Sooyeon Lee

Dr. Sooyeon Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Informatics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Her research focuses on accessible technologies for people with disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments and deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) needs. She designs innovative solutions in areas such as AI-driven navigation systems, multimodal interaction frameworks, and inclusive virtual reality experiences. Her work bridges human-centered design principles with cutting-edge AI and sensor technologies.

Dr. Lee holds a Ph.D. and B.S. in Information Sciences and Technology from Pennsylvania State University, with a specialization in Human-Computer Interaction. Her academic contributions span over 30 peer-reviewed publications, including seminal work on NaviGPT, an AI-driven navigation system for visually impaired users, and BubbleCam, a privacy-focused remote assistance tool.

Central to her research are collaborations with user communities, including participatory design studies with blind users, DHH viewers, and ASL learners. She explores topics such as non-speech audio captioning trends, spatial audio descriptions for VR performances, and text simplification for DHH adults. Her datasets, such as the ASL-Homework-RGBD dataset, have become benchmark resources for sign language technology research.

Dr. Lee’s work addresses emerging challenges in human-AI collaboration for accessibility, ethical AI practices in assistive tech, and the intersection of privacy and remote assistance systems. She actively contributes to advancing accessibility standards in multimedia content, educational tools, and smart environments.