Bridging Gaps with XR

Abstract:
Extended reality, or XR, is most commonly associated with AR, VR and the current up-and-coming term, Metaverse. Yet, I would like to challenge two conceptions of XR. 1) Can XR be beyond just AR and VR? and 2) how does it affect the human mind? XR is the perceived sense of reality, and this perception governs more than what we see and hear in a virtual space. It's also how we involve every sensory feedback, how we feel them emotionally, and how we leverage it to improve ourselves and the people around us. In this talk, I will cover some of my early explorations in AR and VR as I try to redefine what XR should be. Then, I will cover my main research interests: what XR means for our cognition, how it can be used to assist others, and how it can extend the abilities of others. Finally, I cover other projects I have worked on with my various collaborators, as well as current and future research directions.


Biodata:
Yun Suen Pai is currently a Project Senior Assistant Professor at the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design, directing the Physionetic Interactions Group in the Embodied Media Laboratory. His research interest is in augmented/virtual/mixed reality, human-computer interaction, physiological sensing, and human factors. He graduated from the University of Malaya, Malaysia, with a bachelor's and Master's degree in Engineering. In 2018, he received his Ph.D in Media Design from KMD and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Empathic Computing Laboratory in New Zealand until 2021. He has collaborated with several international companies, including AirBus, Fujitsu, NTT, Ignition Point, CSIRO, Google ATAP, and Mediva, in research areas like AR haptics, vision augmentation, VR navigation, applied machine learning, and inclusive/assistive technologies. His current research is part of the JST Moonshot Project towards the development of cybernetic avatar technology and social system design.