Human-Centered Computing Lab

Human-Centered Computing(HCC) Lab Introduction

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The HCC lab at UNT is dedicated to advancing the field of computing by prioritizing human needs, behaviors, and experiences.

Our mission is to develop innovative methodologies for understanding and enhancing the interaction between humans and sociotechnical systems. The aim is to create technologies that are not only innovative but also deeply attuned to human needs and behaviors.

Interdisciplinary approaches, including advanced computing techniques, quantitative analysis, qualitative user studies will be employed for a holistic examination of human perception and cognition, to decipher the complex interactions between humans and sociotechnical systems. The insights are applied for decision-making and creating intuitive and empowering digital applications. By focusing on user-centered computing, we aim to ensure that technology serves to augment human potential, while being transparent and under control.

Here are the three main research focus:

• Insights from Human-System Interaction for Decision Support
• Insights from Human-System Interaction for AI Development
• Human-centered Evaluation of Emerging Technologies

Read more details...

• The research paper "Outcome-Constrained Large Language Models for Countering Hate Speech" by Dr. Lingzi Hong, Dr. Pengcheng Luo, Dr. Eduardo Blanco, and Xiaoying Song is accepted by the EMNLP 2024 main conference.
• The research paper "Cross-Continental Dialogues: Analyzing the Dichotomy of Social Media Discourse in Ethiopian Social Movement #Nomore" by Meseret Zeleke, Dr. Daniella Smith, and Dr. Lingzi Hong is accepted by the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) 2025.
• Two posters, "Assessing AI-Generated Counter-Speech in Human Likeness" led by Xiaoying Song and "Enhancing Health Communication: Developing LLM-based Models to Generate Effective Counter Speech Against Misinformation" led by Anirban, were selected as the top 10 finalist to be presented in the event of the Day of Health Informatics and Data Science on Sep 20, 2024 at the University of North Texas. Anirban's poster won the 1st place award. Congratulations!
• Dr. Lingzi Hong is awarded $415,366 for the project "Inclusive Services to Enhance Immigrants' Resilience to Crisis" by the Institute of Museum and Library Services IMLS National Leadership Grants. Dr. Ana Roeschley and Dr. Yunfei Du are the Co-PIs of this project. The award number is: LG-256661-OLS-24. Thank you IMLS for the support!
• Dr. Lingzi Hong is awarded $132,759 for the project "Gauging Library Needs for Advanced AI-Assisted Cataloging" by the IMLS National Leadership Grants. Jason Thomale from UNT Libraries is the Co-PI of this project. The award number is: LG-256666-OLS-24.
• The project "Building Community College Library Capacity for Supporting Students’ Data Literacy Needs" is awarded $249,998 by the IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. Thank you Dr. Jeonghyun Kim for leading the project! Dr. Lingzi Hong and Dr. Sarah Evans are the Co-PIs of the project. The award number is: RE-256673-OLS-24.
• Dr. Lingzi Hong is invited to serve as the Area Chair of the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics (COLING 2025)
• Dr. Lingzi Hong is invited to participate in a panel on "Ethical, Societal, and Policy Implications of AI" in IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Testing in July.
• "Towards Measuring Data Literacy for Higher Education: Developing and Validating a Data Literacy Self-efficacy Scale" is published by the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIS&T). Thank you Dr. Jeonghyun Kim for leading the project!
• In ASIS&T 2024: long paper "Nostalgia on Twitter: Detection and Analysis of a Large-scale Dataset" was accepted (AR=32%). Dr. Lingzi Hong will co-organize a workshop "4th Annual Workshop on Social Media Research, Challenges, and Opportunities" with Dr. Souvick Ghosh and Dr. Catherine Dumas. Dr. Lingzi Hong will also co-organize a panel "Social Media and Crisis Informatics Research in LIS". See you in Calgary, Canada!
• PhD student Xiaoying Song and Dr. Lingzi Hong will deliver two tutorials "Data Collection, Classification, and Transformation" "Comprehending the Semantic Essence of Text: Leveraging SEANCE for Textual Analysis" for the IDEA Institute on AI 2024 by the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T).
• Dr. Lingzi Hong was selected to attend the 2024 NSF SaTC Aspiring PI workshop at the University of Chicago with a $1000 travel fund awarded (selection rate: 38.5%).