Xiyuan Gao is an external researcher at Campus Fryslân, Graduate School, University of Groningen (RUG), Netherlands. Their research focuses on pragmatic language understanding in human-machine interaction, particularly multimodal sarcasm detection using textual, audio, and visual cues. Gao's work explores how prosodic variation, semantic incongruity, and facial expressions can be modeled to understand language beyond literal content. Key research areas include pragmatic computing, affective computing, and the development of computational models for sarcasm that account for emotional and cultural context. Recent publications (2024-2025) demonstrate a focus on deep learning approaches, such as graph attention networks and attention-based fusion, for multimodal sarcasm detection. The research emphasizes the functional trade-offs between different modalities and the role of emotional incongruity, with applications in improving human-machine interaction.
Johanna Björklund is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computing Science , Umeå University, specializing in Formal Language Theory , Machine Learning , and Semantic Parsing of Multimodal Data . Her research focuses on translating complex media (e.g., videos with audio/subtitles) into graph-based semantic representations for algorithmic processing. Current projects include WARA Media & Language (2024–2026) and AI-Driven Contextual Communication (2021–2023). Key research areas: tree automata , graph transduction , contextual advertising , and computational linguistics . Her recent publications highlight advances in tree-to-graph transduction , multimodal semantic analysis , and privacy-preserving advertising . She has secured significant grants, including SEK 12 million (2021) and 4 million SEK (2020), for AI and deep learning initiatives. Grants: SEK 12 million (2021) for AI projects. 4 million SEK (2020) for Deep Learning methods. Scientific Awards: Lead researcher in multiple EU-funded projects. Recognized for contributions to formal languages and machine learning . She collaborates with teams in semantic analysis , tree automata , and multimodal AI , emphasizing practical applications like visual analytics and advertising systems .
Ian Lane is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz's Baskin Engineering school, serving as Program Director for the Natural Language Processing Professional Master's Degree Program. He joined UCSC in Fall 2022 after an extensive career spanning academia and industry. His research centers on computational systems that understand spoken human language, spanning speech recognition, transcription, meaning interpretation, and contextually appropriate responses. Key research areas include: Natural Language Processing for real-world applications Conversational AI systems development Speech-to-speech translation technologies Multimodal interaction (audio-visual integration) Language technologies that learn through real-world interaction His recent publications demonstrate strong focus on hallucination detection in LLMs, tabular data understanding, explainable AI, and robust speech recognition systems. Current work emphasizes "in the wild" language technologies that adapt through user interaction. Dr. Lane has received recognition through impactful industry applications including Jibbigo (the first mobile speech translation app) and military translation systems deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He actively mentors students and collaborates across UCSC's Silicon Valley Campus programs including Games and Playable Media and Human-Computer Interaction. His vision includes integrating NLP with virtual environments for language learning and skill acquisition.
Seungbae Kim is an Assistant Professor at the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing at the University of South Florida. He directs the Connected Social Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and co-directs the Artificial Intelligence Research Group (AIR) within the university. Previous Affiliation: Postdoctoral Researcher at UCLA's Communication Department under Professor Jungseock Joo. Education: PhD in Computer Science from UCLA, affiliated with the Scalable Analytics Institute (ScAi) under Professor Wei Wang. His research integrates graph-based learning , multimodal learning , and generative AI to advance responsible AI applications in healthcare, mental health, and social systems. Key methodologies include Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) , diffusion models , and cross-modal alignment . Recent publications focus on depression detection , algorithmic fairness , and social media analytics . While his work explores AI for social good , no scientific awards are explicitly mentioned. His research groups emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration between AI , healthcare , and social sciences .
Ovidiu Șerban is a Research Fellow at the Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, leading the Data Observatory group. His work focuses on real-time Natural Language Processing, Data Curation, and Large Scale Visualization Systems. PhD in Computer Science (2013) - Joint from INSA de Rouen Normandy and Babeș-Bolyai University MSc in Artificial Intelligence (2009) - Babeș-Bolyai University BSc in Computer Science (2008) - Babeș-Bolyai University Research interests span Artifical Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Interactive Systems, Affective Computing, and Deep Learning. Recent publications emphasize knowledge graph completion, temporal graph analysis, and multimodal data processing frameworks. Contributed to development of OVE (Open Visualization Environment) for scalable data rendering Created TKGQA dataset for temporal knowledge graph validation Advanced conflict-aware multilingual knowledge graph techniques Projects include SENTINEL for real-time event detection, Watchme for workplace analytics, Intuitel for e-learning enhancement, and Agentslang for distributed interactive systems. Affiliations include Imperial College London, University of Cambridge, and University of Reading.
He Kong is an Associate Professor at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), affiliated with the School of Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing, where he also serves as Deputy Director of the SUSTech Institute of Robotics. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering at SUSTech from January to May 2022. Prior to joining SUSTech, he was a Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics, University of Sydney (2016-2021), and at Cranfield University's Advanced Vehicle Engineering Centre (2015-2016). He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Newcastle, Australia (2014), M.E. in Control Science and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology (2010), and B.E. in Electrical Engineering and Automation from China University of Mining and Technology (2004). His research focuses on robotic intelligent perception and decision making, robot audition, optimal filtering and estimation, and advanced control methods. Specifically, he works on active multi-mode perception, parameter calibration of robot audition systems, optimal filtering under unknown inputs, and fully actuated system approaches. His work has significant applications in precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, and robotic inspection of hazardous industries such as chemical and mining operations. His recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on multi-modal perception systems, particularly combining visual and auditory sensing for robotic applications. His research shows a progression from theoretical control methods toward practical implementations in field robotics, with increasing focus on real-world applications in agriculture and hazardous environments. Finalist for Youth Author Prize, IFAC Workshop on Robot Control (2019) Fifth China Robotics Academic Annual Conference Best Poster Award (2024) 14th International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation Best Paper Award (2024) The Equity Scholarship, Council of International Students Australia (2011) Outstanding Postgraduate Students Award, Harbin Institute of Technology (2010) Professor Kong actively supervises numerous PhD and Master's students and has established a productive research group focused on active intelligent systems. His laboratory is equipped with advanced facilities including over 30 motion capture systems, Unitree humanoid robots, robot dogs, wheeled mobile robots, and custom-developed platforms like Cubli and acoustic perception systems. He serves on editorial boards for several prestigious journals including IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters and IEEE Sensors Letters, and has been an Associate Editor for major robotics conferences such as IEEE ICRA and IEEE/RSJ IROS.
Komninos Andreas is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Engineering & Informatics Department at the University of Patras, specializing in Mobile and Pervasive Computing, Internet of Things, and Human-Computer Interaction. His research spans intelligent environments, context awareness, and virtual reality applications. His research focuses on mobile text entry systems, psycho-cognitive modeling of human behavior, and accessibility for visually impaired users. Key areas include large language model applications for text entry evaluation, pseudo-haptic feedback in VR, and spatial multimodal alerts for industrial environments. He develops simulation tools like RoboType for realistic text entry evaluations and open-source cognitive models. Notable achievements include a Best Paper Award at the ACM Greek SIGCHI Chapter (2023) for VR text entry research. He serves as co-general chair for EICS'26 and holds leadership roles in MobileHCI'24 and UbiComp/ISWC'24 as Workshops & Tutorials Chair and Student Competition Chair respectively. Best Paper Award at ACM Greek SIGCHI Chapter (2023) Co-General Chair for EICS'26 Workshops & Tutorials Chair for MobileHCI'24 Student Competition Chair for UbiComp/ISWC'24 His publications demonstrate strong emphasis on empirical validation of text entry systems, with recent work integrating LLMs for affective phrase generation and psycho-cognitive modeling. He actively promotes open data practices in HCI research and has contributed to digital twin systems for environmental education and maritime industry applications.
Zerrin Yumak is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Information and Computing Sciences, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, specializing in virtual humans and social robotics. She leads Task 3.2: Embodiment and Physical Interaction in the RAGE project. Her research focuses on Social and emotional behavior analysis for virtual characters Machine learning applications in motion capture data Constrained motion graph search algorithms Lip-sync and gesture animation generation Real-time multimodal interaction systems Notable projects include the Virtual Human Controller asset for Unity 3D, integrated with BiP Media and Randstad applications. Recent work spans 2025: SemGes for semantics-aware gesture generation 2024: ProbTalk3D emotion-controllable facial animation 2023: Diffusion model-based facial animation (Facediffuser) 2020: Music-driven expressive gesture generation She contributes to workshops like GENEA (2021-2022) and MASSXR (2025), advancing non-verbal behavior modeling for embodied agents.
Corey Clark, Ph.D., serves as Deputy Director of Research and Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Southern Methodist University's Lyle School of Engineering. He leads the Human and Machine Intelligence (HuMIn) Game Lab, pioneering research at the intersection of gaming, artificial intelligence, and human computation to solve large-scale problems in healthcare, education, and national security. Dr. Clark holds a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude for his undergraduate degree. His doctoral research focused on nanoscale modeling and simulation techniques for Molecular Beam Epitaxy and Chemical Vapor Deposition of exotic materials. His research spans Artificial Intelligence, Game Development, Human Computation, Distributed Computing, Machine Learning, Computational Biology, and Educational Technology. Clark is renowned for transforming commercial video games into distributed computing platforms through human computation, enabling breakthroughs in medical diagnostics and educational technology. His technical innovations in HTML5/JavaScript multithreading have been featured at major international game conferences. Analysis of Clark's 15 most recent publications (2022-2024) reveals a dominant focus on generative AI applications integrated with gaming mechanics, particularly for knowledge graph enhancement, medical diagnostics, and computational thinking education. Key trends include explainable AI systems, human-AI collaboration through gameplay, blockchain applications, and privacy-preserving machine learning, demonstrating consistent innovation in applying game-based approaches to real-world problems. Dr. Clark has secured over $1.7 million in competitive research funding, including: Human Computation for Ocular Tomography Analysis ($62,924) with Retina Foundation Cryptocurrency Transactional Analysis via Gaming ($60,000) with Raytheon Game-Based Adult Literacy (XPrize) ($480,000) Flexible Electronics for Airborne Laser ($820,000) with Missile Defense Agency Networked C4ISR Chip ($850,000) with US Army As CTO for Dallas-based game technology companies, Clark has helped raise over $12 million in startup funding. His HuMIn Game Lab currently develops immersive gameplay systems for cancer treatment research using crowdsourced computation and machine learning, with recent projects including therapeutic discovery platforms and blockchain-based task completion systems.
Huamin Qu is a Chair Professor and founding Dean of the Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) . He leads the VisLab and coordinates the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) group within the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. His academic journey began with a BS in Mathematics from Xi'an Jiaotong University , followed by an MS and PhD in Computer Science from Stony Brook University . Founding Head of HKUST's Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas (EMIA) Founding Acting Head of Computational Media and Arts (CMA) at HKUST(GZ) Director of IPO and senior administration team member As a pioneer in data visualization and human-computer interaction , his research bridges urban computing , explainable AI , social media analysis , and E-learning . Recent work focuses on human-AI teaming , multimodal communication , and augmented reality applications . His publications reveal a trajectory from foundational graph visualization and volume rendering to cutting-edge AI-integrated visual systems . Scientific awards include induction into the IEEE Visualization Academy , IEEE VGTC Technical Achievement Award , and multiple best paper/honorable mention awards at top conferences like IEEE VIS, ACM CHI, and IEEE VAST. His lab has graduated 48 PhDs and 21 MPhil students , with 21 PhDs now faculty members at institutions including UC Davis, University of Minnesota, and Zhejiang University. Technologies developed by his group have been adopted by Microsoft , IBM , and Google . His work on projects like Pulse of HKUST and ATMSeer has received global media coverage from MIT News , IEEE Spectrum , and NHK TV . He has served as Associate Editor of IEEE TVCG and held leadership roles in major conferences including IEEE VIS , PacificVis , and VINCI .
Giorgos Stamou is a Professor at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), and a Visiting Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and MIT Open Learning. He directs the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Systems Laboratory (AILS Lab) and has been a senior researcher at the Institute of Communications and Computer Systems (2000-2008) and an academic visitor at Oxford University (2011-2012). His research spans Deep Learning , Explainable AI , and Knowledge Representation , with a focus on Large Language Models and Multimodal Learning . He has coordinated over 60 funded projects and published 150+ papers. Recent work highlights trends in LLM Evaluation , Gender Bias Mitigation , and Multimodal Music Analysis , reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to AI challenges. Stamou has served on steering committees for W3C working groups (Rule Interchange Format, Web Ontology Language) and contributed to cultural heritage metadata enrichment through the CrowdHeritage projects. He founded NTUA's MSc program in Data Science and Machine Learning (2018-2022) and has organized conference tracks on riddle-solving frameworks and hallucination detection.
Qi Feng is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, specializing in deep learning applications for computer graphics and vision, with a focus on virtual and augmented reality. He holds a Doctor of Engineering (2022), Master of Engineering (2019), and Bachelor of Engineering (2017) from Waseda University. Research Interests: His work spans 3D reconstruction, depth estimation, occlusion handling, and multimodal systems integrating eye tracking and speech recognition. Notable projects include SyncViolinist for audio-driven motion generation and the Depth360 dataset for omnidirectional imaging. Publications: Qi's research has been featured in top conferences like CHI, ISMR, ICCVW, and journals such as The Visual Computer. His articles emphasize practical solutions for immersive environments, language learning, and synchronized audio-visual editing. Contact: Email: fengqi@ruri.waseda.jp
Vincent Tourre is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Centrale Nantes, affiliated with the CRENAU Research Team (UMR CNRS 6051), a joint unit involving CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, and multiple architecture schools. His academic career spans urban data visualization, morphological analysis of urban spaces, and natural lighting simulation. His research interests focus on Urban Data Visualization , Morphological Analysis of Urban Spaces , and Virtual Reality Applications for urban environments. Recent work examines 360° image perception, urban soundscapes classification, and immersive geospatial data visualization. Tourre's publications demonstrate consistent output in top venues including ISPRS Annals, International Journal of Geographical Information Science, and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Tourre's 15 most recent articles reveal a strong trajectory in interdisciplinary urban computing , with growing emphasis on machine learning applications for urban data analysis (particularly in acoustics and visual perception) since 2020. His work increasingly integrates virtual reality with multi-sensor urban monitoring systems. As course leader at Centrale Nantes, Tourre teaches urban data analysis, scientific visualization, and knowledge representation. His research training contributions include doctoral supervision and development of the CORAULIS VR Platform for immersive urban studies. The CRENAU team's collaborative structure provides access to extensive urban datasets and interdisciplinary expertise across architecture, computer science, and environmental studies.
