InnerPond: Fostering Inter-Self Dialogue with a Multi-Agent Approach for IntrospectionIntrospection is central to identity construction and future planning, yet most digital tools approach the self as a unified entity. In contrast, Dialogical Self Theory (DST) views the self as composed of multiple internal perspectives, such as values, concerns, and aspirations, that can come into tension or dialogue with one another. Building on this view, we designed InnerPond, a research probe in the form of a multi-agent system that represents these internal perspectives as distinct LLM-based agents for introspection. Its design was shaped through iterative explorations of spatial metaphors, interaction scaffolding, and conversational orchestration, culminating in a shared spatial environment for organizing and relating multiple inner perspectives. In a user study with 17 young adults navigating career choices, participants engaged with the probe by co-creating inner voices with AI, composing relational inner landscapes, and orchestrating dialogue as observers and mediators, offering insight into how such systems could support introspection. Overall, this work offers design implications for AI-supported introspection tools that enable exploration of the self’s multiplicity.2026HJHayeon Jeon et al.Seoul National UniversityHuman-LLM CollaborationEmpathy & Emotional DesignAffective Human-Computer DialogueCHI
DeepAware: Using Experiential Deepfake Simulations to Enhance Cybersecurity Awareness in Older AdultsDeepfake scams, which use AI-generated audio or video to impersonate individuals, pose an increasing cybersecurity threat to older adults. Existing educational approaches present threats through generic examples, leaving learners to perceive scams as something that happens to others rather than to themselves. To address this gap, we conducted a formative study with five digital educators to identify design requirements, then developed DeepAware, a self-referential simulation platform that embeds participants' own faces and voices into deepfake scam scenarios. By making learners the target of simulated threats rather than passive observers, DeepAware aims to collapse the psychological distance between abstract warnings and personal vulnerability. A mixed-methods evaluation with 21 older adults found improvements in deepfake knowledge, threat perception, and coping confidence, though responses varied by prior familiarity. This work demonstrates the potential of self-referential simulation for cybersecurity education and offers design implications for future cybersecurity interventions.2026HOHana Oh et al.Human Centered Computing LabDeepfake & Synthetic Media DetectionCybersecurity Training & AwarenessCHI
Clarifying or Complicating?: Understanding Older Adults' Engagement with Real-World XAI in E-CommerceE-commerce platforms increasingly deploy explainability features to address concerns about algorithmic opacity. However, most XAI research has focused on younger, tech-savvy users, leaving open questions about how older adults engage with these features in everyday shopping. To address this gap, we conducted a qualitative study with 20 older adults aged 60+ who regularly use NAVER Shopping, one of South Korea's largest e-commerce platforms, examining their engagement with global (system-level) explanations, local (item-level) explanations, and a user-model dashboard. Our findings reveal that explainability does not operate uniformly. Many participants did not notice the explanation features during routine use or mistook them for advertisements. After guided interaction, global explanations elicited polarized responses: some participants deferred uncritically to algorithmic authority, whereas others dismissed the explanations as sophisticated marketing rhetoric. In contrast, local explanations grounded in users' behavior helped recalibrate skepticism, while a user-model dashboard exposed tensions between empowerment and surveillance. Based on these findings, we propose actionable design strategies for building inclusive and adaptive XAI systems for older adults.2026SKSeo Hyeong Kim et al.Seoul National UniversityExplainable AI (XAI)AI Ethics, Fairness & AccountabilityPrivacy by Design & User ControlCHI
Bodyfulness VR: Exploring Virtual Reality as a Medium for Somatic Meditative PracticesWithin body-centered HCI, growing attention has been given to the body not only as an instrument of the mind but as a source of experience and presence. Dance meditation exemplifies this orientation by fostering mindful connection to the body through spontaneous, unstructured movement. In this context, VR has been widely adopted for structured instruction in static meditation and choreographed dance, yet its potential to foster freer, meditative bodily engagement has received little attention. To address this gap, we collaborated with dance meditators and co-designed Bodyfulness VR, a four-module system supporting (1) somatic awareness, (2) movement exploration, (3) emotional release, and (4) physical relaxation. Using the system as a design probe, we examined how VR could mediate somatic meditative practices. Findings from our user study indicate that VR could lower barriers to dance meditation by reducing self-consciousness and supporting bodily engagement, while movement-guiding affordances may also redirect attention toward task-oriented action, constraining bodily expression. By articulating this tension, our work contributes design implications for balancing structure and openness in VR systems that aim to support somatic mindfulness.2026SYSuhwoo Yoon et al.Seoul National UniversityImmersion & Presence ResearchFull-Body Interaction & Embodied InputDance & Body Movement ComputingCHI
Actor’s Note: Examining the Role of AI-Generated Questions in Character Journaling for Actor TrainingCharacter journaling is a well-established exercise in actor training, but many actors struggle to sustain it due to cognitive burden, the blank page problem, and unclear short-term rewards. We reframe large language models not as co-authors but as maieutic partners—tools that guide reflection through context-aware questioning rather than producing text on behalf of the user. Based on this perspective, we designed Actor’s Note, a journaling tool that tailors questions to the script, role, and rehearsal phase while preserving actor agency. We evaluated the system in a 14-day crossover study with 29 actors using surveys, logs, and interviews. Results indicate that the tool reduced entry barriers, supported sustained reflection, and enriched character exploration, with participants describing different benefits when AI was introduced at earlier versus later rehearsal stages. This work contributes empirical insights and design principles for creativity-support tools that sustain reflective practices while preserving artistic immersion in performance training.2026SKSora Kang et al.Seoul National UniversityHuman-LLM CollaborationCreative Collaboration & Feedback SystemsInteractive Narrative & Immersive StorytellingCHI
Understanding Digital Gifting Through Messengers Across Cultures: A Comparative Study of University Students in South Korea, China, and JapanDigital gift-giving has become a key means of maintaining social relationships, but most existing research has focused on gifting within global e-commerce or social media platforms. The emergence of messenger-based gifting in East Asia, where gifting traditions are deeply rooted, remains underexplored. This study examines how in-app gifting services on the most widely used messaging platforms in South Korea (KakaoTalk), Japan (LINE), and China (WeChat) reflect and reshape culturally specific gifting practices. Through semi-structured interviews with 26 university students, we found that KakaoTalk facilitates frequent, informal exchanges aligned with Korea’s emphasis on maintaining broad social ties. LINE supports selective and carefully presented gifts, reflecting Japanese norms of formality and sincerity. In contrast, WeChat’s Hongbao feature enables playful, communal monetary exchanges that are largely separate from traditional, obligation-driven gift-giving. Based on these findings, we propose the Channel-Oriented Gifting Cycle to extend classical gift-exchange theory and offer design implications for culturally sensitive digital gifting services.2025YLYeEun Lee et al.Online Interactions with Friends and StrangersCSCW
NoRe: Augmenting Journaling Experience with Generative AI for Music CreationJournaling has long been recognized for fostering emotional awareness and self-reflection, and recent advancements in generative AI offer new opportunities to create personalized music that can enhance these practices. In this study, we explore how AI-generated music can augment the journaling experience. Through a formative study, we examined journal writers’ writing patterns, purposes, emotional regulation strategies, and the design requirements for the system that augments journaling experience by journal-based AI-generated music. Based on these insights, we developed NoRe, a system that transforms journal entries into personalized music using generative AI. In a seven-day in-the-wild study (N=15), we investigated user engagement and perceived emotional effectiveness through system logs, surveys, and interviews. Our findings suggest that journal-based music generation could support emotional reflection and provide vivid reminiscence of daily experiences. Drawing from these findings, we discuss design implications for tailoring music to journal writers’ emotional states and preferences.2025JPJoonyoung Park et al.Generative AI (Text, Image, Music, Video)AI-Assisted Creative WritingMusic Composition & Sound Design ToolsDIS
Letters from Future Self: Augmenting the Letter-Exchange Exercise with LLM-based Agents to Enhance Young Adults' Career ExplorationYoung adults often encounter challenges in career exploration. Self-guided interventions, such as the letter-exchange exercise, where participants envision and adopt the perspective of their future selves by exchanging letters with their envisioned future selves, can support career development. However, the broader adoption of such interventions may be limited without structured guidance. To address this, we integrated Large Language Model (LLM)-based agents that simulate participants’ future selves into the letter-exchange exercise and evaluated their effectiveness. A one-week experiment (N=36) compared three conditions: (1) participants manually writing replies to themselves from the perspective of their future selves (baseline), (2) future-self agents generating letters to participants, and (3) future-self agents engaging in chat conversations with participants. Results indicated that exchanging letters with future-self agents enhanced participants' engagement during the exercise, while overall benefits of the intervention on future orientation, career self-concept, and psychological support remained comparable across conditions. We discuss design implications for AI-augmented interventions for supporting young adults' career exploration.2025HJHayeon Jeon et al.Seoul National University, Communication/Seoul National University/HCI+D LabHuman-LLM CollaborationAI-Assisted Creative WritingCHI
I Stan Alien Idols and Also the People Behind Them: Understanding How Seams Between Virtual and Real Identities Engage VTuber Fans – A Case Study of PLAVEVirtual YouTubers (VTubers) have recently gained popularity as streamers using computer-generated avatars and real-time motion capture to create distinct virtual identities. While prior research has explored how VTubers construct virtual personas and engage audiences, little attention has been given to viewers’ reactions when virtual and real identities blur—what we refer to as "seams." To address this gap, we conducted a case study on PLAVE, a popular Korean VTuber Kpop idol group, interviewing 24 of their fans. Our findings identified two main sources of seams: technical glitches and identity collapses, where VTubers act inconsistently with their virtual personas, revealing aspects of their real selves. These seams played a pivotal role in shaping diverse fan engagements, with some valuing authenticity linked to real identities, while others prioritized the coherence of virtual personas. Overall, our findings underscore the importance of seams in shaping viewer experiences.2025DADakyeom Ahn et al.Seoul National University, Information Science and Culture StudiesIdentity & Avatars in XRSocial Platform Design & User BehaviorCHI
Exploring K-12 Physical Education Teachers’ Perspectives on Opportunities and Challenges of AI Integration through Ideation WorkshopsWhile AI's potential in education and professional sports is widely recognized, its application in K-12 physical education (PE) remains underexplored with significant opportunities for innovation. This study aims to address this gap by engaging 17 in-service secondary school PE teachers in group ideation workshops to explore potential AI applications and challenges in PE classes. Participants envisioned AI playing multidimensional roles, such as an operational assistant, personal trainer, group coach, and evaluator, as solutions to address unique instructional and operational challenges in K-12 PE classes. These roles reflected participants’ perspectives on how AI could enhance class management, deliver personalized feedback, promote balanced team activities, and streamline performance assessments. Participants also highlighted critical considerations for AI integration, including the need to ensure robust student data security and privacy measures, minimize the risk of over-reliance on AI for instructional decisions, and accommodate the varying levels of technological proficiency among PE teachers. Our findings provide valuable insights and practical guidance for AI developers, educators, and policymakers, offering a foundation for the effective integration of AI into K-12 PE curricula to enhance teaching practices and student outcomes.2025DADakyeom Ahn et al.Seoul National University, Information Science and Culture StudiesIntelligent Tutoring Systems & Learning AnalyticsContext-Aware ComputingKnowledge Worker Tools & WorkflowsCHI
I feel being there, they feel being together: Exploring How Telepresence Robots Facilitate Long-Distance Family CommunicationMany families often live geographically apart from each other due to work, education, or marriage. Therefore, long-distance families frequently use computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools to stay connected. While CMC tools have significantly improved family communication, they cannot fully mediate social presence. To examine the potential of telepresence robots for improving long-distance family communication, we conducted a two-week qualitative in situ study involving eight families. We analyzed recorded videos of their family interactions and conducted pre- and post-deployment interviews. Our findings highlight telepresence robots' potential as family communication tools, enabling immersive, natural, and dynamic interactions through physical embodiment and autonomy. Particularly, we identified five categories of family interaction mediated by telepresence robots: engaging in multi-party family communication, exploring home, restoring family routines, providing support, and having joint physical activities. Based on our findings, we present design guidelines for leveraging telepresence robots as effective family communication tools.2024JSJiyeon Amy Seo et al.Seoul National UniversityTeleoperation & TelepresenceCHI
“Some Hope, Many Despair”: Experiences of the Normalization within Online Dating among Queer Women in a Closeted SocietyOnline dating technology mediates various social interactions for LGBTQ+ communities, yet how such technology shapes queerness remains understudied, particularly within queer women's communities in non-Western settings. To address this gap, we conducted a qualitative study with 17 queer women, aiming to uncover their experiences and challenges in online dating within the conservative context of South Korea. Contrary to their initial expectations of exploring open-ended forms of interaction, we found that dating applications tended to systematically normalize queerness in sexuality presentation, relationship building, and shared identities in the community. These mechanisms forced them to conform to the "normalized queerness," thereby impeding non-normative and flexible aspects of queer interactions. Building upon these findings, we discuss how the technological affordances of online dating platforms facilitate the normalization of queerness under the influence of sociocultural contexts of South Korea.2024SPSeora Park et al.Seoul National UniversityGender & Race Issues in HCILGBTQ+ Community Technology DesignCHI
Enhancing Auto-Generated Baseball Highlights via Win Probability and Bias Injection MethodThe automatic generation of sports highlight videos is emerging in both the sports entertainment domain and research community. Earlier methods for generating highlights rely on visual-audio cues or contextual cues, so they may not capture the overall flow of the game well. In this paper, we propose a technique based on Win Probability Added (WPA), an empirical sabermetric baseball statistic, to generate baseball highlights that can better reflect in-game dynamics. Additionally, we introduce methods for generating “biased” highlights toward one team by systematically manipulating WPAs. Through a mixed-method user study with 43 baseball enthusiasts, we found that participants evaluated WPA-based highlights more favorably than existing AI highlights. For (un)favorably biased highlights, the game result(win/loss) was the most dominating factor in user perception, but bias directions and strengths also had nuanced effects on them. Our work contributes to the development of automated tools for generating customized sports highlights.2024KPKieun Park et al.Seoul National UniversityRecommender System UXGame UX & Player BehaviorSerious & Functional GamesCHI
Investigating the Effects of Real-time Student Monitoring Interface on Instructors’ Monitoring Practices in Online TeachingThe shift to online education, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has introduced challenges in monitoring student engagement, an essential aspect of effective teaching. In response, real-time student monitoring interfaces have emerged as potential tools to aid instructors, yet their efficacy has not been thoroughly examined. Addressing this gap, we conducted a controlled experiment with 20 instructors examining the impact of engagement cues (presence versus absence) and student engagement levels (high versus low) on instructors' monitoring effectiveness, teaching behavior adjustments, and cognitive load in online classes. Our findings underscored the fundamental benefits of student engagement monitoring interfaces for improving monitoring quality and effectiveness. Furthermore, our study highlighted the critical need for customizable interfaces that could balance the informational utility of engagement cues with the associated cognitive load and psychological stress on instructors. These insights may offer design implications for the design of future student engagement monitoring interfaces.2024HLHa Yeon Lee et al.Seoul National UniversityOnline Learning & MOOC PlatformsCollaborative Learning & Peer TeachingCHI
The Power of Close Others: How Social Interactions Impact Older Adults' Mobile Shopping ExperienceIncreasingly, older adults are shopping via mobile devices as technology has been incorporated into their lives. When older adults adopt and use mobile shopping, social interactions with close others greatly influence their experience. Therefore, this paper aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of how social interactions with close others shaped older adults' mobile shopping practices. We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 31 older adults who reported using mobile shopping regularly. We found that older adults engaged in three types of social interaction: learning from, collaborating with, and assisting close others in adopting and using mobile shopping. Through these social interactions, they gradually built trust in mobile shopping systems and supported each other's decision-making processes. In conclusion, we presented design implications for facilitating social interactions to improve older adults' mobile shopping experience.2023JSYewon Jin et al.Explainable AI (XAI)Aging-Friendly Technology DesignUniversal & Inclusive DesignDIS
DiVRsity: Design and Development of a Group Role-Play VR Platform for Disability Awareness EducationRole-playing can be an effective method for disability awareness education (DAE), and the immersive nature of virtual reality (VR) holds promise for enhancing DAE experiences. However, existing VR applications for DAE often pay less attention to the social aspects of disabilities, resulting in a lack of ability to simulate implicit social discrimination experienced by individuals with disabilities. To bridge this gap, we developed DiVRsity, a customizable VR group role-playing platform for DAE. To identify design requirements for DiVRsity, we conducted a formative study with VR and DAE experts. In an evaluation study, 28 participants engaged in role-playing exercises using DiVRsity, simulating discriminatory interpersonal situations experienced by individuals with vision impairments. Findings revealed that participants' disability awareness significantly increased after engaging in role-playing activities using DiVRsity compared to before. We discuss the potential of VR as a role-playing platform for DAE and provide design implications for future VR-based DAE tools.2023YJYewon Jin et al.Identity & Avatars in XRSpecial Education TechnologyInclusive DesignDIS
So I Can Feel Normal: Participatory Design for Accessible Social Media for Individuals with Traumatic Brain InjuryTraumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in chronic sensorimotor, cognitive, psychosocial, and communication challenges that can limit social participation. Social media can be a useful outlet for social participation for individuals with TBI, but there are barriers to access. While research has drawn attention to the nature of access barriers, few studies have investigated technological solutions to address these barriers, particularly considering the perspectives of individuals with TBI. To address this gap in knowledge, we used a participatory approach to engage 10 adults with TBI in conceptualizing tools to address their challenges accessing Facebook. Participants described multifaceted challenges in using social media, including interface overload, social comparisons, and anxiety over self-presentation and communication after injury. They discussed their needs and preferences and generated ideas for design solutions. Our work contributes to designing assistive and accessibility technology to facilitate an equal access to the benefits of social media for individuals with TBI.2023HLHajin Lim et al.Seoul National University, University of Wisconsin-MadisonCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Universal & Inclusive DesignSocial Platform Design & User BehaviorCHI