VR-REU: Research Experience for Undergraduates in Immersive 3D Visualization

8-Weeks, Paid Research
June 3 – July 26, 2024

The VR-REU program in immersive visualization and virtual/augmented/mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) will involve 10 students per summer directly in multidisciplinary research projects. Participants will be provided training in immersive 3D visualization tools and technologies. The objective of the program is to inspire participating students to consider STEM as a career path and pursue STEM careers at the graduate level, and specifically target participation of women and underrepresented groups. The program will identify research collaborators with immersive visualization needs and assign each student to a REU team. Each REU team will consist of a research mentor and a REU student. The mentoring team includes members not just from CS but also from diverse backgrounds including film and media, journalism and biological sciences.

Participants will gain hands-on experience doing creative VR/AR/MR and 3D Visualization projects. Students will participate in mentored research projects in data driven research areas, including scientific visualization and visual analytics. Some of the planned research projects include: VR for aiding students with learning disabilities, MicroRNA (Ribonucleic Acid) as a regulator for cell lineage plasticity, immersive remote telepresence and look-alike avatars. This experience will include excursions and social events.

In addition to the exposure to cutting edge research, students selected to participate will receive a travel stipend for one round trip to and from New York City, a housing allowance, a weekly stipend ($700 per week) to cover living expenses and access to research faculty and VR/AR/MR resources to help facilitate their success in the program.

Eligibility

• Undergraduate students enrolled in a US University or college in good academic standing, with at least one semester remaining in their undergraduate program.
• Interest in VR/AR/MR and scientific/data visualization from non-technical and technical backgrounds.
• All majors are encouraged to apply. There is no minimum GPA but applicants are expected to demonstrate a strong interest and passion for research.
• Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
• Accepted students must complete the 8-weeks program and all requirements, which includes attending seminars, project reports, presentations, project website updates, etc.
• Women and members of under-represented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Application Process

Funding was available for 10 undergraduate students in Summer 2024. All applications completed before the priority application deadline of January 31, 2024 were fully considered. Please note that you will require the following application materials as specified below:

• Please have a look at the list of research mentors and projects and use this as a guide in completing your application. Your letter of interest, which is requested within the application, should include the top two projects of interest and explain why you are suitable.
• In addition to the application, you must provide contact information for two faculty/research advisors at your institution, who will be sent a reference form to complete online. We advise that you obtain a recommendation from at least one faculty/research mentor (ideally from your home institution or prior internship).

For the summer of 2024, the VR-REU program will be held in person at CUNY – Hunter College. 

NOTE: The VR-REU program will not be taking place in Summer 2025.

This REU Site is sponsored by NSF Grant No. 2050532.
Principal Investigator: Dr Wole Oyekoya
Administrative Coordinator: Margaret Oyekoya

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REU Participants 2024

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Prior REUs

• VR-REU 2024: 5 research publications (four extended abstracts + one pending journal paper under review)
• VR-REU 2023: 9 research publications (seven extended abstracts and two short papers)
• VR-REU 2022: 5 research publications (four extended abstracts and one short paper)
• REU @ Clemson University: REU 2017

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VR-REU Publications

2024

1. Butbul, O., & Oyekoya, O. (2025, March). Rendering Reality: Measuring Time Efficiency in Virtual Human Creation. In 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW) (pp. xx-xx). IEEE.
2. Amaya Keys, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Daniel Chan. 2024. Exploring effects of interactive virtual reality sensory environment on anxiety reduction on adolescents with autism. 2024 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA. – pdf
3. Hong Zhao, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Hao Tang. 2024. Enhancing Virtual Mobility for Blind and Low Vision Individuals: A Stationary Exploration Method. 2024 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA. – pdf
4. Caroline Klein, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky. 2024. Gamification of Food Selection and Nutrition Education in Virtual Reality. 2024 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA. – pdf

2023

1. Trinity Suma, Birate Sonia, Kwame Agyemang Baffour, and Oyewole Oyekoya. 2023. The Effects of Avatar Voice and Facial Expression Intensity on Emotional Recognition and User Perception. In SIGGRAPH Asia 2023 Technical Communications (SA Technical Communications ’23), December 12–15, 2023, Sydney, NSW, Australia. ACM, New York, NY, USA 4 Pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3610543.3626158 – pdf
2. Birate Sonia, Trinity Suma, Kwame Agyemang, and Oyewole Oyekoya. 2023. Mapping and Recognition of Facial Expressions on Another Person’s Look-Alike Avatars. In SIGGRAPH Asia 2023 Technical Communications (SA Technical Communications ’23), December 12–15, 2023, Sydney, NSW, Australia. ACM, New York, NY, USA 4 Pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3610543.3626159 – pdf
3. Filip Trzcinka, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Daniel Chan. 2023. Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Utilizing Virtual Reality to Improve Driving Skills. In Companion Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626485.3626529 – pdf
4. Habin Park, Daniel Lichtman, and Oyewole Oyekoya. 2023. Exploring Virtual Reality Game Development as an Interactive Art Medium: A Case Study with the Community Game Development Toolkit. In Companion Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 5–9. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626485.3626530 – pdf
5. Samantha Vos, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Olorunseun Ogunwobi. 2023. Visualization of Point Mutations in Fibronectin Type-III Domain-Containing Protein 3 in Prostate Cancer. In Companion Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 10–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626485.3626531 – pdf
6. Sabrina Chow, Kendra Krueger, and Oyewole Oyekoya. 2023. IOS Augmented Reality Application for Immersive Structural Biology Education. In Companion Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 14–18. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626485.3626532 – pdf
7. Lisa Haye, Courtney D. Cogburn, and Oyewole Oyekoya. 2023. Exploring Perceptions of Structural Racism in Housing Valuation through 3D Visualizations. In Companion Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 19–23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626485.3626533 (Best Poster Award) – pdf
8. Richard Chinedu Erem, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky. 2023. Effects of Varying Avatar Sizes on Food Choices in Virtual Environments. In Companion Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 24–26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626485.3626534 – pdf
9. Richard Yeung, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Hao Tang. 2023. In-Place Virtual Exploration Using a Virtual Cane: An Initial Study. In Companion Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS Companion ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 45–49. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626485.3626539 – pdf

2022

1. Aisha Frampton-Clerk and Oyewole Oyekoya. 2022. Investigating the Perceived Realism of the Other User’s Look-Alike Avatars. In 28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST ’22), November29-December 1, 2022, Tsukuba, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 5 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3562939.3565636 – pdf
2. Zhenchao Xia, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Hao Tang. 2022. Effective Gesture-Based User Interfaces on Mobile Mixed Reality. In Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI ’22), December 1–2, 2022, Online, CA, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3565970.3568189 – pdf
3. Talia Attar, Oyewole Oyekoya, and Margrethe F. Horlyck-Romanovsky. 2022. Using Virtual Reality Food Environments to Study Individual Food Consumer Behavior in an Urban Food Environment. In 28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST ’22), November 29-December 1, 2022, Tsukuba, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3562939.3565685 – pdf
4. Diego Rivera. 2022. Visualizing Machine Learning in 3D. In 28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST ’22), November 29-December 1, 2022, Tsukuba, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3562939.3565688 – pdf
5. Amelia Roth and Daniel Lichtman. 2022. The Community Game Development Toolkit. In 28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST ’22), November 29-December 1, 2022, Tsukuba, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3562939.3565661 – pdf

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