Everlyne Kimani

Education

• BS in Computer Science, Benedict College

About Me

• Hometown: Nairobi, Kenya
• Field of Study: Computer Science
• PhD Advisor: Timothy Bickmore

Biography

Everlyne Kimani is a PhD student in the Computer Science program at Northeastern University’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences, advised by Professor Timothy Bickmore. Before coming to Northeastern, Everlyne earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Benedict College. Everlyne is a member of the Relational Agents Group. Her research involves designing and evaluating multimodal applications that support health and education. Her current research focuses on using intelligent conversational agents to improve communication, productivity and to support behavior change interventions.

What are the specifics of your graduate education (thus far)?

I recently worked on a collaborative project that aimed to so support patients with atrial fibrillation. I worked on the development of a smartphone-based embodied conversational agent in that provided education and counseling to patients with atrial fibrillation- an irregular heart rate that can increase patients’ risk of stroke and heart failure. The application was used in a recent clinical trial with over 100 participants. I am currently working on the development and design of an embodied conversational agent that uses cognitive behavioral therapy and natural language generation techniques to assist presenters in dealing with public speaking anxiety. I am also exploring how to design conversational agents that are driven by multimodal input and sensing frameworks.

What are your research interests?

I am interested in Human Computer Interaction research, especially in the application of multimodal interaction and sensing frameworks as well as user-centered design methodologies in improving the usability and user experience of interactive systems. Currently I am interested developing communication systems that detect and respond to users’ public speaking anxiety in real-time with the goal of assisting people in delivering quality oral presentations. I am also interested in supporting patients in understanding their health conditions and their health needs by developing health behavior interventions that employ virtual health counselors.

What’s one problem you’d like to solve with your research/work?

I would love for my research to improve people’s oral communication and health behavior.

What do you find most interesting?

The most interesting aspect of my research is the positive impact that the systems I develop have on participants’ well being. Another engaging aspect of my research is collaborating with experts in different domains, such as psychologists and other medical experts.

What are your research/career goals, going forward?

After completing my PhD program, I intend to join a research institution that focuses on human centered computing research.

Recent Publications