HCI Seminar - Parastoo Abtahi - From Perceptual Illusions to Beyond-Real Interactions in Extended Reality

Abstract:
Advances in audiovisual rendering have led to the commercialization of virtual reality (VR); however, haptic technology has not kept up with these advances. While haptic devices aim to bridge this gap by simulating the sensation of touch, many hardware limitations make realistic touch interactions in VR challenging. In my research, I explore how, by understanding human perception, we can design interactions that not only overcome the current limitations of VR hardware but also extend our abilities beyond what is possible in the real world.

In the first part of this talk, I will present my work on redirection illusions that leverage the limits of human perception to improve the perceived performance of encountered-type haptic devices in VR, such as the position accuracy of drones and the resolution of shape displays. In the second part, I will present a framework I have developed through the lens of sensorimotor control theory to argue for the exploration and evaluation of VR interactions that go beyond mimicking reality—what I call beyond-real interactions. Finally, I will share recent work from my group extending these interactions from virtual environments into physical spaces using augmented reality (AR) and robots.
 

Bio:
Parastoo Abtahi is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. She leads Princeton’s Situated Interactions Lab (Ψ Lab), which explores virtual and augmented reality interactions grounded in human perception and cognition. Before joining Princeton, Parastoo was a visiting research scientist at Meta Reality Labs Research. She received her PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University, where she was a Gerald J. Lieberman Fellow, and her bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto. Parastoo’s work has been recognized with a Google Research Scholar Award and best paper and honorable mention awards at top human-computer interaction venues, such as ACM CHI and UIST.

This talk will also be streamed over Zoom: https://mit.zoom.us/j/99397568751.