Internship Experience at ICLab
Winter2024 Internship Experience Reports
As you probably know, ICLab offers a list of possible internship topics for summer or winter periods in advance, and we let students choose a few topics that they would like to work on during the internship. Basically, our internship program lasts for 8 weeks, and interns work with their mentors on their research topics. Interns can freely communicate with their mentors throughout the project, and they are asked to give three presentations: a proposal, a mid-term update, and a final presentation.
We just finished our Winter Internship program, and we’d like to share the short experience reports from two interns, Youngjin Park (Inha University) and Nguyen Linh (KAIST).
Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Social Robots in Mental Health: Insights from an Internship Journey (Internship Experience by Youngjin Park from Inha University)
First, I’d like to briefly introduce the work I did during my internship. My research focused on how commercial social robots can be utilized in mental health care. Specifically, I concentrated on physical interactions with robots. I investigated existing studies and analyzed the results to provide evidence that physical interaction with social robots could have the potential to improve mood disorders. Furthermore, I organized what social robots are available on the market, what sensors they are equipped with to acquire information, and through which components they produce outputs. Based on various research, I proposed methods for employing these robots in mental health care. Additionally, I analyzed the API architecture of a robot named AlphaMini and made a simple proactive greeting service.
What I learned during the internship is as follows:
1. Deepened Understanding of Scientific Methodology: I gained a better understanding of how research papers are structured and began to grasp more efficient ways of reading research papers.
2. Importance of Storytelling in Research: One challenge I faced was that there was no connection between what I’ve done, even after reading many papers and doing research focusing on achieving the project's goal. The professor emphasized the importance of continually asking questions and answering with evidence. I learned that each step must be systematically connected to make the research persuasive, explaining why I asked certain questions and why I provided specific answers.
3. Broadened Domain and Technical Perspective: The three presentations expanded my view on the domains that other students were exploring and their innovative approaches to blending new with existing technologies. Watching the presentations of other talented students provided me with stimulation and new insights.
4. Personal Strengths and Weaknesses: Adapting to an unfamiliar environment for two months was challenging, but it allowed me to discover deeper aspects of myself.
While communicating with several lab members and interns, it was incredibly meaningful for me to see their passion, and I gained valuable insights through that. I intend to leverage such insights gained during my internship as a solid foundation for my future growth. Lastly, I would like to thank Professor Lee for the kind guidance and feedback.
Youngjin Park’s Final PresentationInternship experience in the project of evaluation the Context-aware Chat bot for Mental Health (Internship Experience by Nguyen Linh from KAIST)
In my 2-month internship, I participated in the mental health chatbot project where the chatbot was in the beta testing phase. I actively participated in the formative evaluation process in that I managed study participants and contributed to building the necessary platforms for user testing. Specifically, for the beta test phase, I collaborated with my mentor to redesign the front-end part of the chatbot to prepare for testing with users. In order to efficiently manage user feedback, we created a tool in tabular form containing essential attributes of user comments. We set a requirement for each user to provide at least 2 pieces of feedback per day. I took on the role of reporting the participants' level of engagement and regularly checked if they met the specified requirements. After the 2-month internship, from the testing phase to completion, the experiment was successfully conducted with enthusiastic participation from users. The feedback from users helped us improve the chatbot and enhance its quality.
Throughout my two months at IClab, I learned a lot. Firstly, I gained a deeper understanding of research in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and gained practical experience in this area. Working with experienced mentors helped me learn and develop my teamwork skills. My mentor was passionate and supportive, always providing quick assistance in overcoming challenges. Directly conducting experiments for the chatbot helped me understand how to conduct user experiments, plan effectively, and manage participants. Particularly, interactions with lab members through presentations and conversations made me realize the importance of learning from those around me, not only in terms of specialized knowledge but also in work etiquette and research-related aspects.
The two-month internship allowed me to complete certain tasks, but there are still ongoing projects that I want to continue refining and researching further. This internship was my first experience in research, ranging from preparing for experiments, collecting relevant data, and adjusting throughout the process, to experiencing writing a research paper. It made me realize that research requires a considerable amount of time, effort, and passion. Despite the challenges, having a supportive mentor like Eunki Joung made my internship at ICLab a great experience. I appreciate the clear plans set by my mentor, making me feel organized in my tasks. Mentorship not only covered technical issues but also involved encouragement and suggestions that improved my work. I learned a lot from my mentor and colleagues working on the same project, and I am grateful for the opportunity to intern at ICLab. It provided me with beautiful memories and great friendships.
Nguyen Linh’s Final PresentationFor future ICLab interns, the advice I have for you is that if you want to learn more about HCI, ICLab is a great place for you to do that :) Always actively communicate with your mentor about what you want to achieve and the difficulties you are facing, and your mentor will support you more enthusiastically than you might think.
Keep questioning! ‘Why is research on this topic necessary?’, ‘What can I do?’, and so on. Following the questions will lead you to complete your project successfully.
