Jiachen Li 李家琛

Keywords: Health, HCI, UbiComp, AI/ML, smart home, aging populations, conversational agent, TUI, ...

NEWs

Oct 2023  
Present my first CSCW paper at Minneapolis!

Aug 2022  
In Boston! Starting my CS PhD with Dr, Beth Mynatt and Dr. Varun Mishra.

Apr 2021  
Join Everyday Computing Lab advised by Dr. Beth Mynatt.

Jan 2021  
Start working on research using EMG signal to enhance yoga learning with Elaine.

Nov 2020  
Join Ubicomp & COSMOS lab, working on research about computaional materials and robotic actuators with Tingyu.

Jul 20  
Finally in Atlanta!

FUN

See my Instagram @jasl_is_jasl

CONTACT

li.jiachen4@northeastern.edu

jasmine.jiachenli@gmail.com

Download my CV

I am Jiachen Li, a current CS PhD student at Northeastern University. Prior to it, I have a Master's degree in Digital Media at Georgia Tech, and a Bachelor's Degree in Electronic Engineering.

My research centers on examining the role of AI assistants in people's everyday experiences, with a particular emphasis on understanding the gap between current technology and human expectations in daily practices. This encompasses situations where people's expectations surpass the current technological limitations, leading to potential failures and frustrations. Additionally, it explores scenarios where technology's capabilities exceed human perception, thereby unlocking new potentials for AI to assist individuals in various capacities. My primary focus has been on the contexts of daily routine management and healthcare & wellness. (recently: LLM for collaboration in healthcare settings for older adults). I have conducted research involving diverse groups, including older adults and college students.

I had my bachelor's degree in Electronics Information Technology and decided to pursue a master’s degree in Digital Media after graduation. Due to my previous experience, I highly value creativity and intuition in the design and research process more than many engineers, however, I still regard myself as a logical and rational person. As a result, I would like to apply scientific and epistemological methods as the main part of my future research and combine them with design synthesis and abductive reasoning to generate valuable insights.

To know more about me, I'm a doll maker, a figure maker and collector. I work with clay, mostly modeling clay and polymer clay. I also do figure coating, moldering and casting. In my spare time, I travel, read and photograph. I love cats, have been living with six cats before (four of them are my cats: Leo, Lily, Jacob and Echo).

Experience

2022 - present
Northeastern University       Ph.D. in Computer Science
Graduate Researcher
Dr. Beth Mynatt
Graduate Researcher
Ubiwell, Dr. Varun Mishra
2020 - 2022
Georgia Institute of Technology       M.S. in Digital Media
Graduate Researcher
Institute for People and Technology, Dr. Beth Mynatt
Graduate Researcher
UbiComp COSMOS Lab, Dr. Gregory Abowd, Dr. Hyun Joo Oh
Graduate Researcher
Dr. Sang Leigh
2018
University of California, Berkeley      Concurrent Student
2015 - 2019
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
B. Eng in Electronic Information Science and Technology
Undergraduate Researcher
Dr. Fei Lyu
Undergraduate Researcher
Dr. Haibin Yan

Recent Research

ChatGPT + Smart speaker

Now you can literally ask your smart home speaker anything, so, what's next?

     -      Cooking instructions & Recipe

     -      Routine management

     -      Personal Therapist

and more...

MedBtn: Check-in for your mental health medication on different devices

Medication non-adherence is a widespread issue globally, particularly among college students with mental health issues who require daily scheduled medication. Self-reporting is a common and cost-effective method to monitor medication behavior, but its impact on medication adherence is still unknown. Additionally, despite the complexity and variability of medication routines, which are highly influenced by personal experiences, limited research has focused on the individual choices of reporting instruments in different contexts. This research aims to provide different self-report channels to college students and explore how they use the systems in diverse settings.

MealPrep: Check-in for your lunch

Preparing meals can be a complex task for seniors who suffer from cognitive impairment, as well as for researchers who attempt to understand their behaviors. By incorporating a self-check-in system for meal times, seniors may be able to better regulate their meal preparation routines. Moreover, with access to the check-in data, AI researchers may be able to more accurately label sensor data, leading to improved analysis of senior behavior.

Privacy vs Awareness: learning the tradeoffs between seniors and their children when sharing indoor localization data

   -   submitted to CSCW 23

- User study on needs and concerns of seniors and their children

- Design and implement an indoor location visualization system

- User testing on 3 different presentations of indoor location data

Medication Management for Older Adults with MCI (2021)

   -   ASSETS 22 accepted *Best Paper Award*

- Google Home conversational check-in system

- Physical button & SMS reminder

- Whole home monitoring & AI

Phase Transition Actuator (2021)   -   CHI 2022 accepted

We present PITAS, a thin-sheet robotic material that consisted of a phase transition actuating layer and a heating/sensing layer for non-expert makers to create their own devices that could remotely communicate physical information. We explored and reported the mechanical and electrical properties of the material...

Clay Archive Study (2021)    

-   submitted to TEI

Inspired by ancient cuneiform that uses imprints on the clay for documentation, we built a tangible user interface using clay boards, conductive paints and digital animation with narratives to distance the physical from the digital.

Using EMG signal to enhance Yoga learning (2021)

We designed a tangible system that used biological signals (EMG, heart rate, etc.) to increase body awareness in yoga practice and created an interactive figurative animation as representation and visualization of bodily data.

MedBtn: Check-in for your mental health medication on different devices

Medication non-adherence is a widespread issue globally, particularly among college students with mental health issues who require daily scheduled medication. Self-reporting is a common and cost-effective method to monitor medication behavior, but its impact on medication adherence is still unknown. Additionally, despite the complexity and variability of medication routines, which are highly influenced by personal experiences, limited research has focused on the individual choices of reporting instruments in different contexts. This research aims to provide different self-report channels to college students and explore how they use the systems in diverse settings.

MealPrep: Check-in for your lunch

Preparing meals can be a complex task for seniors who suffer from cognitive impairment, as well as for researchers who attempt to understand their behaviors. By incorporating a self-check-in system for meal times, seniors may be able to better regulate their meal preparation routines. Moreover, with access to the check-in data, AI researchers may be able to more accurately label sensor data, leading to improved analysis of senior behavior.

Privacy vs Awareness: learning the tradeoffs between seniors and their children when sharing indoor localization data

   -   submitted to CSCW 23

- User study on needs and concerns of seniors and their children

- Design and implement an indoor location visualization system

- User testing on 3 different presentations of indoor location data

Medication Management for Older Adults with MCI (2021)

   -   ASSETS 22 accepted *Best Paper Award*

- Google Home conversational check-in system

- Physical button & SMS reminder

- Whole home monitoring & AI

Using EMG signal to enhance Yoga learning (2021)

We designed a tangible system that used biological signals (EMG, heart rate, etc.) to increase body awareness in yoga practice and created an interactive figurative animation as representation and visualization of bodily data.

Phase Transition Actuator (2021)   -   CHI 2022 accepted

We present PITAS, a thin-sheet robotic material that consisted of a phase transition actuating layer and a heating/sensing layer for non-expert makers to create their own devices that could remotely communicate physical information. We explored and reported the mechanical and electrical properties of the material...

Clay Archive Study (2021)    

-   submitted to TEI

Inspired by ancient cuneiform that uses imprints on the clay for documentation, we built a tangible user interface using clay boards, conductive paints and digital animation with narratives to distance the physical from the digital.

Using EMG signal to enhance Yoga learning (2021)

We designed a tangible system that used biological signals (EMG, heart rate, etc.) to increase body awareness in yoga practice and created an interactive figurative animation as representation and visualization of bodily data.

Previous Research

Let's play Chinese Abacus (2019)

Abacus, as a traditional Chinese physical calculator, has an irreplaceable position in pre-k and primary school mathematics education. We designed and developed a physical interaction system that enabled children to study the principle of mathematical calculation through the process of abacus learning.

Familyship Face Videos in the Wild (2018)

In this paper, we investigate the problem of video-based parent-child relationship prediction via human face analysis. Most of the existing kinship verification methods are based on single images; these approaches cannot effectively utilize videos of the face for kinship verification. We propose our own dataset, Familyship Fa...

Unintentional Touch Detection (2019)

Designed unintentional touch detection algorithm based on 125Hz capacitive sensing signal on phone.

Used flood-fill algorithm and ellipse fitting techniques to detect touch, and performed FFT analysis and generated the frequency spectrum.

Let's play Chinese Abacus (2019)

Abacus, as a traditional Chinese physical calculator, has an irreplaceable position in pre-k and primary school mathematics education. We designed and developed a physical interaction system that enabled children to study the principle of mathematical calculation through the process of abacus learning.

Unintentional Touch Detection (2019)

Designed unintentional touch detection algorithm based on 125Hz capacitive sensing signal on phone.

Used flood-fill algorithm and ellipse fitting techniques to detect touch, and performed FFT analysis and generated the frequency spectrum.

Familyship Face Videos in the Wild (2018)

In this paper, we investigate the problem of video-based parent-child relationship prediction via human face analysis. Most of the existing kinship verification methods are based on single images; these approaches cannot effectively utilize videos of the face for kinship verification. We propose our own dataset, Familyship Fa...

Projects

Link to Figma Prototype

Empatea Box (2021)

We aims to create a solution to enhance empathy between people with MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) and those around them, and we provide a service that promotes activities between the MCI patients and caregivers using subscription boxes called the “Empatea Box”, which will be regularly delivered to the home address of the MCI patient's family and involve loose lea...

Link to Figma Prototype

CODE-Crafters Website Design (2021)

The project aims to study how to design a research project website that enables different users to find a variety of information and accomplish different tasks. We designed a project website for Code-Crafter, a research project that investigates connections between quilting and computational thinking.

Clay Photo Lab (2021)

"Whenever clay encounters with other objects, there would be traces and imprints left on the surface.”

Have you ever thought about taking a picture using clay?

https://digital-sidewalk.herokuapp.com     Link to Figma Prototype

Digital Sidewalk (2020)

Inspired by the way students communicate their thoughts with chalk on sidewalk tiles on campus, we hope to create a digital sidewalk in the form of an interactive web page, where a student can share their personal stories during COVID(and beyond) on a sidewalk tile and have an opportunity to empathize, resonate, and reconnect with each other. We aim to provide people a way of communication and connection through the format of digital craft.

https://www.jiachen-li.com/newscity2

Newscity (2020)

Newscity is a word processor that retrieves the text entered by the user and outputs the same content in different sizes and colors according to the data from NY Times API, including the number of related articles, categories and other data. By continuously inputting different vocabulary, users can work with NY Times to build a unique 'news city' that belongs to them but also influenced by external information.

Empathy Helmet (2020)

A device was created to allow people to experience an overwhelming negative interaction of another person using a helmet with vibration motors, a resistive heater, LEDs, and a servo motor. Users can have a better und...

https://youtu.be/_XLRpbq6DNo

Cat Mirror (2020)

People spent a long time in front of the mirror but never noticed it. I hope to make people aware of the existence of the mirror, and furthermore, not only regard it as an object but more as a creature with life and soul. Cat Mirror is a unique mirror that can perform differently ac...

https://itch.io/embed-upload/3824458?color=333333

EduFirst (2020)

EduFirst is a game that simulates an education-oriented society. At the beginning of the game, the player is told that the goal of judging whether the game is successful is whether your child can enter a good university, and this is closely related to his various points on “Knowledge”, “Patience” and “Concentration”. In this game, players consume their “Ability” points to ask their children to co...

TextEx (2018)

Every semester, college students need to buy textbooks for their classes. At the end of the semester, they often no longer need the books. TextEx is an online platform for UC Berkeley students to buy and sell their used textbooks and engage in textbook exchange with other students.

Stress App Design (2018)

Designed UI and wearable for an app that detects the stress level of people and helps them release stress. Used different features such as layout, weight, typography and color to distinguish two stress levels.

Link to Figma Prototype

Empatea Box (2021)

We aims to create a solution to enhance empathy between people with MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) and those around them, and we provide a service that promotes activities between the MCI patients and caregivers using subscription boxes called the “Empatea Box”, which will be regularly delivered to the home address of the MCI patient's family and involve loose lea...

Link to Figma Prototype

CODE-Crafters Website Design (2021)

The project aims to study how to design a research project website that enables different users to find a variety of information and accomplish different tasks. We designed a project website for Code-Crafter, a research project that investigates connections between quilting and computational thinking.

TextEx (2018)

Every semester, college students need to buy textbooks for their classes. At the end of the semester, they often no longer need the books. TextEx is an online platform for UC Berkeley students to buy and sell their used textbooks and engage in textbook exchange with other students.

Stress App Design (2018)

Designed UI and wearable for an app that detects the stress level of people and helps them release stress. Used different features such as layout, weight, typography and color to distinguish two stress levels.

Clay Photo Lab (2021)

"Whenever clay encounters with other objects, there would be traces and imprints left on the surface.”

Have you ever thought about taking a picture using clay?

http://www.jiachen-li.com/newscity/

Newscity (2020)

Newscity is a word processor that retrieves the text entered by the user and outputs the same content in different sizes and colors according to the data from NY Times API, including the number of related articles, categories and other data. By continuously inputting different vocabulary, users can work with NY Times to build a unique 'news city' that belongs to them but also influenced by external information.

Empathy Helmet (2020)

A device was created to allow people to experience an overwhelming negative interaction of another person using a helmet with vibration motors, a resistive heater, LEDs, and a servo motor. Users can have a better und...

https://youtu.be/_XLRpbq6DNo

Cat Mirror (2020)

People spent a long time in front of the mirror but never noticed it. I hope to make people aware of the existence of the mirror, and furthermore, not only regard it as an object but more as a creature with life and soul. Cat Mirror is a unique mirror that can perform differently ac...

https://digital-sidewalk.herokuapp.com     Link to Figma Prototype

Digital Sidewalk (2020)

Inspired by the way students communicate their thoughts with chalk on sidewalk tiles on campus, we hope to create a digital sidewalk in the form of an interactive web page, where a student can share their personal stories during COVID(and beyond) on a sidewalk tile and have an opportunity to empathize, resonate, and reconnect with each other. We aim to provide people a way of communication and connection through the format of digital craft.

https://www.jiachen-li.com/newscity2

Newscity (2020)

Newscity is a word processor that retrieves the text entered by the user and outputs the same content in different sizes and colors according to the data from NY Times API, including the number of related articles, categories and other data. By continuously inputting different vocabulary, users can work with NY Times to build a unique 'news city' that belongs to them but also influenced by external information.

https://itch.io/embed-upload/3824458?color=333333

EduFirst (2020)

EduFirst is a game that simulates an education-oriented society. At the beginning of the game, the player is told that the goal of judging whether the game is successful is whether your child can enter a good university, and this is closely related to his various points on “Knowledge”, “Patience” and “Concentration”. In this game, players consume their “Ability” points to ask their children to co...

Publications

[1] Jiachen Li, Varun Mishra, Elizabeth Mynatt, Jonathan Bell, "Always Nice and Confident, Sometimes wrong": Developer's Experiences Engaging Generative AI Chatbots Versus Human-Powered Q&A Platforms, (arXiv ’24)(sub)

[2] Szeyi Chan*, Jiachen Li*, Bingsheng Yao, Amama Mahmood, Chien-Ming Huang, Holly Jimison, Elizabeth D Mynatt, Dakuo Wang "Mango Mango, How to Let The Lettuce Dry Without A Spinner?'': Exploring User Perceptions of Using An LLM-Based Conversational Assistant Toward Cooking Partner, (arXiv ’24)(sub)

[3] JiachenLi, Bingrui Zong, Tingyu Cheng, Yunzhi Li, Elizabeth D Mynatt, Ashutosh Dhekne, “Privacy vs. Awareness: Relieving the Tension between Older Adults andAdult Children When Sharing In-home Activity Data”, (CSCW ’23)

[4] Niharika Mathur, Kunal Dhodapkar, Tamara Zubatiy, Jiachen Li, Brian Jones, and Elizabeth Mynatt. 2022. A Collaborative Approach to Support Medication Management in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment Using Conversational Assistants (CAs). In Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 42, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3517428.3544830 (Best Paper Award)

[5] Tingyu Cheng, Jung Wook Park*, Jiachen Li*, Charles Ramey, Hongnan Lin, Gregory D. Abowd, Carolina Brum Medeiros, HyunJoo Oh, and Marcello Giordano. 2022. PITAS: Sensing and Actuating Embedded Robotic Sheet for Physical Information Communication. In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 172, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517532. (Honorable mention in Fast Company’s 2022 Innovation by DesignAwards, Student notable interaction award in 2022 Core77 Design Award)

[6] Jiachen Li, Michael Nitsche,  Kuneiform: Design A Tangible Interface Based on the Perceived Distance Between Physical and Digital (sub)

[7] Ying Sun*, Jiachen Li*, Yiwen Wei, Haibin Yan. Video-based Parent-Child Relationship Prediction, IEEE VCIP, 2018.
(*: contributed equally; sub: in submission to other peer-reviewed top conferences)

Gallery