Margarita Vinnikov

Dr. Margarita Vinnikov (Ph.D., York University, Canada), Assistant Professor in Department of Informatics, joins NJIT from the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada where she was a human factors research officer, specializing in cross reality and immersive displays, including flight and driving simulations. She has extensive experience in prototyping and developing experimental platforms for these kinds of simulations using various languages, libraries and platforms. While at the NRC, for example, she worked with pilots and aircrew using augmented and virtual reality technology to improve the safe operation of helicopters and other aircraft during low visibility conditions. She also studies human-computer interaction, with an emphasis on visual and audio perception. While earning her Ph.D. at York University, she researched gaze-contingent, multi-sensory immersive environments, which change the display based on a user's gaze location, with real-time simulations of impaired vision. She used eye- and head-tracking to simulate different visual defects to conduct psychophysical experimentation, using quantitative methods to investigate the relationship between visual and auditorial stimuli and a participant's experience or behavior, in various virtual environments. She has worked for many years for a pre-college program teaching students how to develop games while employing diverse technologies and programming languages. Her research has been published in journals such as the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies and ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction.

Ph.D.; York University; Computer Science; 2015

M.S.; York University; M.Sc. Computer Science; 2009

B.S.; York University; B.Sc. Specialized, Honors, Computer Science; 2006

B.Ed; York University; Intermediate/Senior Computer Science & Mathematics; 2006

http://margaritavinnikov.com

CS 701B - MASTER'S THESIS

IS 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I

IS 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH

IS 488 - INDEPENDENT STUDY IN INFO

CS 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH

CS 488 - INDEPENDENT STUDY IN CS

CS 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT

IS 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT

IS 701B - MASTER'S THESIS

CS 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II

IS 489 - INFO UNDERGRAD THESIS RESEARCH

IS 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES

IT 383 - GAME DESIGN FOR XR

CS 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES

IS 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II

IS 776 - IS RESEARCH STUDY

CS 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I

Within the context of teaching Informatics, Computer Science, or Mathematics courses, and I am especially interested in teaching courses on VR/AR/MR and serious gaming, especially in the areas of digital image processing, computer graphics, and human and machine perception. I enjoy teaching fundamental programming courses in a variety of languages such as Java, C/C++, Python, and C#. In terms of more advanced topics, I like to teach courses addressing 3D computer graphics and shaders, as well as VR/AR/MR courses that address topics such as body tracking, calibration, and registration, simulation of different modalities and senses, and perceptual issues associated with simulating each modality.

My research interests are virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality (XR) technologies. Specifically, I am interested to explore immersion in increasingly complex visual, as well as auditory and tactile virtual worlds. I specialize in eye and body tracking as well as multi-sensory augmentation. In my research, I use simulations of real-life scenarios in virtual environments to improve the user experience with current XR technology.

AR/VR in Crime Scene Investigation
Can VR/AR be used to effectively teach Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) in Forensic Science?

Attention Guidance in Virtual reality
The project focuses on examining various factors contributing to car crashes in virtual reality simulations. Also, the project examines various displays and input for virtual driving simulators and the impact on realism, performance, situational awareness.

Education and Mixed Reality Tools
We look at various mixed-reality displays and compare them in the context of learning Chemistry.

Medical Ontology in Virtual Reality
The project focuses on Visualizing complex medical ontologies with thousands of nodes in VR. We are in the second phase of the project. We are actively writing the results of our first user study and developing an experiment for the second user study.

Virtual Reality Ontology Object Manipulation (VROOM)
HEALTHINF , 2022

Subjective Assessment of Commercially Common Input and Display Modalities in a Driving Simulator
January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2022

Adding Visibility to Visibility Graphs: Weighting Visibility Analysis with Attenuation Coefficients
SIMAUD Conference 2021, July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 2021

Augmented reality anatomy visualization for surgery assistance with hololens: AR surgery assistance with hololens
June 2021

Understanding Urban Devotion through the Eyes of an Observer
May 2021

Computing Visibility Analysis in Adverse Weather
The Ninth International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC’20),

Vinnikov, Margarita, & Allison, Robert S., & Fernandes, Suzette (2017). Gaze-Contingent Auditory Displays for Improved Spatial Attention in Virtual Reality. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 24(3), 1-38.

Vinnikov, Margarita, & Allison, Robert S., & Fernandes, Suzette (2017). Gaze-contingent auditory displays for improved spatial attention in virtual reality. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 24(3),

Vinnikov, Margarita, & Allison, R.S., & Fernandes, S. (2016). Impact of depth of field simulation on visual fatigue: Who are impacted? and how?. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 91, 37-51.

Vinnikov, Margarita, & Allison, R. S., & Fernandes, S. (2016). Impact of depth of field simulation on visual fatigue: Who are impacted? and how?. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 91, 37-51.

Vinnikov, Margarita, & Palmisano, Stephen, & Allison, Robert (2015). Heading Perception with Simulated Visual Defects. Journal of Vision, 15(12), 1015.

González, E G, & Allison, R S, & Ono, H, & Vinnikov, Margarita (2010). Cue conflict between disparity change and looming in the perception of motion in depth.. Vision research, 50(2), 136-43.