Hi, I'm Zuchen. I'm an undergraduate at the
University of Michigan, triple majoring in
Computer Science, Data Science, and Statistics with a minor in History, and a research
assistant in the
Human Centered Computing Lab. I
work on human–AI interaction and ubiquitous sensing. Before Michigan, I studied Statistics
& Computer Science at UIUC. Outside the lab, I photograph for the Michigan Daily,
practice kendo, and watch the sky for severe weather.
MoiréDeform is a demo at ACM MobiCom 2026 in Austin, TX.
2026
Received the UROP Summer Engineering Fellowship at the University of Michigan.
Sep 2025
Joined the Human Centered Computing Lab at the University of Michigan.
Jun 2025
Spent the summer at Waseda University in Tokyo, researching postwar Japanese literature and history.
Experience
Sep 2025 – now
Human Centered Computing Lab, University of Michigan
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Generative Tutorial(co-first author; with Profs. Anhong Guo and Xu Wang) —
co-developed a conceptual framework and AR system for live contextualized visual
instruction that grounds physical-task goals in users' workspaces and proactively
generates workspace-specific goal images and demonstration videos by propagating
observed and predicted visual states across task dependencies; co-led a formative
evaluation of 176 generated artifacts across 15 tasks and a 24-participant comparative
study, showing improved task quality, perceived workspace correspondence, and shorter
step-confirmation intervals over pre-authored guidance.
MoiréDeform(co-first author, ACM MobiCom '26 Demo; with Profs. Alanson Sample and Ke Sun)
— developed a low-cost camera-based sensing approach that exploits naturally occurring
woven textures as virtual moiré layers to amplify subtle surface deformation, enabling
continuous body-lean interaction and respiratory waveform/rate sensing on an unmodified
mesh chair without instrumenting the user or surface; reduced respiratory-rate MAE from
2.07 to 0.71 breaths/min relative to physical-marker tracking.
RespiraFrame(with Prof. Junyi Zhu) — contributed to the experimental design
and evaluation of an eyeglass-based multimodal respiratory sensing system combining
bone-conduction acoustics and electrical impedance tomography (EIT); designed evaluation
protocols spanning respiratory behaviors, motion and environmental interference, a
three-day semi-wild study, and repeated wear over a four-week longitudinal study.
A Mysterious AI Security & Privacy Project(co-first author; under double-blind review) — studies hidden
privacy risks in visual AI — what today's models can infer from everyday photos — and
builds tools that help people see and control what leaks before they share. Details
withheld until the review is over.
Sep 2025 – now
Generative AI for Music and Audio, University of Michigan
Research Assistant, advised by Prof. Herman Dong
Investigating real-time human–GenAI co-creation for controllable music generation,
focusing on interaction mechanisms that preserve user agency, expressive control, and
iterative creative feedback; prototyping gesture-driven interaction techniques that
connect embodied user input to real-time musical control and generative model behavior.
Jan – May 2025
Energy Distance Dimension Reduction, University of Michigan
Selected Researcher, Undergraduate Research Program in Statistics (URPS), advised by Prof.
Kerby Shedden
Developed engression and sufficient dimension reduction methods for multilevel, dyadic,
and longitudinal wearable data from bone marrow transplant patients, addressing non-i.i.d.
structure not handled by existing methodology; implemented SDR algorithms in JAX with GPU
acceleration, achieving approximately 7,000× speedup over the original method for
U-statistic computation on large sensor data series.
May – Aug 2024
Lab of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, Nanjing University
Summer Research Intern, advised by Prof. Minghuai Wang
Studied statistical machine learning methodologies for integrating real-world sensor
observations with simulated atmospheric data, enabling inference and prediction of
aerosol–cloud interactions across larger spatial and temporal scales.
Aug 2023 – May 2024
E2-E Lab, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Conducted airflow experiments and processed PIV/camera data using Python, OpenCV, and
OpenPIV for flow-field reconstruction and particle tracking; performed CFD simulations in
ANSYS Fluent to analyze particle–airflow interactions in complex 3D geometries.
Honors & awards
2026
UROP Summer Engineering Fellowship, University of Michigan
2024 – 2026
University Honors, University of Michigan
2022
Outstanding Research Paper Award, IMMC Greater China Round — top 1.875% of 800+ teams
2022
Finalist Research Paper Award, IMMC International Round — top 8.75% internationally
Beyond research
Jun – Aug 2025
Waseda University, Tokyo
Summer Intern
Researched postwar Japanese literature and history, analyzing literary works in relation
to historical memory, identity, and social transformation in postwar Japan.
Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
The Michigan Daily
Student Reporter, Photographer & Videographer
Produced campus and local news coverage through interviews, field reporting, photography,
and video. Some frames end up in the photo gallery.
Member
Kendo Club at the University of Michigan
Regular practice in footwork, striking technique, partner drills, and traditional Japanese swordsmanship.
Member
Michigan Backpacking Club
Group hiking and backpacking trips — outdoor navigation, trip planning, and teamwork.
Student Forecaster
Illinois Student Organization of Meteorology (ISTORM)
Student chapter of the American Meteorological Society, focused on severe and hazardous weather forecasting.