Tongyu Zhou
Brown University
tongyu_zhou@brown.edu
Bio
Tongyu is a Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science at Brown University, advised by Jeff Huang in the Brown Human-Computer Interaction Lab. Previously, she received her bacheloråÕs degree in Computer Science and Statistics from Williams College. In her research, she designs interactions within both the web and augmented reality domains to create systems that support individual, collective, and collaborative visual creativity, focusing on illustration and visualization. Her internship research at Adobe has led to a patent and showcase at Adobe Max Summit Sneaks. Her work has also been published in conferences such as ACM CHI, UIST, CSCW, and DIS, with two Best Paper Honorable Mentions, as well as received coverage from Adobe Research News, Fast Company, and ZDNET.
Areas of Research
- Human-Computer Interaction
Systems to Support Creative Visual Authoring for Novices
Creative visual authoring is becoming increasingly digitized as new techniques and tools have been introduced. With this adoption emerged questions regarding how to map traditional workflows and mental models to the digital, both taking advantage of the benefits of generative technologies while preserving core human experiences. My research focuses on creative systems from an artist- or designer-centric perspective, specifically addressing pain points of new form factors and interactions across 2D and 3D spaces. From the creative evaluation side, I address challenges that arise due to subjective bias during the peer review process in design critiques. From the creative authoring side, I tackle dissonances between input and output modalities in 3D, introduce new interactions by treating texture/animation or text as first-class objects in 2D, and work on bridging the 2D and 3D domains through 2.5D interactions. My research aims to empower users to create more dynamic and scalable hypermedia, regardless of past skill level, workflows, and experience.