Main Research Topics:
(a) art practice for computing and engineering
(b) creative reusing of e-waste for interactive media art
(c) supporting nonlinear learners (improvisational, multi-sensory) in STEM

Publication venues: Human-Computer-Interaction (ACM CHI, CSCW, TEI, DIS, NIME)
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=C0mDDZUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao



Ongoing:
1. LEONDIDIS: Music, Love, and the Art of AI Collaboration


The ongoing art-based ethnographic project LEONDIDIS delves into the dynamic interplay between virtual beings and humans, aiming to co-create evocative and collaborative artworks.

Project website: https://leokang.com/leondidis/


2. LADY BUGS: Weaving Futures Through Interactive Art, Design Fiction, and Civic Imagination


The project Lady Bugs combines interactive media arts, design fiction, and academic writing to explore how factors often considered negative - such as errors, transgressions, or uncertainty - can foster creative, playful, and inspiring ways of learning and making in computing and broader STEM fields.

Project website: https://leokang.com/ladybug/



Selected Publications:


Kang, Laewoo, Steven Jackson, and Trevor Pinch. 'The Electronicists: Techno-aesthetic Encounters for Nonlinear and Art-based Inquiry in HCI', Proceedings of CHI '22: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2022
doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517506
Online Exhibition: https://leokang.com/electronicists/


Kang, Laewoo, and Steven Jackson. “Tech-Art-Theory: Improvisational Methods for HCI Learning and Teaching”, Proceedings of the ACM 2021 conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. ACM, 2021
doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3449156
Online Exhibition: https://leokang.com/tat/


Kang, Laewoo Leo, Steven J. Jackson, and Phoebe Sengers. "Intermodulation: Improvisation and Collaborative Art Practice for Human-Computer-Interaction." Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2018.
* Best of CHI - Honourable Mention Award
doi:https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173734
Online Exhibition https://leokang.com/intermodulation/


Kang, Laewoo Leo, and Steven Jackson. "Collaborative art practice as HCI research." interactions 25.2 (2018): 78-81.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3177816


Kang, Laewoo Leo. "Lady Bugs: Collaborative Interface for Exploring Creative Error and Uncertainty." Companion Publication of the 2023 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing. ACM 2023.
doi: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3584931.3607491
Online Exhibition: https://leokang.com/ladybug/


Jackson, Steven J., and Laewoo Kang. "Breakdown, obsolescence and reuse: HCI and the art of repair." Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2014.
* Best of CHI - Honourable Mention Award
doi : https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2557332


Kang, Laewoo. “I Want To: Multi-media Installation for Exploring Our Desire”, Proceedings of International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI). ACM, 2018
doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3173225.3173315

More:

Kang, Laewoo. "Intermodulator: Interactive Audio-Visual System for Collaborative Improvisation.", Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference, Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2018
doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3170427.3177760

Kang, Laewoo. "Breaking AndyWall: Transgressive and Playful Exploration on the Dynamic Role of Users in Art and Design." Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference, Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2016.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2891100

Houston, Lara, Steven J. Jackson, Daniela K. Rosner, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Meg Young, and Laewoo Kang. "Values in repair." Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2016
doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858470

Kang, Laewoo. "Echo(): Listening to the Reflection of Obsolete Technology." Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference Companion Publication on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS). ACM, 2017.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3064857.3079180

Kang, Laewoo, Taezoo Park, and Steven Jackson. "Scale: human interactions with broken and discarded technologies." CHI'14 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2014.
doi : https://doi.org/10.1145/2559206.2574831

Kang, Laewoo, Tianyuan Gu, and Geri Gay. "Harmonic paper: interactive music interface for drawing." CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2013.
doi : https://doi.org/10.1145/2468356.2468492

Cheng, Justin, Laewoo Kang, and Dan Cosley. "Storeys: designing collaborative storytelling interfaces." CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2013.
doi : https://doi.org/10.1145/2468356.2479603

Cho, Taemin, Jon Forsyth, Laewoo Kang, and Juan P. Bello. "Time-varying Delay Effects Based On Recurrence Plots", Digital Audio Effects(DAFx), 2011
download [pdf]

Kang, Laewoo, and Hsin-Yi Chien. "He(和): Calligraphy as a Musical Interface.", Proceedings of the 2010 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2010), Sydney, Australia
download [pdf]