Seminar: Human-XR Interaction: Challenges and Opportunities

 

  

Dr. Caglar Yildirim

Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University

Wednesday February 10, 2021

3:30 pm

Location: online-only

Abstract

With the advances in virtual/augmented/mixed reality (broadly defined as XR) technology and increasing availability of commercial-grade head-mounted displays, XR has become a new form of human-computer interaction (HCI). The numerous potential uses and applications of XR technology have also brought about a multitude of challenges regarding user experience in and interaction design for these immersive environments, including the long-standing issue of cybersickness in XR environments and the need for intuitive 3D interfaces and interaction paradigms for various XR tasks. From an HCI perspective, these challenges represent an open area of research where HCI researchers can make substantial contributions to the design, development, and evaluation of various XR experiences, ranging from simple 3D input tasks to immersive games.

In this talk, I will describe my past and current research projects at the intersection of HCI and XR and summarize the results from some of my recent studies tapping into cybersickness during XR gaming, the classification of cybersickness levels from EEG brainwaves, 3D interaction in XR environments, and crowdsourcing XR experiments on social XR platforms. In so doing, I will also outline opportunities for future research to facilitate and improve human interactions with immersive environments.

Bio

Caglar Yildirim is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, where he directs the Mixed Reality Lab. He holds a PhD in Human Computer Interaction from Iowa State University. Prior to joining Northeastern, Caglar was an Assistant Professor of HCI in the Department of Computer Science at State University of New York at Oswego, where he directed the Virtual Reality Lab and taught in the HCI graduate program.

Caglar’s research is in the areas of HCI and XR, and his work has been published in leading HCI and XR outlets, including ACM CHI, IEEE AI-VR, Virtual Reality, and Displays. As a passionate professor, he enjoys spending time in the classroom and working closely with students. He is the recipient of Outstanding Professor Recognition Award at SUNY Oswego (two years in a row) as well as a Teaching Excellence Award at Iowa State.