Research capabilities

We specialise in studying cognition and performance not just in the lab but also under real-world conditions. Our main areas of research include:

• language
• memory
• the effects of sleep on cognition
• human performance in complex environments

We collaborate with other laboratories in IVE and external partners to examine real-time measures of cognitive workload in a variety of interactive and virtual environments. The CNL is located in a dedicated research facility at the UniSA Magill campus. We have the capability to run experiments using:

• Electroencephalography (EEG), allowing for a range of data collection methods including ultra-mobile, high density, and hyper scanning (concurrent EEG measures from multiple individuals)
• Eye-tracking
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
• Physiological measures such as skin conductance and heart rate
• Various behavioural methods

The Creative Computing Studio - CCS - features multi-modal interaction facilities, including Optitrack 12 camera full-body motion capture, Kinect Azure motion tracking, gesture recognition, voice recognition, virtual and augmented reality, and surround sound systems. We were a founding partner of the Collaborative Embodied Movement Design Network, a project supported in part through the Australian Research Council's Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment, and Facilities fund, including research partners in Australia and internationally. Together with our partners, we developed a national collaborative network of arts/technology researchers, enabling collaboration to optimise the quality of these systems from an embodied perspective creating innovative possibilities for fabrication, industry, commerce, education, health care, and the creative arts.

Our areas of expertise and application development include the following:

• Interactive visual arts (interactive installations, virtual reality applications)
• Interactive performance environments
• Electronic literature
• Online and virtual pedagogy
• Computer gaming, multi-person communication, and collaboration systems
• Architectural visualisation applications, including in cultural restoration projects
• Rapid prototyping and assembly

Our facility is comprised of a 67 square metre dedicated area for human-computer interaction and is fully networked for live streaming between local and remote systems.

Design Research for Health and Wellbeing (DRHW) is home to a cross-disciplinary network of researchers, computer scientists, creative practitioners, healthcare workers, and service users. An emphasis on the use of design and design research allows for the development and prototyping of objects, environments, systems, and services to improve the experience of healthcare and healthcare delivery.

We are particularly interested in the application of AR, VR, SR, and Mixed Reality technologies in the patient journey and the training of healthcare professionals. We are also interested in the creation of inclusive visualisation techniques and interfaces such as data physicalisation, to assist non-specialist audiences making better sense of data.

Our industry partners include hospitals, care villages, local government, health education, design, and architectural firms. We work on a wide range of health and wellbeing related health issues including non-communicable disease management, preventative care, antibiotic resistance, and ageing communities.

The Empathic Computing Laboratory (ECL) is an academic research collaboration between the University of South Australia and the University of Auckland and explores new ways for technology to enable people to better understand one another.

Empathy is about seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another. Empathic Computing is a research field that develops computer systems that recognise and share emotions and help people better understand one another. Our team is working to make empathic computing mainstream and investigate both software and hardware components to enable this technology, along with researching the usability of such interfaces.

Research themes:

• Empathic Computing
• Collaborative Interfaces
• Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality Interfaces
• Virtual Training and Education
• Virtual Tourism

The Playful Culture Lab specialises in taking play seriously, adopting and applying engaging challenges inherent in games to cultural and social activities, challenges, and opportunities.

Our main areas of research include:

• Digital heritage (and especially virtual heritage).
• Digital tourism (and intersecting aspects of digital humanities).
• Interactive environments for cultural learning with a focus on playful mechanics and interfaces.
• Social issues and serious games.
• Environmental storytelling through play.

We collaborate with universities, social groups and cultural industries, game companies, and designers, in Australia and internationally. We have designed award-winning games, presented award-winning papers, and consulted with game companies, national and international research organizations, UNESCO, and NGOs.

We are currently located on the UniSA Magill campus and the UniSA City West campus.

Our research uses Human Centred Design (HCD) practices to understand how people work and live in these highly technical, high risk and complex environments to improve the human experience and usability.  These include isolated and confined environments (ICE) or spaces that house high-stakes, high-intensity activities such as submarines, ships, space crafts, medical facilities, and Antarctic buildings.

 We transform spaces using our HCD expertise, along with Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modeling, Virtual Reality (VR) simulations, human experience studies, anthropometry, and physical model building.  Alongside other research groups within the university, including those specialising in biomechanics, psychology, and interactive and virtual environments, we work to develop integrated solutions that address technical, physiological, and psychological requirements.

 The people who live and work in these spaces are at the core of the process. A range of different methods are used to engage with users and the physical context throughout the process. This ensures the design team understands people’s activities and needs so that the design proposal is fit for purpose.

 We access a range of workshops and physical prototyping facilities, which we use to construct functional models of various levels of complexity.  These are used throughout the project and are key tools during development, engagement, and communication.  Within our studio, we build physical, to-scale models of spaces using inexpensive and recyclable materials, like cardboard, enabling researchers and the client to understand the space and how users will interact with it.

 The outcome is a grounded, practical, user-focused design proposal expressed using physical prototypes, virtual reality, fly-throughs, and functional artefacts.  The process is documented using literature reviews and reports of the user engagement workshops and outcomes, providing evidence-based for the design.  In summary, HCD puts people at the heart of the process.  It is an iterative practice that begins with empathy for the people we are designing for and invites their input throughout the project. 

 We have worked closely with defence industries, including DST, Lockheed Martin Australia, Naval Group Australia, SAAB Australia, and the Royal Australian Navy.  Through our projects, we have developed a rich and deep understanding of what it is like to live in these isolated and confined environments for defence personnel and submariners.  More recently, we have provided input to the design of rooms within South Australia’s new Women’s and Children’s Hospital.  We designed and built life-size mock-ups of clinical rooms out of cardboard to assist clinicians, other staff, and consumers visualise the size and proposed layout.  The temporary mock-up rooms allowed staff and consumers to experience and orientate themselves with the proposed room layouts early in the design phase.

The Wearable Computer Lab explores all areas of human-computer and human-machine interaction, with an extensive focus across augmented and virtual reality, visualisation, wearables, and future technologies. The lab has expertise in:

• Novel virtual and augmented/mixed reality interaction systems and techniques
• electro-mechanical device prototyping and development
• Immersive visualisation and analytics of big data across industries
• Projector based augmented reality
• Natural human-machine interfaces with body and hand interaction

From its founding in 1998, the lab has developed and employed cutting-edge technologies to explore what the future may hold, both in fundamental and applied technologies across a variety of domains including health, mining, manufacturing, construction, and defence. Comprised of a globally and culturally diverse set of researchers, academics, research students, and assistants, the lab’s global reach in partnerships and research has led to WCL alumni being located at industry and research organisations around the world.

Working alongside IVE’s other research groups, the WCL explores human-computer interaction from all angles including human factors, ergonomics, design, creativity, and human psychology. We work on both industry-focused and research-focused projects, delivering outcomes for both academia and industry stakeholders.