Research
ORCL studies how people perceive, decide and act in streets, buildings and hospitals, using virtual, augmented and mixed reality simulators with eye tracking and physiological sensing. Our projects fall into the three areas below, and each project page lists its team, funding and key publications.
To see who worked on what, browse Research Topics: #E-Scooter · #Adolescent-Safety · #VR-Bike · #Pedestrian · #Design-Review · #Naturalistic-Driving · #Clinical-VR · #Cyber-Range · #AI-XR · #Smart-Buildings · #XR-Education
Road Users and Micromobility Safety
How cyclists, e-scooter riders and pedestrians see risk and respond to street design, on real streets and in our VR simulators.
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VR Bicycle and Pedestrian Simulators (ORCLSim)
How cyclists and pedestrians respond to street designs, measured in VR with eye tracking and physiological sensing.
Funded by: Federal Highway Administration and Leidos (2023–2024); UVA Engineering Research Innovation Award (2018–2019)
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E-Scooter Riders on the Street and in VR
How e-scooter riders scan the road and respond to traffic, studied with instrumented e-scooters and a motion-platform simulator.
Funded by: National Science Foundation, CPS-CIR (2026–2030)
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Adolescent Micromobility Safety
Sensing, AI and VR training to make bicycle, e-bike and e-scooter riding safer for teens.
Funded by: National Science Foundation, Cyber-Physical Systems (2026–2030)
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Pedestrian Attention and Crossing Decisions
Where pedestrians look and how safe they feel at crossings, by day and at night, on Charlottesville streets and in VR.
Funded by: UVA Engineering Research Innovation Award (2024–2025); SMARTER Center, U.S. DOT University Transportation Center (2024)
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Seeing the City: Eye Tracking on a Downtown Street
Mobile eye tracking and heart rate as people walked a downtown street in Staunton, Virginia, open and closed to cars.
Funded by: UVA 3Cavaliers seed grant program, 3Cavs 2.0 (2021–2023)
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VR for Design Review and Public Involvement
VR simulations that let VDOT staff and the public ride and walk through a proposed roundabout before it is built.
Funded by: Virginia Department of Transportation and Virginia Transportation Research Council (2024–2026)
AI-Driven Immersive Training
Virtual reality training in which AI-driven teammates, patients and adversaries respond to what each trainee says and does.
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VR Training for the Acutely Deteriorating Patient
An AI-driven VR simulation for advanced cardiac life support training, built with UVA Emergency Medicine.
Funded by: UVA Coulter Center for Translational Research (2025–2027); UVA School of Data Science Centrifuge Futures Grant (2026–2027)
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Immersive Cyber Range for Critical Infrastructure
VR training for defending the industrial control systems behind critical infrastructure.
Funded by: Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, Experiential Learning program (2026–2027)
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XR Training for Traffic Signal Technicians
An Apple Vision Pro trainer that helps transportation technicians learn the traffic signal cabinet, built with the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Photo: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
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Human State Sensing
Naturalistic studies that link physiological signals to what people experience on the road.
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HARMONY: Driver State in Naturalistic Driving
A naturalistic driving study that linked drivers' stress and emotion to road conditions, using wearables, cameras and phones.
Funded by: Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, with support from the UVA Link Lab
Figure: Tavakoli et al., IEEE Access, 2021, CC BY 4.0, cropped.