About

Hi, my name is Tommy. I'm currently a senior studying Computer Science at UIUC, and I'm also a student researcher at the Pixel Playgrounds Lab, where I conduct research and development at the intersection of HCI and EdTech. Before college, I had an 8-year journey of self-exploration: I worked as a software engineer, transitioned to freelance UI/UX design, and later co-founded an EdTech startup as the CTO.

My work mainly lies in the field of HCI, where I enjoy prototyping and tinkering with hardware and software applications to enhance productivity and creativity. Throughout the past decade, my cross-disciplinary background has enabled me to explore the many possibilities of human-machine interaction in both traditional fields (such as education) and emerging fields (such as computer vision and LLMs). I'm passionate about crafting tools for the future of spatial computing, specifically how Mixed Reality and the concept of "a communal computer" could revolutionize the way we work and live.

In my spare time, I enjoy taking street and architectural photos, as well as bouldering.

“Only stories last.”

「吾日三省吾身」— 論語 · 學而

“Nothing good comes from sugar-coating.”
– Olly Moss on Ash Thorp's Podcast (goto)

“Work smart, play hard, stay humble.”
– A wise man, one of my colleagues when I was working at Opera Software

“Nothing is impossible except that the state of your mind keeps it so.”
– One of the blogs I used to read, I forgot where exactly it is now.

“It takes small steps to accomplish a quantum leap […] you face your fear because your goal demands it.”
- Alex Honnold, from the movie “Free Solo”