Sang Won Lee

Visiting Researcher @ NAVER AI Lab (link), NAVER Cloud Corporation (2025 – )
Assistant Professor @ Computer Science, Virginia Tech (2018- )

Bio

Sang Won Lee is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech and a Visiting Researcher at NAVER AI Lab. His research lies at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), computer-mediated empathy, and creative computing. He investigates how technologies, such as conversational agents, VR, and personal informatics, can foster empathy, support self-reflection, and promote inclusive collaboration. His work often blends empirical studies with the design and evaluation of interactive systems, and has been recognized with multiple best paper awards at top venues like ACM CHI and Creativity & Cognition. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. He holds a diploma in Industrial Engineering from Seoul National University, an M.S. in Music Technology from Georgia Tech, and an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford. He has been an active author in top-tier human-computer interaction venues, like CHI, CSCW, NIME, and C&C. In addition to academic research publications, he has presented his research in the form of musical performances at peer-reviewed venues, including NIME, Art-CHI, and ICMC. He is a winner of the International Computer Music Association–Music Award 2016 for his composition Live Writing: Gloomy Streets.

Teaching

  • Creative Computing Studio (Spring 2025, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Fall 2018)
  • Computer-supported Cooperative Work (Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2019)
  • Creativity, Collaboration, and Computing (Spring 2021, Spring 2019)
  • Introduction to GUI programming and graphics (Spring 2023, Spring 2020)
  • User Interface Software and Technology (Fall 2024, Fall 2022)
  • Introduction to Game Design and Game Studies (Fall 2023)

Resources