about me | research interests | selected publications | teaching | advisees | professional activities

Khai N. TRUONG

Professor
Department of Computer Science
University of Toronto

CONTACT information

40 St. George Street, Room 7268
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA, M5S 2E4

Phone: +1 (416) 978-4761
Email: khai@cs.toronto.edu

ABOUT me
Since 2006, I have been a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. During this time, I have also spent time as a Visiting Researcher at the University of California, Irvine (2012) and Google Health (2021-2023). While on leave from Toronto (2013-2015), I was also an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

I received my Bachelor degree (with Highest Honors) in Computer Engineering in 1997 from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and my Ph.D. degree in Computer Science in 2005 from the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

RESEARCH interests
My research lies at the intersection of Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and ubiquitous/pervasive computing, with an increasing focus on the design and evaluation of health and assistive technologies. In particular, I investigate how interactive mobile, wearable, and ubiquitous computing systems can support health, well-being, and accessibility across diverse populations (e.g., older adults, people with disabilities). A central goal of my work is to design user-centered interfaces and systems that are usable, acceptable, and respectful of privacy, autonomy, and social context. I blend technical system development with empirical evaluation in real-world or ecologically valid health-care settings, integrating usability, accessibility, ethics, and user-experience perspectives to create interactive health solutions that are both effective and socially appropriate.

Selected PUBLICATIONS
The following is a list of some of my recent publications from the last 5 years:

• Yoo, S., Nam, S., Chignell, M., Truong, K.N. Disclosure Matters: How Self-Disclosure Statements in Song Signing Videos Shape d/Deaf Audiences’ Acceptance of Culturally Sensitive Content. In Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 490, April 2026. doi: 10.1145/3772318.3790521
• Yoo, S., Pan, Y., Thomas, A.A., Singh, K., Truong, K.N. FAME: Exploring Expressive Facial Avatars for Lyrical and Non-Lyrical Music Visualization for d/Deaf Individuals. In Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 1413, April 2026. doi: 10.1145/3772318.3790402
• Ahn, S., Baek, I-C., Kim, K., Truong, K.N., Hong, J-H.,µCap: Instrumental Music Captions for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Individuals. In Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 468, April 2026. doi: 10.1145/3772318.3790729
• Li, B., Bakar, L., Kirik, A., Guo, J., Mariakakis, A., Truong, K.N. Digitizing the Pre-consultation Experience: Impacts and Design Recommendations. In Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 776, April 2026. doi: 10.1145/3772318.3791354
• Lin, G., Li, J.Y., Kalani, K., Truong, K.N., Mariakakis, A. A longitudinal dataset of physiological, hormonal, metabolic, and self-reported menstrual health data.. In Nature Scientific Data (2026). doi: 10.1038/s41597-026-06805-3
• Lin, G., Le, M.N., Lessard, P.W., Einstein, G., Truong, K.N., Mariakakis, A. From Fertility to Overall Health: Barriers and Catalysts to a Holistic Menstrual Health Perspective. In ACM Transactions on Computing for Healthcare. December 2025. doi: 10.1145/378566
• de Lacerda Pataca, C.*, Ahn, S.*, Yoo, S.*, Kim, J., Truong, K. N., Hong, J., Peiris, R. L., & Huenerfauth, M. CuCap: Comparative Analysis of Customized Captioning between North American and South Korean d/Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Users. In Proceedings Proc. ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2025), Article #, October 2025. doi: 10.1145/3663547.374640
• Lin, G., Le, M.N., Truong, K.N., Mariakakis, A. The Cognitive Strategies Behind Multimodal Health Sensemaking: A Menstrual Health Tracking Case Study. In Proceedings of ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), Volume 9(3), Article 110, September 2025. doi: 10.1145/3749482
• Li, B., Tauseef, S., Truong, K.N., Mariakakis, A. A Comparative Analysis of Information Gathering by Chatbots, Questionnaires, and Humans in Clinical Pre-Consultation. In Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 639, April-May 2025. doi: 10.1145/3706598.3713613
• Yoo, S., Truong, K.N., Kim, Y-H. ELMI: Interactive and Intelligent Sign Language Translation of Lyrics for Song Signing. In Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 566, April-May 2025. doi: 10.1145/3706598.3713973
• Lin, G., Lessar, P.W., Le, M.N., Li, B., Chevalier, F., Truong, K.N., Mariakakis, A. Functional Design Requirements to Facilitate Menstrual Health Data Exploration. In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 687, May 2024. doi: 10.1145/3613904.3642282
• Li, B., Gross, O., Crampton, N., Kapoor, M., Tauseef, S., Jain, M., Truong, K.N., Mariakakis, A. Beyond the Waiting Room: Patient's Perspectives on the Conversational Nuances of Pre-Consultation Chatbots. In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 438, May 2024. doi: 10.1145/3613904.3641913
• Lin, G., Siddiqui, R., Lin, Z., Blodgett, J.M., Patel, S.N., Truong, K.N., Mariakakis, A. Blood glucose variance measured by continuous glucose monitors across the menstrual cycle. In npj Digital Medicine, Volume 6, Article 140, August 11, 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41746-023-00884-x
• Lin, G., Li, J.Y., Fazly, A., Pavlovic, V., Truong, K.N. Identifying Multimodal Context Awareness Requirements for Supporting User Interaction with Procedural Videos. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 761, April 2023. doi: 10.1145/3544548.3581006
• Yoo, S., Lin, G., Byeon, H.J., Hwang, A.S., Truong, K.N. Understanding tensions in music accessibility through song signing for and with d/Deaf and Non-d/Deaf persons. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 59, April 2023. doi: 10.1145/3544548.3581287
• Li, B., Skoropad, T., Seth, P., Jain, M., Truong, K.N., Mariakakis, A. Constraints and Workarounds to Support Clinical Consultations in Synchronous Text-based Platforms. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 342, April 2023. doi: 10.1145/3544548.3581014
• Dai, J., Moffatt, K., Lin, J., Truong, K.N. Designing for Relational Maintenance: New Directions for AAC Research. In Proceedings of the 2022 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 602, April 2022. doi: 10.1145/3491102.3502011
• Li, F.M., Lu, C., Lu, Z., Carrington, P., Truong, K.N. An Exploration of Captioning Practices and Challenges of Individual Content Creators on YouTube for People with Hearing Impairments. In Proceedings of ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (PACMHCI), Volume 6, Issue CSCW1, Article 75, April 2022. doi: 10.1145/3512922
• Chen, C., Wu, R., Khan, H., Truong, K.N., Chevalier, F. VIDDE: Visualizations for Helping People with COPD Interpret Dyspnea During Exercise. In Proceedings Proc. ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2021), Article 13, October 2021. doi: 10.1145/3441852.3471204
• Li, B., Crampton, N., Yeates, T., Xia, Y., Tian, X., Truong, K.N. Automating Clinical Documentation with Digital Scribes: Understanding the Impact on Physicians. In Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 658, May 2021. doi: 10.1145/3411764.3445172
• Li, F.M., Chen, D.L., Fan, M., Truong, K.N. "I Choose Assistive Devices That Save My Face" A Study on Perceptions of Accessibility and Assistive Technology Use Conducted in China. In Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Article 372, May 2021. doi: 10.1145/3411764.3445321

Courses I am TEACHING
I am teaching or have taught the following courses recently:

• CSC318-Winter 2026: The Design of Interactive Computational Media
• CSC318-Fall 2024: The Design of Interactive Computational Media
• CSC309-Winter 2024: Programming on the Web
• CSC300-Winter 2022: Computers & Society
• CSC318-Winter 2020: The Design of Interactive Computational Media

ADVISEES
Current students:

• Mohammad Kianpisheh (Ph.D. student)
• Sue Yoo (Ph.D. student)
• SooYeon Ahn (Visiting Ph.D. student)
• Mitsuka Kiyohara (Undergrad student)
• Jaehyuk Choi (Visiting undergrad student)
• Kevin Mi (Undergrad student)

Professional ACTIVITIES
The following is some of my recent professional activities (a.k.a. service) from the last 5 years:

• TACCESS: ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, Co-Editor-in-Chief, 2026-
• Proceedings of ACM on IMWUT: Interactive, Mobile, Wearable, Ubiquitous Technologies Journal, Distinguished Papers Award Co-chair, 2021-2025
• CHI: The ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Associate Chair for Papers Program (2024)
• ASSETS: The International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Papers Program Committee Member (2025, 2026)