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

8-Weeks, Paid Research

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 was 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 assigned each student to a REU team. Each REU team consisted of a research mentor and a REU student. The mentoring team included 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 included: 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 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 ($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 were encouraged to apply. There was no minimum GPA but applicants were 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 completed the 8-weeks program and all requirements, which includes\d attending seminars, project reports, presentations, project website updates, etc.

This REU Site was sponsored by NSF Grant No. 2050532.
Principal Investigator: Dr Wole Oyekoya

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Prior REUs

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VR-REU Publications

2024

1. Kalary, K., Morris, D., & Oyekoya, O. (2026). Enhancing Trust in Virtual Characters: The Influence of Familiarity and Varied Eye Contact on Trust in Look-Alike Avatars. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception. ACM, New York, NY, USA. – doi
2. 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. 1494-1495). IEEE. – pdf
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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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