Outreach

ORCL opens the lab to visitors, brings its simulators to agencies and public events, and works with K-12 students and community groups. For university courses, see Teaching. To arrange a visit or a demonstration, use our contact page or email [email protected].

Agencies and Public Meetings

• VDOT public hearing on two roundabouts in Bristol (December 10, 2025). Attendees at the Virginia Department of Transportation hearing could ride and walk through the proposed roundabouts on the lab's VR bicycle and pedestrian simulators, alongside 2D plans and a fly-through video. About the project
• VDOT Bristol District design review (October 14, 2025). VDOT engineers and project staff rode and walked through the proposed Bristol roundabout design in VR at the Bristol District Office.
• VDOT Innovation Day, Richmond (September 30, 2025). At VDOT's first Central Office Innovation Day, ORCL demonstrated its VR bicycle and pedestrian simulations of the Bristol roundabout project to VDOT employees.
• Virginia Transportation Research Council demonstration (September 8, 2025). VTRC researchers tried the Bristol roundabout simulations in ORCL.
• Federal Highway Administration demonstration (September 3, 2024). ORCL showed researchers from FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center how the VR bicycle simulator is calibrated and validated.
• Autonomous Vehicles in Central Virginia: A Regional Conversation (October 29, 2019). At the Center for Civic Innovation in Charlottesville, Donna Chen joined city, county and regional planners on a public panel.
• Charlottesville Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee (July 2019). Donna Chen presented ORCL's VR street simulations to the committee.

Research Days, Open Houses and Receptions

• Link Lab Research Day (September 25, 2026). Visitors rode and walked through a virtual model of downtown Charlottesville on the lab's bicycle and pedestrian simulators and saw how the lab measures movement, gaze and physiological responses. PhD students Arman Hosseini, Zeyang Zheng and Leon Yacoubian led the demonstrations. Read more
• UVA Engineering Open House (April 19, 2026). Ryan Henry and student researchers ran an extended reality booth with hands-on demonstrations, including a LiDAR scan of the concrete canoe.
• Link Lab Research Day (October 24, 2025). Tour groups tried the lab's AI-driven VR training simulation for responding to a deteriorating patient.
• Link Lab Reception and Demo Night (November 6, 2024). Industry, government and faculty guests rode the VR bicycle simulator on the evening before Link Lab Research Day.
• SEAS Open House (April 7, 2024). Visitors joined a hands-on demonstration, "Road Safety Through Virtual Reality," in the ORCL lab, led by Arman Hosseini and Dong Chen.
• Link Lab Reception and Demo Night (October 10, 2023). Arman Hosseini demonstrated the VR bicycle simulator for guests on the evening before Link Lab Research Day.
• Industry–Link Lab Reception and Demo Night (September 12, 2023). Employers visiting for the UVA Engineering career fair rode the VR bicycle simulator, demonstrated by Arman Hosseini.
• Link Lab industry reception (October 13, 2022). ORCL's bicycle simulator, run by Xiang Guo and Gabriel Logan Witter, was among the demonstrations for industry guests.
• SEAS Open House (April 23, 2022). Visitors tried the bicycle and pedestrian simulators in a series of demonstrations and a talk in Thornton Hall, led by Xiang Guo and Donna Chen.
• Link Lab Open House (March 20–21, 2019). Industry partners heard student flash talks organized by Arsalan Heydarian and saw posters, including Arash Tavakoli's work on monitoring drivers' emotions and behavior.
• UVA Engineering Open House (April 6, 2019). ORCL's first public exhibit, "Virtual Reality Technology for Transportation," opened the lab in Thornton Hall to visitors.

Visitors

• Jennifer Ogle, Clemson University (September 24, 2026). The chair of Clemson's civil engineering department, visiting as a CEE Distinguished Seminar speaker, toured ORCL and tried the simulators with Arman Hosseini and Leon Yacoubian.
• Kara Kockelman, University of Texas at Austin (December 8, 2025). The visiting professor took a ride on ORCL's VR bicycle simulator.
• Leidos visit to the Link Lab (October 15, 2025). Leidos engineers toured ORCL and tried student demonstrations, including the lab's VR clinical training simulation.
• UVA research leadership (January 14, 2025). Leaders from the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Futures Initiative and the School of Data Science toured ORCL.
• ASCE President Dennis Truax (March 25, 2022). ORCL was part of the American Society of Civil Engineers president's visit to UVA.

Students, K-12 and Community

• Charlottesville High School mentorship field trip (March 5, 2026). High school students in the Link Lab mentorship program tried a VR pedestrian demonstration and a VR walk-through of the Link Lab.
• Link Lab–Charlottesville High School mentorship program (2024–2025). Arsalan Heydarian co-led the Link Lab's mentorship program with Charlottesville High School, and ORCL's Carreen de Cárdenas and Beatrice Li mentored students through a year of projects and a field trip to UVA.
• M-Cubed Academy lab tour (November 11, 2023). Students from the M-Cubed math academy tried the VR bicycle simulator with Donna Chen, Carreen de Cárdenas and Afrida Raida.
• Civil Majors Night (November 1, 2023). First-year engineering students visited an ORCL station with bicycle simulator demonstrations.
• M-Cubed Academy fall lab tours (fall 2022). Students from the 100 Black Men of Central Virginia's M-Cubed math academy, with parents and mentors, toured ORCL during a series of Saturday lab tours.
• Civil Engineering Expo (October 2021). ORCL offered VR demonstrations for undergraduates exploring civil engineering.
• M-Cubed Summer Academy visit (September 18, 2021). Fifteen guests from the academy, including rising fifth- through eighth-graders, toured ORCL and the Structures Lab.
• UVA Engineering Virtual Open House (April 10, 2021). Xiang Guo and Erin Robartes presented ORCL's VR pedestrian and bicycle simulators to admitted students over Zoom.
• VR learning game for middle-school STEM (GEAR UP). A modular VR puzzle game set in historic Vermilionville, Louisiana, built by Devin Harris's group for 2,361 middle school students.