J. Edward Swan II II is the Interim Associate Dean of Research for the Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University, and the Virginia Carron Eiland and Brent Eiland Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. In 2017 and 2018, he served as Interim Department Head. He holds a B.S. (1989) degree in computer science from Auburn University and M.S. (1992) and Ph.D. (1997) degrees in computer science from Ohio State University, where he studied computer graphics and human-computer interaction. Before joining Mississippi State University in 2004, he spent seven years as a scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Dr. Swan’s research has centered on the topics of augmented and virtual reality, perception, data science, empirical methods, human-computer interaction, human factors, and visualization. Currently, he is studying the perception and technology required to give virtual objects definite spatial locations, including depth and layout perception and depth presentation methods. He is also studying efficient data science tools. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Office of Naval Research. Dr. Swan is a member of ACM, IEEE, and the IEEE Computer Society. He has served many roles in the Visualization and Graphics Technical Communities (VGTC) of IEEE Virtual Reality (VR), IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), and IEEE Visualization. He is currently the chair of the IEEE VR steering committee. Previously, he served as one of the general chairs of VR 2021 and VR 2020, as well as a program chair for ISMAR 2017, ISMAR 2016, VR 2015, and VR 2014, and he was a member of the ISMAR steering committee. His scholarship and service have been recently recognized by induction into the 2024 Class of the VGTC Virtual Reality Academy, the 2023 VGTC Virtual Reality Service Award, and the 2022 ISMAR Impact Paper Award.
Learning to measure the perceived location of virtual AR objects: An 11-year quest (by someone who wanted to be a scientist) In any use of mixed reality, an important aspect of virtual environment fidelity is being able to control the locations of virtual objects. Where are virtual objects located? How well can virtual objects be placed among real objects? Can a virtual object be co-located with a real object? Can a virtual object be located behind or beyond a real object (the x-ray vision condition)? Asking any of these questions requires answering the question: “How can we measure the perceived location of a virtual object?” In this talk, I will tell the story of my attempts to find an answer, in the form of an 11-year quest. However, there is a larger story behind this quest — it occurred as part of my career, where my desire has always been to be a scientist. Like all of us, along the way I’ve had many other roles — student, teacher, mentor, scholar, engineer, administrator, salesman, etc. — but scientist has remained my most desired role. This 11-year quest is the story of the first time that I felt like I achieved this desire. I will also attempt to touch on some lessons that I learned along the way. In the face of unceasing pressures to take on many different roles, I believe these lessons have helped me stay focused (for the most part) on the role of scientist.
Chris Pagano is a Full Professor of Human Factors Psychology at Clemson University. He received his PhD in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis in Ecological Psychology in 1993 from the University of Connecticut. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications on visual and haptic perception in real and virtual environments, interface design, affordances, and Ecological theory. His research has won Best Paper Awards at the ACM Symposium on Applied Perception, the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference, and the American Society of Naval Engineers Human Systems Integration Symposium.
The Importance of Theory in Applied Perception: Perception research performed for the development of computer science technologies is necessarily an applied science. As a result, scant attention is paid to the competing theoretical approaches to human perception that can be used to guide such work. In this talk I will describe how theory is not just the purview of basic science but is critical to applied work as well. I will briefly describe two different theories of human perception, the “traditional” and “Ecological” approaches (Kohm et al., 2025, ACM SAP). While a vast majority of research in applied perception follows “traditional” theory, as reflected in the terminology and methodologies employed, the theory itself is rarely described. I believe that few within applied disciples have a clear understanding of what this theory is. Fewer still understand the Ecological approach. I will describe the Ecological approach, which for many applications provides a preferred theoretical framework that supports the development of more usable designs. I will illustrate how the Ecological approach has led to the finding of heretofore unknown classes of perceptual information that promise to improve the functional transparency of artificial displays. While the two theories are typically set in competition, ultimately the discipline will benefit from their simultaneous employment in a complementary fashion. Such an end can only be realized if the two theories are understood by researchers and if theory begins to take a more explicit role in our work. These theoretical concepts will be discussed with application examples including use cases in haptics, XR, and other technological interfaces.
