The Virtual Experiences Laboratory (VEL) at the University of Georgia designs and studies virtual, augmented and mixed reality for collaboration, robotics, health and learning.https://velaboratory.com/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-10-21-rukangu-defense/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-10-21-rukangu-defense/Andrew Rukangu defended his PhD dissertation, "From Robots to Realities: Engineering Extended Reality for Learning and Collaboration."Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2026-10-10-sui-point-cloud-teleoperation/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-10-10-sui-point-cloud-teleoperation/Our study of real-time point clouds for quadruped robot teleoperation was presented at the ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction in Bari, Italy.Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2026-09-22-computers-graphics-associate-editor/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-09-22-computers-graphics-associate-editor/Kyle Johnsen has joined the editorial board of the Elsevier journal Computers & Graphics as an Associate Editor, serving through 2029.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2026-09-11-cps-symposium-talk/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-09-11-cps-symposium-talk/Kyle Johnsen spoke about teleoperating quadruped robots through mixed reality at the 2026 CPS Innovation Symposium at the Georgia Cyber Center in Augusta.Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2026-09-02-smothers-curo-award/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-09-02-smothers-curo-award/Undergraduate researcher Jordan Smothers received a Fall 2026 CURO Research Award from UGA's Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2026-08-27-nsf-scope-xr/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-08-27-nsf-scope-xr/UGA is part of a new multi-university NSF project, SCOPE-XR, on wireless networks that can keep up with immersive, multi-user XR. Kyle Johnsen is a co-PI.Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2026-08-24-golden-helix-award/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-08-24-golden-helix-award/Georgia Life Sciences recognized a gaze-controlled virtual reality therapy for phantom limb pain, developed with clinical collaborators, with a 2026 Golden Helix Innovation Award.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2026-03-12-pisg-disaster-education/https://velaboratory.com/news/2026-03-12-pisg-disaster-education/A UGA Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant team, led by Grace Ahn with Kyle Johnsen, is using AI and the lab's Drawn Together mixed reality system for disaster education and risk communication.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2025-12-15-noaa-virtual-risks-hero-projects/https://velaboratory.com/news/2025-12-15-noaa-virtual-risks-hero-projects/NOAA's Weather Program Office is funding "Virtual Risks and Hero Projects," led by Grace Ahn with Kyle Johnsen, to help communities prepare for hurricanes and wildfires with mixed reality and AI.Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2025-07-01-bowmar-ms-defense/https://velaboratory.com/news/2025-07-01-bowmar-ms-defense/Ethan Bowmar defended his master's thesis, "Proprioceptive Puppeteering: Enhancing Lower-Body Control in Virtual Avatars."Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2025-03-08-drawn-together-ieee-vr/https://velaboratory.com/news/2025-03-08-drawn-together-ieee-vr/We presented Drawn Together, our co-located mixed reality sketching and annotation system, at IEEE VR 2025.Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2024-11-13-bowers-phd-defense/https://velaboratory.com/news/2024-11-13-bowers-phd-defense/Brook Bowers defended a dissertation on augmented and virtual reality in computer science education.Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2024-10-04-georgia-aim-mobile-studio/https://velaboratory.com/news/2024-10-04-georgia-aim-mobile-studio/During Georgia AIM Week, UGA unveiled a 53-foot mobile studio for hands-on AI and manufacturing training, including virtual reality modules built at UGA.Fri, 04 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2024-07-10-franzluebbers-phd-defense/https://velaboratory.com/news/2024-07-10-franzluebbers-phd-defense/Anton Franzluebbers defended the dissertation "Design and Deployment of Convergent XR Experiences."Wed, 10 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2024-07-03-rodriguez-sanchez-phd-defense/https://velaboratory.com/news/2024-07-03-rodriguez-sanchez-phd-defense/Javier Rodriguez-Sanchez defended a dissertation on automated unmanned systems for in-field crop phenotyping, co-advised by Changying Li and Kyle Johnsen.Wed, 03 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2024-05-21-virtual-fitness-buddy-npj/https://velaboratory.com/news/2024-05-21-virtual-fitness-buddy-npj/A cluster randomized trial of the Virtual Fitness Buddy ecosystem across 19 afterschool sites found that it shifted children's sedentary time toward light activity, most for the least active children.Tue, 21 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2023-12-15-pisg-heal-xr/https://velaboratory.com/news/2023-12-15-pisg-heal-xr/Kyle Johnsen leads "Healing and Empowerment after Limb Loss in XR," a UGA Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant on virtual reality for people with limb loss.Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2023-11-13-ball-phd-defense/https://velaboratory.com/news/2023-11-13-ball-phd-defense/Catherine Ball defended a dissertation on virtual buddy-based serious games for children.Mon, 13 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2023-10-09-vrst-locomotion/https://velaboratory.com/news/2023-10-09-vrst-locomotion/Anton Franzluebbers and Kyle Johnsen presented "Versatile Mixed-method Locomotion under Free-hand and Controller-based Virtual Reality Interfaces" at ACM VRST 2023 in Christchurch, New Zealand.Mon, 09 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2023-08-11-rukangu-asee-award/https://velaboratory.com/news/2023-08-11-rukangu-asee-award/Andrew Rukangu's paper on virtual reality for robot control and programming in undergraduate engineering courses won a Computers in Education Division paper award at ASEE 2023.Fri, 11 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2023-06-26-georgia-aim/https://velaboratory.com/news/2023-06-26-georgia-aim/The VEL is part of UGA's work on Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM), funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, building hands-on VR, computer vision and robotics training.Mon, 26 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2022-12-01-sui-point-cloud-annotation/https://velaboratory.com/news/2022-12-01-sui-point-cloud-annotation/A hybrid VR and desktop system for annotating laser scans of plants was faster and more accurate in VR, in a study presented at ACM SUI 2022.Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://velaboratory.com/news/2020-07-01-nsf-rapid/https://velaboratory.com/news/2020-07-01-nsf-rapid/Kyle Johnsen received an NSF RAPID award to build new models for online social experiences supporting REU students, conferences and remote research during the pandemic.Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT