Virtual reality research projects accepted by international symposium

Two papers by undergraduate students from the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University have been accepted at the 17th IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality,

According to its website, ISMAR, which will take place in October 16-20 in Munich, Germany, is ‘the leading international academic conference in the fields of Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality’.

above: the staff and students involved in the two projects (left to right): Difeng Yu; Diego Monteiro (PhD student), Dr Hai-Ning Liang, Feiyu Lu; Heng Zhang; Kaixuan Fan. Not pictured: Wenjun Chen; Wenge Xu (PhD student).

Two separate virtual reality research projects led by two teams of XJTLU undergraduate students (pictured above with Dr Hai-Ning Liang and PhD student Diego Monteiro) were among the 15% of submissions accepted to appear in the ISMAR Conference Proceedings this year.

The strongest papers will be published in a special issue of journal IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, which according to its impact factor is ranked in the top percentile (Q1) of computer science and software engineering journals. Of the two XJTLU papers, one has been selected to appear in this special issue.

The students have been working with Dr Liang for the last one to two years. Feiyu Lu (pictured above, centre), a Year Four student on the BEng Computer Science and Technology programme and the leader of one of the projects, said:

“Working and leading this project is one of my most memorable things I’ve at XJTLU. The fact that the paper has been accepted at ISMAR 2018 is a plus, but what is most important to me is the research experience and skills I have gained doing this project with my teammates.”

Feiyu has received PhD scholarships from a number of top universities in Canada and the US, including Virginia Tech, Purdue University, and the University of Waterloo. He will join Virginia Tech this coming September and will be working with a renowned professor in human-computer interaction with a focus on virtual reality and 3D technologies.

Difeng Yu (pictured above, left), a Year Four student on the BSc Information and Computing Science programme and the leader of the other project, said: “We have been able to do these types of projects and the research at this level because of the research-led, practice-oriented environment in the CSSE Department that allows us to explore new ideas and try new technologies.”

Difeng, who spoke during last year’s AI Week and has been elected by his student peers to deliver a speech at this year’s graduation ceremony, remarked that working on the project has helped him to decide to pursue a PhD degree in the same area.

Dr Hai-Ning Liang (pictured above, third from the left), said:

“These two projects show the exceptional talent of our undergraduate students and the outstanding quality of the work that the research-led environment at XJTLU is able to generate.

“It shows that our students can do research at the level of any research lab at a top-ranked university,” he said. “After this experience, they should be confident that, should they wish to do so, they will be able to pursue a masters or PhD at any top university in the world.”

Professor Yong Yue, head of the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, said:

“The success of these projects demonstrates the attention that our teaching staff pay to the overall development of our undergraduate students. I am very proud of our students for this achievement, and I hope that other undergraduate students can follow their example and take advantage of what XJTLU and our Department can offer them.”

Dr Liang and his team would like to acknowledge the funding for these two projects from the XJTLU Key Program Special Fund, XJTLU Research Development Fund, and SURF scheme.

Story and photo provided by the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Edited by Danny Abbasi