Dr Dhaval Vyas
Dr

Dhaval Vyas

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+61 7 336 58302

Background

Dr. Dhaval Vyas is a Senior Lecturer in the Human-Centred Computing discipline - a former ARC DECRA Fellow (2018-2022) and. He is a part of the Compassion Lab research group. His research spans the areas of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). In particular, he focuses on designing IT tools to support health and wellbeing of under-resourced communities. He has worked in academia and industry for over 15 years. He received a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction from University of Twente, the Netherlands; a master’s degree in Computer Science from Lancaster University, UK; and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Gujarat University, India.

Availability

Dr Dhaval Vyas is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Information and Computing Sciences

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Twente

Research interests

  • Compassion Lab: Designing for Under-served Communities

    The Compassion Lab focuses on developing technologies for under-served communities in order to bring about social change, and improvement to their health and wellbeing. It has a strong user-centric focus that aims to study issues at the grass-root level using ethnography and involve people in the design and development of technological solutions. Target Domains and Communities: - Low SES Communities - Refugees and Asylum Seekers - Women in Crisis Situations - Rural Communities in Developing Countries - Older Adults

  • Disabilities, Health and Wellbeing Tech

    How can technologies provide the right kind of support to individuals going through various disabilities and health conditions? Using Virtual Reality (VR), storytelling and other forms of pervasive technologies are developed to provide adequate support. We work on the following topics: - Independent living for people with paraplegia - Mental health support for low SES community members - Enhancing social interactions in older adults

  • Fostering DIY and ‘Making’ in Undeserved Communities

    The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and makerspace movements have shown the potential for high-tech innovation, democratizing production and creativity, and revamping of economies and broken educational systems. However, within HCI, the focus has mainly been on more affluent and technology-savvy population. HCI lacks the narrative on how DIY and making practices are associated with economically disadvantaged members of the community. In particular, the role of innovation hubs such as makerspaces and community-based social enterprises in uplifting the economically disadvantaged needs to be thoroughly investigated. In collaboration with makerspaces that involve economically struggling members of the community and job seekers, this project aims to investigate DIY and making practices of LSE members and develop a counter-narrative on makerspaces and its inclusiveness.

  • Quantified Self & Activity Tracking for Healthy Living

    Within the research topics of Quantified Self (QS) and Activity Tracking, I have been focusing on supporting engaging social experiences for users; rather than on behavior change. A set of Android-based applications is developed in workplace settings to support activity tracking and fitness promotion. The aim is to enable employees to interweave activity tracking in their everyday routines and enable engaging social interactions in workplaces.

Research impacts

A project management application developed in my ARC DECRA project has been in use at the Sunnybank Men’s Shed, since July 2020. The application allows members to coordinate various activities around the shed.

My ARC DECRA project has generated a great interest in e-waste recycling and social entrepreneurship through various media articles:

My research supported by the UQ Cyber Seed funding has led to enhancements in the design of the AI suit that our industry partner – Ariel Care Pty Ltd is building. Building functionalities around moisture detection and hoisting capabilities on smart beds were specific contributions of my research. This project and the role of UQ has been well discussed on the ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-25/are-high-tech-homes-the-future-for-assisted-living/101695802

Search Professor Dhaval Vyas’s works on UQ eSpace

124 works between 2006 and 2025
All (124) Journal Article (37) Conference Publication (84) Other Outputs (1) Edited Outputs (2)

1 - 20 of 124 works

2025

Journal Article

The presenter in the browser: design and evaluation of human interactive overlays with web content

Cordeil, Maxime, Servais, Anais, Truong, Guillaume, Dwyer, Tim, Vyas, Dhaval and Hurter, Christophe (2025). The presenter in the browser: design and evaluation of human interactive overlays with web content. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 9 (2) 10, 1-18. doi: 10.3390/mti9020010

The presenter in the browser: design and evaluation of human interactive overlays with web content

2025

Journal Article

Self-Care Practices in the Context of Older Adults Living Independently

Casey, Bridget, Marston, Greg and Vyas, Dhaval (2025). Self-Care Practices in the Context of Older Adults Living Independently. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 9 (GROUP) 1205, 1-26. doi: 10.1145/3701205

Self-Care Practices in the Context of Older Adults Living Independently

2024

Conference Publication

Understanding use of Large Language Models in Healthcare: An HCI Scoping Review

Bandara, Pradeepa, Halloluwa, Thilina and Vyas, Dhaval (2024). Understanding use of Large Language Models in Healthcare: An HCI Scoping Review. OzCHI 2024: 36th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 30 November - 2 December 2024. New York, NY United States: Association for Computing Machinery.

Understanding use of Large Language Models in Healthcare: An HCI Scoping Review

2024

Journal Article

On arrival: challenges and opportunities around early-stage resettlement of refugees in Australia

Song, Pinyao, Hebbani, Aparna and Vyas, Dhaval (2024). On arrival: challenges and opportunities around early-stage resettlement of refugees in Australia. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2411.01882

On arrival: challenges and opportunities around early-stage resettlement of refugees in Australia

2024

Journal Article

Building new clubhouses: bridging refugee and migrant women into technology design and production by leveraging assets

Hedditch, Sonali and Vyas, Dhaval (2024). Building new clubhouses: bridging refugee and migrant women into technology design and production by leveraging assets. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2411.02600

Building new clubhouses: bridging refugee and migrant women into technology design and production by leveraging assets

2024

Journal Article

“Making for others”: a creative inquiry into understanding older men’s motivations for making

Vyas, Dhaval, Khristi, Franklin and Worthy, Peter (2024). “Making for others”: a creative inquiry into understanding older men’s motivations for making. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction. doi: 10.1080/10447318.2024.2387917

“Making for others”: a creative inquiry into understanding older men’s motivations for making

2023

Journal Article

ShedBox: enabling digital storytelling in men’s sheds

Vyas, Dhaval and Bahl, Raunaq (2023). ShedBox: enabling digital storytelling in men’s sheds. Behaviour and Information Technology, 43 (10), 2216-2231. doi: 10.1080/0144929X.2023.2242510

ShedBox: enabling digital storytelling in men’s sheds

2023

Conference Publication

The pragmatics of sustainable unmaking: informing technology design through e-waste folk strategies

Khan, Awais Hameed, Sabie, Samar and Vyas, Dhaval (2023). The pragmatics of sustainable unmaking: informing technology design through e-waste folk strategies. ACM Designing Interactive Systems, Philadelphia, PA USA, 10-14 July 2023. New York, NY, USA: ACM. doi: 10.1145/3563657.3596056

The pragmatics of sustainable unmaking: informing technology design through e-waste folk strategies

2023

Journal Article

Refugee entrepreneurial trajectories

Lee, Chuike, Viller, Stephen and Vyas, Dhaval (2023). Refugee entrepreneurial trajectories. Proceedings of the ACM Human-Computer Interaction, 7 (CSCW2), 1-26. doi: 10.1145/3610204

Refugee entrepreneurial trajectories

2023

Conference Publication

Democratizing making: scaffolding participation using e-waste to engage under-resourced communities in technology design

Vyas, Dhaval, Khan, Awais Hameed and Cooper, Anabelle (2023). Democratizing making: scaffolding participation using e-waste to engage under-resourced communities in technology design. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23), Hamburg, Germany, 23 - 28 April 2023. New York, United States: ACM. doi: 10.1145/3544548.3580759

Democratizing making: scaffolding participation using e-waste to engage under-resourced communities in technology design

2023

Journal Article

Crossing the threshold: pathways into makerspaces for women at the intersectional margins

Hedditch, Sonali and Vyas, Dhaval (2023). Crossing the threshold: pathways into makerspaces for women at the intersectional margins. ACM Proceedings on Human-Computer Interaction, 7 (CSCW1) 123, 1-40. doi: 10.1145/3579599

Crossing the threshold: pathways into makerspaces for women at the intersectional margins

2023

Journal Article

Making practices in pursuit of ecological ethos: learnings from three ecovillages in Australia

Tao, Hongyi and Vyas, Dhaval (2023). Making practices in pursuit of ecological ethos: learnings from three ecovillages in Australia. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 40 (13), 1-17. doi: 10.1080/10447318.2023.2188537

Making practices in pursuit of ecological ethos: learnings from three ecovillages in Australia

2023

Journal Article

Design justice in practice: community led design of an online maker space for refugee and migrant women

Hedditch, Sonali and Vyas, Dhaval (2023). Design justice in practice: community led design of an online maker space for refugee and migrant women. ACM Proceedings on Human-Computer Interaction, 7 (4) 3567554, 1-39. doi: 10.1145/3567554

Design justice in practice: community led design of an online maker space for refugee and migrant women

2023

Journal Article

“It’s just like doing meditation”: Making at a Community Men’s Shed

Vyas, Dhaval and Quental, Diogo (2023). “It’s just like doing meditation”: Making at a Community Men’s Shed. ACM Proceedings on Human-Computer Interaction, 7 (GROUP) 14, 1-28. doi: 10.1145/3567564

“It’s just like doing meditation”: Making at a Community Men’s Shed

2022

Conference Publication

Onboarding, learning transfer and job performance in hybrid work environments

Kromah, Momo, Ayoko, Oluremi, Tann, Ken and Vyas, Dhaval (2022). Onboarding, learning transfer and job performance in hybrid work environments. 35th Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 5-7 December 2022.

Onboarding, learning transfer and job performance in hybrid work environments

2022

Journal Article

Engaging with under-resourced communities for user research through self-reported videos

Vyas, Dhaval, Durrant, Abigail and Vines, John (2022). Engaging with under-resourced communities for user research through self-reported videos. ACM Proceedings on Human-Computer Interaction, 6 (CSCW2) 513, 1-26. doi: 10.1145/3555626

Engaging with under-resourced communities for user research through self-reported videos

2022

Conference Publication

Shedding ageist perceptions of making: creativity in older adult maker communities

Anderson, India and Vyas, Dhaval (2022). Shedding ageist perceptions of making: creativity in older adult maker communities. C&C '22: Creativity and Cognition, Venice, Italy, 20-23 June 2022. New York, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3527927.3532800

Shedding ageist perceptions of making: creativity in older adult maker communities

2022

Journal Article

Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Challenges in Refugee Re-settlement

Almohamed, Asam Hamed Abbas, Talhouk, Reem and Vyas, Dhaval (2022). Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Challenges in Refugee Re-settlement. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6 (GROUP) 3492856, 1-29. doi: 10.1145/3492856

Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Challenges in Refugee Re-settlement

2022

Conference Publication

Making in/with Nature: Lessons from an Eco-village for Sustainable Making

Tao, Hongyi and Vyas, Dhaval (2022). Making in/with Nature: Lessons from an Eco-village for Sustainable Making. 9th Congress of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR 2021), Hong Kong, China, 5–9 December 2021. Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-4472-7_1

Making in/with Nature: Lessons from an Eco-village for Sustainable Making

2021

Conference Publication

DIY homes: placemaking in rural eco-homes

Tao, Hongyi and Vyas, Dhaval (2021). DIY homes: placemaking in rural eco-homes. 18th IFIP TC 13 International Conference, Bari, Italy, 30 August-3 September 2021. Bari, Italy: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-85613-7_25

DIY homes: placemaking in rural eco-homes

Past funding

  • 2024
    Intelligent Categorisation of Electronics Goods and Electronic Waste
    Greenbox Group Pty Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2022
    Fostering 'Making' Practices in People from Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds
    ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Dhaval Vyas is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Available projects

  • Fostering “Making” Practices in People from Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds - PhD scholarship

    This project aims to foster making and DIY (do-it-yourself) practices in low socioeconomic status (SES) communities. Working closely with an e-waste recycling makerspace based in Brisbane, this project will study the existing practices of makers from low SES and involve them in co-designing a technology that will help them in their future making activities.

    Outcomes of this project will include:

    1. An alternative narrative on makerspaces, backed by empirical data, on the role DIY and making practices play within low SES communities.
    2. An innovative co-design method that will involve ‘making workshops’ to bootstrap development of ideas for empowerment and creativity.
    3. Self-made, DIY technology prototypes that support low SES members in their specific needs.
    4. A theory of ‘Creative Collaboration’ for engaging people from low SES backgrounds in DIY and making practices.

  • Connecting Making and Health in Communal Makerspaces - PhD Scholarship

    This PhD project will be part of an Australian Research Council grant. The project aims to understand connections between making and health, and explores ways through designing technologies to support and foster making. It aims to study communal maker organizations such as men’s shed, women’s craft groups, and library-based maker organizations.

    Outcomes of this project will include:

    1. An empirical understanding of creative collaborative practices at communal makerspaces, using participatory and ethnographic approaches.
    2. A theory that establishes relationship between health and making.
    3. A user-centric technology that enables and fosters making in communal settings.

  • Designing for Under-served Communities (Multiple opportunities)

    I am looking for PhD, Master's and Bachelor's students to work on a wide range of projects.

    The Compassion Lab focuses on developing technologies for under-served communities in order to bring about social change, and improvement to their health and wellbeing. It has a strong user-centric focus that aims to study issues at the grass-root level using ethnography and involve people in the design and development of technological solutions.

    Target Domains and Communities (including but not limited to):

    • Low SES Communities
    • Refugees and Asylum Seekers
    • Women in Crisis Situations
    • Rural Communities in Developing Countries
    • Older Adults

Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Dr Dhaval Vyas directly for media enquiries about:

  • CSCW
  • Human Computer Interaction
  • Makerspace
  • MobileHCI
  • Ubiquitous Computing

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au