Hyunchul Kim

Hyunchul Kim is a researcher, developer, and interaction designer exploring the intersections of technology, society, and art. He is currently pursuing a PhD at KAIST’s Graduate School of Culture Technology under the supervision of Prof. Jeongmi Lee. His research examines embodied communication experiences—mediated or generated by computers—through behavioral and physiological data. Specifically, he studies the temporal mechanisms of social interaction, such as turn-taking and nonverbal dynamics, applying these insights to make agent interactions more human-like and to evaluate systems for social communication. Beyond academia, he has worked as a developer on various art projects. He is also training for his next marathon, which he plans to run in Fall 2025.

[CV]

News

    • Presented at ISMAR 2025 (October 8–11, 2025) in Daejeon, South Korea — both in the Doctoral Consortium and Poster sessions.
    • Attended UIST 2025 (September 28–October 1, 2025) in Busan, South Korea.
    • Completed my PhD proposal presentation (August 7, 2025).
    • Presented a full paper at CHI 2025 (April 28 – May 1, 2025) in Yokohama, Japan.
    • Gave a talk on large language models and online communities at Forkingroom 2025: Left Tech (April 16, 2025)
    • Ran the Seoul Marathon (March 16, 2025) and finished in 3:45:46.

Papers

  • Quantifying Social Connection With Verbal and Non-Verbal Behaviors in Virtual Reality Conversations, Hyunchul Kim and Jeongmi Lee, CHI 2025

    [link]

    This study identifies verbal and nonverbal behavioral indices of perceived social experience in virtual conversations. Analyzing turn-taking patterns and behavioral data from dyadic VR conversations, we find that rapid response time, longer speech and gaze duration, and increased nodding predict dynamic social experience changes. These findings offer objective, unobtrusive measures to enhance social VR interactions.

  • Quantifying Proactive and Reactive Button Input, Hyunchul Kim, Kasper Hornbæk, and Byungjoo Lee, CHI 2022

    [link]

    We propose a technique to quantify users' reactiveness and proactiveness in button inputs by modeling the likelihood distribution of input-output timing. Using only screen recordings and input logs, our method estimates the probability of each strategy and its parameters. Empirical studies demonstrate its application in designing animated transitions and predicting player scores in real-time games.

  • Automated Playtesting with a Cognitive Model of Sensorimotor Coordination, Injung Lee, Hyunchul Kim, and Byungjoo Lee, ACM Multimedia 2021

    [link]

    We propose an automated playtesting technique based on a cognitive model of sensorimotor coordination to predict game difficulty for players with different skill levels. Applying this method to two MTA games, it is possible to estimate difficulty at the population level (e.g., seniors).

Posters & Demos

  • A Toolkit for Social Virtual Reality Studies With Experimental Control, Recording, and Data Conversion, Hyunchul Kim, Sihyun Jeong, and Jeongmi Lee, ISMAR Poster 2025

    [link]

  • Turn-taking Patterns Reflect Social Connection in Virtual Reality Conversations, Hyunchul Kim and Jeongmi Lee, ISMAR Poster 2024 Best Poster Award ୧( “̮ )୨✧

    [link]

  • Holobot: Hologram based Extended Reality Telepresence Robot, Jinwook Kim, Dooyoung Kim, Bowon Kim, Hyunchul Kim, and Jeongmi Lee, HRI Companion 2023

    [link]

  • Chameleon : VR Drawing Application, Hyunchul Kim, Nayeon Kim, Sunghye Kwon, and Shinho Moon, VR/AR Grand Challenge 2018 the Minister of Science and ICT Award ヽ( ´￢`)ﾉ

    [video]

Presentations

  • Modeling Social Cognition with Nonverbal Dynamics in Virtual Reality, Hyunchul Kim, ISMAR 2025 Doctoral Consortium

  • Collective intelligence and large-language model, Hyunchul Kim, Forking Room 2025 : Left Tech

  • Predicting the Attentional State under Varying Cognitive Load Levels Using Physiological Data, Hyunchul Kim¹, Eugene Hwang¹, Hyunyoung Jang, and Jeongmi Lee, The Annual Conference of the KSCBP 2025

  • Quantifying Social Connection With Verbal and Non-Verbal Behaviors in Virtual Reality Conversations, Hyunchul Kim and Jeongmi Lee, The Annual Conference of the KSCBP 2025 outstanding presentation award (*ˊᵕˋ*)ﾉ

  • The Effect of Cognitive Demand on the Strategy of Utilizing Peripheral Vision, Hyunchul Kim, Dawon Lee, Junyong Noh, and Jeongmi Lee, The Annual Conference of the KSCBP 2023 outstanding presentation award ง •̀_•́)ง

  • The Effect of Target Speed and Uncertainty on Shooting Game Performance, Hyunchul Kim and Jeongmi Lee, The Annual Conference of the KSCBP 2022

Unpublished Works

  • LeverPointing : a VR pointing technique for distant object
    Collaboration with Soomin Park, Maria Kostelova, Taehee Kim, Sunghyun Kim, Inseo Jang, and Byungjoo Lee

  • StringFab
    Collaboration with Chaeeun Lee, Jaehoon Pyo, and Aigerim Shunayeva

    [link]

Artworks

  • CURVEilance : a Multi-user-based Interactive Medial Wall, SIGGRAPH Asia 2020 Art Gallery, Online, Tokyo, -
    Collaboration with Seonghyeon Kim, Jiyoung Jun, and Jooyoung Oh

    [link] [video]

  • ____ in the loop, PLAY ON AI 2024, Art Center Nabi, Seoul, -
    Collaboration with Chanu Lee, Michael Park, and Soomin Park

  • The Skin, Daejeon AI Biennale: Sunshine Misses Windows, Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, -
    Collaboration with Sanghwa Hong*, Seonghyeon Kim, and Byungjoo Lee

    [link]

  • Refactoring Leaver, Forking room : Data & Framer, Post Territory Ujeongguk, Seoul, -

  • Leaver, Aesthetic Computation Vol.3, PlaceMAK, Seoul, -

  • Toktok, Shrrrrk, HCI Korea Creative Award 2017, Kangwon, -
    Collaboration with Yeoeun Kim and Tail Lee

    [video]

Technical Contributions for Artworks

  • Tides of Time, Minhee Kang, Tides of Time Beneath the Surface, Platform-L, Seoul, -

    Led concept and hardware design & making with Rhino3D

  • Crystal Gaze, Je Baak, TIME SLIP, Bondavici Museum, Seoul, -

    Integrated Epson C8 robot arm control with Unity-based video playback system

  • Mi-ryeon, Youngzoo Lim, Mi-ryeon, Perigee Gallery, Seoul, -

    Implemented a synchronized playback system and virtual reality experiences

  • Double Poser, Heecheon Kim, Double Poser, Factory 2, Seoul, -

    Implemented a game for artwork and recording & playback system

  • Burning Shell, Hyojae Kim, A Deliberate and Rapid Transplant, Art space Mullae, Seoul, -

    Implemented sensor system using arduino for exhibition

  • Cutter Ⅲ, Heecheon Kim, Game Society, MMCA, Seoul, -

    Implemented a game and real-time Instant NeRF system with 30+ live cam input

  • A Vast in Z, Minhee Kang, A Vast in Z, Factory 2, Seoul, -

    Implemented real-time object segmentation and stream it using PixelLib and NDI

  • uːm, Minhee Kang, Migration to a New Earth Planet, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, -

    Developed sensor and data streaming system using WebSocket and Arduino

  • Ghost (1990), Heecheon Kim, Double Poser, Factory 2, Seoul, -

    Implemented playback 360 and motion-capture with Unity Engine

  • Fragment of Hospitality 1444, DianaLab, Nothing Makes Itself, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, -

    Developed front-end of website and a physic-based motion feed using HTML, CSS and JS

  • Lucid dream, Je Baak, Lucid dream, Gallery Purple, Namyangju, -

    Developed eye tracking-based spraying-drone system using Unity Engine, Python, and Arduino, Rhino3d

Others

  • Mingle AI Website, web design & development
    Collaboration with Minki Hong, Hyeshim Kim, and KAI Inc.

  • Studio Crane Website, web development

  • Disappearing Controller: Features of Virtual Reality Game Controllers, writing

    [link]

  • Collecting Junipers, artistic practice

  • Mingle AI Web Demo for CES, web design & development
    Collaboration with Minki Hong and KAI Inc.

  • Tinto Lab 3D Particle Interactive Motion, web development

    [link]

  • MMCA Cheongju Storage Visualization, web design & development

  • Unboxing 2018, talk
    Collaboration with Yeonah Choi

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