UCLIC Research Seminar Series

UCLIC Research Seminar 20th of January: Diego Martinez Plasencia (UCL). Seamless Multimodal 3D Interfaces.
Diego Martinez Plasencia, UCL
Location: On Zoom

Title

UCLIC Research Seminar 20th of January: Diego Martinez Plasencia (UCL). Seamless Multimodal 3D Interfaces.

Abstract

Virtual and Augmented Reality interfaces have long promised to revolutionize the way we visualize and interact with 3D information. However, the need for devices such as headsets, controllers or feedback devices means that these benefits remain behind a prior boundary. That is, users will need to prepare, wearing the required devices before they can jump into the VR/AR experience. These devices also detach us from the real world around us. Quite ironically, they might allow us to have a remote conference with a friend at the other side of the world, but in doing so I might no longer be able to see the eyes or face of my daughter, standing right by my side.

In this talk, I will summarize my efforts to create immersive technologies allowing for interactive, virtual 3D content, but avoiding the need for any devices or instrumentation. Such technologies arise from the combination of 3D display technologies but also from the exploitation of physical principles (e.g. optical combiners, electric or acoustic fields), as a way to take away the burden from the user and into the display system and to enable 3D content that can be seen, or even heard and touched, directly in front of them.

Papers
[1] Martinez, D., Hirayama, R., Montano-Murillo, R. A., Subramanian, S., GS-PAT: High-speed Multi-point Sound-fields for Phased Arrays of Transducers, Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH'20, Vol. 39, Issue 4, Article 138 (July 2020), 12 pages.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3386569.3392492.
[2] Tokuda, Y., Norasikin, M.A., Subramanian, S., and Martinez D. (2017). MistForm: Adaptive Shape Changing Fog Screens. Proceedings of ACM CHI'17. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 4383-4395. DOI: https://doi.org /10.1145/3025453.3025608.

Biography

Diego Martinez Plasencia is a Lecturer of Multi-sensory Interfaces at UCL. Before joining UCL, he worked as a lecturer at Sussex (2015-2020), as a research associate at University of Bristol (2012-2015) and assistant lecturer at UCLM (2011-2012).
His research ambition is to create multi-modal interactive systems that allow users to see, hear and feel virtual 3D content in a seamless manner, without any attachments or additional devices (e.g. glasses, gloves). His research involves a combination of 3D display approaches, HCI and applied physics to enable interactive systems, such as multi-view tabletop systems or multi-modal particle based displays (PBDs). His work has been supported by FET and EPSRC and he is currently leading a UK-China Research-Industry Partnership aimed at advancing PBD systems and showcasing them in permanent, large-scale public exhibitions. His display systems have been demonstrated at international forums, such as Festival della Sciencia or Founders Forum, and received extensive media coverage in ITV, CNN, Discovery Channel, BBC Click or Sky News