Myounghoon Jeon, Ph.D. (Philart)

His name is pronounced as /"me + young" "hoon"/ /jun (like "sun", not "june")/, but he is more commonly known as Philart (means "love art").

Dr. Jeon is a Professor in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering holds a courtesy affiliation in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. He is the founding director of the Mind Music Machine (trim) Lab. His position at Virginia Tech is titled, "Mobile and Creative Computing" faculty. His research areas include Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), with a focus on Auditory Displays, Affective Computing, Automotive User Interfaces, Assistive Technology, and Aesthetic Computing. His work has resulted in more than 300 publications in leading journals and conference proceedings.

His research has been supported by agencies and organizations including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI), Oak Ridge Associated Universities Inc. (ORAU), Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility (CATM), Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute (KATRI), VT Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT), VT Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI ), Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI), MTU Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) among others.

Dr. Jeon is actively involved in international conferences, serving as program and session chair, workshop and tutorial organizer, and program committee member for venues such as AutomotiveUI, HRI, RSS, ICAD, HFES, CHI, IEEE VR, MobileHCI, UbiComp, IEA, PersuasiveTech. He served as General Chair of the 24th ICAD Conference (Michigan Tech, 2018) and General Co-Chair of the 14th AutomotiveUI Conference (Yonsei University,  2022). He is the past president of International Community for Auditory Display (ICAD) and currently serves as an emeritus board member. He was the first steering committee chair of Korean-American Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (K-HFES). He also served as co-chair of the BIPOC Affinity Group of HFES and chair of the HFES Membership Committee. Currenlty, he serves as a steering committee member of the AutoUI community and chair of Human Performance Modeling Technical Group (HPM TG)  of HFES. 

He serves as an Associate Editor of International Journal of Human-Computer Studies and PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality. Previously, he served for Ergonomics in Design, Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, and HCI Korea Journal. He has edited special issues on topics, including Human-Centered XR for Occupational Applications; Extended Reality for Industrial and Occupational Supports; Affective Interactions with Robots ; Human Factors Design, Machine Learning, and AI; Auditory Displays and Auditory User Interfaces; Futuristic Vehicles; Performing Arts in VR ; Sonic Information Design; Connected Vehicles; and Subliminal Perception.

He has edited two books, "Emotions and Affect in Human Factors and Human-Computer Interaction" and "User Experience Design in the Era of Automated Driving" (with Andreas and Ignacio).

Previously, Dr. Jeon held joint appointments in the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences and the Department of Computer Science at Michigan Tech, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Human-Centered Computing. He currently serves as Associate Director of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI) and Senior Fellow of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT) at VT. Dr.

Jeon earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Georgia Tech in Engineering Psychology, with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction. He also earned his M.S. in Cognitive Sciences with a focus on Cognitive Engineering from Yonsei University, where he also studied film scoring.

Before returning to academia, he worked at LG Electronics and Daum Communications as an HCI researcher, UX designer, and sound designer. He has also led numerous industry collaborations organizations, such as ARx, General Electric, Samsung Electronics, Panasonic Automotive, Toyota, Hyundai-Kia Motor Company,  AtkinsRéalis, Equos Research Co. Ltd., and Northrop Grumman.

His work has been recognized with awards including the IF Communication Design Award, the Korean Ergonomic Design Award, and multiple Best Paper, Poster, and Video Awards at major international conferences (e.g., AutoUI, ICAD, ArtsIT, HCII, & HFES). His team also received the inaugural Data Sonification Award in 2025 for an audio augmented reality project. Dr. Jeon received the Earl Alluisi Award for Early Career Achievement from APA Division 21 (Applied Experimental & Engineering Psychology) in 2022. His InclusiveVT Committee received the Presidential Principles of Community Award in 2024. He also received the Dean's Award for Excellence in Outreach (2025) and the Dean's Award for Excellence in Research (2026) from the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Outside of academia, he is a former worship leader at Evangel Baptist Church in Houghton, MI and currently serves as a conductor of the "Peniel" choir at the Korean Baptist Church of Blacksburg. He enjoyed teaching his daughter how to compose music, play various instruments, and code her own program. He lives in Blacksburg, Virginia, with his wife. His daughter, EunYool "Julia", whose name means "fragrant melody", began her college studies in Psychology at UCLA in Fall 2025.