Our interdisciplinary group of media-art practitioners, scientists and technologists attempt to produce new technology and interfaces for enhancing human expression, communication and learning, as well as perform a critical analysis of these tools to identify their potential and place in the range of emerging new media technologies. We aspire to generate academic output but also real-world products, demos and media-art installations.

Below are details of some research projects that we have been working on:

Laser Sensing Display

These are integrated laser display systems capable of sensing interaction without the use of external cameras. These display systems will be used to implement interactive spatial Augmented Reality(AR) interfaces and displays that present dynamic information on real world surfaces. They overlap real and virtual environments to create seamless interfaces and displays where the use of existing headsets is not practical.

Light Field Manipulators

We are exploring scalable methods for repurposing existing fields of light (e.g. from the sun or conventional electric lights). Using a combination of commodity components, we are creating mechanisms to steer and calibrate arrays of mirrors to synthesise fields of light which can be used for rendering images, redirecting thermal energy, and providing illumination. We intend to research and develop mechanisms at both larger scales (>10m arrays) to micro scale (<wavelength of light).

Acoustic Gesture Recognition

This project aims to build the connection between humans and digital content through an easy to set up and natural interaction method that turns everyday objects into intuitive and creative interfaces. This could be achieved by acoustic gesture recognition which adds interactivity on the object surfaces by detecting the sound produced when performing a gesture. This technique will be used to enable interaction on physical objects for manipulation in the Internet of Things (IoT), peripheral smart devices, Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) environments. It is also possible to customize tangible interfaces for specific applications and people with special needs.

Augmented Reality and PTSD

We are developing augmented reality narratives for post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) treatment, aiming to contribute to the development of PTSD treatment by investigating the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) narrative in treating PTSD. We will create a system that integrates AR narratives with prolonged exposure (PE) treatment and experiment it with PTSD patients to verify its treatment efficacy. A semi-automatic and patient-authored AR system is expected to be achieved, through which the patients can design their unique exposure environment via voice input.

Extreme Augmented Reality Experience

We are also researching on perceptual and cognitive effects of extreme augmented reality experience, which allows insights into those effects that are unique to AR experiences and which can’t be reproduced in VR. These insights are from a highly significant clinical interest in psychology, possibly capable of creating new non-invasive ways of treating or accelerating the therapy of many diseases; e.g., mental disorders such as phobias or Obsessive-Compulsive disorder.

For further information on the research activities conducted by Alvaro Cassinelli and Chris Sandor, please visit the XR Lab page. To learn more about the research activities conducted by Chris Sandor, please visit the AR lab.