Human-centered eXtended Reality (HeXD) Lab

We focus on advancing human-centered research in extended reality (XR), including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). Our research aims to advance immersive and interactive systems by integrating behavioral (e.g., using eye-tracking) and/or environmental understanding to create XR experiences adapt to users in context. Through interdisciplinary work spanning human-computer interaction, graphics, vision, and machine learning, HeXD Lab develops intelligent XR applications and experiences that prioritize usability, accessibility, and meaningful real-world impact, creating systems that are intuitive, context-aware, and grounded in human behavior and needs.

News

Dec 13, 2025	Our paper Personalized Dance Synthesis Based on Physical and Cognitive Intensities was conditionally accepted to IEEE VR.
Nov 14, 2024	Congratulations to Sarah and Venkatasai for recieving the Undergraduate Research Scholar Award!
Nov 14, 2024	Congratulations to Anish for recieving the Undergraduate Research Scholar Award!

Selected Publications

CHI

Lost in Style: Gaze-driven Adaptive Aid for VR Navigation

Rawan Alghofaili, Yasuhito Sawahata, Haikun Huang, Hsueh-Cheng Wang, Takaaki Shiratori, and 1 more author

In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Glasgow, UK, 2019

Bib HTML PDF Video

@inproceedings{lostvr,
  author = {Alghofaili, Rawan and Sawahata, Yasuhito and Huang, Haikun and Wang, Hsueh-Cheng and Shiratori, Takaaki and Yu, Lap Fai},
  title = {Lost in Style: Gaze-driven Adaptive Aid for VR Navigation},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
  series = {CHI '19},
  year = {2019},
  publisher = {ACM},
  location = {Glasgow, UK},
  keywords = {Games/Play, Virtual/Augmented Reality, Eye Tracking},
}

CHI

Scene-Aware Behavior Synthesis for Virtual Pets in Mixed Reality

Wei Liang, Xinzhe Yu, Rawan Alghofaili, Yining Lang, and Lap-Fai Yu

In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2021

Bib HTML PDF Video

@inproceedings{pet,
  author = {Liang, Wei and Yu, Xinzhe and Alghofaili, Rawan and Lang, Yining and Yu, Lap-Fai},
  title = {Scene-Aware Behavior Synthesis for Virtual Pets in Mixed Reality},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
  series = {CHI '21},
  year = {2021},
  publisher = {ACM},
}

SIGGRAPH

Dragon’s Path: Synthesizing User-Centered Flying Creature Animation Paths for Outdoor Augmented Reality Experiences

Minyoung Kim, Rawan Alghofaili, Changyang Li, and Lap-Fai Yu

In ACM SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference Papers, Denver, CO, USA, 2024

DOI Bib HTML PDF Video

@inproceedings{ardragon,
  author = {Kim, Minyoung and Alghofaili, Rawan and Li, Changyang and Yu, Lap-Fai},
  title = {Dragon's Path: Synthesizing User-Centered Flying Creature Animation Paths for Outdoor Augmented Reality Experiences},
  year = {2024},
  isbn = {9798400705250},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  url = {https://doi-org.libproxy.utdallas.edu/10.1145/3641519.3657397},
  doi = {10.1145/3641519.3657397},
  booktitle = {ACM SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference Papers},
  articleno = {77},
  numpages = {11},
  keywords = {character animation, mixed reality, scene understanding},
  location = {Denver, CO, USA},
  series = {SIGGRAPH '24},
  news = {Featured in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVUmZRqHiX0&t=131s">ABC News</a>},
}

Featured in ABC News

IEEE VR

Optimizing Visual Element Placement via Visual Attention Analysis

Rawan Alghofaili, Michael Solah, Haikun Huang, Yasuhito Sawahata, Marc Pomplun, and 1 more author

In 2019 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), 2019

Bib HTML PDF Video

@inproceedings{vr2019opt,
  title = {Optimizing Visual Element Placement via Visual Attention Analysis},
  booktitle = {2019 {{IEEE}} Conference on Virtual Reality and {{3D}} User Interfaces ({{VR}})},
  author = {Alghofaili, Rawan and Solah, Michael and Huang, Haikun and Sawahata, Yasuhito and Pomplun, Marc and Yu, Lap-Fai},
  year = {2019},
  pages = {464--473},
}

IEEE VR

WARPY: Sketching Environment-Aware 3D Curves in Mobile Augmented Reality

Rawan Alghofaili, Cuong Nguyen, Vojtěch Krs, Nathan Carr, Radomír Měch, and 1 more author

In 2023 IEEE Conference Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), 2023

Bib

@inproceedings{warpy,
  title = {{{WARPY}}: {{Sketching}} Environment-Aware {{3D}} Curves in Mobile Augmented Reality},
  booktitle = {2023 {{IEEE}} Conference Virtual Reality and {{3D}} User Interfaces ({{VR}})},
  author = {Alghofaili, Rawan and Nguyen, Cuong and Krs, Vojtěch and Carr, Nathan and Měch, Radomír and Yu, Lap-Fai},
  year = {2023},
  pages = {367--377},
}

IEEE VR

Personalized Dance Synthesis Based on Physical and Cognitive Intensities

Xulong Tang, Eun Yeo, Ruiyu Mao, Xiaohu Guo, and Rawan Alghofaili

In 2026 IEEE Conference Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), 2026

Bib HTML

@inproceedings{ardance,
  title = {Personalized Dance Synthesis Based on Physical and Cognitive Intensities},
  booktitle = {2026 {{IEEE}} Conference Virtual Reality and {{3D}} User Interfaces ({{VR}})},
  author = {Tang, Xulong and Yeo, Eun and Mao, Ruiyu and Guo, Xiaohu and Alghofaili, Rawan},
  year = {2026},
}