The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the Computational Media and Arts Thrust, Information Hub, at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), supervised by Prof. David Yip and Prof. Anca-Simona Horvath. My research has been published in leading journals and conferences in HCI and related fields, including IMWUT, CHI, CSCW, IUI, and DIS.
My research focuses on Human-Centered Computing, aiming to understand and model how technology shapes human behavior and societal dynamics. I am particularly interested in interactive AI for digital cultural heritage, including AIGC-enabled experiences for heritage interpretation, storytelling, and preservation.
Education
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HKUST(GZ)Ph.D. Student.Sep. 2024 – Jul. 2027 (expected)
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HKUSTM.Phil.Sep. 2022 - Jul. 2024
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Central Academy of Fine ArtsB.S. in Information DesignSep. 2016 - Jul. 2019
Honors & Awards
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🏆 Postgraduate Studentship (PGS) Award2024
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🏆 Postgraduate Studentship (PGS) Award2022
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🏆 Outstanding Graduate of Beijing2019
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🏆 Outstanding Graduate of CAFA2019
News
Selected Publications (view all )
Gen-Diaolou: An Integrated AI-Assisted Interactive System for Diachronic Understanding and Preservation of the Kaiping Diaolou
Lei HAN, Yi GAO, Xuanchen LU, Bingyuan WANG, Lujin ZHANG, Zeyu WANG, David Yip
Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (🇪🇸 CHI 26‘) 2026
The Kaiping Diaolou and Villages, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, exemplify hybrid Chinese and Western architecture shaped by migration culture. However, architectural heritage engagement often faces authenticity debates, resource constraints, and limited participatory approaches. This research explores current challenges of leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for architectural heritage, and how AI-assisted interactive systems can foster cultural heritage understanding and preservation awareness. We conducted a formative study (N=14) to uncover empirical insights from heritage stakeholders that inform design. These insights informed the design of Gen-Diaolou, an integrated AI-assisted interactive system that supports heritage understanding and preservation. A pilot study (N=18) and a museum field study (N=26) provided converging evidence suggesting that Gen-Diaolou may support visitors' diachronic understanding and preservation awareness, and together informed design implications for future human-AI collaborative systems for digital cultural heritage engagement. More broadly, this work bridges the research gap between passive heritage systems and unconstrained creative tools in the HCI domain.
Gen-Diaolou: An Integrated AI-Assisted Interactive System for Diachronic Understanding and Preservation of the Kaiping Diaolou
Lei HAN, Yi GAO, Xuanchen LU, Bingyuan WANG, Lujin ZHANG, Zeyu WANG, David Yip
Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (🇪🇸 CHI 26‘) 2026
The Kaiping Diaolou and Villages, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, exemplify hybrid Chinese and Western architecture shaped by migration culture. However, architectural heritage engagement often faces authenticity debates, resource constraints, and limited participatory approaches. This research explores current challenges of leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for architectural heritage, and how AI-assisted interactive systems can foster cultural heritage understanding and preservation awareness. We conducted a formative study (N=14) to uncover empirical insights from heritage stakeholders that inform design. These insights informed the design of Gen-Diaolou, an integrated AI-assisted interactive system that supports heritage understanding and preservation. A pilot study (N=18) and a museum field study (N=26) provided converging evidence suggesting that Gen-Diaolou may support visitors' diachronic understanding and preservation awareness, and together informed design implications for future human-AI collaborative systems for digital cultural heritage engagement. More broadly, this work bridges the research gap between passive heritage systems and unconstrained creative tools in the HCI domain.
Eye2Recall: Exploring the Design of Enhancing Reminiscence Activities via Eye Tracking-Based LLM-Powered Interaction Experience for Older Adults
Lei HAN, Mingnan WEI, Qiongyan CHEN, Anqi WANG, Kefei LIU, Rongrong CHEN, David Yip
Proceedings of the 2026 The Annual ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (🇨🇾 IUI 26‘) 2026
Photo-based reminiscence has the potential to have a positive impact on older adults' reconnection with their personal history and improve their well-being. Supporting reminiscence in older adults through technological implementations is becoming an increasingly important area of research in the fields of HCI and CSCW. However, the impact of integrating gaze and speech as mixed-initiative interactions in LLM-powered reminiscence conversations remains under-explored. To address this, we conducted expert interviews to understand the challenges that older adults face with LLM-powered, photo-based reminiscence experiences. Based on these design considerations, we developed Eye2Recall, a system that integrates eye tracking for detecting visual interest with natural language interaction to create a mixed-initiative reminiscence experience. We evaluated its effectiveness through a user study involving ten older adults. The results have important implications for the future design of more accessible and empowering reminiscence technologies that better align with older adults' natural interaction patterns and enhance their positive aging.
Eye2Recall: Exploring the Design of Enhancing Reminiscence Activities via Eye Tracking-Based LLM-Powered Interaction Experience for Older Adults
Lei HAN, Mingnan WEI, Qiongyan CHEN, Anqi WANG, Kefei LIU, Rongrong CHEN, David Yip
Proceedings of the 2026 The Annual ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (🇨🇾 IUI 26‘) 2026
Photo-based reminiscence has the potential to have a positive impact on older adults' reconnection with their personal history and improve their well-being. Supporting reminiscence in older adults through technological implementations is becoming an increasingly important area of research in the fields of HCI and CSCW. However, the impact of integrating gaze and speech as mixed-initiative interactions in LLM-powered reminiscence conversations remains under-explored. To address this, we conducted expert interviews to understand the challenges that older adults face with LLM-powered, photo-based reminiscence experiences. Based on these design considerations, we developed Eye2Recall, a system that integrates eye tracking for detecting visual interest with natural language interaction to create a mixed-initiative reminiscence experience. We evaluated its effectiveness through a user study involving ten older adults. The results have important implications for the future design of more accessible and empowering reminiscence technologies that better align with older adults' natural interaction patterns and enhance their positive aging.
Pinning “Reflection” on the Agenda: Investigating Reflection in Human–LLM Co-Creation for Creative Coding
Anqi Wang, Zhizhuo Yin, Yulu Hu, Yuanyuan Mao, Lei HAN, Tong Xin, Keqing Jiao, Pan Hui
Proceedings of the 2025 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (🇳🇴 CSCW 25‘) 2025
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly integrated into creative coding, yet how users reflect, and how different co-creation conditions influence reflective behavior, remains underexplored. This study investigates situated, moment-to-moment reflection in creative coding under two prompting strategies: the entire task invocation (T1) and decomposed subtask invocation (T2), to examine their effects on reflective behavior. Our mixed-method results reveal three distinct reflection types and show that T2 encourages more frequent, strategic, and generative reflection, fostering diagnostic reasoning and goal redefinition. These findings offer insights into how LLM-based tools foster deeper creative engagement through structured, behaviorally grounded reflection support.
Pinning “Reflection” on the Agenda: Investigating Reflection in Human–LLM Co-Creation for Creative Coding
Anqi Wang, Zhizhuo Yin, Yulu Hu, Yuanyuan Mao, Lei HAN, Tong Xin, Keqing Jiao, Pan Hui
Proceedings of the 2025 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (🇳🇴 CSCW 25‘) 2025
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly integrated into creative coding, yet how users reflect, and how different co-creation conditions influence reflective behavior, remains underexplored. This study investigates situated, moment-to-moment reflection in creative coding under two prompting strategies: the entire task invocation (T1) and decomposed subtask invocation (T2), to examine their effects on reflective behavior. Our mixed-method results reveal three distinct reflection types and show that T2 encourages more frequent, strategic, and generative reflection, fostering diagnostic reasoning and goal redefinition. These findings offer insights into how LLM-based tools foster deeper creative engagement through structured, behaviorally grounded reflection support.
Memory Remedy: An AI-Enhanced Interactive Story Exploring Human-Robot Interaction and Companionship
Lei HAN, Yu Zhou, Qiongyan Chen, David Yip
Proceedings of the 17th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI 24‘) 2024
We present our approach to using AI-generated content (AIGC) and multiple media to develop an immersive, game-based, interactive story experience. The narrative of the story, "Memory Remedy", unfolds through flashbacks, allowing the audience to gradually uncover the story and the complex relationship between the robot protagonist and the older adults. This exploration explores important themes such as the journey of life, the profound influence of memories, and the concept of post-human emotional care. By engaging with this AIGC-based interactive story, audiences are encouraged to reflect on the potential role of robotic companionship in the lives of older adults in the future, and to encourage deeper reflection on the complex relationship between artificial intelligence and humanity.
Memory Remedy: An AI-Enhanced Interactive Story Exploring Human-Robot Interaction and Companionship
Lei HAN, Yu Zhou, Qiongyan Chen, David Yip
Proceedings of the 17th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI 24‘) 2024
We present our approach to using AI-generated content (AIGC) and multiple media to develop an immersive, game-based, interactive story experience. The narrative of the story, "Memory Remedy", unfolds through flashbacks, allowing the audience to gradually uncover the story and the complex relationship between the robot protagonist and the older adults. This exploration explores important themes such as the journey of life, the profound influence of memories, and the concept of post-human emotional care. By engaging with this AIGC-based interactive story, audiences are encouraged to reflect on the potential role of robotic companionship in the lives of older adults in the future, and to encourage deeper reflection on the complex relationship between artificial intelligence and humanity.
SilverCycling: exploring the impact of bike-based locomotion on spatial orientation for older adults in VR
Qiongyan Chen, Zhiqing Wu, Yucheng Liu, Lei HAN, Zisu Li, Mingming Fan
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (🇦🇺 Ubicomp 24‘) 2024
Spatial orientation is essential for people to effectively navigate and interact with the environment in everyday life. With age-related cognitive decline, providing VR locomotion techniques with better spatial orientation performance for older adults becomes important. Such advancements not only make VR more accessible to older adults but also enable them to reap the potential health benefits of VR technology. Natural motion-based locomotion has been shown its effective in enhancing younger users' performance in VR navigation tasks that require spatial orientation. However, there is a lack of understanding regarding the impact of natural motion-based locomotion on spatial orientation for older adults in VR. To address this gap, we selected the SilverCycling system, a VR bike-based locomotion technique that we developed, as a representative of natural motion-based locomotion, guided by findings from our pilot study. We conducted a user study with 16 older adults to compare SilverCycling with the joystick-based controller. The findings suggest SilverCycling potential to significantly enhance spatial orientation in the open-road urban environment for older adults, offering a better user experience. Based on our findings, we identify key factors influencing spatial orientation and propose design recommendations to make VR locomotion more accessible and user-friendly for older adults.
SilverCycling: exploring the impact of bike-based locomotion on spatial orientation for older adults in VR
Qiongyan Chen, Zhiqing Wu, Yucheng Liu, Lei HAN, Zisu Li, Mingming Fan
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (🇦🇺 Ubicomp 24‘) 2024
Spatial orientation is essential for people to effectively navigate and interact with the environment in everyday life. With age-related cognitive decline, providing VR locomotion techniques with better spatial orientation performance for older adults becomes important. Such advancements not only make VR more accessible to older adults but also enable them to reap the potential health benefits of VR technology. Natural motion-based locomotion has been shown its effective in enhancing younger users' performance in VR navigation tasks that require spatial orientation. However, there is a lack of understanding regarding the impact of natural motion-based locomotion on spatial orientation for older adults in VR. To address this gap, we selected the SilverCycling system, a VR bike-based locomotion technique that we developed, as a representative of natural motion-based locomotion, guided by findings from our pilot study. We conducted a user study with 16 older adults to compare SilverCycling with the joystick-based controller. The findings suggest SilverCycling potential to significantly enhance spatial orientation in the open-road urban environment for older adults, offering a better user experience. Based on our findings, we identify key factors influencing spatial orientation and propose design recommendations to make VR locomotion more accessible and user-friendly for older adults.
An Interactive VR Game Featuring the Story of Migrant Worker Poet in Southwest China
Mingnan We, Yu Zhou, Lei Han
Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI 23‘) 2023
With its unique form of expression and powerful interactivity, virtual reality (VR) art has brought new possibilities for artistic creation and audience experience. It broadens the boundaries of artistic expression, promotes interdisciplinary cooperation, raises the audience’s attention to social issues, and promotes the popularization of aesthetic education. The study developed a visual narrative based on the text of the poetry collection as a virtual experience game to discuss the social issues of the relationship between labor and social networks in the context of today’s technological innovation. Experience highly empathetic artistic storytelling through VR games and how to connect the virtual and physical worlds through textual expression and visual effects. The study realizes the VR linear narrative experience with poems as clues to promote narrative VR interactive experience.
An Interactive VR Game Featuring the Story of Migrant Worker Poet in Southwest China
Mingnan We, Yu Zhou, Lei Han
Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI 23‘) 2023
With its unique form of expression and powerful interactivity, virtual reality (VR) art has brought new possibilities for artistic creation and audience experience. It broadens the boundaries of artistic expression, promotes interdisciplinary cooperation, raises the audience’s attention to social issues, and promotes the popularization of aesthetic education. The study developed a visual narrative based on the text of the poetry collection as a virtual experience game to discuss the social issues of the relationship between labor and social networks in the context of today’s technological innovation. Experience highly empathetic artistic storytelling through VR games and how to connect the virtual and physical worlds through textual expression and visual effects. The study realizes the VR linear narrative experience with poems as clues to promote narrative VR interactive experience.