Description: Headshot of a Chinese lady wearing a white shirt, with a matcha drink in front of her.
Yize (Isa) Wei
Nice to e-meet you! I'm Yize, a 4th-year PhD Candidate in the Computer Science department at National University of Singapore (NUS), advised by Suranga Nanayakkara , Roger Zimmermann , and Christophe Jouffrais . Previously, I completed my BEng from NUS as well in 2022, and during which time, I worked as a software engineer intern at Autodesk and a student research assistant in the broader field of AI/ML.
My research interest is situated in the intersection of Accessibility, Human-Robot Interaction, and Human-AI Interaction. I am particularly interested in how new and unfamiliar robot form factors (e.g., drones, exoskeletons) can assist Blind and Low Vision (BLV) Users . I'm generously supported by the Presidential Graduate Fellowship and IPAL (a CNRS International French-Singaporean Research Laboratory).
Aside from my work, I enjoy cooking 🍲, reading 📖, and hiking 🏔. I also love music a lot and was a cellist in NUS Symphony Orchestra 🎻.
updates
- Aug 2026Received NUS School of Computing Research Achievement Award 🥳
- Mar 2026One paper is conditionally accepted to DIS 2026 (in Singapore 🥥!) And I'll be serving as the registration co-chair as well :)
- Jan 2026Our paper, titled 'Towards LLM-powered Drone Assistant for Blind and Low Vision Users', is (conditionally) accepted to CHI 2026 🇪🇸!
- Aug 2025Our poster, titled 'Towards LLM-powered Drone Assistant for Blind and Low Vision Users', is accepted to UIST 2025 & See you in Busan 🇰🇷
- July 2025Received NUS School of Computing Research Achievement Award 🥳
- May 2025I turned 25 - I'm now officialy and scientifically in my mid 20s 🤦🏻♀️
- Jan 2025One paper is conditionally accepted to CHI 2025 - my first first-authored CHI paper! See you in Japan 🌸
- Jan 2025Representing CNRS, I attended the 10th Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore. Met and learnt from Nobel Laureates and other young scientists from around the world!
- Oct 2024I travelled to New Foundland, Canada 🍁 to present my research at ASSETS'24. One of the highlights during the trip was that a dozen of us tried to see sunrise at Cape Spear (North America's easternmost point), but it was too cloudy that day.
- June 2024Passed my Qualifying Exam and (finally) became a PhD candidate 🥂
- June 2023Travelled to France for my field trip! I worked with talented blind students in Institut National Des Jeunes Aveugles (INJA) in Paris and I was hosted by amazing colleagues from IRIT Computer Science Research Institute in Toulouse.
- Jan 2023Officially joined Computer Science Department as a PhD student 💻
- July 2022Graduated from National University of Singapore 🎓
selected publications
For context, I now primarily focus on publishing at premier HCI venues (CHI, UIST, DIS, ASSETS). * and † indicate equal contribution.
Explore or team up? Towards a Drone Based Assistant for Blind and Low Vision Individuals
Nathan Rocher*, Yize Wei*, Sandra Bardot, Bernard Oriola, Anke Brock†, Christophe Jouffrais†
DIS 2026
Towards LLM-powered Drone Companion for Blind and Low Vision Users
Yize Wei, Ibnu Taimiyyah, Hanjun Wu, Moritz Messerschmidt, Wei Tsang Ooi, Christophe Jouffrais, Suranga Nanayakkara
CHI 2026; UIST 2025 (Poster)
Human Robot Interaction for People with Visual Impairments: A Systematic Literature Review
Yize Wei, Nathan Rocher, Chitralekha Gupta, Mia Huong Nguyen, Wei Tsang Ooi, Christophe Jouffrais, Suranga Nanayakkara
CHI 2025
Drones for all: Creating an Authentic Programming Experience for Students with Visual Impairments
Yize Wei, Maëlle Dubucq, Malsha de Zoysa, Christophe Jouffrais, Suranga Nanayakkara, Wei Tsang Ooi
ASSETS 2024 (Poster)
Parameter sensitivity of deep-feature based evaluation metrics for audio textures.
Chitralekha Gupta, Yize Wei, Zequn Gong, Purnima Kamath, Zhuoyao Li, Lonce Wyse
ISMIR 2022
Towards controllable audio texture morphing
Chitralekha Gupta*, Purnima Kamath*, Yize Wei, Zhuoyao Li, Suranga Nanayakkara, Lonce Wyse
ICASSP 2023