CHING-YI TSAI

ABOUT

I’m a 1st-year Computer Science Ph.D. Student at Princeton University, advised by Prof. Parastoo Abtahi. I research novel interactions and interfaces in virtual, mixed, or physical reality in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).

My works have been recognized and published in top HCI venues such as ACM CHI and UIST, with one Best Paper Award and one Honorable Mention Award.

Previously, I received my M.S. degree from National Taiwan University, where I was advised by Prof. Mike Yen Chen. I was also a research assistant at the University of Waterloo’s HCI Lab, advised by Prof. Daniel Vogel, and at National Taiwan University’s CPL Lab, advised by Prof. Lung-Pan Cheng.

In my free time, I’m an enthusiastic jazz saxophonist!

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

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ACM CHI'22 BEST PAPER AWARD | 15 APRIL 2022
AirRacket: Perceptual Design of Ungrounded, Directional Force Feedback to Improve Virtual Racket Sports Experiences

FIRST-AUTHORED

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ACM UIST'24 PAPER | 06 FEB 2025
Gait Gestures: Examining Stride and Foot Strike Variation as an Input Method While Walking

FIRST-AUTHORED

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UIST'22 SIC PEOPLE'S CHOICE | 29 OCT 2022
Garnish into Thin Air

FIRST-AUTHORED

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ACM CHI'24 PAPER | 06 FEB 2025
RoomDreaming: Generative-AI Approach to Facilitating Iterative, Preliminary Interior Design Exploration

CO-AUTHORED

PERSONAL UPDATE

2024 OCT
Attend UIST'24 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (for presenting GaitGesture)
2024 JUL
One first-authored and one co-authored papers accepted to UIST'24
2024 JUL
Arrive Princeton and start my Ph.D. journey!
2024 MAY
Attend CHI'24 in Hawaii
2024 JAN
Two co-authored papers accepted to CHI'24
2023 NOV
Attend UIST'23 in San Francisco, California, USA (for AirCharge)
2023 JUN
One first-authored paper accepted to UIST'23
2023 APR
Start my obligatory military service in Marine Corps Taiwan (ends in early Aug)
2023 MAR
Finish my visiting in University of Waterloo and be back to Taiwan
2023 FEB
Receive Specitial Recognition for Outstanding Review from CHI'23
2022 NOV
Visit University of Waterloo as a research assistant, advised by Prof. Daniel Vogel
2022 OCT
Garnish into Thin Air wins the UIST'22 Student Innovation Contest People's Choice Award 🏆
2022 OCT
Attend UIST22 in Bend, Oregon, USA (for Student Innovation Contest)
2022 AUG
Graduate from National Taiwan University
2022 MAY
Attend CHI22 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (for presenting AirRacket)
2022 MAR
AirRacket receives Best Paper Award from CHI'22 🏆
2022 JAN
One first-authored paper accepted to CHI'22
2021 MAR
HapticSeer receives Honorable Mention Award from CHI'21 🏆
2021 JAN
One co-authored paper accepted to CHI'21

PUBLICATION LIST

2024

  1. BY CHIA-AN FAN, EN-HUEI WU, CHIA-YU CHENG, YU-CHENG CHANG, ALVARO LOPEZ, YU CHEN, CHIA-CHEN CHI, YI-SHENG CHAN, CHING-YI TSAI, AND MIKE Y. CHEN
  2. BY SHUN-YU WANG, WEI-CHUNG SU, SERENA CHEN, CHING-YI TSAI, MARTA MISZTAL, KATHERINE M. CHENG, ALWENA LIN, YU CHEN, AND MIKE Y. CHEN
  3. BY PIN-CHUN LU, CHE-WEI WANG, YU LUN HSU, ALVARO LOPEZ, CHING-YI TSAI, CHIAO-JU CHANG, WEI TIAN MIREILLE TAN, LI-CHUN LU, AND MIKE Y. CHEN

2023

  1. BY PO-YU CHEN*, CHING-YI TSAI*, WEI-HSIN WANG*, CHAO-JUNG LAI, CHIA-AN FAN, SHIH CHIN LIN, CHIA-CHEN CHI, AND MIKE Y. CHEN

2021

  1. BY YU-WEI WANG, YU-HSIN LIN, PIN-SUNG KU, YŌKO MIYATAKE, PO-YU CHEN, CHUN-MIAO TSENG, CHING-YI TSAI, AND MIKE Y. CHEN
  2. BY YU-WEI WANG, YU-HSIN LIN, YOKO MIYATAKE, CHING-YI TSAI, PIN-SUNG KU, AND MIKE Y. CHEN
GOOGLE SCHOLAR
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Alternatively, you can access my publication here.

Ching-Yi Tsai

Here is a list of my research, side, and course projects, organized based on my personal preference.

(NOTE: Some parts of this page is still under construction).

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ACM CHI'22 BEST PAPER AWARD | 15 APRIL 2022
AirRacket: Perceptual Design of Ungrounded, Directional Force Feedback to Improve Virtual Racket Sports Experiences

FIRST-AUTHORED

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ACM UIST'24 PAPER | 06 FEB 2025
Gait Gestures: Examining Stride and Foot Strike Variation as an Input Method While Walking

FIRST-AUTHORED

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UIST'22 SIC PEOPLE'S CHOICE | 29 OCT 2022
Garnish into Thin Air

FIRST-AUTHORED

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ACM UIST'23 PAPER | 29 OCT 2023
Amplifying Ungrounded Impact Force by Accumulating Air Propulsion Momentum

FIRST-AUTHORED

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ACM UIST'24 PAPER | 06 FEB 2025
SpinShot: Optimizing Both Physical and Perceived Force Feedback of Flywheel-Based, Directional Impact Handheld

CO-AUTHORED

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ACM CHI'24 PAPER | 06 FEB 2025
RoomDreaming: Generative-AI Approach to Facilitating Iterative, Preliminary Interior Design Exploration

CO-AUTHORED

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ACM CHI'24 PAPER | 06 FEB 2025
Transforming Routine, Everyday Motions into Enjoyable MR Experiences

CO-AUTHORED

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ACM CHI'21 HONORABLE MENTION | 15 APRIL 2021
A Multi-Channel, Black-Box, Platform-Agnostic Approach to Detecting Video Game Events for Real-Time Haptic Feedback

CO-AUTHORED

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ACM TEI'20 PAPER | 8 FEB 2020
MuscleSense: Exploring Weight Sensing Using Wearable Surface Electromyography (sEMG)

CO-AUTHORED

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ARXIV PREPRINT | 8 NOV 2023
Clonemator: Composing Spatiotemporal Clones to Create Interactive Automators in Virtual Reality

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COURSE PROJECT | 24 JUN 2021
Augmented Squat-to-Jump in VR

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COURSE PROJECT | 18 JUN 2021
Animated Everyday Objects with 6-DoF Social Body Gestures

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ACM CHI'21 INTERACTIVITY | 15 APRIL 2021
High-Speed Ungrounded Force Feedback Controllers Using Air Propulsion Jets

CO-AUTHORED

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ACM SIGGRAPH 2021 LABS | 15 AUG 2021
JetController

CO-AUTHORED

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MISC | 06 FEB 2025
Other stuff I made

This is selected media coverage of my work.

CTV News
Taking a hands-off approach to tech
Controlling apps with your feet is the focus of new research at the University of Waterloo. Researchers found slight variations in how you walk could be enough to tell augmented reality devices what you want to do ...... “Scrolling through a web page or scrolling through a menu, scrolling through a list of apps, adjusting the brightness or … volume,” said Tsai. As augmented reality glasses inch closer to mainstream use, the researchers have shown what is possible and that this concept has legs.
New Scientist
Virtual tennis racket uses air jet to recreate feel of hitting a ball
A controller called the AirRacket shoots out a burst of compressed air to produce strong forces similar to those produced when striking a ball. A controller that shoots out bursts of compressed air can simulate racket sports like tennis, badminton and table tennis in virtual reality. Until now, video games such as Wii Sports have used vibrations to give players the sense of hitting a ball in simulated versions of tennis......

Alternatively, it can be accessed here.