VRxAR Labs

About

The VRxAR Labs research group, focuses on understanding how humans behave when operating within virtual environments that enable exploration and interaction with data. Making data more accessible and visible can ultimately enrich and enhance a user's experience in various everyday contexts. New technologies embracing 3D user interfaces are finally becoming more mainstream available, such as virtual and augmented reality. By studying interaction and interface design for 3D user interfaces and actively developing interactive systems, the vision of the group is to contribute with ideas and solutions to create usability-friendly experiences for the future. These research topics are highly relevant for academia, industry, and society as 3D interaction is fundamental for real-world tasks.

In order to investigate different challenges within the area of 3D user interfaces, our research is guided by a user-centered design process, keeping human factors in mind. By researching how the humans interact in a three-dimensional information space, applying their low-level perceptual, cognitive, and ergonomic capabilities, we aim to design new and effective approaches for humans to operate computer technologies.

Our research

We are surrounded by complex and "invisible" computing systems that influence our everyday lives. Digital data and information are produced, processed and practiced in diverse contexts and scenarios. Within the VRxAR Labs research group, we explore and investigate interface design approaches to enable data visualization and interaction in smart environments with a focus on Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR).

VR environments enable the user to immerse into a completely computer generated (virtual) world, thus visually isolating the user from the real world environment.

AR extends and enhances real world environments by adding supplemental virtual information: interactively, in three dimensions, and in real-time. Virtual objects in an AR environment align accordingly with real ones and thus seem to coexist in the same space.

Mixed Reality combines aspects of both Virtual and Augmented Reality, where physical and digital objects coexist and interact in real-time.