Hello, I'm Ji Tong (Michael) Yin!

I'm a 3rd-year PhD candidate at UBC in Human-Computer Interaction

My primary research interest is in understanding and supporting technology-mediated interpersonal and intrapersonal social relationships.

On the interpersonal side, I am interested in how people interact with each other, as well as with virtual agents, in digital environments such as social media, livestreaming, video games, and social VR. On the intrapersonal side, I focus on how people construct self-reflection and "conversations with themselves," mediated through technology use in their daily lives.

I am currently supervised by Professor Robert Xiao at the UBC X-Lab, with whom I also did my Master's. Previously, I completed my undergraduate studies in engineering science at UofT. In my free time, I enjoy playing badminton and running. If you are interested in learning more about my research or my academic journey or if you just want to chat, feel free to send me a message on any of my socials!

Curriculum Vitae

Contact: jiyin@cs.ubc.ca

[CSCW 2024] How We See Changes How We Feel: Investigating the Effect of Visual Point-of-View on Decision-Making in VR

Michael Yin, Robert Xiao

[pdf] [preprint]

 

[UIST 2024] VirtualNexus: Enhancing 360-Degree Video AR/VR Collaboration with Environment Cutouts and Virtual Replicas

Xincheng Huang*, Michael Yin*, Ziyi Xia, Robert Xiao

[pdf] [preprint] [video figure]

 

[CHI PLAY 2024] Press A or Wave: User Expectations for NPC Interactions and Nonverbal Behaviour in Virtual Reality

Michael Yin, Robert Xiao

[pdf] [preprint] [video]

 

[CHI 2024] Lies, Deceit, and Hallucinations: Player Perception and Expectations Regarding Trust and Deception in Games

Michael Yin, Emi Wang, Chuoxi Ng, Robert Xiao

[pdf] [preview] [video]

 

[CHI 2023] Drifting Off in Paradise: Why People Sleep in Virtual Reality

Michael Yin, Robert Xiao

[pdf] [preview] [video]

 

[DIS 2022] How Should I Respond to “Good Morning?”: Understanding Choice in Narrative-Rich Games

Michael Yin, Robert Xiao

[pdf] [preview] [video] [article] (Honorable Mention)

 

[CHI 2022] The Reward for Luck: Understanding the Effect of Random Reward Mechanisms in Video Games on Player Experience

Michael Yin, Robert Xiao

[pdf] [preview] [video]

 

Points Gained in Curling

Undergraduate Thesis by Michael Yin, Supervised by Timothy Chan (2020)

Accepted and presented at CORS 2021

Modelling the game of curling as a finite-horizon Markov reward process to evaluate play and develop optimal strategies.

3D Depth Using Structured Light Imaging

Summer Research Project in the lab of Kyros Kutulakos (2017)

Using projected sequences of structured light (binary patterns of light) to determine depth information in a given scene.

Biomedical Wearable for Performance Tracking

Summer Research Project in the lab of Roman Genov (2016)

Unsupervised learning on cleaned EMG signals to predict the type and intensity of arm motion to create a proof-of-concept wearable.

WWTPViz

Data visualization project on global wastewater plants (for CPSC547)

BobaDex

A site for users to find, share, and review bubble tea stores (Deprecated until I find a new hosting site).

Anime Higher or Lower

A take on the Higher or Lower game, adjusted for anime (Deprecated until I find a new hosting site).

Restaurant Recommender

"Hey Alexa. Recommend me a good sushi restaurant in Vancouver."

NBA/NCAA Data Analysis

Do good shooters in the NCAA continue to be good shooters in the NBA? A quick analysis.

Keep - Smart Grocery App

Mockup of smart shopping application to quickly scan receipts and track groceries.

Boble

Mockup of an online event-finding application for university students.