Danyal Sarfraz HCI researcher and designer

I build mixed-reality and AI prototypes and study how people use them.

I’m a researcher at the IID Lab at UNIST in Ulsan, South Korea.

I’m interested in HCI research positions, research collaborations and design roles.

  • First place

    XR category, 3rd Korea Heritage Digital Contents Contest, 2024

  • 6 papers

    Peer-reviewed papers at IASDR and KSDS

  • 7,000+

    Downloads of True RoboAnimator on Blender Extensions

  • 91%

    Highest BSc thesis score in my Industrial Design cohort at NUST

Selected work

First place3rd Korea Heritage Digital Contents Contest, 2024

Bangudae XR

Explore 3D scans of Ulsan’s prehistoric rock carvings in mixed reality on Meta Quest 3.

Industrial design · BSc thesis, NUST

Waveform

A monitor-mounted device concept that reminds people to move during long periods of screen use.

Render of Waveform, a compact black cylindrical device mounted on top of a computer monitor

What I do

  • Mixed reality and AR

    I develop apps for Meta Quest 3, Apple Vision Pro and iPhone. My work includes 3D capture, interactive prototypes and user studies.

    Unreal Engine 5 · Swift · RealityKit · ARKit · visionOS · Photogrammetry

  • HCI research

    I use workshops, interviews and experiments to understand how people use and respond to the systems I build.

    Participatory design · Interviews · Perception experiments · Usability testing · Statistics

  • AI and design

    I study how people judge AI-generated media and develop AI tools for design work.

    ComfyUI · Python · Model training · Prompt engineering

  • Industrial design and 3D

    I design products and create 3D models, renders and animations. Before joining UNIST, I spent four years working with international clients.

    Blender · SolidWorks · Substance Painter · Figma · DaVinci Resolve

Selected publications

All publications
  1. 2026KSDS Fall 2026Conference paper

    Capable but Not Scalable: Requirements and Interaction Costs of Building Multi-View CAD Datasets for Design Research

    Danyal Sarfraz, SeEun Lee, Ulugbek Vahobjon Ugli Ismatullaev, JoungHyun Kim, Abdurakhimov Donierbek, KwanMyung Kim

  2. 2026KSDS Spring 2026Conference paper

    Assessment of Multi-View Consistency in Automated Product Form Analysis

    Danyal Sarfraz, KwanMyung Kim

  3. 2025IASDR 2025Full paper

    A Component-Based Approach for Developing Actions in Non-Humanoid Elderly Care Robots

    Danyal Sarfraz, Ulugbek Vahobjon Ugli Ismatullaev, KwanMyung Kim

  4. 2025IASDR 2025Pictorial

    Synthetic Realities: Evaluating Human Ability to Distinguish AI-Generated Videos from Real Footage

    Danyal Sarfraz, Raja Mubashar Karim, KwanMyung Kim

  5. 2025KSDS Spring 2025Conference paper

    Developing a Hierarchically Structured Action Catalogue for an Elderly Care Robot through Participatory Design

    Danyal Sarfraz, Ulugbek Ismatullaev, KwanMyung Kim

Industrial design and 3D

Four years of 3D and design work

Before joining UNIST, I worked on product renders, animations and game assets for international clients. That work included projects for Metablaze and campaign visuals displayed in Times Square. I also earned Top Rated Plus status on Upwork.

See design and 3D work
Danyal in red graduation robes, holding a bouquet of yellow flowers, with the UNIST campus behind

Hi, I’m Danyal.

I’m an HCI researcher and designer based in Ulsan, South Korea. I completed my MSc in Engineering Design at UNIST and continue to work in the IID Lab with Prof. KwanMyung Kim. Before that, I studied Industrial Design at NUST in Pakistan.

I’m interested in HCI research positions, research collaborations and design roles. Please contact me by email.