arXiv subjects

Yuhang Zhao

Publications and source records attributed to Yuhang Zhao.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

FocusView: Understanding and Customizing Informational Video Watching Experiences for Viewers with ADHD

While videos have become increasingly prevalent in delivering information across different educational and professional contexts, individuals with ADHD often face attention challenges when watching informational videos due to the dynamic, multimodal, yet potentially distracting video elements. To understand and address this critical challenge, we designed \textit{FocusView}, a video customization interface that allows viewers with ADHD to customize informational videos from different aspects. We evaluated FocusView with 12 participants with ADHD and found that FocusView significantly improved the viewability of videos by reducing distractions. Through the study, we uncovered participants' diverse perceptions of video distractions (e.g., background music as a distraction vs. stimulation boost) and their customization preferences, highlighting unique ADHD-relevant needs in designing video customization interfaces (e.g., reducing the number of options to avoid distraction caused by customization itself). We further derived design considerations for future video customization systems for the ADHD community.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

AROMA: Mixed-Initiative AI Assistance for Non-Visual Cooking by Grounding Multi-modal Information Between Reality and Videos

Videos offer rich audiovisual information that can support people in performing activities of daily living (ADLs), but they remain largely inaccessible to blind or low-vision (BLV) individuals. In cooking, BLV people often rely on non-visual cues, such as touch, taste, and smell, to navigate their environment, making it difficult to follow the predominantly audiovisual instructions found in video recipes. To address this problem, we introduce AROMA, an AI system that provides timely responses to the user based on real-time, context-aware assistance by integrating non-visual cues perceived by the user, a wearable camera feed, and video recipe content. AROMA uses a mixed-initiative approach: it responds to user requests while also proactively monitoring the video stream to offer timely alerts and guidance. This collaborative design leverages the complementary strengths of the user and AI system to align the physical environment with the video recipe, helping the user interpret their current cooking state and make sense of the steps. We evaluated AROMA through a study with eight BLV participants and offered insights for designing interactive AI systems to support BLV individuals in performing ADLs.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

ReEx-SQL: Reasoning with Execution-Aware Reinforcement Learning for Text-to-SQL

In Text-to-SQL, execution feedback is essential for guiding large language models (LLMs) to reason accurately and generate reliable SQL queries. However, existing methods treat execution feedback solely as a post-hoc signal for correction or selection, failing to integrate it into the generation process. This limitation hinders their ability to address reasoning errors as they occur, ultimately reducing query accuracy and robustness. To address this issue, we propose ReEx-SQL (Reasoning with Execution-Aware Reinforcement Learning), a framework for Text-to-SQL that enables models to interact with the database during decoding and dynamically adjust their reasoning based on execution feedback. ReEx-SQL introduces an execution-aware reasoning paradigm that interleaves intermediate SQL execution into reasoning paths, facilitating context-sensitive revisions. It achieves this through structured prompts with markup tags and a stepwise rollout strategy that integrates execution feedback into each stage of generation. To supervise policy learning, we develop a composite reward function that includes an exploration reward, explicitly encouraging effective database interaction. Additionally, ReEx-SQL adopts a tree-based decoding strategy to support exploratory reasoning, enabling dynamic expansion of alternative reasoning paths. Notably, ReEx-SQL achieves 88.8% on Spider and 64.9% on BIRD at the 7B scale, surpassing the standard reasoning baseline by 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively. It also shows robustness, achieving 85.2% on Spider-Realistic with leading performance. In addition, its tree-structured decoding improves efficiency and performance over linear decoding, reducing inference time by 51.9% on the BIRD development set.

cs.CL↗

arXiv2025

A gap Theorem on closed self-shrinkers of mean curvature flow

In this paper, we prove a pinching theorem for $n-$dimensional closed self-shrinkers of the mean curvature flow. If the squared norm of the second fundamental form of a closed self-shrinker of arbitrary codimension satisfies: $ | \vec{\uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral2}} |^2 \le 1 +\frac{1}{10 π(n+2)}$, then it must be the standard sphere $S^{n}(\sqrt{n})$. This result may provide some evidence for the open problem 13.76 in \cite{andrews2022extrinsic}.

math.DG↗

arXiv2025

Beyond the "Industry Standard": Focusing Gender-Affirming Voice Training Technologies on Individualized Goal Exploration

Gender-affirming voice training is critical for the transition process for many transgender individuals, enabling their voice to align with their gender identity. Individualized voice goals guide and motivate the voice training journey, but existing voice training technologies fail to define clear goals. We interviewed six voice experts and ten transgender individuals with voice training experience (voice trainees), focusing on how they defined, triangulated, and used voice goals. We found that goal voice exploration involves navigation between descriptive and technical goals, and continuous reevaluation throughout the voice training journey. Our study reveals how goal descriptions, subjective satisfaction, voice examples, and voice modification and training technologies inform goal exploration, and identifies risks of overemphasizing goals. We identified technological implications informed by existing expert and trainee strategies, and provide guidelines for supporting individualized goals throughout the voice training journey based on brainstorming with trainees and experts.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

Comparing Vibrotactile and Skin-Stretch Haptic Feedback for Conveying Spatial Information of Virtual Objects to Blind VR Users

Perceiving spatial information of a virtual object (e.g, direction, distance) is critical yet challenging for blind users seeking an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience. To facilitate VR accessibility for blind users, in this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of two types of haptic cues - vibrotactile and skin-stretch cues - in conveying the spatial information of a virtual object when applied to the dorsal side of a blind user's hand. We conducted a user study with 10 blind users to investigate how they perceive static and moving objects in VR with a custom-made haptic apparatus. Our results reveal that blind users can more accurately understand an object's location and movement when receiving skin-stretch cues, as opposed to vibrotactile cues. We discuss the pros and cons of both types of haptic cues and conclude with design recommendations for future haptic solutions for VR accessibility.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

VisiMark: Characterizing and Augmenting Landmarks for People with Low Vision in Augmented Reality to Support Indoor Navigation

Landmarks are critical in navigation, supporting self-orientation and mental model development. Similar to sighted people, people with low vision (PLV) frequently look for landmarks via visual cues but face difficulties identifying some important landmarks due to vision loss. We first conducted a formative study with six PLV to characterize their challenges and strategies in landmark selection, identifying their unique landmark categories (e.g., area silhouettes, accessibility-related objects) and preferred landmark augmentations. We then designed VisiMark, an AR interface that supports landmark perception for PLV by providing both overviews of space structures and in-situ landmark augmentations. We evaluated VisiMark with 16 PLV and found that VisiMark enabled PLV to perceive landmarks they preferred but could not easily perceive before, and changed PLV's landmark selection from only visually-salient objects to cognitive landmarks that are more important and meaningful. We further derive design considerations for AR-based landmark augmentation systems for PLV.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

Inclusive Avatar Guidelines for People with Disabilities: Supporting Disability Representation in Social Virtual Reality

Avatar is a critical medium for identity representation in social virtual reality (VR). However, options for disability expression are highly limited on current avatar interfaces. Improperly designed disability features may even perpetuate misconceptions about people with disabilities (PWD). As more PWD use social VR, there is an emerging need for comprehensive design standards that guide developers and designers to create inclusive avatars. Our work aim to advance the avatar design practices by delivering a set of centralized, comprehensive, and validated design guidelines that are easy to adopt, disseminate, and update. Through a systematic literature review and interview with 60 participants with various disabilities, we derived 20 initial design guidelines that cover diverse disability expression methods through five aspects, including avatar appearance, body dynamics, assistive technology design, peripherals around avatars, and customization control. We further evaluated the guidelines via a heuristic evaluation study with 10 VR practitioners, validating the guideline coverage, applicability, and actionability. Our evaluation resulted in a final set of 17 design guidelines with recommendation levels.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

Chiral Raman coupling for spin-orbit coupling in ultracold atomic gases

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in ultracold atoms is engineered by light-atom interaction, such as two-photon Raman transitions between two Zeeman spin states. In this work, we propose and experimentally realize chiral Raman coupling to generate SOC in ultracold atomic gases, which exhibits high quantization axis direction-dependence. Chiral Raman coupling for SOC is created by chiral light-atom interaction, in which a circularly polarized electromagnetic field generated by two Raman lasers interacts with two Zeeman spin states $δm_{F}=\pm 1$ (chiral transition). We present a simple scheme of chiral one-dimension (1D) Raman coupling by employing two Raman lasers at an intersecting angle 90$^{\circ}$ with the proper polarization configuration. In this case, Raman coupling for SOC exist in one direction of the magnetic quantization axis and disappears in the opposite direction. Then we extend this scheme into a chiral 2D optical square Raman lattice configuration to generate the 1D SOC. There are two orthogonal 1D SOC, which exists in the positive and negative directions of the magnetic quantization axis respectively. This case is compared with 2D SOC based on the nonchiral 2D optical Raman lattice scheme for studying the topological energy band. This work broadens the horizon for understanding chiral physics and simulating topological quantum systems.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2024

Optimized Cryo-CMOS Technology with VTH<0.2V and Ion>1.2mA/um for High-Peformance Computing

We report the design-technology co-optimization (DTCO) scheme to develop a 28-nm cryogenic CMOS (Cryo-CMOS) technology for high-performance computing (HPC). The precise adjustment of halo implants manages to compensate the threshold voltage (VTH) shift at low temperatures. The optimized NMOS and PMOS transistors, featured by VTH<0.2V, sub-threshold swing (SS)<30 mV/dec, and on-state current (Ion)>1.2mA/um at 77K, warrant a reliable sub-0.6V operation. Moreover, the enhanced driving strength of Cryo-CMOS inherited from a higher transconductance leads to marked improvements in elevating the ring oscillator frequency by 20%, while reducing the power consumption of the compute-intensive cryogenic IC system by 37% at 77K.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2024

CookAR: Affordance Augmentations in Wearable AR to Support Kitchen Tool Interactions for People with Low Vision

Cooking is a central activity of daily living, supporting independence as well as mental and physical health. However, prior work has highlighted key barriers for people with low vision (LV) to cook, particularly around safely interacting with tools, such as sharp knives or hot pans. Drawing on recent advancements in computer vision (CV), we present CookAR, a head-mounted AR system with real-time object affordance augmentations to support safe and efficient interactions with kitchen tools. To design and implement CookAR, we collected and annotated the first egocentric dataset of kitchen tool affordances, fine-tuned an affordance segmentation model, and developed an AR system with a stereo camera to generate visual augmentations. To validate CookAR, we conducted a technical evaluation of our fine-tuned model as well as a qualitative lab study with 10 LV participants for suitable augmentation design. Our technical evaluation demonstrates that our model outperforms the baseline on our tool affordance dataset, while our user study indicates a preference for affordance augmentations over the traditional whole object augmentations.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Multilinear Fractional Integral Operators with Generalized Kernels

In this article, we introduce a class of multilinear fractional integral operators with generalized kernels that are weaker than the Dini kernel condition. We establish the boundedness of multilinear fractional integral operators with generalized kernels on weighted Lebesgue spaces and variable exponent Lebesgue spaces, as well as the boundedness of multilinear commutators generated by multilinear fractional integral operators with generalized kernels and $BMO$ functions. Even when the generalized kernels condition goes back to the Dini kernel condition, the conclusions on the commutators remain new.

math.FA↗

arXiv2024

"This really lets us see the entire world:" Designing a conversational telepresence robot for homebound older adults

In this paper, we explore the design and use of conversational telepresence robots to help homebound older adults interact with the external world. An initial needfinding study (N=8) using video vignettes revealed older adults' experiential needs for robot-mediated remote experiences such as exploration, reminiscence and social participation. We then designed a prototype system to support these goals and conducted a technology probe study (N=11) to garner a deeper understanding of user preferences for remote experiences. The study revealed user interactive patterns in each desired experience, highlighting the need of robot guidance, social engagements with the robot and the remote bystanders. Our work identifies a novel design space where conversational telepresence robots can be used to foster meaningful interactions in the remote physical environment. We offer design insights into the robot's proactive role in providing guidance and using dialogue to create personalized, contextualized and meaningful experiences.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Exploring the Design Space of Optical See-through AR Head-Mounted Displays to Support First Responders in the Field

First responders (FRs) navigate hazardous, unfamiliar environments in the field (e.g., mass-casualty incidents), making life-changing decisions in a split second. AR head-mounted displays (HMDs) have shown promise in supporting them due to its capability of recognizing and augmenting the challenging environments in a hands-free manner. However, the design space have not been thoroughly explored by involving various FRs who serve different roles (e.g., firefighters, law enforcement) but collaborate closely in the field. We interviewed 26 first responders in the field who experienced a state-of-the-art optical-see-through AR HMD, as well as its interaction techniques and four types of AR cues (i.e., overview cues, directional cues, highlighting cues, and labeling cues), soliciting their first-hand experiences, design ideas, and concerns. Our study revealed both generic and role-specific preferences and needs for AR hardware, interactions, and feedback, as well as identifying desired AR designs tailored to urgent, risky scenarios (e.g., affordance augmentation to facilitate fast and safe action). While acknowledging the value of AR HMDs, concerns were also raised around trust, privacy, and proper integration with other equipment. Finally, we derived comprehensive and actionable design guidelines to inform future AR systems for in-field FRs.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

SPICA: Interactive Video Content Exploration through Augmented Audio Descriptions for Blind or Low-Vision Viewers

Blind or Low-Vision (BLV) users often rely on audio descriptions (AD) to access video content. However, conventional static ADs can leave out detailed information in videos, impose a high mental load, neglect the diverse needs and preferences of BLV users, and lack immersion. To tackle these challenges, we introduce SPICA, an AI-powered system that enables BLV users to interactively explore video content. Informed by prior empirical studies on BLV video consumption, SPICA offers novel interactive mechanisms for supporting temporal navigation of frame captions and spatial exploration of objects within key frames. Leveraging an audio-visual machine learning pipeline, SPICA augments existing ADs by adding interactivity, spatial sound effects, and individual object descriptions without requiring additional human annotation. Through a user study with 14 BLV participants, we evaluated the usability and usefulness of SPICA and explored user behaviors, preferences, and mental models when interacting with augmented ADs.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

GazePrompt: Enhancing Low Vision People's Reading Experience with Gaze-Aware Augmentations

Reading is a challenging task for low vision people. While conventional low vision aids (e.g., magnification) offer certain support, they cannot fully address the difficulties faced by low vision users, such as locating the next line and distinguishing similar words. To fill this gap, we present GazePrompt, a gaze-aware reading aid that provides timely and targeted visual and audio augmentations based on users' gaze behaviors. GazePrompt includes two key features: (1) a Line-Switching support that highlights the line a reader intends to read; and (2) a Difficult-Word support that magnifies or reads aloud a word that the reader hesitates with. Through a study with 13 low vision participants who performed well-controlled reading-aloud tasks with and without GazePrompt, we found that GazePrompt significantly reduced participants' line switching time, reduced word recognition errors, and improved their subjective reading experiences. A follow-up silent-reading study showed that GazePrompt can enhance users' concentration and perceived comprehension of the reading contents. We further derive design considerations for future gaze-based low vision aids.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Springboard, Roadblock or "Crutch"?: How Transgender Users Leverage Voice Changers for Gender Presentation in Social Virtual Reality

Social virtual reality (VR) serves as a vital platform for transgender individuals to explore their identities through avatars and foster personal connections within online communities. However, it presents a challenge: the disconnect between avatar embodiment and voice representation, often leading to misgendering and harassment. Prior research acknowledges this issue but overlooks the potential solution of voice changers. We interviewed 13 transgender and gender-nonconforming users of social VR platforms, focusing on their experiences with and without voice changers. We found that using a voice changer not only reduces voice-related harassment, but also allows them to experience gender euphoria through both hearing their modified voice and the reactions of others to their modified voice, motivating them to pursue voice training and medication to achieve desired voices. Furthermore, we identified the technical barriers to current voice changer technology and potential improvements to alleviate the problems that transgender and gender-nonconforming users face.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Generic Cryo-CMOS Device Modeling and EDACompatible Platform for Reliable Cryogenic IC Design

This paper outlines the establishment of a generic cryogenic CMOS database in which key electrical parameters and transfer characteristics of the MOSFETs are quantified as functions of device size, temperature/frequency responses. Meanwhile, comprehensive device statistical study is conducted to evaluate the influence of variation and mismatch effects at low temperatures. Furthermore, by incorporating the Cryo-CMOS compact model into the process design kit (PDK), the cryogenic 4 Kb SRAM, 5-bit flash ADC and 8-bit current steering DAC are designed, and their performance is readily investigated and optimized on the EDA-compatible platform, hence laying a solid foundation for large-scale cryogenic IC design.

eess.SY↗