IHMC was among the first interdisciplinary academic research institutions that allowed computer scientists, philosophers, and cognitive psychologists to collaborate on human centered computing projects. IHMC was an early pioneer in human-centered AI, computer-mediated learning, knowledge-based systems and knowledge acquisition, natural language understanding, as well as the philosophical foundations of AI. Early IHMC researchers include Henry E. Kyburg Jr., Clark Glymour, Pat Hayes, James F. Allen, Robert Hoffman, and Joseph D. Novak.

Over the years, IHMC has developed three core pillars of research: artificial intelligence, robotics, and human performance and resilience. These three research pillars continue to support the original research goal of IHMC, that being to employ science and technology to extend human capabilities.

In 2004, the Florida Legislature, under the K-20 Education Code, established IHMC as an independent, statewide research institute. IHMC maintains research affiliations with multiple Florida universities.

In January 2010, IHMC opened a 28,000 square foot research site in Ocala, Florida, strategically located near three major university research partners as well as the central Florida technology corridor. IHMC's Ocala facilities support computer scientists, engineers, and linguists engaged in research spanning machine learning, natural language understanding, natural language understanding for social cybersecurity, and speech analysis for physiological state determination.

In 2010 IHMC had been recognized by the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the institute's impact on downtown Pensacola.