Program

Talk Title: Impossible Outside Virtual Reality

Talk Abstract: For Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality to become a primary of interaction with digital content, we need to go beyond the form factor, and understand what types of things we can do in VR that would be impossible with other technologies. That is, what does immersive computing bring to the table. For once, the spatialization of our senses. We can enhance audio or proprioception in complete new ways. We can grab and touch objects with new controllers, like never before. Even in then empty space between our hands. But how fast do we adapt to the new sensory experiences? Avatars are also unique to VR. They represent other humans but can also substitute our own bodies. And we perceive our world through our bodies. Hence avatars also change our perception of our surroundings. In this presentation we will explore the uniqueness of VR, from perception to avatars and how they can ultimately change our behavior and interactions with the digital content.

Bio:

Dr Mar Gonzalez Franco is a computer scientist at Google. Her expertise and research spans from VR to avatars to haptics and her interests include the further understanding of human perception and behavior. In her research she uses real-time computer graphics an tracking systems to create immersive experiences and study human responses. Over the years her work has also focused on the release of public libraries to democratice access to VR tools (like the Microsoft Rocketbox avatar library), and it has influenced products used by millions around the world, such as Together mode in Teams, the new avatar features on Teams or Microsoft Soundscape. Her efforts have been recognized widely, most recently with the IEEE VGTC New VR Researcher award. Prior to pivoting into industrial research she held several positions and completed her studies in leading academic institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University College London, Tsinghua University and Universitat de Barcelona. Later she also took roles as a scientist in the startup world, joining Traity.com to build mathematical models of trust. She created and led an Immersive Technologies Lab for the leading aeronautic company Airbus. And from 2016 till 2022 she was a Researcher at the EPIC team with Microsoft Research.

Talk Title: Virtual reality application for neurorehabilitation

Talk Abstract: Nervous system injury severely impacts motor function and the quality of life. Virtual reality and wearable sensors/actuators are changing the rehabilitation perspectives with better functional outcomes. Patients and athletes may take advantage of novel technologies to increase not only motor but also cognitive, memory, and emotional performance. Virtual reality is still a challenge for healthcare applications and translational research with multi professional education/training programs must be the target to solve problems.

Bio:

Edgard Morya holds a degree in Physical Therapy from the University of São Paulo (1996), a PhD in Sciences (Human Physiology) from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (2003) and a Post-Doctorate in Sciences (Human Physiology) from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences from the University of São Paulo (2006). He is currently research coordinator at the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences (IIN-ELS) at the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) and professor of the Master's Course in Neuroengineering at the IIN-ELS. He has experience in neurorehabilitation, neuroscience, neuroengineering, neurophysiology, electrophysiology, motor control, psychophysics and sensorimotor coupling.

Talk Title: The Metaverse: A New Era of Industries and AI

Talk Abstract: The metaverse is the next evolution of the web - a 3D internet of connected, persistent, virtual worlds. Some of these worlds will be used for gaming, socializing, and meeting. Many others will be used for industrial workflows and use cases such as digital twins to test, optimize then manage industrial and scientific workloads, or as virtual training grounds for teaching and testing robots and autonomous vehicles. Join this talk to understand how NVIDIA is contributing to building the foundations for the open metaverse with its ecosystem of partners, and the opportunity of virtual worlds for applications beyond entertainment.

Bio: Richard Kerris is vice president of the Omniverse developer platform and is the industry general manager for media and entertainment at NVIDIA. With a career spanning Apple, Lucasfilm and Amazon/AWS, Richard’s experience combines driving marketing and product development with a focus on bringing new ideas to life. At Apple, he directed developer relations and managed Final Cut Pro, Logic and Aperture. At Lucasfilm, he served as CTO, managing research and development, IT and information services. He currently serves on the Bay Area Board of the Visual Effects Society and as an active member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

Talk Title: Human Augmentation

Talk Abstract: TDB

Bio: Misha Sra is the John and Eileen Gerngross Assistant Professor and directs the Perceptual Engineering Lab in the Computer Science department at University of Califonia in Santa Barbara (USA). Misha received her PhD at the MIT Media Lab in 2018. She has published at the most selective HCI and VR venues such as CHI, UIST, VRST, and DIS where she received multiple best paper awards and honorable mentions. From 2014-2015, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation wellbeing research fellow at the Media Lab. In spring 2016, she received the Silver Award in the annual Edison Awards Global Competition that honors excellence in human-centered design and innovation. MIT selected her as an EECS Rising Star in 2018. Her research has received extensive media coverage from leading media outlets (e.g., from Engadget, UploadVR, MIT Tech Review and Forbes India) and has drawn the attention of industry research, such as Samsung and Unity 3D.