Category: Voices of XR

The Metaverse Handbook

QuHarrison Terry is the featured speaker for Studio X’s 2023 reading group on the metaverse. He is a co-author of this year’s text, The Metaverse Handbook. He is a growth marketer at Mark Cuban Companies, a Dallas, Texas venture capital firm, where he advises and assists portfolio companies with their marketing strategies and objectives. Previously, he led marketing at Redox, focusing on lead acquisition, new user experience, events, and content marketing. QuHarrison has been featured on CNN, Harvard Business Review, WIRED, Forbes and is the co-host of CNBC’s Primetime Series – No Retreat: Business Bootcamp. As a speaker and moderator QuHarrison has presented at CES, TEDx, Techsylvania in Romania, Persol Holdings in Tokyo, SXSW in Austin, TX, and more. QuHarrison is a 4x recipient of Linkedin’s top voices in Technology award.

His past work includes:

• Author of The Metaverse Handbook – a can’t-miss guide to participating in the most promising new technology since the advent of the web
• Co-Host of CNBC’s Primetime Series – No Retreat: Business Bootcamp 
• Author of The NFT Handbook – a detailed guide on how to create, sell and buy non-fungible tokens without the need for a technical background
• Global Spokesman for BMW – a German automotive company that produces luxury vehicles and motorcycles
• Co-founder of Inevitable/Human – the futuristic media platform and community for future thinkers
• Co-founder of 23VIVI – the world’s first digital art marketplace powered by the blockchain
• Head of Marketing for Redox – an API based healthcare data exchange platform
• Founder of VNM USA – an advertising agency specializing in marketing to millennials

QuHarrison attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Where: Zoom
When: Friday, 4/7/23 from noon – 1pm EDT
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRQuHarrison

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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Reference Free Learning for Speech Enhancement and Speech Assessment

Anurag Kumar is a research scientist and technical research lead at Meta Reality Labs Research. His primary research interests are in machine learning for audio and speech processing and audio-visual learning. 

Kumar’s talk will be centered on improving the perceptual quality and intelligibility of speech signals, which is critical for improving communications in real and virtual world whether someone has normal hearing or some form of hearing impairment. He will present an outline of some of his recent research on both methods to enhance degraded speech as well as methods for speech assessment, and he will go in depth on his recent works on unsupervised and self-supervised approaches for speech enhancement and how speech signals from the wild—for which target signals are not available—and might be used for enhancement. 

Kumar has been recipient of several awards and recognition including Best Paper Finalist at CVPR 2022 and NCC 2014, finalist in Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship 2017, winner of Samsung Innovation Awards 2012, and travel grants from IEEE SPS and EURASIP.

Where: Hybrid in Studio X and on Zoom
When: Monday, 3/27/23 from 10:25 to 11:40am EDT
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRAnuragKumar

Recording

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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Innovation and Emerging Technologies at Space Force

Lieutenant Colonel Stephanie I. Raffo is currently the Director of Innovation at the Headquarters Space Operations Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. Colonel Raffo leads the Innovation Directorate, delivering software and hardware solutions for Space Force operational missions and fostering the innovative culture across the Command. Prior to her current assignment, Colonel Raffo led a 6-member team as an Operations Officers in technical analysis and development of weapon systems and authored well over 100 technical reports at the Munitions Directorate, Eglin Air Force Base, FL. She fostered vital inter- and intra-base agency cooperation for munitions research and development. At Schriever Air Force Base, Colonel Raffo led a fourteen-satellite constellation valued at over $3.5 billion in support of 200,000 users. She transformed the SATCOM tactics process, eliminated wing operations redundancies, and led the group’s 38-member division through Air Force Space Command’s largest evaluation program. Additionally, Colonel Raffo challenged 234 cadet candidates in academics and the military profession at the USAF Academy. She was an instrumental coach on leadership and character lessons for over 1,000 cadets. Moreover, Colonel Raffo was an Air University Fellow stimulating the professional growth and development of 98 captains, defense civilians and international officers through the Air Force’s $22.8M resident company grade officer course. Finally, Colonel Raffo led the Commander’s Action Group and the Executive Staff for the Air Reserve Personnel Center Commander, ensuring force support to 1.3 million Air Force active duty, reserve, and guard personnel world-wide.

Where: Zoom
When: Wednesday, 3/22/23 from 10:25 to 11:40am EDT
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRStephRaffo

Recorded

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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VR & PTSD, Trauma, and Resilience

Dr. Suarez-Jimenez is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Rochester. His research program in the ZVR lab aims to use virtual reality (VR), multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and machine learning to elucidate the psychological and neural signatures of PTSD and anxiety disorders. Particularly, to delineate the contextual aspect of threat and reward learning, discrimination, and monitoring. He is specifically interested in the case where an area within a larger environment becomes associated with threat, such as the area of a neighborhood where an assault or assaults took place, or location on a battlefield where explosions occurred. Patients with PTSD and anxiety disorders often show an overgeneralization or an exaggerated response to threat in larger contexts, even in environments predicting safety. With this research, he plans to identify new brain measures to develop sensitive, personalized, and precise diagnostic and treatment tools for psychology. He was recently awarded a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to build upon work in the ZVR lab.

Suarez-Jimenez came to the University in January 2021. He is an active member of the Neuroscience Diversity Commission and has served as a mentor for the NEUROCITY program.

Where: Zoom
When: Monday, 3/20/23 from 10:25 to 11:40am EDT
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRSuarezJimenez

Recording

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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Black Terminus AR

Damien is a creative technologist, digital archivist, and augmented reality (AR) artist and developer. He is the founder of Black Terminus AR, a camera app and no-code AR art studio in your pocket that helps bring archives to life. He aims to make AR easy for artists, brands, and museums. Black Terminus AR allows user to view and create 2D and 3D AR projects using just a phone or tablet. Its drag and drop interface empowers users to create AR content without learning a ton of code or buying a bunch of gadgets. It saves artists and curation teams time and money. Damien is also the co-founder of Wine & Bowties, a digital agency that connects world-class brands with underrepresented creatives to help develop campaigns, curate experiences, produce cultural content, and showcase artifacts. He enjoys creating culture, producing live experiences, and crafting stories for brands.

He is currently a fellow in Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Black Public Media’s visiting artists program.

Where: Zoom
When: Wednesday, 3/15/23 from 10:25 to 11:40am EDT
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRDamienMcDuffie

Recording

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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Orthopedics & XR

Dr. Haddas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics Center for Musculoskeletal Research at the University of Rochester. He specializes in the care of patients with musculoskeletal and neurological disorders. This very diverse group includes patients with musculoskeletal disorders (lower back and neck pain, scoliosis, and rotator cuff tendonitis), degenerative disease (disc herniation, neck pain, arthritis, rheumatologic, and osteoarthritis), neurological disorders (myelopathy, cerebral palsy, Parkinson, stroke, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and sport and tactical injury-related (ACL reconstruction, Achilles tendonitis, concussion, acute low back pain, shoulder instability, and overuse strains). His work tends to highlight the respective impacts of conservative and surgical interventions on a patient’s quality of life, pain levels, psychosocial factors, and function. In addition to his broad training in human biomechanics, he has also completed specialized training in human motion analysis, including Electromyography (EMG), Electroencephalogram (EEG), and wearable analyses, along with patient balance and posture. His research is capable of analyzing risk factors associated with neurological, neuromuscular, and structural disorders in order to develop more effective treatments. At the University of Rochester, he is developing world-class motion labs that leverage XR technologies for clinical service and research and development.

His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Clinical Biomechanics, a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering, and an MBA in Operations Management.

Where: Zoom
When: Monday, 3/13/23 from 10:25 to 11:40am EDT
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRRamHaddas

Recording

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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Color Science & Augmented Reality

Michael J. Murdoch is an Associate Professor and Director of the Munsell Color Science Laboratory at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he teaches topics including colorimetry, psychophysics, lighting, and imaging. He leads a research project on color appearance in augmented reality (AR) funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and additionally conducts research on displays and temporally dynamic LED lighting. A recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award, he spent Fall 2023 in Ghent, Belgium, for collaborative research with K.U. Leuven. Before coming to RIT, Mike worked for Kodak Research and Philips Research, developing color system models and human-centered designs for solid state lighting, LCD, and OLED display systems. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cornell, MS in Computer Science from RIT, and PhD in Human-Technology Interaction from Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands.

Michael’s website

Where: Zoom
When: Wednesday, 3/1/23 from 10:25 to 11:40am EST
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRMikeMurdoch

Recording

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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Live Immersive VR Experiences

The Ferryman Collective is a passionate group of creative and technical professionals dedicated to bringing groundbreaking live, immersive narratives to life in virtual reality. Their company was born of the desire to explore what storytelling, interaction, immersion, and entertainment can be rather than what it has been, to define a new generation of media with live performance in XR. They are a new kind of virtual reality studio, paving the way forward in this brave new world. With a passionate team of multidisciplinary talents, Ferryman Collective aims to take you on unprecedented journeys into fantastic worlds and stories previously thought to be the stuff of dreams.

Where: Zoom
When: Monday, 2/20/23 from 10:25 to 11:40am EST
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRFerryman

Recording

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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Could holographic displays be the key to achieving realism?

Co-presented by Studio X, Goergen Institute for Data Science, and the Institute of Optics

Holographic displays have long been debated as the display technology that could bring true three-dimensionality, accurate color production, and retinal resolutions to our screens, including augmented reality glasses and virtual reality headsets. However, these promises of holographic displays have yet to be proven and delivered. In this talk, Dr. Akşit will introduce his group’s research work to deliver these promises and describe how they aim to provide life-like images by bridging the gap between Human-Visual Perception (HVS) and Computer-Generated Holography (CGH).

The research he will describe in this context spans from their open-source toolkit and new rendering algorithms to novel types of display hardware.

Where: Zoom
When: Monday, 2/6/23 from 3:30 – 4:30pm EST
Register: bit.ly/VoicesXRKaanAksit

Relevant Links

Course on Computer-Generated Holography and Human-Visual Perception
Our differentiable toolkit, Odak
Realistic Defocus Blur for Multiplane Computer-Generated Holography
HoloBeam: Paper-Thin Near-Eye Displays

Kaan Akşit is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science department at University College London, where he leads the Computational Light Laboratory. Kaan received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Koç University, Türkiye* in 2014. His M.Sc. degree is in electrical power engineering from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, obtained in 2010. Kaan received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Türkiye, in 2007. Kaan researches the intersection of light and computation, including computational approaches in imaging, graphics, fabrication, and displays. Kaan’s research works are widely known among the optics and graphics community for his contributions to display technologies dedicated to virtual reality, augmented reality, and three-dimensional displays with and without glasses. He worked as a research intern in Philips Research, the Netherlands, and Disney Research, Switzerland, in 2009 and 2013, respectively. In addition, he was a research scientist at NVIDIA, the USA, between 2014 and 2020. He is the recipient of Emerging Technologies best in show awards in SIGGRAPH 2018 and SIGGRAPH 2019, DCEXPO special prize in SIGGRAPH 2017, the best papers in IEEE VR 2017 and ISMAR 2018, and the best paper nominee in IEEE VR 2019 and IEEE VR 2021.

Recording

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

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Voices of XR is a Studio X speaker series. Speakers are scholars, artists, and extended reality professionals who discuss their work with immersive technologies across disciplines and industries. All talks are free and open to the general public.

ThinkReality:  Helping Build the Enterprise Metaverse

John Haddick is a Distinguished Engineer with the Lenovo Intelligent Devices Group, which focuses on developing technologies for the ThinkReality commercial AR/VR portfolio of solutions. As the CTO of ThinkReality, John is a leading strategist for AR/VR product design and development for the company.

Prior to joining Lenovo, John was the CTO of the Osterhout Design Group, a company pioneering AR technologies, where he was in charge of new product innovations and long range product strategy across the company.

In this talk, he will describe Lenovo’s investment and development of commercial AR/VR solutions. From the ThinkReality software, one of the industry’s first cloud and device agnostic platforms, to the award-winning AR smart glasses, Lenovo is making it easier for enterprises to deploy and scale AR/VR.

The Voices of XR speaker series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Training in the Science, Technology, and Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the University of Rochester (#1922591).

Where: Studio X & Zoom
When: Friday, April 29th from 1 to 2pm EDT
Register: bit.ly/VoXRJohnHaddick

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Voices of XR is a Studio X speaker series. Speakers are scholars, artists, and extended reality professionals who discuss their work with immersive technologies across disciplines and industries. All talks are free and open to the general public.