Tiffany Luong

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Tiffany Luong

Research Scientist

About Me

I am a Research Scientist specializing in human perception and interaction in XR. My work spans empirical user studies — using physiological sensing, motion capture, and gaze tracking to measure user experience, mental workload, and perception — as well as simulation-based research for computer vision and robotics.

I am currently a Research Scientist at Perceptual, a startup researching and building perception and physical reasoning for robotics. Previously, I was a Research Scientist at MIT in the Probabilistic Computing Lab and the Quest For Intelligence initiative. Before that, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher at ETH Zürich in the SIPLAB, directed by Christian Holz. I did my PhD on Mental Workload in VR jointly at INRIA Rennes, in Anatole Lécuyer’s group, and at b-com.

You can find my CV below. Have a nice visit!

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Interests

Virtual Reality
Human Behavior
Cognitive Sciences
Affective Computing
Physiological Computing
Mixed Reality
Human-Computer Interaction

Education

PhD in Computer Science, 2021
University of Rennes 1 (INRIA and b-com)
MSc in Computer Science, 2017
Arts et Métiers ParisTech
Engineering Degree, 2017
Arts et Métiers ParisTech
Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles in Maths, Physics, and Engineering, 2014
Lycée Henri Poincaré, Nancy

Featured Publications

Virtual Reality

Controllers or Bare Hands? A Controlled Evaluation of Input Techniques on Interaction Performance and Exertion in Virtual Reality

In this paper, we study the impact of VR input modalities (controllers vs. free-hand) on physical exertion, agency, and task performance with two mid-air interaction techniques (touch, raycast) for selection and trajectory-tracing tasks. VR controllers led to reduced physical exertion, improved control, and enhanced speed and accuracy, especially in raycast settings. Regarding personal preference, participants chose VR controllers for raycast but free-hand interaction for mid-air touch. Physical exertion increased with selection speed, quantity of arm motion, variation in motion speed, and bad postures, following ergonomics metrics such as consumed endurance and rapid upper limb assessment. Physical exertion was also negatively correlated with agency and task accuracy.

Oct 9, 2023

Virtual Reality

Characterizing Physiological Responses to Fear, Frustration, and Insight in Virtual Reality

Physiological sensing often complements studies of human behavior in virtual reality (VR) to detect users’ affective and cognitive states. Some psychological states, such as fear and frustration, can be particularly hard to differentiate from a physiological perspective as they are close in the arousal and valence emotional space. Moreover, it is largely unclear how users’ physiological reactions are expressed in response to transient psychological states such as fear, frustration, and insight—especially since these are rich indicators for characterizing users’ responses to dynamic systems but are hard to capture in highly interactive settings. We conducted a study (N=24) to analyze participants’ pulmonary, electrodermal, cardiac, and pupillary responses to moments of fear, frustration, and insight in immersive settings. Participants interacted in five VR environments, throughout which we measured their physiological reactions and analyzed the patterns. We also measured subjective fear and frustration using questionnaires.

Oct 24, 2022

Virtual Reality

Demographic and Behavioral Correlates of Cybersickness: A Large Lab-in-the-Field Study of 837 Participants

Cybersickness has been one of the main impediments to the widespread adoption of Virtual Reality for decades. It has been argued that several factors can influence the occurrence of cybersickness, such as technical factors, interaction design, but also users’ demographics and their perceived presence. Yet, previous studies had comparably small sample sizes and demographically homogeneous samples; comparisons across studies (e.g., regarding demographic factors) are challenging due to the large variation in the studied virtual environments. In this paper, we address these limitations and report the results of a lab-in-the-field experiment on cybersickness with a large and heterogeneous sample of N=837 participants who navigated and interacted inside a virtual environment (ages 18–80, M=29.34, SD=9.50, 431 males, 400 females, 6 non-binaries).

Oct 20, 2022

Virtual Reality

Towards Real-Time Recognition of Users’ Mental Workload Using Integrated Physiological Sensors Into a VR HMD

This paper describes an ``all-in-one'' solution for the real-time recognition of users' mental workloads in VR through the customization of a commercial HMD with physiological sensors. We conducted an extensive user study (N = 75) to collect mental workload data. The classification accuracy of 4 levels of mental workload using sensors embedded in the HMD is compared to the classification performance using commercial grade systems. In addition, we discuss the role of the signal normalization procedures and the contribution of the different physiological signals on the recognition accuracy.

Nov 6, 2020

Awards

2021 Best Ph. D. Student Award from b-com
2020 International Mobility Grant (3200 €) from MathSTIC (for 4 months at UCL in the Virtual Environments and Computer Graphics group; canceled due to COVID-19)
2020 3DUI Contest Honorable Mention from IEEE VR, Development of a VR application on the theme “Embodiment for the Difference”
2020 Nominee for the Best Ph. D. Student Award from b-com
2019 3DUI Contest Tournament Winner from IEEE VR, Development of an escape room involving passive haptic feedback and “Impossible Spaces” navigation in VR
2018 3DUI Contest Honorable Mention from IEEE VR, Development of 3D user interfaces for 3 given tasks (climbing, flying, tower stacking) in VR
2017 Hackaton in VR First Prize from Inria Rennes, Development of VR application featuring a movie: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2017 Virtual Fantasy Limited Time First Prize from Laval Virtual, Development of VR application for education: fundamental physics equation in an escape room

Publications

Robin Hänni, Tiffany Luong, Julia Chatain, Felix Mangold, Holger Dressel, Christian Holz (2024). HistoLab VR: A User Elicitation Study Exploring the Potential of Virtual Reality Game-based Learning for Hazard Awareness. In ACM VRST.

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Christoph Gebhardt, Andreas Brombach, Tiffany Luong, Otmar Hilliges, Christian Holz (2024). Detecting Users' Emotional States during Passive Social Media Use. In ACM IMWUT.

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Tiffany Luong, Yi Fei Cheng, Max Möbus, Andreas Fender, Christian Holz (2023). Controllers or Bare Hands? A Controlled Evaluation of Input Techniques on Interaction Performance and Exertion in Virtual Reality. In IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG).

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Huajian Qiu, Paul Streli, Tiffany Luong, Christoph Gebhardt, Christian Holz (2023). ViGather: Inclusive Virtual Conferencing with a Joint Experience Across Traditional Screen Devices and Mixed Reality Headsets. In ACM Multimedia and Human-Computer Interaction (MHCI).

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Andreas Fender, Thomas Roberts, Tiffany Luong, Christian Holz (2023). InfinitePaint: Painting in Virtual Reality with Passive Haptics Using Wet Brushes and a Physical Proxy Canvas. In ACM CHI.

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Tiffany Luong, Christian Holz (2022). Characterizing Physiological Responses to Fear, Frustration, and Insight in Virtual Reality. In IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG).

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Tiffany Luong, Adéla Plechatá, Max Möbus, Michael Atchapero, Robert Böhm, Guido Makransky, Christian Holz (2022). Demographic and Behavioral Correlates of Cybersickness: A Large Lab-in-the-Field Study of 837 Participants. In International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR).

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Yi Fei Cheng, Tiffany Luong, Andreas Fender, Paul Streli, Christian Holz (2022). ComforTable User Interfaces: Surfaces Reduce Input Error, Time, and Exertion for Tabletop and Mid-air User Interfaces. In International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR).

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Adéla Plechatá, Clara Vandeweerdt, Michael Atchapero, Tiffany Luong, Christian Holz, Cornelia Betsch, Bonnie Dietermann, Yori Schultka, Robert Böhm, Guido Makransky (2022). Experiencing Herd Immunity in Virtual Reality Increases COVID‑19 Vaccination Intention. In Computers in Human Behavior.

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Clara Vandeweerdt, Tiffany Luong, Michael Atchapero, Aske Mottelson, Christian Holz, Guido Makransky, Robert Böhm (2022). Virtual Reality Reduces COVID‑19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the Wild: A Randomized Trial. In Scientific Reports.

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Aske Mottelson, Clara Vandeweerdt, Michael Atchapero, Tiffany Luong, Christian Holz, Robert Böhm, Guido Makransky (2021). A Self-Administered Virtual Reality Intervention Increases COVID-19 Vaccination Intention. In Vaccine.

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Tiffany Luong, Anatole Lécuyer, Nicolas Martin, Ferran Argelaguet (2021). A Survey on Affective and Cognitive VR. In IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG).

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Tiffany Luong (2021). Towards the Exploitation of Mental Workload in Virtual Reality Systems. In Université de Rennes 1.

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Tiffany Luong, Nicolas Martin, Anais Raison, Jean-Marc Diverrez, Ferran Argelaguet, Anatole Lécuyer (2020). Towards Real-Time Recognition of Users’ Mental Workload Using Integrated Physiological Sensors Into a VR HMD. In International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR).

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Alexandre Audinot, Diane Dewez, Gwendal Fouché, Rebecca Fribourg, Thomas Howard, Flavien Lécuyer, Tiffany Luong, Victor Mercado, Adrien Reuzeau, Thomas Rinnert, Guillaume Vailland, Ferran Argelaguet (2020). 3Dexterity: Finding Your Place in a 3-Armed World. In IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR, 3DUI track), 3DUI Contest Honorable Mention.

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Tiffany Luong, Ferran Argelaguet, Nicolas Martin, Anatole Lécuyer (2020). Introducing Mental Workload Assessment for the Design of Virtual Reality Training Scenarios. In IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR).

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Hugo Brument, Rebecca Fribourg, Gérard Gallagher, Thomas Howard, Flavien Lécuyer, Tiffany Luong, Victor Mercado, Etienne Peillard, Xavier De Tinguy, Maud Marchal (2019). Pyramid Escape: Design of Novel Passive Haptics Interactions for an Immersive and Modular Scenario. In IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR, 3DUI track), 3DUI Contest Award.

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Tiffany Luong, Nicolas Martin, Ferran Argelaguet, Anatole Lécuyer (2019). Studying the Mental Effort in Virtual Versus Real Environments. In IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR).

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Antonin Bernardin, Guillaume Cortes, Rebecca Fribourg, Tiffany Luong, Florian Nouviale, Hakim Si-Mohammed (2018). Toward Intuitive 3D User Interfaces for Climbing, Flying and Stacking. In IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR, 3DUI track), 3DUI Contest Honorable Mention.

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