On June 3, 2025, with sponsorship from Engineering Unleashed by KEEN, the HXRI Lab led an interactive workshop titled “Curiosity with AI: Designing Curricula Focusing on Curiosity”, aimed at engineering faculty across various universities. The session was facilitated by Professor Avinash Gupta, Director of the HXRI Lab, and focused on empowering educators to integrate artificial […]

We are excited to share that Qiyuan Cheng and Dhritiman Roy, dedicated members of the HXRI Lab, graduated this May from the Department of Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Their contributions to the lab have been an integral part of our research efforts, and we are proud to celebrate […]

We are excited to share that Emre Eraslan, a member of the HXRI Lab, contributed to the success of the 2nd Annual ISE Student Conference, held on May 2, 2025, at the Illini Union at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The event provided a platform for graduate students and invited undergraduate students in Industrial and […]

On April 29, 2025, members of the HXRI Lab took part inthe Second Annual IMMERSE Symposium, held at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). The event highlighted cutting-edge research in immersive technologies, applications, and human experience, bringing together leading experts from academia, industry, and government. Focused on fostering collaboration and advancing research, education, and […]

On February 11, 2025, Vihaan and Helen presented the Mixed Reality Simulator Neonatal Needle Thoracentesis Procedures at the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Fair. The event was hosted in the Illini Union to encourage the Illinois undergraduate population to involve themselves in research. They met many incredible individuals who stopped by to learn more about HXRI’s impact to medicine and education […]

In August 2024, the HXRI Lab admits a researcher: Sai Meenakshi Hariharan. We wish her lots of success in her research journey.

In August 2023, the HXRI Lab admits two new students: a PhD student, Emre Eraslan, and a masters student, Qiyuan Cheng. We wish them lots of success in their research journey.

On October 2nd, 2024, the McKechnie Family LIFE Home hosted a fall open house, offering guests a chance to explore the groundbreaking research taking place at the facility. Attendees were able to engage with researchers, explore cutting-edge technologies, and witness robotics demonstrations. Faculty, post-docs, and both graduate and undergraduate students displayed their projects, sparking insightful […]

This study examines how AI-powered conversational agents (CAs) can assist older adults in learning and interacting with virtual reality (VR) technology. Using semi-structured interviews and a participatory design workshop, we investigated the challenges older adults encounter when learning VR, their support needs, and their expectations from AI assistance. The results highlight physical obstacles, complex interfaces, […]

A conferenced paper titled “Effect of Tactile Affordance During the Design of Extended Reality-Based Training Environments for Healthcare Contexts” was published at the 15th International Conference, VAMR 2023 held as Part of the 25th HCI International Conference. In this paper, the impact of tactile affordance in the design of Extended Reality (XR)-based environments is presented. […]