Hi, this is

Emily Kuang

PHD CANDIDATE · HCI AND AI RESEARCHER · GOOGLE PHD FELLOW

Photo of Emily Kuang in a grey suit with medium brown hair

Bio

I am a PhD candidate in the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology and a member of the Center for Accessibility and Inclusion Research (CAIR).


I am a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) researcher, who designs and evaluates human-AI collaborative tools that enhance usability analysis. I also lead and collaborate on accessibility projects that promote inclusive computing education and develop assistive technologies for diverse users. As one of only eight HCI Google PhD Fellows in 2023, I demonstrate the global impact of my research and my ability to secure highly competitive funding.


I'm on the job market this academic year! I'm actively exploring tenure-track assistant professor positions and research-focused industry roles. Looking forward to the next big step in my career!


If you would like to talk about my work or get connected, please reach out!


Recent News

  1. Sept 2024: I was invited to represent RIT at the inter-institutional NRT+ Summit, where I organized and co-led a panel.
  2. July 2024: A paper I co-authored on the impact of AI tools on UX collaboration was published at DIS 2024.
  3. June 2024: I was selected to attend HCIC as a RIT student representative. Had a great time making new connections and reconnecting with friends!
  4. May 2024: I started my internship with the HCI and Visualization research group at Autodesk Research in Toronto, Canada.
  5. May 2024: I presented 2 papers at CHI 2024 in Hawaii and was a co-author on 3 more papers.
  6. Apr 2024: I received the inaugural RIT Outstanding Graduate Student Award.

Research

The six AI probes used in the study: image generation, 3D object generation, scene generation, chat facilitator, emotion visualization, and info assistant

AI as a Bridge Across Ages: Exploring The Opportunities of Artificial Intelligence in Supporting Inter-Generational Communication in Virtual Reality

Qiuxin Du*, Xiaoying Wei*, Jiawei Li, Emily Kuang, Jie Hao, Dongdong Weng, Mingming Fan(* indicates equal contribution)


Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW 2025, in press)


The process of how AIGC tools mediate debates, where UX designers leverage AIGC tools to gain insights into collaborators' workloads

Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content (AIGC) Tools on Social Dynamics in UX Collaboration

Ziyan Wang, Luyao Shen, Emily Kuang, Shumeng Zhang, Mingming Fan


Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '24)


User interface of proactive conversational assistant

Enhancing UX Evaluation Through Collaboration with Conversational AI Assistants: Effects of Proactive Dialogue and Timing

Emily Kuang, Minghao Li, Mingming Fan, Kristen Shinohara


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '24)


Number of surveys and interviews

Mapping Accessibility Assignments into Core Computer Science Topics: An Empirical Study with Interviews and Surveys of Instructors and Students

Emily Kuang, Selah Bellscheidt, Di Pham, Kristen Shinohara, Catherine M. Baker, Yasmine N. Elglaly


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '24)


Electrotactile guidance features

Designing Unobtrusive Modulated Electrotactile Feedback on Fingertip Edge to Assist Blind and Low Vision (BLV) People in Comprehending Charts

Chutian Jiang*, Yinan Fan*, Junan Xie, Emily Kuang, Kaihao Zhang, Mingming Fan (* indicates equal contribution)


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '24)


Screenshots from livestreams

Bridging the Literacy Gap for Adults: Streaming and Engaging in Adult Literacy Education through Livestreaming

Shihan Fu, Jianhao Chen, Emily Kuang, Mingming Fan


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '24)


AR instructions

Exploring the Opportunity of Augmented Reality (AR) in Supporting Older Adults to Explore and Learn Smartphone Applications

Xiaofu Jin, Wai Tong, Xiaoying Wei, Xian Wang, Emily Kuang, Xiaoyu Mo, Huamin Qu, Mingming Fan


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '24)


Key steps in daily data analysis

Understanding Strategies and Challenges of Conducting Daily Data Analysis (DDA) Among Blind and Low-vision People

Chutian Jiang, Wentao Lei, Emily Kuang, Teng Han, Mingming Fan


The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '23)


User interface of conversational AI assistant

Collaboration with Conversational AI Assistants for UX Evaluation: Questions and How to Ask them (Voice vs. Text)

Emily Kuang, Ehsan Jahangirzadeh Soure, Mingming Fan, Jian Zhao, Kristen Shinohara


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23)


Keyboard showing gesture typing

Enhancing Older Adults' Gesture Typing Experience Using the T9 Keyboard on Small Touchscreen Devices

Emily Kuang, Ruihuan Chen, Mingming Fan


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23)


Procedure of the participatory design session

Bridging the Generational Gap: Exploring How Virtual Reality Supports Remote Communication Between Grandparents and Grandchildren

Xiaoying Wei, Yizheng Gu, Emily Kuang, Xian Wang, Beiyan Cao, Xiaofu Jin, Mingming Fan


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23)


List of research questions

Crafting Human-AI Collaborative Analysis for User Experience Evaluation

Emily Kuang


CHI Doctoral Consortium: Extended Abstracts of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '23)


Demographic information of respondents

“Merging Results Is No Easy Task”: An International Survey Study of Collaborative Data Analysis Practices Among UX Practitioners

Emily Kuang, Xiaofu Jin, Mingming Fan


Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '22)


User interface of the visual analytics tool

A Multi-scale Visual Analytics Approach for Exploring Biomedical Knowledge

Fahd Husain, Rosa Romero-Gómez, Emily Kuang, Dario Segura, Adamo Carolli, Lai Chung Liu, Manfred Cheung, Yohann Paris


In the Workshop on Visual Analytics in Healthcare (VAHC) held in conjunction with VIS, 2021

[Best Paper Award]


User interface of CoUX

CoUX: Collaborative Visual Analysis of Think-Aloud Usability Test Videos for Digital Interfaces

Ehsan Jahangirzadeh Soure*, Emily Kuang*, Mingming Fan, Jian Zhao (* indicates equal contribution)


IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 28, no. 1 (Proceedings of VIS '21), 2022


Types of banking transactions

"Too Old to Bank Digitally?": A Survey of Banking Practices and Challenges among Older Adults in China

Xiaofu Jin, Emily Kuang, Mingming Fan


Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '21)


Selected region of sample under microscope

Compensated lens-free light field microscopy

Ameneh Boroomand, Mohammad Javad Sahfiee, Linda Wang, Emily Kuang, Farnoud Kazemzadeh, Alexander Wong


International Conference on Inverse Problems in Engineering (ICIPE), 2017


Spectrum of calibration source using the smartphone spectrometer

Enhanced Smartphone Spectroscopy via High-throughput Computational Slit

Emily Kuang, Farnoud Kazemzadeh, Alexander Wong


Journal of Computational Vision and Imaging Systems 2 (1), 2016


3D CAD render of the microscope

Compact, Field-Portable Lens-free Microscope using Superresolution Spatio-Spectral Light-field Fusion

Farnoud Kazemzadeh, Emily Kuang, Alexander Wong


Journal of Computational Vision and Imaging Systems 2 (1), 2016


  • Education

  • PhD - Rochester Insitute of Technology

    2020 - present

    Program: Computing and Information Sciences

    Advisors: Dr. Kristen Shinohara and Dr. Mingming Fan

  • BASc - University of Waterloo

    2015 - 2020

    Program: Biomedical Engineering

    Graduated with Distinction - Dean's Honour List

  • Recent Experience

  • Research Intern - Autodesk Research

    May 2024 - Sept 2024

    - Worked on the HCI & Visualization Research Group

    - Led a mixed-methods research project on integrating generative AI into 3D computer-aided design

  • UX Research Intern - Meta Reality Labs

    May 2022 - Aug 2022 and May 2023 - Aug 2023

    - Worked on the Hardware UXR Team

    - Designed and conducted user studies on Ray-Ban | Meta smartglasses and Meta Quest 2

Skills

Research

Using creative and systematic approaches to understand people and build future human-technology partnerships

User-Centered Design

Starting from the human perspective to reach usability goals and invent new solutions. Check out my course project Pasatiempo!

Software Development

Developing applications and research prototypes through programming in Python, Matlab, Java, JavaScript and more

Mentoring

Always open to meeting younger students for coffee and bubble tea (or virtual) chats about school and extracurriculars