Yang Chen

Research Assistant Professor

V913#6
+852 2766 5437
sonne.chen@polyu.edu.hk
Expertise: Digital Wellbeing, Behavioural Design, Human–AI Interaction, Interactive Health Technologies

ORCID ID

Google Scholar

Research Gate

Biography

Dr Yang Chen (Sonne) is a Research Assistant Professor at the School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She received her PhD in Industrial Design with a focus on Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) from the National University of Singapore (NUS), and previously worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Synteraction Lab, City University of Hong Kong, and as a Research Fellow at the Keio-NUS CUTE Center, NUS.

Dr Chen's research explores how emerging technologies can support healthier, more mindful everyday experiences. Working at the intersection of HCI, behavioral science, and interactive design, she investigates how intelligent systems can gently support human awareness, behaviour, and decision-making through embodied, multisensory, and context-aware interactions. Drawing from design research and in-situ behavioural studies, her practice has been recognised through both academic distinctions (e.g., ACM CHI Honorable Mention Awards) and international design awards (e.g., Red Dot, iF, IDEA, and K-Design Award).

Education and Academic Qualifications

PhD in Industrial Design (HCI), National University of Singapore
MEng in Industrial Design, Zhejiang University
BEng in Industrial Design, Hohai University

Teaching Area

Human–Computer Interaction (HCI)
Intervention Design

Research Outputs

Chen, Y., Tan, F., Wang, Z., Zhao, S., Huang, Y., & Yen, C. C. (2025). ViFeed: Promoting Slow Eating and Food Awareness through Strategic Video Manipulation during Screen-Based Dining. Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. (Honorable Mention Award). https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713793

Chen, Y., Fennedy, K., Zhang, J., Zheng, C., & Yen, C. C. (2025). Bridging Simulation and Reality: Augmented Virtuality for Mass Casualty Triage Training — From Landscape Analysis to Empirical Insights. Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. (Honorable Mention Award). https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713794

Cai, R., Janaka, N. N. P. K.*, Chen, Y.*, Wang, L., Zhao, S., & Liu, C. (2024). PANDALens: Towards AI-Assisted In-Context Writing on OHMD During Travels. Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. (* Equal Contribution) https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642320

Chen, Y., Fogel, A., Bi, Y., & Yen, C. C. (2023). Factors Associated With Eating Rate: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis Informed by Socio-ecological Model. Nutrition Research Reviews, 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954422423000239

Chen, Y., Fennedy, K., Fogel, A., Zhao, S., Zhang, C., Liu, L., & Yen, C. C. (2022). SSpoon: A Shape-changing Spoon That Optimizes Bite Size for Eating Rate Regulation. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 6(3), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1145/3550312

Projects

Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) Tier 1 Grant, Key Contributor and Grant Coordinator, SGD 200,000, 2023–2026, Away from Obesity: A Multimodal Approach for Eating Behavioural Change

China Ministry of Education Humanities and Social Sciences Fund, Co-I, 2025–2027, Human–AI Collaboration for Children with Learning Disabilities

Awards

President’s Graduate Fellowship, National University of Singapore (2020–2024)
ACM CHI 2025 Honorable Mention Awards (2025)
iF DESIGN STUDENT AWARD (2018)
Red Dot Design Award (2016)
IDEA Design Award (2016)