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AR / VR / XR

Augmented Reality (AR) / Virtual Reality (VR) / Extended Reality (XR)


Extended Reality (XR) technologies represent a paradigm shift in computing, enabling users to interact with the digital world seamlessly and effortlessly. HCII's research is at the forefront of this interdisciplinary area, and leading to advances in understanding and modeling human behavior when interacting with XR, creating novel multi modal interactive devices and sensors, adaptive XR systems, and leveraging the technology for applications such as productivity, healthcare, manufacturing, or entertainment. 


We work closely with campus-wide initiatives such as the CMU Extended Reality Technology Center (XRTC), the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), and the Center for Transformational Play (CTP).

 

Students who want to learn more about this HCI research area might be interested in the following CMU courses and opportunities:


 

  • collage of several classroom images for the XR course

    Up Next in Special Topics

    NEWS

    Our Special Topics courses provide the opportunity to explore the future of human-computer interaction, guided by the experts who are shaping the field of HCI....

  • scuba diver beside the text Echo of the Abyss

    Using Virtual Reality to Connect Players With Ocean Ecosystems

    NEWS

    Fewer people have been to the deepest parts of the ocean than have walked on the surface of the moon. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Transformational Play are hopin...

  • 3 pane illustration

    Auptimize

    PROJECT

    Spatial audio in Extended Reality (XR) provides users with better awareness of where virtual elements are placed, and efficiently guides them to events such as ...

  • A man with dark hair wears a virtual reality headset and touches his palm, which is superimposed with icons for popular smartphone apps.

    Future AR/VR Controllers Could Be the Palm of Your Hand

    NEWS

    A new tool from researchers in CMU's Human-Computer Interaction Institute could put control for AR/VR environments in the palm of your hand.The new generation of augmented and virtual real...

  • close up of scene reconstruction, data annotation and data summary elements

    MineXR

    PROJECT

    Extended Reality (XR) interfaces offer engaging user experiences, but their effective design requires a nua...

  • CHI 2024 logo with the theme Surfing the World May 11-16, 2024

    CMU at CHI 2024

    NEWS

    Researchers from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) and several other Carnegie Mellon University schools and disciplines contributed to more than 40 papers accepted to the 202...

  • Vivian facilitating a demo at UIST 2023. [This image is from the official ACM UIST photo album]

    HCII at UIST 2023

    NEWS

    The 2023 ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) was held in San Francisco, California from October 29 to November 1, 2023. ...

  • Virtual, augmented and other extended reality technologies could transform health care, education, entertainment, communication and more. CMU has launched its Extended Reality Technology Center (XRTC) to bring together researchers, industry and consumers to maximize the field's potential.

    Carnegie Mellon University's XRTC Will Drive Research into VR, AR Innovations

    NEWS

    Virtual, augmented and other extended reality technologies present the possibility to transform health care, education, entertainment, communication and more....

  • Scenario of a user working with the RealityReplay system with side by side views of the environment with and without RealityReplay

    RealityReplay

    PROJECT

    Humans easily miss events in their surroundings due to limited short-term memory and field of view. This happens, for example, while watching an instructo...

  • A grid of six images showing different VR environments (street, museum, supermarket) and different types of navigation instructions (arrows on ground, avatar, call outs).

    User Preference for Navigation Instructions in Mixed Reality

    PROJECT

    Current solutions for providing navigation instructions to users who are walking are mostly limited to 2D maps on smartphones and voice-based instructions...

  • Screenshots of two examples of Diminished Reality. One shows two side-by-side images of a desk with a computer, mouse, keyboard and decorative object on one side, and the same desk with all objects but the decorative object faded out. The other image shows a shelf with books on one side, and a shelf with all but one book faded out.

    Towards Understanding Diminished Reality

    PROJECT

    Diminished reality (DR) refers to the concept of removing content from a user's visual environment. While its implementation is becoming feasible, it is s...

  • UML-style workflow diagram of system. A Mixed Reality layout is generated by users, and an automatic system the adapts its positioning.

    SemanticAdapt

    PROJECT

    We present an optimization-based approach that automatically adapts Mixed Reality (MR) interfaces to different physical environments. Current MR layouts, ...