Isayas Berhe Adhanom

I am a President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the Illusioneering Lab at the University of Minnesota working with Dr. Evan Suma Rosenberg. My research interests lie at the intersection of Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Applied Machine Learning. My research addresses the pressing usability challenges that hinder the broader application and acceptance of VR/AR technologies. My approach to research is interdisciplinary, broadly drawing knowledge from Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Graphics, AI and Cognitive Neuroscience. This holistic perspective allows me to tackle complex problems in novel ways.

I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada-Reno, advised by Eelke Folmer and Paul MacNeilage. Previously, I completed my M.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering at UNR and my B.Sc. in Computer Engineering at Eritrea Institute of Technology. I have received several awards for my academic and research achievements, most notably the CSE Outstanding Dissertation Award and the Graduate Dean’s Fellowship at the University of Nevada, Reno, as well as the Presidents Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Minnesota.

news

Dec 12, 2023	I will be co-organizing the Workshop on Immersive Sickness Prevention (WISP) at IEEE VR 2024.
Nov 27, 2023	I have been invited to give a Colloquium talk at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota.
Nov 16, 2023	I gave a guest lecture on VR sickness in Dr. Evan Suma Rosenberg’s CSCI 5619 - Virtual Reality and 3D Interaction class.
Oct 1, 2023	I have been invited to serve as a Program Committee member for IEEE VR 2024.
Sep 29, 2023	I was invited to be a panelist for a panel titled “How to Thrive as a PhD Student” for incoming Ph.D. students at the department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota.
Sep 22, 2023	I attended the PPFP annual Fall Meeting in Oakland, CA.
Aug 22, 2023	I served as a research mentor for the REU 2023 Summer program at the University of Minnesota.
Mar 21, 2023	Our paper “Like a Rolling Stone: Effects of Space Deformation During Linear Acceleration on Slope Perception and Cybersickness” was presented at IEEE VR 2023.
Mar 20, 2023	I successfully co-organized and lead the WISP workshop at IEEE VR ‘23.
Oct 19, 2022	I gave a guest lecture on the Applications of Eye Tracking in VR in Dr. Victoria Interrante’s CSCI 5619 - Virtual Reality and 3D Interaction class.
Jun 30, 2022	I have been awarded the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Minnesota.
May 18, 2022	I have been awarded the Spring 2022 Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation award at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at UNR.

selected publications

IEEEVR
The Effect of a Foveated Field-of-view Restrictor on VR Sickness

Adhanom, Isayas Berhe, Navarro Griffin, Nathan, MacNeilage, Paul, and Folmer, Eelke

2020

Bib HTML
@article{adhanom2020foveated, abbr = {IEEEVR}, author = {Adhanom, Isayas Berhe and Navarro Griffin, Nathan and MacNeilage, Paul and Folmer, Eelke}, journal = {2020 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR)}, title = {The Effect of a Foveated Field-of-view Restrictor on VR Sickness}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://doi.org/10.1109/VR46266.2020.00087}, html = {https://doi.org/10.1109/VR46266.2020.00087}, pages = {645-652}, doi = {10.1109/VR46266.2020.00087}, selected = {true}, type = {conference papers}, bibtex_show = {true} }

GazeMetrics: An Open-Source Tool for Measuring the Data Quality of HMD-Based Eye Trackers

Adhanom, Isayas B., Lee, Samantha C., Folmer, Eelke, and MacNeilage, Paul

2020

Bib HTML

@article{adhanom2020gazemetrics,
  abbr = {ETRA},
  author = {Adhanom, Isayas B. and Lee, Samantha C. and Folmer, Eelke and MacNeilage, Paul},
  title = {GazeMetrics: An Open-Source Tool for Measuring the Data Quality of HMD-Based Eye Trackers},
  year = {2020},
  isbn = {9781450371346},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3379156.3391374},
  html = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3379156.3391374},
  doi = {10.1145/3379156.3391374},
  booktitle = {ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications},
  articleno = {19},
  numpages = {5},
  keywords = {virtual reality, accuracy, precision, eye tracker data quality, Eye tracking, eye movements},
  location = {Stuttgart, Germany},
  series = {ETRA '20 Short Papers},
  type = {conference papers},
  selected = {true},
  bibtex_show = {true}
}

The Effect of Field-of-View Restriction on Sex Bias in VR Sickness and Spatial Navigation Performance

Al Zayer, Majed, Adhanom, Isayas B., MacNeilage, Paul, and Folmer, Eelke

2019

Bib HTML

@article{alzayer2019gender,
  abbr = {CHI},
  author = {Al Zayer, Majed and Adhanom, Isayas B. and MacNeilage, Paul and Folmer, Eelke},
  title = {The Effect of Field-of-View Restriction on Sex Bias in VR Sickness and Spatial Navigation Performance},
  year = {2019},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300584},
  html = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300584},
  journal = {Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
  pages = {1-–12},
  numpages = {12},
  selected = {true},
  bibtex_show = {true},
  type = {conference papers}
}