Tiffany D. Do

Tiffany D. Do

Ph.D. Candidate of Computer Science

University of Central Florida

About

☕️ I am a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Central Florida, focusing on Human-Centered AI, extended reality (VR/AR), and virtual avatars. My research focuses on how individuals of diverse abilities and identities engage with AI and computing. I am dedicated to developing AI systems that value and prioritize the uniqueness of individuals, their cultures, and personalities.

As the proud daughter of a Vietnamese refugee family, I go by both my American name, Tiffany, and my native name, Diễm. I am very active in diversity in computing organizations, which you can find more about in service.

In my freetime, I enjoy drawing (check out my gallery!), playing tennis, and drinking copious amounts of green tea.

Interests
  • Human-Centered AI
  • VR/AR/XR
  • Virtual Agents
  • Accessibility
Education

  • Ph.D. in Computer Science, ABD

    University of Central Florida

  • M.S. in Computer Science, 2019

    University of Texas at Dallas

  • B.S. in Computer Science, 2018

    University of Texas at Dallas

Research Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Labs@Google
Visting Researcher
Labs@Google
May 2024 – August 2024 Mountain View, CA
Incoming to exciting new research!
 
 
 
 
 
University of Central Florida
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Central Florida
January 2021 – Present Orlando, FL
Advised by Ryan P. McMahan
 
 
 
 
 
Microsoft Research
Ph.D. Research Intern
Microsoft Research
May 2023 – August 2023 Redmond, WA
Advised by Ed Cutrell, Martez Mott, and John Tang
Human-Centered AI Experiences (HCAIX) group

📝 Publications

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Tiffany D. Do, Camille Isabella Protko, Ryan P McMahan (2024). The Influence of Mixed-Gender Avatar Facial Features on Racial Perception: Insights from the VALID Avatar Library. To Appear in 2024 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW).

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Tiffany D. Do, Camille Isabella Protko, Ryan P. McMahan (2024). Stepping into the Right Shoes: The Effects of User-Matched Avatar Ethnicity and Gender on Sense of Embodiment in Virtual Reality. To Appear in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG).

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Tiffany D. Do, Steve Zelenty, Mar Gonzalez-Franco, Ryan P. McMahan (2023). VALID: A perceptually validated Virtual Avatar Library for Inclusion and Diversity. Frontiers in Virtual Reality 4.

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Alec G Moore, Tiffany D. Do, Nicholas Ruozzi, Ryan P. McMahan (2023). Identifying Virtual Reality Users Across Domain-Specific Tasks: A Systematic Investigation of Tracked Features for Assembly. 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR).

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Jacob Belga, Tiffany D. Do, Ryan Ghamandi, Ryan P. McMahan, Joseph J. LaViola (2022). Carousel: Improving the Accuracy of Virtual Reality Assessments for Inspection Training Tasks. 28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST).

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Service

I am especially passionate about diversity in computing. Previously, I have served as a mentor for the ACM-Women (2020-2022) chapter at UCF. I cofounded and currently serve as the External Vice-President of Girls Who Code @ UCF. Due to my love for coding, I also lead the technical interview prep group at GWC@UCF to help prepare our brilliant club members for industry jobs. See below for some of my workshop materials:

Introduction to Git and GitHub
Introduction to Technical Interviews - Practice Problems

Additionally, I have served as an external reviewer for the following journals and conferences: Springer Virtual Reality (2021), ACM MM (2021, 2022), IEEE VR (2022, 2024), ACM CHI (2022, 2023, 2024), IEEE ISMAR (2022).

Teaching

📚 A list of courses I have taught for

Virtual Reality Engineering (CAP 5115)
Graduate Teaching Assistant Jan 2024 – May 2024
Foundations of HCI (CAP 3104)
Graduate Teaching Assistant Dec 2023 – Aug 2023
Operating Systems Concepts (CGS 3763)
Graduate Teaching Assistant Jan 2021 – May 2021
Computer Science 1 in C (COP 3502C)
Graduate Teaching Assistant & Lab Instructor Jan 2020 – Dec 2020
Instructed C programming lab classes for 2-3 sections a week (20-40 students per section). Responsible as TA for ~240 students a semester.
Nominated for the CECS Award for Excellence by a Graduate Teaching Assistant by Dr. Tanvir Ahmed.