XR Research: Development in Virtual Reality Experiences

XR Immersive Design / Research Team-Based Project
Role: Founder, Art Director, and Principle Investigator

Over the past three years, I’ve had the privilege of being the co-founder, Art Director, and Principal Investigator of a Creative XR Lab, working with both animation, gaming, and graphic design student researchers in developing innovative Extended Reality research for health and humanities industries. Our work spanned a variety of applications, including VR-based digital therapeutics, immersive medical built environments, fluid simulations, and educational tools using interactive VR/AR/MR environments. We also explored UI/UX design for immersive spaces, Virtual reality storytelling, product design, and medical visualization. For the past three years the Creative XR lab became a space for meaningful collaboration and creative innovation, where based on our shared interest in immersive technology, we explored how XR technologies could thoughtfully address real-world challenges over a diverse, cross-disciplinary landscapes.

XR Research in Patients Education & Life Sciences
One of several projects that emerged from this lab was the opportunity to establish a collaboration with Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. In partnership with Aimee Hildenbrand, Ph.D., Pediatric Psychologist, and Corinna Schultz, Pediatric Hematologist, our team—comprising Fred Freedman (Creative Director), David Rosario (3D Model Designer), myself as Art Director, and three lab students (Cassandra Tubwell, Jacobi Green, and Cris Rocha)—developed CyberCell, a VR-based educational tool designed to support young patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and their caregivers.

This project was shaped by close collaboration with SCD clinicians, researchers, patient education specialists, patients, and their families. My role involved leading research on educational technology with a focus on VR development and environments, UI design, wayfinding, VR game mechanics, and medical VR applications in the evolving field of digital therapeutics. The goal of CyberCell is to serve as a XR Tool kit to provide evidence-based, immersive, and interactive education about sickle cell disease the available treatment options to stimulate deeper learning and increase motivation for healthy behaviors in teens and young adults with sickle cell disease.

XR Forensic Research in Blood Mechanics and Digital Twins
Another project that also emerged from the Creative XR lab was the opportunity to develop a Digital Twin sa a Tool for Blood Spatter Anaysis in collaboration with Forensic Lab at SHSU. This was part of a 2 year study into Unreal’s Niagara Particles based on Fluid Mechanics. All this was a incredible learning experience in to better understanding how Virtual Reality can help shape the future of education and Industry.

Acknowledgments :
Thanks to the Nemours Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders for supporting this project. We also thank all the patients, families, healthcare providers, and design students and faculty who have contributed to this project.