Augmented/Virtual Reality and Human-Machine Interfaces

Person wearing a virtual reality headset in a lab
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Human-machine interface technology is used by almost all industrial organizations—including energy, transportation, manufacturing and more.

At Case Western Reserve, we’re plugging into cognitive enhancements and looking deeper into the human body. By fusing human and machine intelligence, our researchers have developed new ways to treat brain disease—specifically therapeutic virtual environments and neuroprosthetic interfaces designed to help people with neurological injury (due to stroke, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injury) regain lost vestibular and limb function. 

We are also developing mixed reality human-machine interfaces to control large swarms of autonomous robots. Furthermore, our work in designing closed-loop control systems to enhance assistive neuromuscular and haptic electrical stimulation will lead to new rehabilitation strategies and sense of immersion in virtual environments and video games.


Labs and Facilities

Institutes, centers and labs related to Augmented/Virtual Reality and Human-Machine Interfaces

SaPHaRI Lab

In the Social and Physical Human-Robot Interaction (SaPHaRI) Lab at Case Western Reserve University’s Case School of Engineering, we focus on social and physical human-robot interaction.

Faculty who conduct research in Augmented/Virtual Reality and Human-Machine Interfaces

Alexis E. Block

Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering

Marc Buchner

Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering
Director, Virtual Worlds Lab - Gaming and Simulation
Applies computer gaming technology and digital signal processing, especially VR and AR, to problem-solving in fields including psychology, nursing and medicine

M. Cenk Cavusoglu

Professor, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering
Director, Medical Robotics and Computer Integrated Surgery Laboratory
Develops next-generation medical robotic systems for surgery and image-guided interventions

Vipin Chaudhary

Department Chair, Computer and Data Sciences Department
Professor, Computer and Data Sciences Department
High Performance Computing and Applications to Science, Engineering, Biology, and Medicine; Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning/Data Science; Computer Assisted Diagnosis and Interventions; Medical Image Processing; Computer Architecture; Quantum Computing.

Zonghe Chua

Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering
I develop intelligent telerobotic systems that sense and reason about their operator to deliver smart multisensory feedback that enhances the human-robot system performance.

Michael Fu

Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering
Develops virtual environments and neural interfaces to improve human health after neurological injury

Emily Graczyk

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Development and clinical assessment of neural interfaces and stimulation approaches to restore and enhance somatosensory function

Wyatt Newman

Professor Emeritus, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering
Designs intelligent robots, machines and software for diverse applications