Xiao Xiao

@inproceedings{algargoosh_4527,

title = {Sonic Portal: Designing Interactive Soundscapes for Shared Memory and Community Connection},

author = {Alaa Algargoosh and Hayoun Noh and Lucy Li Yuqing and Xiao Xiao and Hiroshi ishii Ishii},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3800645.3813032},

issn = {979-8-4007-2563-0},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-06-01},

volume = {2026 Proceeding},

pages = {395 - 414},

publisher = {Association for Computing MachineryNew YorkNYUnited States},

address = {Singapore, Singapore},

edition = {DIS '26: Proceedings of the 2026 Designing Interactive Systems Conference},

abstract = {Many spatial interaction systems privilege visual representation, leaving other sensory modalities underexplored as design materials. This paper presents an interactive research prototype and its evaluation, examining how sound can support memory evocation, place attachment, and social connection within a virtual representation of a shared space. The prototype combines a navigable three-dimensional environment with location-specific ambient sounds and spoken narratives through a two-stage process. First, participatory workshops were conducted with members of a lab community to collect meaningful sonic memories and associate sounds with the corresponding locations in the virtual environment. Second, the resulting audiovisual prototype was evaluated through a controlled study with two conditions: visual-only interaction and audiovisual interaction. The evaluation combined quantitative measures of the autobiographical memory experience, place attachment, and social connection with qualitative accounts of the user experience. The results show that audiovisual interaction was associated with stronger emotional engagement and perceived connection. Qualitative findings further illustrate how everyday sounds supported a sense of shared presence and continuity across non-overlapping occupants of the same space.},

note = {DIS '26: Designing Interactive Systems Conference Singapore, Singapore June 13 - 17, 2026},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{arslan_4525,

title = {ReTouche: Embodied Representations for Self-Guided Piano Learning},

author = {Paul-Peter Arslan and Hayoun Noh and Mariana Aki Tamashiro and Louis Badr and Brianna Lebrun and Pavel Lindberg and Hiroshi ishii Ishii and Xiao Xiao},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791044},

issn = {979-8-4007-2278-3},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-04-01},

volume = {2026 Proceeding},

pages = {Article No.: 1086, Pages 1 - 23},

publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, United States},

address = {Barcelona, Spain},

edition = {CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},

organization = {ACM},

abstract = {Learning to play music is an embodied process, but traditional tools like scores and recordings overlook the role of gesture. While video tutorials offer visual cues, they remain detached from the instrument. We present ReTouche, an interactive system that projects synchronized notes and hand gestures directly onto the actuated keys of a player piano. The system includes a pipeline for adapt-ing publicly available overhead-view YouTube videos and supports interactions for video-based learning, such as sectional practice, layered guidance, and self-recording. We evaluate ReTouche througha comparative structured observation study with YouTube-based self-learning (n=18), a two-week autoethnography study (n=3), and a focus group with professional piano teachers (n=4). Our findings show that embodied representations can ground self-guided piano learning by anchoring gesture, sound, and action within the instrument. Learners appropriated these representations to develop strategies and sustain motivation, while teachers saw potential for integrating ReTouche as a complement to conventional pedagogy.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{yuqing_4526,

title = {Co-Ideation Across Time: Revitalizing Legacy Design Sketchnotes with Conversational AI Agents to Foster Intergenerational Collaboration},

author = {Lucy Li Yuqing and Quincy Kuang and Xiao Xiao and Jean-Baptiste Labrune and Hiroshi ishii Ishii},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791258},

issn = {979-8-4007-2278-3},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-04-01},

volume = {CHI'2026 Proceeding},

pages = {Article No.: 276, Pages 1 - 17},

publisher = {Association for Computing MachineryNew York, NY, United States},

address = {Barcelona, Spain},

edition = {CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},

organization = {ACM},

abstract = {While legacy sketchnotes capture rich design rationales and inspirations, they are rarely reused in contemporary practice. We present Co-Ideation Across Time (CIAT), utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) to transform decades-old design sketchnotes into interactive "AI-augmented Knowledge Objects". Our system digitizes over 2,000 pages of alumni sketchnotes and connects them with conversational agents trained on corresponding theses and publications, enabling current and future students to engage in multimodal dialogue with past ideas and researchers. An exploratory evaluation with 12 participants showed that interacting with the system stimulated deeper understanding of abstract concepts, idea diversity, and fostered a stronger sense of continuity with the community's legacy. Our contributions are threefold: (1) a method for integrating design legacies with LLM-driven conversational agents; (2) an empirical study demonstrating how this approach supports learning and intergenerational knowledge sharing; and (3) a conceptual framing of AI-Augmented Knowledge Objects as active participants in design ideation.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{darmaillacq_4528,

title = {Camera T-1: Exploring the Temporal Layers of Place Through Photography},

author = {Timothée Darmaillacq and Oscar Caux and Mariana Aki Tamashiro and Xiao Xiao},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3799317},

issn = {979-8-4007-2278-3},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-04-01},

number = {2026 Proceeding},

pages = {Article No.: 154, Pages 1 - 5},

publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, United States},

address = {Barcelona, Spain},

edition = {CHI EA'26},

organization = {ACM},

abstract = {Archival photography offers a unique window into urban history, yet these images are typically consumed remotely, away from the physical places they capture. We introduce Camera T-1, a tangible, location-aware device designed to bridge this gap by retrieving historical photographs corresponding to the user's in-situ location. By embedding archival access within the familiar embodied gestures of photography, the device invites users to encounter the different layers of the past. We conducted a qualitative walking study (N=5) to investigate how photography be reimagined as a situated practice for engaging with the layered temporalities of place. We discuss, based on our preliminary findings, that spatial dissonance, the visual gap between the archive pictures and the present, can serve as a trigger for curiosity and playful exploration. Simultaneously, temporal dissonance fosters exploration and imagination, allowing users to experience a form of "layered time."},

note = {April 13-17, 2026},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {online},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{fleuriane_4529,

title = {TeruBot: Materializing Collective Emotions Through an Embodied Robotic Metaphor},

author = {Lam Fleuriane and Osada Ryu and Underwood Amandine and Renouard Théo and Ludovic Li and Mariana Aki Tamashiro and Xiao Xiao},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3799320},

issn = {979-8-4007-2278-3},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-04-01},

volume = {2026 Proceeding},

pages = {Article No.: 644, Pages 1},

publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, United States},

address = {Barcelona, Spain},

edition = {CHI EA'26},

organization = {ACM},

abstract = {Emotional sharing fosters social bonds, yet in shared environments such as workplaces, collective emotional states often remain invisible, contributing to discomfort or disconnection. We present TeruBot, a hybrid robot-application system for expressing and visualizing collective emotions. Inspired by the Japanese Teru Teru B?zu, a handmade puppet believed to bring good weather, TeruBot reframes ?good weather? as a tangible metaphor for emotional and social well-being.

TeruBot combines a companion robot with a lightweight mobile application through which individuals share their emotional state. These inputs are aggregated into a shared ?emotional weather? expressed by the robot in a communal space. By rendering collective emotional states as a tangible metaphor, TeruBot explores how playful and ambiguous systems can support emotional awareness and social connection within communities.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{xiao_4530,

title = {Co-Ideation Across Time: Revitalizing Legacy Design Sketchnotes with Conversational AI Agents to Foster Intergenerational Collaboration},

author = {Xiao Xiao and Jean-Baptiste Labrune},

url = {https://programs.sigchi.org/chi/2026/program/content/230073},

issn = {979-8-4007-2278-3},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-04-01},

address = {Barcelona, Spain},

edition = {CHI'26},

abstract = {While legacy sketchnotes capture rich design rationales and inspirations, they are rarely reused in contemporary practice. We present Co-Ideation Across Time (CIAT), utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) to transform decades-old design sketchnotes into interactive ?AI-augmented Knowledge Objects?. Our system digitizes over 2,000 pages of alumni sketchnotes and connects them with conversational agents trained on corresponding theses and publications, enabling current and future students to engage in multimodal dialogue with past ideas and researchers. An exploratory evaluation with 12 participants showed that interacting with the system stimulated deeper understanding of abstract concepts, idea diversity, and fostered a stronger sense of continuity with the community's legacy. Our contributions are threefold: (1) a method for integrating design legacies with LLM-driven conversational agents; (2) a empirical study demonstrating how this approach supports learning and intergenerational knowledge sharing; and (3) a conceptual framing of knowledge objects as active participants in design ideation.},

note = {Apr 13, 2026 - Apr 17, 2026},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{ishii_4531,

title = {From Remote Space to Remote Time},

author = {Hiroshi ishii Ishii and Hye Jun Youn and Jie Li and Xiao Xiao and Eugene Ch'ng and Jed R. Brubaker and Jayne Wallace and Pat Pataranutaporn},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3790071},

issn = {979-8-4007-2278-3},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-04-01},

volume = {2026 Proceeding},

number = {April 13 - 17, 2026},

pages = {Article No.: 989, Pages 1 - 5},

publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},

address = {Barcelona, Spain},

edition = {CHI EA'26},

abstract = {We explore a design vision that reimagines human connection not only across distance but also across time, extending even beyond physical lifespans. While Telepresence was developed to connect remote spaces, this panel shifts the focus to remote time?the desire to be remembered, to reconnect with the past, and to speculate on possible futures. We bring together perspectives from generative AI, cultural heritage, and HCI to examine how connection across time can be mediated and reinterpreted. AI researchers develop synthetic agents "ghost bots" that reconstruct identities from fragmented data. Scholars in archaeological heritage investigate how artifacts carry memory across centuries, offering insight into how cultural traces become embodied knowledge. HCI researchers study interactive systems that honor the presence of absence. Together, this inter-disciplinary dialogue across digital reconstruction, archaeological preservation, and practices of cherishing material traces raises broader philosophical questions about how emerging technologies shape relationships across past, present, and future.},

note = {April 13 - 17, 2026},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {online},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{xiao_3558,

title = {ReMirrorFugue: Examining the Emotional Experience of Presence and (Illusory) Communications Across Time},

author = {Xiao Xiao and Hayoun Noh and Adrien Lefevre and Lucy Li and Holly McKee and Alaa Algargoosh and Hiroshi ishii Ishii},

issn = {NA},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-04-01},

booktitle = {Proceedings of CHI '25: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},

publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},

address = {New York, NY, United States},

abstract = {This paper examines how strategies for simulating social presence across distance can evoke a sense of presence and facilitate illusory interactions across time. We conducted a mixed-methods study with 28 participants, exploring their emotional experience of interacting with decade-old recorded piano performances on MirrorFugue---a player piano enhanced with life-sized projections of the pianist's hands and body, creating the illusion of a virtual reflection playing the instrument. Data were collected via wearable sensors, questionnaires, and interviews.



Results showed that participants felt a strong presence of past pianists, with some experiencing the illusion of two-way communication and an overall increase in connection. The emotional experience was significantly influenced by the participant's relationship with the recorded pianist and the pianist's vital status. These findings suggest that telepresence technologies can foster connections with the past, offering spaces for memory recall, self-reflection, and a sense of ?time travel.?},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{xiao_2942,

title = {Tuning in to Intangibility: Reflections from my first 3 years of theremin learning},

author = {Xiao Xiao and Sarah Fdili Alaoui},

url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3643834.3661584},

issn = {979-8-4007-0583-0},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-07-01},

booktitle = {Designing Interactive Systems},

pages = {2649 - 2659},

publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, United States},

address = {Copenhagen, Denmark},

abstract = {This paper presents an autoethnography of 3 years of learning to play the theremin, an instrument lacking tangible feedback. While the theremin is typically invoked in HCI to emphasize the importance of the tactile modality, we interrogate how I, the player, attained musical proficiency without touch. Through a thematic analysis of 235 journal entries, our study distills my strategies for navigating the instrument as well as my personal transformations along the way. We discover that without touch, accurate and musical playing on the theremin relies on continuous auditory feedback, proprioception, and imaginative processes. We discuss challenges and opportunities for embodied and tangible interaction in light of these findings.},

note = {CORE A en 2023

https://portal.core.edu.au/conf-ranks/422/},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{xiao_3071,

title = {Enseignement de l'intonation du français par une synthèse vocale contrôlée par le geste : étude de faisabilité},

author = {Xiao Xiao and Corinne Bonnet and Haohan Zhang and Nicolas Audibert and Barbara Kühnert and Claire Pillot-Loiseau},

url = {https://jep-taln2024.sciencesconf.org/},

issn = {NA},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-06-01},

booktitle = {Les 35ème Journées d'Études sur la Parole (JEP)},

address = {Toulouse, France},

abstract = {Peut-on enseigner l'intonation française en classe avec une synthèse vocale contrôlée gestuellement sur une tablette ? La fréquence fondamentale et la durée de quatre phrases déclaratives, quatre questions polaires, quatre énoncés exprimant l'incrédulité (1 à 4 syllabes) de deux apprenantes ukrainiennes débutantes en français ont été comparées avant et après quatre entraînements hebdomadaires. Les apprenantes devaient écouter un enregistrement de référence, puis visualiser le modèle sur la tablette, tracer l'intonation manuellement, écouter le résultat synthétisé, et tracer et écouter leur tracé sans guide. Elles produisaient initialement des phrases déclaratives avec une intonation ascendante, et ont différencié les déclarations et les questions polaires après l'entraînement. L'expression de l'incrédulité s'est améliorée pour l'une. L'autre a montré quelques difficultés à maîtriser cette technologie. Cette première étude de cas utilisant la synthèse vocale contrôlée gestuellement est une approche prometteuse permettant plus de pratique de l'intonation en classe.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{xiao_2117,

title = {Harmonic Maps: Interactive Visualization of Triad Spaces Based on Spectral Structures},

author = {Xiao Xiao},

url = {https://tenorboston23.sites.northeastern.edu/v},

issn = {To be obtained},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-05-01},

booktitle = {Proceedings of Tenor 2023},

address = {Boston, USA},

abstract = {We present Harmonic Maps, a visualization of three-note chord spaces and an interactive application that allows users to explore in real-time the connection between the visualization and its mapped sounds. While typical harmonic analysis is based only on notes or on an audio signal, our analysis takes a hybrid approach by quantifying different types of interactions between the spectra of notes. These quantifications, which we call Harmonic Descriptors, are derived from acoustic or perceptual models. Three such descriptors are defined and mapped: concordance, third order concordance and roughness.



Harmonic analysis based on spectral structures opens new possibilities beyond traditional note-only or signal-only approaches. They can be applied to a continuum of frequencies, independent of the tuning system, as well as historical and stylistic constraints. Harmonic Maps based on spectral structures can be especially relevant to study the relationship between timbre and harmony. Our interactive exploration of harmonic spaces can have applications for analytical, compositional and educational purposes.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{xiao_2253,

title = {Performative Vocal Synthesis for Foreign Language Intonation Practicev},

author = {Xiao Xiao},

url = {https://chi2023.acm.org/},

issn = {78-1-4503-9421-5/23/04},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-04-01},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},

address = {Hamburg, Germany},

abstract = {Typical foreign language (L2) pronunciation training focuses mainly on individual sounds. Intonation, the patterns of pitch change across words or phrases is often neglected, despite its key role in word-level intelligibility and in the expression of attitudes and affect. This paper examines hand-controlled real-time vocal synthesis, known as Performative Vocal Synthesis (PVS), as an interaction technique for practicing L2 intonation in computer aided pronunciation training (CAPT). 



We evaluate a tablet-based interface where users gesturally control the pitch of a pre-recorded utterance by drawing curves on the touchscreen. 24 subjects (12 French learners, 12 British controls) imitated English phrases with their voice and the interface. Results of an acoustic analysis and expert perceptive evaluation showed that learners' gestural imitations yielded more accurate results than vocal imitations of the fall-rise intonation pattern typically difficult for francophones, suggesting that PVS can help learners produce intonation patterns beyond the capabilities of their natural voice.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{kleinberger_1829,

title = {Voice at NIME: a Taxonomy of New Interfaces for Vocal Musical Expression},

author = {Rébecca Kleinberger and Nikhil Singh and Xiao Xiao and Akito Van Troyer},

url = {https://nime.pubpub.org/pub/180al5zt/},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-06-01},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},

address = {Aotearoa, New Zealand},

abstract = {We present a systematic review of voice-centered NIME publications from the past two decades. Musical expression has been a key driver of innovation in voice-based technologies, from traditional architectures that amplify singing to cutting-edge research in vocal synthesis. NIME conference has emerged as  a prime venue for innovative vocal interfaces. However, there hasn't been a systematic analysis of all voice-related work or an effort to characterize their features. Analyzing trends in Vocal NIMEs can help the community better understand common interests, identify uncharted territories, and explore directions for future research. We identified a corpus of 98 papers about Vocal NIMEs from 2001 to 2021, which we analyzed in 3 ways. First, we automatically extracted latent themes and possible categories using natural language processing. Taking inspiration from concepts surfaced through this process, we then defined several core dimensions with associated descriptors of Vocal NIMEs and assigned each paper relevant descriptors under each dimension. Finally, we defined a classification system, which we then used to uniquely and more precisely situate each paper on a map, taking into account the overall goals of each work. Based on our analyses, we present trends and challenges, including questions of gender and diversity in our community, and reflect on opportunities for future work.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}