Q&A with Bei Hu

My research investigates the future of human connection through interactive technologies, including wearables, web-based experiences, and spatial computing. I design empathic interfaces that invite reflection, spark emotion, and deepen human engagement.

My ongoing research projects investigate how wearable technologies enhance emotional expression and foster meaningful social connections. I see technology not as a tool but as a verb — an active force that reshapes, reimagines, and deepens the ways we connect.

I’m excited to teach classes where students work from a speculative and critical perspective while staying grounded in methods and design principles and testing ideas with real users. I’m looking forward to the Interaction, Innovation, & Impact Studio, Design for Emerging Technology, UX Research, and Design for Immersive Environments.

I am excited about how the critical applications of emerging technologies and human-computer interaction could create new pathways that transform our lifestyles: how we live our lives, how we design, receive services, and communicate with each other.

I think we are in an era where AI and emerging technologies blur the lines of authorship and allow our product to be adaptive to our decisions and behaviors. That makes me wonder what remains uniquely human in the act of creation and how this shift could help us become better designers.

I’m always reminded that there’s a gap between the stimulus from the world (the issues and needs in the world) and our creative responses. I believe we, as designers, have a gift worth giving: our ability to be critical, creative, and empathetic.

I think much of today’s technology exploits our vulnerability, competes for our attention, and is built on models that push us to pursue the feeling (or the illusion) of being liked or connected, yet leave us feeling empty and lonely.


I want to explore an alternative paradigm: designing empathic interfaces that protect our attention, invite attunement, and support playful copresence.