Serena Ge Guo
Hi! Welcome to my space! I'm currently pursuing my Ph.D. in Information Science degree at Cornell University. Previously, I earned my Master of Architecture degree at Columbia University, GSAPP, and my Bachelor of Architecture degree at the University of Hong Kong. My main goal is to bring human physicality into the digital world, to foster empathy in our living environment. I design with multi-media as ways to blend the physical world with the virtual world, including Mixed Reality, Tangible Mediums, Virtual Space, and Digital Arts/Narratives. I'm interested in exploring the possibilities of how our environment could alter human perception, cognition, and emotion.
Upon graduation in 2020 from Columbia University, I received the Honor Award for Excellence in Design, and the William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prize. I'm also the recipient of the Buell Center Paris Prize and the 2020 AIA Award for Excellence in Animation. Previously I worked in the Design firms SOM New York office and SO-IL.
I believe design is to throw out questions instead of providing exact answers, to offer possibilities instead of operating under known circumstances, and to build a platform that fosters creativity instead of defining the designer’s own territory. I'm working to expand the boundaries of people's vision of how design could change our lives for the better.
Education
2021-Now
PhD student
Cornel University, Information Science
PhD candidate in Information Science, HCI track.
Minor: Social Psychology
2017-2020
Master of Architecture Degree
Columbia University, GSAPP
Honor Award For Excellence in Design - GSAPP 2020 Graduation Award (1/88)
Award for Excellence in Animation -American Institute of Architects (AIA)(1/139)
Buell Center Paris Prize - GSAPP Annual Award, 2019 & 2018 (1/88)
William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prize - GSAPP 2020 Graduation Award
2012-2015
B.A. (Hons)
University of Hong Kong, Architecture
Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture Exhibition in Shenzhen
HKU Fellowship for Outstanding Students
Selected Publications
Ge (Serena) Guo and Zhiwen Qiu. 2024. DentAR: Innovating Dental Visits with Sensory Experiences in AR for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’24, acceptance rate: 33%), May 11--16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA 7 Pages.
Ge (Serena) Guo, Gilly Leshed, and Keith Evan Green. 2023. “I normally wouldn’t talk with strangers”: Introducing a
Socio-Spatial Interface for Fostering Togetherness Between Strangers. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference
on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ‘23), April 23–28, 2023, Hamburg, Germany. ACM, New
York, NY, USA 20 Pages. 🏅Best Paper Honorable Mention (top 5% of submissions)
Ge (Serena) Guo, Gilly Leshed, Trevor Pinch, and Keith Evan Green. 2022. SocialStools: A Playful, Socio-Spatial Interface for Fostering Togetherness Across Strangers. In Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ‘22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article
173, 1–5.
Ge (Serena) Guo, Qi Yang. 2019. Methods of applying augmented reality to nudge user behaviors by changing public
and private relationship in a library, Design Community, 113-117.
Awards & Presentations
2020
Honor Award For Excellence in Design - GSAPP 2020 Graduation Award (1/88)
Granted to one student out of 88 for “student leadership, engagement, and high academic attainment within all design studios”
2020
The AIA Award for Excellence in Animation -AIA Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition (1/396)
This prize is awarded to the best entry embracing the art and medium of animation as an emerging tool that pushes architectural delineation exploration.
2020
Panelist on DigitalFUTURES Young: AR/VR/Game Environments
Presented my recent research in immersive media design to discuss the affordances and constraints of these participatory technologies and environments, live-streamed on YouTube and on Bilibili with hundreds of audience on Dec 5th.
2020
William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prize - GSAPP 2020 Graduation Award
Fellowship granted to students“on the basis of their academic merit and the perceived ability of the applicant to successfully complete the study”
2019
Buell Center Paris Prize - GSAPP Annual Award (Teammate: Qi Yang) (1/88)
Granted to one project in the school that “best combines social, political, technical, and symbolic implications of the climate accord in an architecturally specific fashion at multiple scales”.
2019
"Une Cambre Ailleurs" Exhibition in Paris, France - Project "Veiled"
2018
AR Mobile Urban Environments Exhibition at Tongji University - Project "Urban Fantasy"
2014
Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture Exhibition in Shenzhen - Projects "Miao"
Skills
XR Development
Modeling & Graphics
Rhino+Grasshopper, Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, 3ds Max, Revit, AutoCAD, Vray, Adobe
Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, InDesign, Premiere), SketchUp
Unity 3D, AR Foundation (ARKit/ARCore), Vuforia, Spark Studio, Processing
UX Design
Programming
Fabrication
Figma, Miro, D3.js, Sketch
C#, Python, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Arduino+Raspberry Pi
3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Milling, Woodworking