Hello, world.

I’m Chen
'Richard' Li

I’m an Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I design and study technologies that support how we learn, connect, and care for one another.

Explore my research View publications

Chen 'Richard' LiAssistant Professor · PolyU

The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityDepartment of Applied Social Sciences
Department of ComputingHong Kong

01 Research interests

Human needs.
New possibilities.

I work across disciplines to bring human-centred computing into education, healthcare, and everyday life.

Immersive experiences

Exploring how virtual and augmented reality can create meaningful ways to interact, collaborate, and connect.

Explore VR / AR research →

Learning & inclusion

Designing accessible learning experiences, from social skills practice to human–AI collaboration.

Explore learning research →

Health & wellbeing

Investigating how technology can support care, reduce anxiety, and bring people together through therapy.

Explore wellbeing research →

02 Selected projects

Research in practice.

All research projects

01 / RESEARCH2024-NOW

ESAIAS

A generative AI school community where adolescents with autism practise collaboration, emotional regulation, and social interaction.

02 / RESEARCH2022-25

VR before surgery

An interactive virtual hospital experience that helps children prepare for surgery, studied with Hong Kong Children’s Hospital.

03 / RESEARCH2023-NOW

Remote counselling in VR

Investigating how virtual environments, avatars, and interaction shape remote counselling experiences for clients and practitioners.

03 Selected recent publications

Ideas, investigated.

Browse all publications

2026Conference paper

Agentic Audio Moderator vs Human Moderator in Think-Aloud Usability Testing: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Zhu, W., Chen, G., Wang, Y., An, P., Du, J., & Li, C.

Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Human–AI interaction

DOI PDF (ResearchGate)

2025Journal article

Promoting prosocial behavior and well-being in adolescents through a gamified virtual reality intervention: A randomized controlled trial protocol

Hui, B. P., Zhang, T., Ho, J. C., Cheng, S. K. L., Li, C., Wong, R., & Chen, S. X.

Internet Interventions

VR & AR Health & wellbeing Social & collaborative computing

DOI PDF

2025Journal article

Avatar-mediated communication in collaborative virtual environments: A study on users' attention allocation and perception of social interactions

Li, C., Dai, Y., Chen, G., Liu, J., Li, P., & Ip, H. H.

Computers in Human Behavior

VR & AR Social & collaborative computing

DOI PDF

2025Conference paper

Can You Move These Over There? Exploring an LLM-based VR Mover to Support Natural Multi-object Manipulation

Wang, X. E., Sin, Z. P. T., Jia, Y., Archer, D., Fong, W. H. Y., Li, Q., & Li, C.

Proceedings of the 38th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology

VR & AR Human–AI interaction

DOI PDF (ResearchGate)

2024Journal article

Collaborative Learning in the Edu-Metaverse Era: An Empirical Study on the Enabling Technologies

Li, C., Jiang, Y., Ng, P. H. F., Dai, Y., Cheung, F., Chan, H. C. B., & Li, P.

IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies

VR & AR Learning & education Social & collaborative computing

DOI PDF Project

04 A little about me

Across disciplines.
Closer to people.

My work brings together computing, education, and the social sciences. I collaborate with researchers and practitioners from different backgrounds to develop technologies that support people in their daily lives.

My research on virtual reality for children with special educational needs has been adopted by mainstream and special schools in Hong Kong. Before joining PolyU, I worked at City University of Hong Kong’s AIMtech Centre and the University of Canterbury’s HIT Lab NZ.

More about my background & service →

Let’s work together

Curious about what
we could build?

I welcome conversations with prospective research students, collaborators, and practitioners interested in human-centred computing.

Get in touch

richard.chen-li@polyu.edu.hk

Research opportunities

Join the journey

I’m looking for motivated postgraduate research students with backgrounds in computer science, creative media, communication, or psychology.

Research Assistant · Full-time
Cross-cultural HCI

I’m Chen 'Richard' Li

Human needs.New possibilities.