2023 Symposium

Roshan Mathew --  RIT, XR Accessibility Solutions Laboratory, NTID Deaf Healthcare and Biomedical Science Hub (rm1299@rit.edu)
Nicholas Capadano --  RIT, XR Accessibility Solutions Laboratory, NTID Deaf Healthcare and Biomedical Science Hub
Aaron J. Parker --  RIT, XR Accessibility Solutions Laboratory, NTID Deaf Healthcare and Biomedical Science Hub
Wendy A. Dannels  --  RIT, XR Accessibility Solutions Laboratory, NTID Deaf Healthcare and Biomedical Science Hub

One of the main challenges for deaf people who use sign language interpreting and captioning services is that their attention is divided between the speaker and the interpreter/caption displays. Our research team at the XR Accessibility Solutions Laboratory address this issue by developing an application that uses Augmented Reality (AR) smart glasses to present sign language interpreting and real-time captioning in the user’s field of vision. During our demo, visitors will be able to try on AR glasses and test our application, Access on Demand, using instructions provided and give feedback about their user experience.

Liz Hogrefe, University of Rochester Libraries Studio X (ehogref2@u.rochester.edu)
Studio X student employees:
Miles Vilke, Tamuda Chimhanda, Richard Chuong, Mila Paymukhina, Libby Braun, Gayatri Shetty, Caleb Kohn-Blank, Sherkeem Duprey, Josh Jones, Juliana Csizmadia
University of Rochester Libraries management team:
Meaghan Moody, Anna Siebach-Larsen, Liam O'Leary, Aleem Griffiths

Aurum is a VR alchemical laboratory, based on a real 17th-century text in the University of Rochester's Rossell Hope Robbins Library. In the final project, the user will be able to interact with texts from the Robbins Library, use and learn about historical artifacts, and conduct experiments in a space that exhibits alchemical history from across the globe. The project is a collaboration between the Robbins Library and Studio X, the UR's hub for immersive technology.

Watch Aurum video

Joe Geigel – RIT, Computer Science (Joe.Geigel@rit.edu)

Been Set Free is a dance performance fully realized in a virtual space.  A dancing avatar is controlled via the use of motion capture technology.   Originally presented live at Frameless 2021, this recreation allows visitors to experience the performance as it was presented back then.

Watch Been Set Free: A Recreated VR Dance Performance video

Mariana Pinheiro – RIT, Industrial Design (mlpfaa@rit.edu)

Explore a virtual replica of our Industrial Design space, where students exhibit their projects and showcase the 3D assets they've designed. Experience the synergy of design and technology in a captivating virtual environment.

Watch Beyond the Classroom: Industrial Design in Virtual Reality video

Elouise Oyzon, RIT, School of Interactive Games and Media (eroics@rit.edu)

Changeling VR is a virtual reality narrative game. As we progress through the game, each level is seen through the Point of View of a different character whose emotional core is expressed through different aesthetics, mechanics and interactions.

Watch Changeling VR video

Yudhisteer Chintaram, University of Rochester (ychintar@ur.rochester.edu)

Charmant is a virtual skincare shop for men that uses Augmented Reality (AR) technology to provide personalized skin analysis, product recommendations, and guidance from skincare experts right in the comfort of their own homes. Charmant motivates men to take better care of their skin, to improve their skin's appearance while also reducing the risk of fatal skin ailments like melanoma.

Watch Charmant video

Ziming Li – RIT, School of Information (zl1398@rit.edu)
Roshan Peiris – RIT, School of Information

We developed a virtual reality (VR) application featuring a virtual character driven by the ChatGPT engine, enabling speech-based interaction with users. Through ChatGPT, job coaches can create specific training scenarios using text prompts. This VR tool is designed to assist job coaches in enhancing the job-related communication skills of their trainees, especially trainees with Autism.

Watch ChatGPT-Powered VR Chatbot for Job-Related Communication Skills Training video

Lizhou Cao, RIT, School of Interactive Games and Media, Magic Spell Studios (lc1248@rit.edu)
Cielo Serna, RIT, School of Film and Animation, Magic Spell Studios
Chao Peng, RIT, School of Interactive Games and Media, Magic Spell Studios

Ellic's Exercise Camp offers an exciting VR workout experience. Dive into a VR fitness adventure where you can engage with virtual objects using full body movement and arm gestures. Through the handheld controllers, initiate a variety of sports events for an immersive exercise session. Discover a myriad of mini-games, each offering four distinct difficulty tiers, ensuring there's a challenge suitable for everyone. Stop by, say hello, and exercise with Ellic!

Watch Ellic's Exercise Camp video

Sofie Herbeck (srh4649@rit.edu)
Michael Murdoch – RIT, Munsell Color Science Lab / Program of Color Science
Christopher Thorstenson – RIT, Munsell Color Science Lab / Program of Color Science

My demo relates to an ongoing project investigating transparency perception in optical-see-through augmented reality (AR) environments. The focus is primarily on faces, so that results are applicable to the specific use case of AR-based video conferencing.

Matías Homar, RIT, School of Performing Arts - College of Liberal Arts (mxhspa@rit.edu)

GEP is a project to develop interactive musical devices. I will be showing an interactive musical shoe, a glove, and a touch-less musical instrument for dancers. Each of the devices are able to modify and create sound through motion.

Watch GEP video

Jake Adams – RIT, GCCIS – NMID (jeaigm@rit.edu)
Travis Stodter – RIT, GCCIS – NMID

Experience the power of artificial intelligence in Haruspex, an interactive exhibit that explores the complex relationship between technology and personal agency. Through a combination of computer vision and GPT-based AI, seekers of our AI oracle can have their fortunes read and interpreted into a variety of forms. The exhibit encourages visitors to consider the implications of rapidly advancing technology and the power they hold over their own future. (https://www.arkheproject.org/)

Watch Haruspex video

Qinqin Xiao, University of Rochester, Education School/AR/VR Trainee (spring.qq.xiao@gmail.com)

The goal of my dissertation is to study the potential to stimulate K–12 students' interest and enthusiasm in robot arm knowledge through their engagement in a virtual reality game, with the ultimate goal of encouraging children's lifelong interest in engineering.

Watch High School Students’ Performance, Motivation, and Cognitive Engagement When Learning Through a Virtual Reality Robotics Simulator Game video

Liam O'Leary (liampoleary23@gmail.com)

LOST is a physics-based virtual reality game that encourages player freedom and exploration. You play as Zora, a woman who is searching for her lost mother is a treacherous desert/canyon like environment. You must use the tools at your disposal, such as your trusty climbing axes, your motorcycle, and rappelling in order to navigate this vast environment. Everywhere you see is explorable, and there many clues about your mother's whereabouts hidden around the map.

Watch LOST video

Kristy Boyce – RIT, CAD, SPAS, Ad Photo (klbpph@rit.edu)

Medium: 3d printed milk carton sculpture, Silk Screening, Augmented Reality (AR). "Missing" is a response to the prioritization of white bodies over Indigenous ones in the country now known as Canada.

Watch Missing video

Huadong Zhang – RIT, School of Interactive Games and Media Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences (hz2208@rit.edu)
Lizhou Cao – RIT, School of Interactive Games and Media Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
David Long – RIT MAGIC Center
David Schwartz – RIT, School of Interactive Games and Media Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
Ihab Mardini – RIT, School of Design College of Art and Design
Chao Peng – RIT, School of Interactive Games and Media Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have shown a great potential in creating, identifying, and trading digital ownership, and can be used to build the economics in the future metaverse. We designed and developed a multi-user VR-based educational game that provides a learner-oriented experience for users to create their own digital assets, witness the process of minting the assets into NFTs, and trade the NFTs.

Watch Multi-user VR Experience for Creating and Trading Non-fungible Tokens video

Meg Moody, University of Rochester Libraries (mmoody@rochester.edu)
Liam O'Leary, University of Rochester Libraries
Aleem Griffiths, University of Rochester Libraries
Mila Paymukhina, University of Rochester Libraries
Libby Braun, University of Rochester Libraries

Studio X The Game is an educational VR project created by staff and students at the Mary Ann Mavrinac Studio X, an XR program and space at the University of Rochester Libraries. Studio X The Game started as part of an undergraduate fellowship project and features a digital twin of Studio X’s physical space. The application introduces users to XR, Studio X, and how to use the headset through a playful escape room experience.

Watch Studio X: The Game video

Yunbo "WILL" Zhang, RIT, Industrial and Systems Engineering, KGCOE (ywzeie@rit.edu)
Rui Liu, RIT, Mechanical Engineering, KGCOE
Zhuorui Yong, RIT, Industrial and Systems Engineering, KGCOE

A virtual reality application for training machinists in a gamified environment allows users to explore the machining training process in an immersive experience.

Nima Rabbanifar, Munsell color science laboratory, RIT (nr3068@rit.edu)
Pratheep Kumar Chelladurai, School of Information, RIT
Mekides Assefa Abebe, Munsell color science laboratory, RIT
Elena Fedorovskaya, Munsell color science laboratory, RIT

We are studying the integration between visual and tactile perception. Participants will be wearing an Augmented Reality headset, allowing them to view various materials with distinct textures placed in front of them. Simultaneously, they will be tasked with feeling a texture concealed within a black box. Observers should determine which of the visible textures closely resembles the one you are touching, as fast as they can.

Watch Visuo-tactile interaction in XR video

Jesse O'Brien – RIT, School of Film and Animation, CAD (jsoigm@rit.edu)
Craig Foster – RIT, School of Art, CAD

VRm is the prototype for a Virtual Reality (VR) software tool for medical professionals to study anatomy. The tool is designed to improve learning outcomes for complex anatomical subject matter that is difficult to teach using traditional methods. VRm was developed at RIT by faculty and students. In addition to developing the tool, the goal of the project was to explore pedagogical approaches emphasizing cross-disciplinary collaboration, production-based learning, and to utilize industry-standard software development methodologies in the context of a class.

Watch VRm: A Virtual Reality Tool for Anatomical Study video

Elizabeth Goins – RIT, College of Liberal Arts (esggsh@rit.edu)

A variety of short student experiences from the class VR Storytelling

Watch VR Storytelling video