Hello!

My name is Tommy Zhu

I am a Second-Year Ph.D. student at Northeastern_CAMD. , advised by Prof. Eileen McGivney. My research interest lies in the interdisciplinary area of Human-Computer Interaction, with the intersection of Multimodal Large Language Models (LLMs), Extended Reality, and Education Computing. My ongoing research focuses on integrating multimodal LLMs into future XR content to:

Seamlessly interpret, understand, and respond to users’ environments and needs in real-time, making XR into everyday complex and multi-human tasks.
Transform interactive educational elements into dynamic, personalized, and memorable simulation-based learning experiences, enabling AI-driven, tailored instruction that adapts to individual learner needs.

I have been honored to do research with various amazing advisors, such as the Future Lab (Prof. YangJiao & Prof. Yingqing Xu), CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science (Prof. Jingyu Zhang), and the LDC Lab (Prof. Min Fan). I have also interned at Lark Suite-People as a UX researcher. I received my bachelor's degree of Digital Media Arts from the Communication University of China. My works have won numerous awards in art and design competitions and had been exhibited in multiple art galleries.

My CV

News！

🏫 (2019-2023) BA in Digital Media Arts at Communication University of China

🏫 (2023-2028 Expected) PhD in Interdisciplinary Media and Design at Northeastern University

2/2025 First Paper getting accepted by CHI LBW, coming Yokohama 1/2025 Three Paper submitted to DIS, CHI LBW, and IJHCI 4/26/2024 One Paper submitted to ASSETS2024 (Rejected again..) 9/14/2023 Two paper submitted to CHI2024, What a marathon！(But rejected) 8/19/2023 My first full paper was accepted by ISMAR 2023 (CCF-B), I was over the moon! 6/21/2023 I will be presenting my paper Co-Space on IDC'23 WIP seesion 6/19/2023 I will attending my first workshop experience on IDC'23 6/14/2023 Two papers as first author had submitted, stress released and fingers crossed🙏 5/12/2023 My WIP paper was accepted by IDC'23, congrats to my co-authors! 4/15/2023 Made my decision! Northeastern for my next five years✌️

Publications

(Peer Reviewed, * Equal Contribution, Chronological order)

[U3] Designing VR Simulation System for Clinical Communication Training with LLMs-Based Embodied Conversational Agent

Xiuqi Tommy Zhu, Heidi Cheerman, Minxin Cheng, Sheri R Kiami, Leanne Chukoskie, Eileen McGivney (Accepted in CHI2025 LBW)

Download

[U2] Understanding the Practice, Perception, and Challenge of Blind or Low VisionStudents Learning through Accessible Technologies in Non-Inclusive 'BlindCollege

Xiuqi Tommy Zhu, Ziyue Qiu, Ye Wei, Jianhao Wang and Yang Jiao. (Under Review in IJHCI)

Download

[U1] HaptiFab: A Wearable Toolkit Supports the Integration of Haptic Actuator and Fabric for Interdisciplinary Design

Yixuan Li*, Shuai Wang*, Xiuqi Tommy Zhu, Rui Zhang, Xiaozhan Liang, Xiwen Yao, and Yang Jiao (Under Review in DIS 2025)

Download

[C2] Can You Move It?: The Design and Evaluation of Moving VR Shots in Sport Broadcast

Xiuqi Zhu, Chenyi Wang, Zichun Guo, Yifan Zhao, and Yang Jiao, accepted by ISMAR'23 DOI https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10316354

Download

[C1] Co-Space: A Tangible System Supporting Social Attention and Social Behavioral Development through Embodied Play for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Xiuqi Zhu, Min Fan, Zhuohao Wu, Jiayi Lu, and Yukai Liu. In Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC ’23). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 608–613. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3585088.3593911

Download

[P1] An Initial Attempt to Build a Natural Sounds Library Based on Heuristic Evaluation

Xiuqi Zhu, Jingyu Zhang, Tongyang Liu and Gang He (2022) In: Stephanidis, C., Antona, M., Ntoa, S., Salvendy, G. (eds) HCI International 2022 – Late Breaking Posters. HCII 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1654. Springer, Cham. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19679-9_90

Download