I am a research scientist working at the intersection of human-computer interaction, accessibility, creativity, privacy, and computer vision.
I design and implement studies that guide the development of technologies that support non-visual access to images, video, graphics, and art. I am committed to cultivating inclusive design practices and technologies for people with disabilities. #Ally
I am on the job market for industry and academic research positions. Check out my CV | Google Scholar | Linked-In | Twitter
UX Research Portfolio
Personalizable Privacy-Preserving Visual Assistance Technology
User-centered research, content analysis, and dataset creation for the development of privacy-preserving techniques that identify and remove private information from blind people’s images by using few-shot learning. Learn more here.
Intelligent and Context-Aware Image and Video Description
Mixed-methods research to identify the content blind people want in image descriptions and new metrics for evaluating descriptions authored by humans and AI to make images and videos accessible. Learn more here.
Inclusive Tactile Media Design, Production & Distribution
Design-based implementation research to increase accessible and multimodal learning resources for blind people, and cultivate a community of practice focused on inclusive and accessible design. Learn more here.
Background
My academic background is highly interdisciplinary.
I have a Ph.D. in Technology Media and Society (Ph.D. TMS), a Masters of Science in Information Communication Technology for Development (MS. ICTD), and a Bachelors of Environmental Design and Planning (B.ENVD). I am a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar alum.
My work is supported by a 2020 National Science Foundation/ Computing Research Association, Computing Innovation Fellowship. I am mentored by Dr. Leah Findlater at the University of Washington/Apple. We work to Safeguard Private Visual Information.
I was previously a Bullard Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas-Austin (2019-2020), mentored by Dr. Danna Gurari. We work on the development of next-generation image description technologies with the Microsoft Research Ability Initiative.
Dr. Tom Yeh advised me during my Ph.D. from ATLAS at the University of Colorado (2014-2019). We founded the Build A Better Book Project to broaden inclusion in the design of accessible media.
News
- June 2022: Co-organized VizWiz Grand Challenge Workshop at CVPR 2022
- June 2021: ASSETS 2021 paper accepted, titled: Going Beyond One-Size-Fits-All Image Descriptions to Satisfy the Information Wants of People Who are Blind or Have Low Vision.
- June 2021: VizWiz Grand Challenge Workshop at CVPR 2021
- January 2021: Presentation to the University of Washington DUB Seminar.
- July 2020. Awarded a Computing Innovation Fellowship by the Computing Research Association to work with Leah Findlater.
- June 2020. ASSETS 2020, Paper accepted, titled: Visual Content Considered Private by People Who are Blind.
- December 2019. CHI 2020, Paper accepted, titled: “Person, Shoes, Tree. Is the Person Naked?” What People with Vision Impairments Want in Image Descriptions.