Dr. Gregory F. Welch – Publications

@inproceedings{gottsacker2026worldswitch,

title = {From One World to Another: Interfaces for Efficiently Transitioning Between Virtual Environments},

author = {Matt Gottsacker and Yahya Hmaiti and Mykola Maslych and Hiroshi Furuya and Jasmine Joyce DeGuzman and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F. Welch and Joseph J. LaViola Jr.},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CHI2026___FullPaper__WorldSwitchUI-4.pdf},

doi = {10.1145/3772318.3791912},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-04-13},

urldate = {2026-04-13},

booktitle = {ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)},

pages = {1-17},

abstract = {Personal computers and handheld devices provide keyboard shortcuts and swipe gestures to enable users to efficiently switch between applications, whereas today's virtual reality (VR) systems do not.  In this work, we present an exploratory study on user interface aspects to support efficient switching between worlds in VR. We created eight interfaces that afford previewing and selecting from the available virtual worlds, including methods using portals and worlds-in-miniature (WiMs). To evaluate these methods, we conducted a controlled within-subjects empirical experiment (N=22) where participants frequently transitioned between six different environments to complete an object collection task. Our quantitative and qualitative results show that WiMs supported rapid acquisition of high-level spatial information while searching and were deemed most efficient by participants while portals provided fast pre-orientation. Finally, we present insights into the applicability, usability, and effectiveness of the VR world switching methods we explored, and provide recommendations for their application and future context/world switching techniques and interfaces.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Alwin2026_2,

title = {[Poster] Can You See It? Evaluating Color Visibility in Simulated Outdoor Environments},

author = {Ahinya Alwin and Matthew Gottsacker and Hiroshi Furuya and Armin Delmo and Lee Lisle and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F. Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/vr26b-sub1299-cam-i5.pdf},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-03-21},

urldate = {2026-03-21},

booktitle = {Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR) 2026.},

journal = {Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR) 2026, Daegu, South Korea.},

abstract = {Evaluating color visibility in outdoor augmented reality (AR) is challenging due to the visual complexity and variability of real world environments. Outdoor scenes feature diverse textures and lighting conditions, limiting the applicability of visibility evaluation methods developed for simple or static backgrounds. This work introduces a methodology for evaluating AR cue color visibility in an outdoor environment by sampling visibility across realistic scenes and identifying design considerations for evaluating color visibility under dynamic, visually complex conditions},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{furuya-real-world-priming-26,

title = {Effects of Multisensory Feedback and Real-World Priming on Presence and Copresence in Mixed Reality Drone Simulation},

author = {Hiroshi Furuya and Jasmine Joyce DeGuzman and Zubin Datta Choudhary and Matt Gottsacker and Ahinya Alwin and Lee Lisle and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/VR26_Revisi__Real_World_Priming_for_VR_Experiences-3.pdf},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-03-21},

urldate = {2026-03-21},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW): 2nd Annual Workshop on Real and Virtual Spaces Influences (ReVISI)},

pages = {1-7},

abstract = {Virtual reality (VR) experiences often rely on multisensory cues and realistic interactions to support convincing interpretations of virtual events and agents. This study examines how two factors, real-world priming and multisensory feedback, shape users’ perceptions of a virtual drone in a mixed-reality simulation. We conducted a mixed-design experiment where participants experienced either a physical drone flyover or no physical drone encounter, followed by audiovisual and multisensory drone flyovers in VR. Multisensory feedback increased co-presence and perceived realism specifically for participants who had encountered the real drone. In contrast, neither manipulation significantly affected standard presence measures. These findings highlight distinctions among presence-related constructs and suggest that recent real-world experiences can make certain multisensory cues be perceived as more realistic, even when they do not increase presence itself.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Alwin2026b,

title = {Moving Towards Visibility Evaluation in Augmented Reality Using Simulated Environments and Continuous Psychophysics},

author = {Ahinya Alwin and Matthew Gottsacker and Hiroshi Furuya and Lee Lisle and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F. Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/ieee_vr_2026_workshops_pergravar__visibility_evaluation_in_augmented_reality_using_simulated_environments_and_continuous_psychophysics_013026/},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-03-21},

urldate = {2026-03-21},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW): Third International Workshop on Perception-driven Graphics and Displays for VR and AR (PerGraVAR)},

abstract = {Assessing the visibility of augmented reality (AR) cues in outdoor environments is challenging due to complex background structure, motion, and lighting variability. Simulating AR cues within virtual reality (VR) enables controlled manipulation and measurement of these factors while preserving immersive viewing conditions. This work presents a perception-driven methodology for evaluating AR cue visibility that combines simulated AR cues in VR, high resolution stereoscopic 360◦ video, and continuous psychophysics. Using this methodology, tracking-based performance data provide a continuous behavioral measure of visibility in complex scenes. Multiple analysis approaches are examined to support interpretation of tracking-based measures of perceptual performance in visually complex scenes. Together, this work illustrates progress toward a more ecologically valid and objective framework for studying AR cue visibility in outdoor settings.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Choudhary2026,

title = {Teleportation Destination Previews Support Memory Retention During Virtual Navigation},

author = {Zubin Datta Choudhary and Ferran Argelaguet and Gerd Bruder and and Gregory F. Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/previews-effecting-memory/},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-03-21},

urldate = {2026-03-21},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR); Daegu, South Korea, March 21-25},

abstract = {Teleportation is one of the most widely used locomotion techniques in virtual reality (VR) because it is efficient, minimizes motion sickness, and enables large-scale spatial traversal with minimal effort. However, research on the Doorway Effect shows that spatial transitions can impair memory of information encountered just before the transition. Event Segmentation Theory (EST) explains this by proposing that salient changes disrupt a person’s working memory representation, causing recently encoded information to be replaced and reducing its availability for retrieval. By extension, the design of spatial transitions in VR may influence whether memory is disrupted or preserved, which could be a consideration in applied contexts such as education and training. One way to mitigate such impairment is to provide predictive cues about the upcoming change to reduce disruption. In VR, this can be implemented through teleportation previews, which give users a glimpse of the destination before arrival. In this experiment, we adapted the Doorway Effect paradigm to examine how two teleportation design factors — preview availability and environmental change — affect memory. Using a within-subjects 2 × 2 design (N = 27), participants studied a set of 3D objects, then teleported either within the same environment or into a different one, with or without a preview of the destination. After each transition, they completed a visual recognition task. Results showed two key findings: (1) without previews, recognition declined when teleporting into a different environment compared to remaining in the same one, and (2) when transitioning between different environments, providing a preview improved recognition relative to no preview. Together, these results indicate that both the distinctiveness of environments and the availability of previews shape memory during VR transitions. We discuss how these findings align with EST, highlight the cognitive consequences of teleportation design, and provide guidance for designing transitions that better support memory in applied contexts such as education and training.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{nokey,

title = {XR-First Design for Productivity: A Conceptual Framework for Enabling Efficient Task Switching in XR},

author = {Matt Gottsacker and Yahya Hmaiti and Mykola Maslych and Hiroshi Furuya and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F Welch and Joseph J. LaViola Jr.},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ISMAR25__Workshop_Paper__xrWORKS__VR_World_Switch_UI-11.pdf},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-10-08},

urldate = {2025-10-08},

booktitle = {IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) Adjunct Proceedings},

abstract = {A core component of completing tasks efficiently in computer supported knowledge work is the ability for users to rapidly switch their focus (and interaction) across different applications using various shortcuts and gestures. This feature set has been explored in research, and several modern consumer extended reality (XR) headsets now support loading multiple applications windows at once. However, many XR applications that are useful for knowledge work involve rich spatial information, which window-based metaphors do not sufficiently represent nor afford appropriate interaction. In modern XR headsets, such immersive applications run as siloed experiences, requiring the user to fully exit one before starting another. We present a vision for achieving an XR-first, user-centric paradigm for efficient context switching in XR to encourage and guide future research and development of XR context- and task-switching interfaces.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{nokey,

title = {From Alt-Tab to World-Snap: Exploring Different Metaphors for Swift and Seamless VR World Switching},

author = {Matt Gottsacker and Yahya Hmaiti and Mykola Maslych and Hiroshi Furuya and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F Welch and Joseph J. LaViola Jr.},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ISMAR25__Demo__VR_World_Switch_UI.pdf},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-10-08},

urldate = {2025-10-08},

booktitle = {IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality},

pages = {1-2},

abstract = {Today's personal computers and handheld devices afford users the ability to rapidly switch between different applications, e.g., using keyboard shortcuts and swipe gestures. In today's virtual reality (VR) systems, immersive applications are siloed experiences that users must fully exit before starting another. We demonstrate eight prototypes of world switching interfaces that let users preview, select, and transition across multiple virtual environments in a continuous interaction, mirroring the ``Alt+Tab" agility of desktop multitasking. We developed these techniques based on portals and worlds-in-miniature (WiM) metaphors that reveal the destination environment before triggering a full transition. },

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{gottsacker2025perspectives,

title = {Decoupled Hands: An Approach for Aligning Perspectives in Collaborative Mixed Reality},

author = {Matt Gottsacker and Nels Numan and Anthony Steed and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F. Welch and Steve Feiner},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CHI25__LBW__MR_Perspective_Alignment_preprint.pdf},

doi = {10.1145/3706599.3720219},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-04-26},

urldate = {2025-04-26},

booktitle = {ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '25)},

abstract = {When collaborating relative to a shared 3D virtual object in mixed reality (MR), users may experience communication issues arising from differences in perspective. These issues include occlusion (e.g., one user not being able to see what the other is referring to) and inefficient spatial references (e.g., "to the left of this" may be confusing when users are positioned opposite to each other). This paper presents a novel technique for automatic perspective alignment in collaborative MR involving co-located interaction centered around a shared virtual object. To align one user’s perspective on the object with a collaborator’s, a local copy of the object and any other virtual elements that reference it (e.g., the collaborator’s hands) are dynamically transformed. The technique does not require virtual travel and preserves face-to-face interaction. We created a prototype application to demonstrate our technique and present an evaluation methodology for related MR collaboration and perspective alignment scenarios.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Choudhary2025,

title = {[Poster] Inducing Unintentional Positional Drift (UPD) in Virtual Reality via Physical Rotations and the Illusion of Leaning},

author = {Zubin Datta Choudhary and Ferran Argelaguet and Gerd Bruder and Greg Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Camera-Ready_UPD_Roll_Poster_IEEE_VR_25.pdf},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-03-10},

urldate = {2025-03-10},

booktitle = {Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR) 2025.},

abstract = {In Virtual Reality (VR) users often turn their bodies during experiences. Virtual navigation techniques use body rotations and virtual forward translations to simulate movement. Despite being designed for stationary use, these techniques can cause Unintentional Positional Drift (UPD), impacting user safety and VR experiences. We carried out a human-participant study, approved by our university ethics board, involving 20 participants performing repetitive rotation tasks. Our study focused on intentionally inducing UPD via physical rotations by adding an offset to the VR camera’s roll angle, creating a visual illusion of “leaning” or “banking.” Our results show that camera roll offsets induced UPD along participants initial left-right axis under specific conditions. Additionally, rotation magnitude and forward translation flow affected UPD, while no significant effects were found due to rotation direction.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Furuya2025hc,

title = {How Does Presence Affect Trust in Simulated Autonomous Agents?},

author = {Hiroshi Furuya and Jasmine Joyce DeGuzman and Zubin Datta Choudhary and Matthew Gottsacker and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F. Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/How_Does_Presence_Affect_Trust_in_Simulated_Autonomous_Agents.pdf},

doi = {10.1109/VRW66409.2025.00109},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-03-08},

urldate = {2025-03-08},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW): 1st Annual Workshop on Real and Virtual Spaces Influences (ReVISI)},

pages = {1-2},

abstract = {Autonomous agents present important novel capabilities for a wide swath of applications like simulating interactions between humans and agents. Simulating these interactions in VR has become an important tool for evaluating the effects of agents on human behavior and performance, including human-agent trust. This position paper presents research opportunities in the use of real-world multi-modal feedback and real-world priming experiences may have on the validity of trust measurements taken from simulated human-agent interactions in VR. In addition, it presents a hypothetical experiment addressing research questions related to this topic.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Choudhary2024walking,

title = {Examining the Effects of Teleportation on Semantic Memory of a Virtual Museum Compared to Natural Walking},

author = {Zubin Choudhary and Laura Battistel and Raiffa Syamil and Hiroshi Furuya and Ferran Argelaguet and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F. Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/paper1028_2.pdf},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-12-01},

urldate = {2024-12-01},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence and Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments (ICAT-EGVE 2024), Tsukuba, Japan, December 1-3, 2024},

pages = {1-12},

abstract = {Over the past decades there has been extensive research investigating the trade-offs between various Virtual Reality (VR) locomotion techniques. One of the most highly researched techniques is teleportation, due to its ability to quickly traverse large virtual spaces even in limited physical tracking spaces. The majority of teleportation research has been focused on its effects on spatial cognition, such as spatial understanding and retention. However, relatively little is known about whether the use of teleportation in immersive learning experiences can effect the acquisition of semantic knowledge — our knowledge about facts, concepts, and ideas — which is essential for long-term learning. In this paper we present a human-subjects study to investigate the effects of teleportation compared to natural walking on the retention of semantic information about artifacts in a virtual museum. Participants visited unique 3D artifacts accompanied by audio clips and artifact names. Our results show that participants reached the same semantic memory performance with both locomotion techniques but with different behaviors, self-assessed performance, and preference. In particular, participants subjectively indicated that they felt that they recalled more semantic memory with walking than teleportation. However, objectively, they spent more time with the artifacts while walking, meaning that they learnt less per a set amount of time than with teleportation. We discuss the relationships, implications, and guidelines for VR experiences designed to help users acquire new knowledge.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Furuya2024topo,

title = {Using Simulated Real-world Terrain in VR to Study Outdoor AR Topographic Map Interfaces},

author = {Hiroshi Furuya and Zubin Choudhary and Jasmine Joyce DeGuzman and Matt Gottsacker and Gerd Bruder and Greg Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cameraready_ICAT_EGVE_2024_1029_topographic_map.pdf},

doi = {tbd},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-12-01},

urldate = {2024-12-01},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence and Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments (ICAT-EGVE 2024), Tsukuba, Japan, December 1-3, 2024},

pages = {1-10},

abstract = {Augmented reality (AR) technology enables advanced integration of spatial information useful in a variety of important domains, including for reading topographic maps in the field. It is also important to understand how this technology may potentially affect spatial learning ability. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of virtual reality (VR) to conduct a human-subject study investigating the impacts of different simulated AR topographic map interface designs on spatial learning outcomes. Our results show that interfaces that encourage engagement with the interface instead of with the map and the environment result in fast task completion times but poor spatial learning. We also found participant preference for a novel interface design that assists users with map orientation without explicitly guiding the user through the task.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{nokey,

title = {Exploring Spatial Cognitive Residue and Methods to Clear Users’ Minds When Transitioning Between Virtual Environments},

author = {Matt Gottsacker and Hiroshi Furuya and Laura Battistel and Carlos Pinto Jimenez and Nicholas LaMontagna and Gerd Bruder and and Gregory F. Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ISMAR24____Conference____Residue-5.pdf},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-10-21},

urldate = {2024-10-21},

booktitle = {IEEE International Symposium of Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR)},

pages = {1-11},

abstract = {In most cases, retaining memories of things we have experienced in the past is desirable, but in some cases, we want to clear our minds so that we may focus completely on subsequent activities. When someone switches from one task to another, they commonly incur some “cognitive residue” where some of their cognitive resources such as working memory and attention remain devoted to their previous task even after they try to switch their focus to their new task. This residue could have a negative impact on their performance in the next task, and in such circumstances, it is important to reduce that residue. In this paper, we explore the concept of cognitive residue in the context of switching between virtual reality (VR) environments. We conducted a human-subject experiment (N=24) with a spatial recall task to investigate how different visual transitions might reduce participants’ spatial cognitive residue. In this instance, more errors on the recall task corresponds to less spatial cognitive residue. We found that transitions that lasted one minute successfully reduced spatial cognitive residue: they significantly reduced participants’ abilities to recall the positions of objects in their previous VE compared to an instantaneous cut transition. Additionally, for transitions that showed a nature scene, greater head movement significantly correlated with more spatial memory errors (i.e., less spatial cognitive residue). We discuss how these findings can be applied to support users transitioning between virtual tasks and environments in VR task switching scenarios.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Furuya2024perceive,

title = {Difficulties in Perceiving and Understanding Robot Reliability Changes in a Sequential Binary Task},

author = {Hiroshi Furuya and Laura Battistel and Zubin Datta Choudhary and Matt Gottsacker and Gerd Bruder and Gregory F Welch},

url = {https://sreal.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SUI_2024___Difficulties_in_Perceiving_and_Understanding_Robot_Reliability_Changes_in_a_Sequential_Binary_Task-1-2.pdf},

doi = {10.1145/3677386.3682083},

isbn = {9798400710889},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-10-07},

urldate = {2024-10-07},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction},

pages = {1-11},

publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},

address = {Trier, Germany},

series = {SUI '24},

abstract = {Human-robot teams push the boundaries of what both humans and robots can accomplish. In order for the team to function well, the human must accurately assess the robot’s capabilities to calibrate the trust between the human and robot. In this paper, we use virtual reality (VR), a widely accepted tool in studying human-robot interaction (HRI), to study human behaviors affecting their detection and understanding of changes in a simulated robot’s reliability. We present a human-subject study to see how different reliability change factors may affect this process. Our results demonstrate that participants make judgements about robot reliability before they have accumulated sufficient evidence to make objectively high-confidence inferences about robot reliability. We show that this reliability change observation behavior diverges from behavior expectations based on the probability distribution functions used to describe observation outcomes.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{Browne2024ut,

title = {Understanding the impact of trust on performance in a training system using augmented reality},

author = {Michael P. Browne and Gregory F. Welch and Gerd Bruder and Ryan Schubert},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-04-22},

urldate = {2024-04-22},

booktitle = {Proceedings of SPIE Conference 13051: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Multi-Domain Operations Applications VI},

abstract = {The information presented by AR systems may not be 100% accurate, and anomalies like tracker errors, lack of opacity compared to the background and reduced field of view (FOV) can make users feel like an AR training system is not believable. This lack of belief can lead to negative training, where trainees adjust how they train due to flaws in the training system and are therefore less prepared for actual battlefield situations. We have completed an experiment to investigate trust, reliance, and human task performance in an augmented reality three-dimensional experimental scenario. Specifically, we used a methodology in which simulated real (complex) entities are supplemented by abstracted (basic) cues presented as overlays in an AR head mounted display (HMD) in a visual search and awareness task. We simulated properties of different AR displays to determine which of the properties most affect training efficacy. Results from our experiment will feed directly into the design of training systems that use AR/MR displays and will help increase the efficacy of training.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}