Zhida Sun
Zhida Sun

Visual Computing Research Center
College of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Shenzhen University

Zhizhen Building (L6), Yuehai Campus (South), 3688 Nanhai Avenue, Nanshan District, Shenzhen

zhida.sun at connect dot ust dot hk

zhida.sun at szu dot edu dot cn

I am zhdsun @ Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram

[ DBLP] [ Google Scholar] [ ORCID]

Updates

Jul/26
Interactive Construction of Pictorial Unit Visualization using a Contain-and-Fill Model @ VIS'26
Apr/26
Semantic-Structural Alignment for Generative Pictorial Charts @ SIGGRAPH'26
Mar/26
Controlling Semantics and Style in Progressive Icon Grids Generation @ CHI'26
Mar/26
Enabling Fine-Grained Badminton Strokes Evaluation on a Single Smartwatch @ CHI'26
Feb/26
Bridging Analytical Rigor and Narrative Engagement through Interactive Story Structures @ CHI EA'26
Feb/26
Cycle-Consistent Tuning for Layered Image Decomposition @ CVPR'26
Jan/26
Join the ACM TOCHI Distinguished Reviewer Board

Jul/25
Receive a 'Special Recognition' from UIST'25 review
Mar/25
Creative blends of visual concepts @ CHI'25
Feb/25
Layered image vectorization via semantic simplification @ CVPR'25
Jan/25
Receive a 'Special Recognition' from CHI'25 review

Sep/24
Receive a 'Special Recognition' from CSCW'24 review
Jul/24
Graph simplification via adaptive motif design @ VIS'24
Jul/24
Visual analysis system for UAV path planning @ CAD/CG'24
Mar/24
Understanding anthropomorphism in chatbot system @ CHI LBW'24
Mar/24
Creating visual analogies with data @ CHI'24
Mar/24
Visual design for amplifying music listening experience through song comments @ Journal of Visualization

Dec/23
Probing vision transformer with interactive visualization @ ICDMW'23
Jan/23
Our work 'IntimaSea' gets accepted by CHI'23

Nov/22
Receive a 'Special Recognition' from CHI'23 review
Jan/22
Our work 'Metaphoraction' gets accepted by TOCHI'22

May/21
Attend CHI'21 @ Virtual

Dec/20
Our work 'MetaMap' gets accepted by CHI'21
Nov/20
Receive a 'Special Recognition' from CHI'21 review
July/20
Pass the PhD Thesis Defence
May/20
Pass the PhD Thesis Proposal Defence
Apr/20
Our work 'A Postcard from Your Food Journey in the Past' gets accepted by DIS'20
Mar/20
Our work 'Fostering Engagement in Technology-Mediated Stress Management' gets accepted by IJHCS'20

Dec/19
Our work 'VoiceCoach' gets accepted by CHI'20
Jun/19
Our work 'DataShot' gets accepted by IEEE InfoVis'19

Dec/18
Start my internship @ MSRA, Beijing
Nov/18
Receive two 'Special Recognition's from CHI'19 review
Jun/18
Attend DIS'18 @ Hong Kong as a volunteer
Apr/18
Attend CHI'18 @ Montreal
Feb/18
Our Late-Breaking Work on scale exploration in AR gets accepted by CHI'18
Jan/18
Pass the PhD Qualifying Exam

Nov/17
Receive a 'Special Recognition' from CHI'18 review
Jun/17
Start my oversea exchange @ EPFL, Lausanne
May/17
Attend CHI'17 @ Denver
Feb/17
Our Late-Breaking Work on biofeedback design gets accepted by CHI'17

Dec/16
Present our 'Danmu visualization' work in SIGGRAPH Asia'16 @ Macao

I serve as a tenure-track assistant professor at the College of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE), Shenzhen University (SZU), and I am also affiliated with the Visual Computing Research Center (VCC). I obtained my doctoral degree from the Human-Computer Interaction Initiative, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), where I was under the supervision of Prof. Xiaojuan Ma. I work at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction, Information Visualization, and Generative AI. My primary research interest revolves around Human-Engaged Computing, exploring how computational systems can engage and support human users by:

Augmenting Creativity
Leveraging foundation models and conceptual metaphors to drive creative inspiration, ideation, and implementation.
Visual Storytelling
Transforming exploratory and explanatory analysis through novel visualization and narrative techniques.
Computing for Well-being
Fostering user engagement and holistic wellness in digital environments via positive computing principles.

Our research center welcomes graduate students and visiting interns/scholars who share a strong interest in these areas. Please get in touch with your resume/CV to learn more about potential opportunities.

Research

Creativity Support via Generative AI and Conceptual Metaphors

We develop intelligent co-creative systems that bridge the gap between abstract human intent and high-quality visual design. By leveraging Generative AI and Conceptual Metaphors, we build tools that help designers visualize complex ideas and streamline content creation.
Iconix

Iconix

CHI Controlling Semantics and Style in Progressive Icon Grids Generation
[project page]
Visual Blends

Visual Blends

CHI Creative Blends of Visual Concepts
[project page]
Metaphoraction

Metaphoraction

TOCHI Support Gesture-based Interaction Design with Metaphorical Meanings
[project page]
MetaMap

MetaMap

CHI Support Visual Metaphor Ideation through Multi-dimensional Example-based Exploration
[project page]

Storytelling for Visual Analytics and Automated Data Presentation

We design automated visualization techniques that transform complex data into accessible, narrative-driven insights. Our goal is to democratize data communication, making it easier for non-experts to explore, understand, and present information.
Pictorial Charts

Pictorial Charts

TOG SIGGRAPH Semantic-Structural Alignment in Generation
[project page]
Interactive Narrative Structure

Interactive Narrative Structure

CHI EA Bridging Analytical Rigor and Narrative Engagement
Accepted to appear
Data Analogy

Data Analogy

CHI Enhance Data Comprehension and Communication with Generative AI
[project page]
DataShot

DataShot

TVCG VIS Automatic Generation of Fact Sheets from Tabular Data
[project page]

HCI for Well-being and Positive Computing

We design and evaluate interactive systems that foster physical and mental wellness in digital environments. Guided by Positive Computing principles, we create technologies that encourage self-reflection and sustained engagement.
BadminSense

BadminSense

CHI Enabling Fine-Grained Badminton Strokes Evaluation on a Single Smartwatch
[project page]
IntimaSea

IntimaSea

CHI Exploring Shared Stress Display in Close Relationships
[project page]
Reflective Health Tracking

Reflective Health Tracking

DIS Postcard Design for Promoting Self-Reflection on Social Food Posting
[project page]
Stress Management

Stress Management

IJHCS CHI EA A Comparative Study of Biofeedback Designs to Foster Engagement
[project page]
*: equal contribution; +: corresponding author; highlight: graduate advisees; highlight: other mentees.
UnitoPia: Interactive Construction of Pictorial Unit Visualization using a Contain-and-Fill Model
UnitoPia: Interactive Construction of Pictorial Unit Visualization using a Contain-and-Fill Model
Xinghui Fu, Zhida Sun, Yoojin Jeon, Guozheng Li, Yu Zhang, Bongshin Lee, and Min Lu.
TVCG VIS IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2026.

[demo] [online] [github]

Semantic-Structural Alignment for Generative Pictorial Charts
Semantic-Structural Alignment for Generative Pictorial Charts
Zhida Sun, Yulin Zhang, Zheng Gu, Min Lu, Bongshin Lee, Daniel Cohen-Or, and Hui Huang.
TOG SIGGRAPH ACM Transactions on Graphics, 2026.

[project page] [paper] [arxiv] [media coverage: VCC] [media coverage: CSSE SZU]

Iconix: Controlling Semantics and Style in Progressive Icon Grids Generation
Iconix: Controlling Semantics and Style in Progressive Icon Grids Generation
Zhida Sun, Xiaodong Wang, Zhenyao Zhang, Min Lu, Dani Lischinski, Daniel Cohen-Or, and Hui Huang.
CHI Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2026.

[project page] [arxiv] [code] [media coverage: VCC] [media coverage: CSSE SZU]

BadminSense: Enabling Fine-Grained Badminton Strokes Evaluation on Single Smartwatch
BadminSense: Enabling Fine-Grained Badminton Strokes Evaluation on Single Smartwatch
Taizhou Chen, Kai Chen, Xingyu Liu, Pingchuan Ke, and Zhida Sun+.
CHI Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2026.

[paper] [arxiv] [code]

Bridging Analytical Rigor and Narrative Engagement through Interactive Story Structures
Bridging Analytical Rigor and Narrative Engagement through Interactive Story Structures
Xuanbin Fang, Zhida Sun+, Wenchao Li, Qing Chen, Xiaojuan Ma, and Hui Huang.
CHI EA Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2026.

Accepted to appear

Cycle-Consistent Tuning for Layered Image Decomposition
Cycle-Consistent Tuning for Layered Image Decomposition
Zheng Gu, Min Lu, Zhida Sun, Dani Lischinski, Daniel Cohen-Or, and Hui Huang.
CVPR Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2026.

[project page] [arxiv]

Creative Blends of Visual Concepts
Creative Blends of Visual Concepts
Zhida Sun, Zhenyao Zhang, Yue Zhang, Min Lu, Dani Lischinski, Daniel Cohen-Or, and Hui Huang.
CHI Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2025.

[project page] [arxiv] [code] [presentation: Youtube] [media coverage: CSSE SZU]

Layered Image Vectorization via Semantic Simplification
Layered Image Vectorization via Semantic Simplification
Zhenyu Wang, Jianxi Huang, Zhida Sun, Yuanhao Gong, Daniel Cohen-Or, and Min Lu.
CVPR Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2025.

[project page] [arxiv]

AdaMotif: Graph Simplification via Adaptive Motif Design
AdaMotif: Graph Simplification via Adaptive Motif Design
Hong Zhou, Peifeng Lai, Zhida Sun, Xiangyuan Chen, Yang Chen, Huisi Wu, and Yong Wang.
TVCG VIS IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2024.

[link] [fast forward: Youtube] [presentation: Youtube]

Anthropomorphism in Chatbot Systems Between Gender and Individual Differences
Anthropomorphism in Chatbot Systems Between Gender and Individual Differences
Zhida Sun, Manuele Reani, Yunzhong Luo, and Zhuolan Bao.
CHI EA Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2024.

[link] [presentation: Youtube]

Beyond Numbers: Creating Analogies to Enhance Data Comprehension and Communication with Generative…
Beyond Numbers: Creating Analogies to Enhance Data Comprehension and Communication with Generative AI
Qing Chen, Wei Shuai, Jiyao Zhang, Zhida Sun, and Nan Cao.
CHI Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2024.

[project page] [link] [video preview: Youtube] [presentation: Youtube]

Amplifying the Music Listening Experience through Song Comments on Music Streaming Platforms
Amplifying the Music Listening Experience through Song Comments on Music Streaming Platforms
Longfei Chen, Qianyu Liu, Chenyang Zhang, Yangkun Huang, Zhenhui Peng, Haipeng Zeng, Zhida Sun, Xiaojuan Ma, and Quan Li.
J. Vis. Journal of Visualization, 2024.

[link]

EL-VIT: Probing Vision Transformer with Interactive Visualization
EL-VIT: Probing Vision Transformer with Interactive Visualization
Hong Zhou, Rui Zhang, Peifeng Lai, Chaoran Guo, Yong Wang, Zhida Sun, and Junjie Li.
ICDMW IEEE International Conference on Data Mining Workshops, 2023.

[link]

IntimaSea: Exploring Shared Stress Display in Close Relationships
IntimaSea: Exploring Shared Stress Display in Close Relationships
Yanqi Jiang, Xianghua (Sharon) Ding, Xiaojuan Ma, Zhida Sun, and Ning Gu.
CHI Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2023.

[media coverage: UofGlasgow] [video preview: Youtube] [presentation: Youtube]

Metaphoraction: Support Gesture-based Interaction Design with Metaphorical Meanings
Metaphoraction: Support Gesture-based Interaction Design with Metaphorical Meanings
Zhida Sun, Sitong Wang, Chengzhong Liu, and Xiaojuan Ma.
TOCHI ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2022.

[project page] [pre-print] [link] [gesture survey] [code] [hands-on experience] [presentation: Youtube]

MetaMap: Supporting Visual Metaphor Ideation through Multi-dimensional Example-based Exploration
MetaMap: Supporting Visual Metaphor Ideation through Multi-dimensional Example-based Exploration
Youwen Kang*, Zhida Sun*, Sitong Wang, Zeyu Huang, Ziming Wu, and Xiaojuan Ma.
CHI Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2021.

[project page] [code] [paper] [link] [video preview: Youtube] [presentation: Youtube]

A Postcard from Your Food Journey in the Past: Promoting Self-Reflection on Social Food Posting
"A Postcard from Your Food Journey in the Past": Promoting Self-Reflection on Social Food Posting
Zhida Sun, Sitong Wang, Wenjie Yang, Onur Yürüten, Chuhan Shi, and Xiaojuan Ma.
DIS Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 2020.

[link] [presentation: Youtube] [presentation: Vimeo]

Fostering Engagement in Technology-Mediated Stress Management: A Comparative Study of Biofeedback…
Fostering Engagement in Technology-Mediated Stress Management: A Comparative Study of Biofeedback Designs
Zhida Sun, Manuele Reani, Quan Li, and Xiaojuan Ma.
IJHCS International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2020.

[project page] [link] [media coverage: HKUST]

VoiceCoach: Interactive Evidence-based Training for Voice Modulation Skills in Public Speaking
VoiceCoach: Interactive Evidence-based Training for Voice Modulation Skills in Public Speaking
Xingbo Wang, Haipeng Zeng, Yong Wang, Aoyu Wu, Zhida Sun, Xiaojuan Ma, and Huamin Qu.
CHI Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2020.

[project page] [paper] [link] [demo] [presentation: Youtube] [presentation: iQIYI] [slide] [data]

DataShot: Automatic Generation of Fact Sheets from Tabular Data
DataShot: Automatic Generation of Fact Sheets from Tabular Data
Yun Wang*, Zhida Sun*, Haidong Zhang, Weiwei Cui, Ke Xu, Xiaojuan Ma, and Dongmei Zhang.
TVCG VIS IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2019.

[paper] [supplemental material] [link] [media coverage: MSRAsia] [media coverage: ZJU VAG] [media coverage: Zhihu] [intro: bilibili]

Mediating Color Filter Exploration with Color Theme Semantics Derived from Social Curation Data
Mediating Color Filter Exploration with Color Theme Semantics Derived from Social Curation Data
Ziming Wu, Zhida Sun, Taewook Kim, Manuele Reani, Caroline Jay, and Xiaojuan Ma.
CSCW Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, 2018.

[project page] [paper] [link]

Exploring the Effects of Scale in Augmented Reality-Empowered Visual Analytics
Exploring the Effects of Scale in Augmented Reality-Empowered Visual Analytics
Zhida Sun, Feng Han, and Xiaojuan Ma.
CHI EA Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2018.

[project page] [link] [poster]

Attention, Comprehension, Execution: Effects of Different Designs of Biofeedback Display
Attention, Comprehension, Execution: Effects of Different Designs of Biofeedback Display
Zhida Sun, Nan Cao, and Xiaojuan Ma.
CHI EA Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2017.

[project page] [paper] [link] [poster]

VideoForest: Interactive Visual Summarization of Video Streams Based on Danmu Data
VideoForest: Interactive Visual Summarization of Video Streams Based on Danmu Data
Zhida Sun, Mingfei Sun, Nan Cao, and Xiaojuan Ma.
SA Vis SIGGRAPH ASIA Symposium on Visualization, 2016.

[project page] [paper] [link]

Project

Ecological Visualization: Biofeedback Design for Personal Informatics Interfaces
Ecological Visualization: Biofeedback Design for Personal Informatics Interfaces
Zhida Sun and Xuanwu Yue.
The International Symposium of Chinese CHI Video Competition, 2017.
Video Honorable Mention Award

Talks

Invited Talk
Aug. 2026
Human-AI Visual Co-creation Empowered by Generative Artificial Intelligence
HMCC & HHME 2026, Changsha.

[link]

Seminar Speaker
May. 2024
The Application of Conceptual Metaphors in Visualization Design
HKUSTGZ, Guangzhou.

[CSIG VIS]

Invited Talk
Apr. 2024
Enhancing Creative Ideation with Conceptual Metaphors
GBA HCI Forum (Pre-CHI 2024), Hong Kong.

[link]

Academic Services

Editorial & Review Board
Distinguished Reviewer Board Member, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 2026
Program Committee Member
Associate Program Subcommittee (Area) Chair of CHI Conference, 2023 - 2027
Associate Program Subcommittee (Area) Chair of CSCW Conference, 2024 - 2026
PC Member of CCF CAD/CG, 2025 - 2026
PC Member of ChinaGraph, 2026
PC Member of the International Conference on Human-Engaged Computing (ICHEC), 2025
PC Member of VINCI (Special Track on Cultural Heritage), 2025
Late Breaking Work Co-chair of the International Symposium of Chinese CHI, 2022
Journal Reviewer
Visual Informatics, 2025
CCF Transactions on Pervasive Computing and Interaction (TPCI), 2025
Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (TIST), 2024
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (IJHCI), 2024
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 2021
Pervasive and Mobile Computing (PMC), 2018, 2020
Computers & Graphics, 2019
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 2018
Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing (AIHC), 2017
Conference Reviewer
The International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), 2027
IEEE Pacific Visualization Conference (PacificVis), 2024, 2027
ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia (SIGGRAPH Aisa), 2026
ACM Creativity and Cognition conference (C&C), 2026
ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference (SIGGRAPH), 2025, 2026
IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2026
Eurographics Conference on Visualization (EuroVis), 2026
ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), 2025
IEEE Visualization and Visual Analytics Conference (VIS), 2020, 2025
The China Visualization and Visual Analytics Conference (ChinaVis), 2023, 2024, 2026
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2017 - 2022
The AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 2017
The International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), 2017
ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), 2017
Additional Peer-Review Role
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A), 2025
Late-Breaking Works of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI-LBW), 2025
Student Volunteer
The International Symposium of Chinese CHI, 2018
ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), 2018

Students

Current Members
Graduate Students
Yulin Zhang (Master student, major in Computer Technology, since Summer 2024)
Xiaodong Wang (Master student, major in Computer Technology, since Summer 2024)
Yuhang Zhu (Master student, major in Computer Technology, since Summer 2024)
Jiahui Cheng (Master student, major in Computer Technology, since Summer 2025)
Yibin Huang (Master student, major in Computer Technology, since Fall 2025)
Kai Chen (Master student, major in Computer Science and Technology, since Fall 2025)
Hao Ye (Master student, major in Artificial Intelligence, since Summer 2026)
Fan Huang (Master student, major in Software Engineering, since Summer 2026)
Guodong Tao (Master student, major in Computer Technology, since Summer 2026)
Research Interns
Jiatao Luo (Undergraduate student, major in Educational Technology - Intelligent Education, since Fall 2025)
Jiawei Lu (Undergraduate student, major in Electronic and Information Engineering, since Summer 2026)
Past Members
Graduated Students
Zhenyao Zhang, Outstanding Graduate (Master student, major in Software Engineering, Fall 2023 - Summer 2026, Engineer @ HKU-Qianhai Institute of Intelligent Transport)
Xuanbin Fang (Master student, major in Artificial Intelligence, Fall 2023 - Summer 2026, Engineer @ Huawei)
Yue Hu (Master student, major in Computer Technology, co-supervised with Prof. Hui Huang, Winter 2023 - Summer 2024, Engineer @ Xverse)
Research Interns
Yucong Cai (Master student from University College London, major in Computer Science, Winter 2024 - Summer 2025, Ph.D. @ Simon Fraser University)
Yue Zhang (Undergraduate student, major in Psychology, Fall 2023 - Fall 2024, Ph.D. @ HKUST)
Yulin Huang (Undergraduate student, major in Automation, Fall 2023 - Spring 2025, Engineer @ Seeed Studio)
Qiyue Wu (Undergraduate student, major in Optoelectronic Information Science and Engineering, Summer 2024 - Spring 2025)
Xiangyang He (Master student from CUHKSZ, major in Data Science, Summer 2024, Ph.D. @ HKUST-GZ)
Xiaolin Guo (Master student from East China Normal University, major in Applied Psychology, co-supervised with Ting Luo [HMI, Huawei], Summer - Fall 2022)

Courses

Postgraduate
Data Visualization (Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026)
Undergraduate
Analysis and Design of Object-Oriented Programming System (Fall 2024, Fall 2025, Fall 2026)
Field Practice (Fall 2023)
Prior to SZU as teaching assistant
Honors Design and Analysis of Algorithms (COMP3711H, Fall 2019/20)
Multimedia Computing (COMP4431, Spring 2017/18)
Human-Computer Interaction (COMP4461, Fall 2017/18) [Lab 2] [Lab 3] [Lab 4]
Introduction to Computing with Java (COMP1022P, Spring 2016/17)

Experience

Aug. 2020 - Aug. 2023

Researcher, Human-Machine Interaction Lab / Standard and Patent Department
Central Research Institute, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China

Dec. 2018 - Apr. 2019

Research Intern, Software Analytics Group
Microsoft Research Asia, Beijing, China

Feb. 2017 - Dec. 2019

Teaching Assistant, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR

Jul. 2017 - Aug. 2017

Doctoral Assistant, Human-Computer Interaction Group
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland