Bio
I am a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Mixed Reality. My research focuses on the intersection of Human Computer Interaction, Augmented Reality and Machine Intelligence. To tackle this broad problem space, I re-purpose off-the-shelf devices or build specialized hardware using my diverse skills in signal processing, machine learning, and RF engineering. I also design and conduct evaluation studies to quantify system performance in real-world scenarios. More specifically, I work on enabling human-level understanding of object behaviors using advanced statistical and machine learning algorithms. I also work on bringing the next generation of Augmented Reality experiences to IoT connected devices. I collaborate with experts across computer science, electrical engineering and design, which help me to identify great research and product opportunities and deliver broader impacts to the community.
I previously finished my PhD in Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington advised by Dr. Shwetak Patel and Dr. Alanson Sample. with a focus on enabling sensing of user interaction with everyday objects.
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Past Projects
Sensing and understanding user interactions with everyday objects can enable immersive Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In the following projects I explore various application spaces such as understanding daily activities, creating tangible user input interfaces and human/object recognition for AR/VR.
PaperID: A Technique for Drawing Functional Battery-Free Wireless Inter- faces on Paper.
IDSense: A Human-Object Interaction Detection System Based on Passive UHF RFID.
MoveVR: Enabling Multiform Force Feedback in Virtual Reality using Household Cleaning Robot
IDCam: Precise Item Identification for AR Enhanced Object Interactions
ID-Match: A hybrid computer vision and RFID system for recognizing individuals in groups.
FlexTouch: Enabling Large-Scale Interaction Sensing Beyond Touchscreens Using Flexible and Conductive Materials
ShopSight: A Retail Analytics Platform Tracking Consumer Behaviors in Physical Stores.
Professional Experience
JULY 2018 - PRESENT
Senior Researcher, Microsoft, Redmond, USA
I am a senior researcher at the Microsoft Mixed Reality team.
SEPT 2013 - JUNE 2018
Research Assistant, The Ubicomp Lab, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Advisors: Dr. Shwetak Patel & Dr. Alanson Sample.
JULY - OCTOBER, 2016
Research intern, Microsoft Research, Sensors and Devices Group, Cambridge, UK
Mentors: Dr. Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl, Dr. James Scott
Developed novel IR based solutions for user presence sensing and localization
JUNE - SEPTEMBER 2014-2015
Research Intern, Wireless Systems Group, Disney Research, Pittsburgh, USA
Mentor: Dr. Alanson Sample
Designed and implemented IDSense, a novel human-object interaction detection system based on passive RFID.
Designed and Implemented PaperID, a wireless paper-based passive sensing interfaces.
OCTOBER 2012 - MARCH 2013
Research Intern, HCI Group, Microsoft Research, Beijing, China
Mentor: Dr. Koji Yatani
Designed and implemented a novel insole sensing system recognizing body posture based on foot pressure distribution
Key Publications
IDCam: Precise Item Identification for AR Enhanced Object Interactions
Hanchuan Li, Eric Whitmire, Alex Mariakakis, Victor Chan, Alanson Sample, Shwetak Patel.
In the Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE International Conference on RFID (IEEE RFID 2019)
IDAct: Towards Unobtrusive Recognition of User Presence and Daily Activities.
Hanchuan Li, Chieh-yih Wan, Rahul C. Shah, Alanson P. Sample, Shwetak Patel 2019. In the Proceedings
of the 2019 IEEE International Conference on RFID (IEEE RFID 2019)
PaperID: A Technique for Drawing Functional Battery-Free Wireless Inter- faces on Paper.
Hanchuan Li, Eric Brockmeyer, Elizabeth Carter, Josh Fromm, Scott Hudson, Shwetak Patel, Alanson Sample.
In The Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI16)
ID-Match: A hybrid computer vision and RFID system for recognizing individuals in groups.
Hanchuan Li, Peijin Zhang, Samer Al Moubayed, Alanson Sample, Shwetak Patel. 2016.
In the Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI16)
IDSense: A Human Object Interaction Detection System Based on Passive UHF RFID
Hanchuan Li, Can Ye, and Alanson Sample. 2015.
In the Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI15)
Enabling Sensing and Interaction with Everyday Objects
Hanchuan Li
In the Proceedings of the 30th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST17 DS)
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FlexTouch: Enabling Large-Scale Interaction Sensing beyond Touchscreens using Flexible and Conductive Materials
Yuntao Wang, Jianyu Zhou, Hanchuan Li, Tengxiang Zhang, Minxuan Gao, Zhuolin Cheng, Chun Yu, Shwetak Patel. In Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies 3.3 (2019): 1-20.
MoveVR: Enabling Multiform Force Feedback in Virtual Reality using Household Cleaning Robot.
Wang, Yuntao, Zichao Chen, Hanchuan Li, Zhengyi Cao, Huiyi Luo, Tengxiang Zhang, Ke Ou et al. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2020 (CHI 20).
Patents
US PATENT 9,805,232
Systems and Methods for Detecting Human-Object Interactions
Alanson Sample, Hanchuan Li, USPTO
US PATENT 9,805,233
Systems and Methods for Following Distinguishing Members Using Tags in Combination with a Localizing Device.
Alanson Sample, Hanchuan Li, Samer Al Moubayed, USPTO
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US PATENT 10,013,589
Systems and Methods for Enabling User Interactions with Wireless Tags.
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Hanchuan Li, Josh Fromm, Scott Hudson, Eric Brockmeyer, Elizabeth Carter, Alanson Sample, Shwetak Patel, USPTO
US PATENT 10302810
Use of thermopiles to detect human location
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Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl,
James Scott, Rinku Sreedhar, John Franciscus Marie Helmes, Hanchuan Li USPTO Pending
Honors and Awards
SEPTEMBER, 2016
Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship
Qualcomm Inc.
SEPTEMBER, 2017
Second Place Award
GIX Innovation Competition
Global Innovation Exchange
OCTOMBER, 2017
People's Choice Award
UIST Doctoral Symposium Poster Session
SEPTEMBER, 2015
Disney Graduate Fellowship
Disney Research
SEPTEMBER, 2016
Third Place Award
GIX Innovation Competition
Global Innovation Exchange
AUGUST, 2012
Outstanding Demo Award
Technology Showcase, Carnegie Mellon University, Silicon Valley
JUNE, 2010, 2011, 2012
Outstanding Student Scholarship
University of Science and
Technology of China
APRIL, 2019
Best Paper Nominee
2019 IEEE International Conference on RFID