C'mon. Let's go.
Hi there!
I'm Ruotong, a PhD student at the University of Maryland College Park College of Information (UMD ischool). I'm currently working with Dr. Stephanie Valencia in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) design and development. My research interests lie broadly in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), including assistive & wellness technology, wearable technology, and disability studies.
Prior to starting my PhD, I received my Master in Information Science at University of Michigan, and my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Technology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). My Bachelor's Thesis focuses on self-supervised audio embedding for depression detection. I was affiliated with Advanced Network Laboratory (ANL) where I was working on improving diversity in the recommendation systems with Dr. Xiaofeng Gao.
Outside of work and study, I enjoy RPG games, cult movies, and 90s animes.😉
Discover my interests
Developers and researchers have been working enthusiastically to improve human wellness through cutting-edge technologies. The relationship between wellness and technology is inextricably linked in the disability field, however, ableist tools and biased algorithms centered on mainstream Western society failed to address the diverse wellness needs of people with disabilities. As a mixed-method researcher, I plan to work as an accomplice rather than an ally to understand, design and develop non-ableist adaptive technologies with the disability community to address OUR heterogeneous wellness needs.
Research keywords
- Assistive Technology & Disability
- AiRPLAY: Inclusive AR Game Development
- Wellbeing Interventions on Social Media - Mental Health & Wellness Technology
- Wellbeing Interventions on Social Media
- Self-Supervised Audio Embedding for Depression Detection - Critical Algorithm Studies
- Algorithm Auditing: Exploring Datasets
- Self-Supervised Audio Embedding for Depression Detection - Wearable Technology (IoT)
- AiRPLAY: Inclusive AR Game Development - Computational Social Science
- Information Visualization: Social Justice / Transportation
- Algorithm Auditing: Exploring Datasets
Skills
Qualitative Research
Semi-structured Interview (w/ vulnerable populations), Empathy Mapping, Qualitative Analysis
Technical Skills
AI & Machine Learning, Embedded Software Development, Computer Vision, Front-End Development
Quantitative Research
Data Manipulation & Analysis, Data Visualization, Survey Design, Causal Analysis
Prototyping
UX/UI Design, 3D Modeling (Rhino, Sketch), 3D printing, AR/VR Prototyping