Omar Khan
researcher in training, human in the making
hello!
I am a third-year PhD student studying Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) advised by Dr. JooYoung Seo in the (x)Ability Design Lab. My interests lie broadly in human-computer interaction (HCI), and I am especially interested in the intersection of accessibility and mental health, and how we can create inclusive digital mental health services that responsibly make use of emerging technologies.
I am actively seeking internships for summer 2025!
Current Research Interests
Accessibility/Assistive Technologies
Investigating the ease of use of existing digital platforms for those with disabilities, particularly the blind and low-vision (BLV) community
Mental Health and Well-being Technologies
Exploring the rapid growth and development of digital mental health (DMH) tracking services and their lack of consideration for the broader disability community
Affective Computing
Understanding the underlying emotions that those with disabilities and other historically underrepresented groups face in navigating the digital world
Human-centered AI
Designing intelligent and accessible user experiences that leverage emerging technologies such as large language models (LLMs), and understanding user sentiment about personalized systems
Other Academic Interests
Tech Law and Policy
Examining past, present, and future tech/Internet laws and policies across the world and identifying how/why they are shaped the way they are
Usable Security and Privacy
Examining human factors in security/privacy and including those from historically underrepresented populations in conversations regarding security/privacy design; considering how security and privacy-related topics are conveyed to these groups