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

8-Weeks, Paid Research
May 29 – July 21, 2023

The VR-REU program in immersive visualization and virtual/augmented/mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) involved 10 students per summer directly in multidisciplinary research projects. Participants were 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 identified research collaborators with immersive visualization needs and assign each student to a REU team. Each REU team consisted 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 gained hands-on experience doing creative VR/AR/MR and 3D Visualization projects. Students participated 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, sonifying the microbiome, and visualization of deep learning model architecture. This experience included excursions and social events. In addition to the exposure to cutting edge research, students selected to participate received a travel stipend for one round trip to and from New York City, a housing allowance, a weekly stipend ($600 per week) to cover living expenses and access to research faculty and VR/AR/MR resources to help facilitate their success in the program.

Application Process

Funding was available for 10 undergraduate students in Summer 2023. There were 162 applications and all applications submitted before the priority application deadline of January 31, 2023 were fully considered. Thank you to all applicants for the 2023 VR-REU program. For the summer of 2023, the VR-REU program was held in person at CUNY – Hunter College.

REU Participants 2023

VR-REU Symposium: Final presentations was held (in-person/zoom) on July 20, 2023 (10am – 12pm).

VR-REU 2023 Publications

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

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