Gene S-H Kim

Human-Computer Interaction Researcher, Disability Rights Advocate, joyful engineer

A photo of Gene, a Korean-American man smiling against a background with green trees. He has thick straight black hair that is longer on the front and shorter on the sides. He is wearing a blue collared shirt, and his dark brown eyes are smizing at the camera.

Welcome to my website!

I’m a senior at Stanford University studying Symbolic Systems with a concentration in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Accessibility. I’m actively applying to PhD programs in computer science and HCI this cycle and am open to summer 2025 research internships. I strive to make both using and developing cutting-edge technology more accessible for Blind and Low-Vision people through computing research. Currently, my research interests are in accessible creativity/personal fabrication tools, haptics, data visualization, and STEM education. In my undergrad, I’ve had the honor of learning from and collaborating with many expert HCI researchers, including Sean Follmer of the Shape Lab, Jennifer Mankoff of the Make4all Lab, Sheri Sheppard of the Designing Education Lab, Jacob Wobbrock of the ACE Lab, Megan Hofmann of the ACT Lab, and most recently, Pedro Lopes from the Human-Computer Integration lab. I’ve published six full papers and four posters at top tier, peer reviewed research venues including ACM SIGCHI, ACM ASSETS, and TACCESS. This includes one best paper honorable mention. I’m also a proud disability advocate. During my three years serving on the National Association of Blind Students board of directors, I traveled to 13 states across the country to host blind student empowerment seminars, help teach non-visual STEM and college readiness skills, and public speak about my own journey as a person with a disability. Every January, you can find me meeting with legislators on capital hill to advocate for important disability legislation, including the Websites and Software Applications accessibility act. I also co-founded and oversee an international mentorship program for young blind professionals in STEM. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to chat about my research, learn more about my advocacy work, have a project you’d like to collaborate on, etc.

news

Aug 12, 2025 I was named a 2025 Trailblazer by the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) Center for my impact on the accessibility research and disability advocacy community!
Jul 14, 2025 I just wrapped up another incredible national federation of the blind national convention in new orleans
Apr 26, 2025 I'll be attending the 2025 acm chi conference to present my co First author work 'seeing with the hands'
Apr 26, 2025 The Computing Research Association named me one of eight recipients of the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award! Thank you to Pedro Lopes, Sean Follmer, and Stanford Symbolic Systems for nominating me!
Dec 15, 2024 It was an honor to speak at the National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science Division’s annual seminar. I presented some old work on machine embroidered tactile graphics and my reflections/non-visual workflows as a blind researcher, engineer, and computer science student.

selected publications

  1. Supporting accessible data visualization through audio data narratives
    Alexa Siu, Gene SH Kim, Sile O’Modhrain, and 1 more author
    In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2022
  2. COVID-19 highlights the issues facing blind and visually impaired people in accessing data on the web
    Alexa F Siu, Danyang Fan, Gene SH Kim, and 4 more authors
    In Proceedings of the 18th International Web for All Conference, 2021
  3. Developing and Deploying a Real-World Solution for Accessible Slide Reading and Authoring for Blind Users
    Zhuohao Zhang, Gene SH Kim, and Jacob O Wobbrock
    In Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, 2023
  4. Tangible Stats: An Embodied and Multimodal Platform for Teaching Data and Statistics to Blind and Low Vision Students
    Danyang Fan, Gene SH Kim, Olivia Tomassetti, and 4 more authors
    In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2024