Margarita Vinnikov

Assistant Professor, Informatics
About Me
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.
Education
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
Awards & Honors
2026 Nexus of Excellence Award, Excellence in Undergraduate Advising and Mentoring, New Jersey Institute of Technology
2026 Best Paper Award, Culture and Computing 2026 (C&C 2026), affiliated with HCI International 2026, HCI International
2023 NJIT Service Award, five years of service, New Jersey Institute of Technology
2023 Getty Foundation Scholarship and Selected Team Member, Visualizing Cities: Advanced Topics in Digital Art History Summer Institute, Getty Foundation; Venice International University and Duke University
2020 H. Robert Schroeder Best Paper Award, IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC 2020), IEEE
Website
http://margaritavinnikov.com
2026 Fall Courses
CS 701B - MASTER'S THESIS
IS 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
IS 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
IS 488 - INDEPENDENT STUDY IN INFO
CS 489 - COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH PROJ
CS 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
IS 491 - SENIOR PROJECT - IS
CS 488 - INDEPENDENT STUDY IN CS
CS 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT
IS 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT
IS 701B - MASTER'S THESIS
IT 201 - INFORMATION DESIGN TECHNIQUES
CS 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
IS 489 - INFO UNDERGRAD THESIS RESEARCH
IS 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES
IT 488 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
CS 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES
IS 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
IS 776 - IS RESEARCH STUDY
CS 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
Teaching Interests
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.
Past Courses
IS 765: QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH
IS 785: SPECIAL TOPICS
IT 201: INFORMATION DESIGN TECHNIQUES
IT 202: INTERNET APPLICATIONS
IT 382: GAME DESIGN FOR XR
IT 382: USER INTERFACES FOR EXTENDED REALITY
IT 383: ADVANCED TOPICS IN GAME DESIGN FOR XR
IT 383: GAME DESIGN FOR EXTENDED REALITY
IT 485: ST: CROSS REALITY (XR) DESIGN
IT 485: ST: MIXED REALITY FOR GAMES
Research Interests
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.
In Progress
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. Outcome: completed with Kian Motahari’s Ph.D. dissertation, "Gaze-Contingent Attention Redirection in Virtual Reality" (December 2023).
CSIxR / ARIAL: Extended Reality for Crime Scene Investigation Training
Can VR/AR be used to effectively teach Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) in Forensic Science? Update (2026): continued as CSIxR / ARIAL. Outputs: AAFS 2025 abstract, Journal of Forensic Sciences submission (October 2026), NSF CAREER ARIAL proposal (under review), and NJIT invention disclosures D25-016 and D27-009.
Education and Mixed Reality Tools
We look at various mixed-reality displays and compare them in the context of learning Chemistry. Outcome: completed with Kantida Nanon’s Ph.D. dissertation, Game-Based Learning with Augmented Reality (December 2024); continued in Abanob Tanous’s M.S. thesis on mixed reality for chemistry learning (December 2025).
VROOM: Multi-User, Role-Based Collaboration for Immersive Ontology Manipulation in VR
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. Update (2026): the project evolved into VROOM, a multi-user VR platform for role-based collaborative ontology manipulation (with J. Geller), published at ACM IMX 2026 ("VROOM: Evaluating Role-Based Collaboration for Immersive Ontology Manipulation").
Conference Abstract
"Visual Search in Cluttered Environments Using Active Viewpoint"
Cognitive Science Society, July (3rd Quarter/Summer), 2026.
"CSIxR: Creating a Virtual Reality CSI Application"
American Academy of Forensic Sciences, February, 2025.
"Computing Visibility Analysis in Adverse Weather"
The Ninth International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC’20).
Conference Proceeding
"Impact of Virtual Reality on Perception of Sacred Spaces: Case Study of Grotta Pinta Madonna"
Springer Nature Switzerland, June, 2026.
"VROOM: Evaluating Role-Based Collaboration for Immersive Ontology Manipulation"
ACM, June, 2026.
"Virtual Reality Ontology Object Manipulation (VROOM)"
SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications, 2022.
"A CASE STUDY OF SERIOUS GAMES WITH AUGMENTED REALITY FOR LEARNING FACILITATING IN CHEMISTRY"
15th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, November, 2022.
"Subjective Assessment of Commercially Common Input and Display Modalities in a Driving Simulator"
SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications, January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2022.
"Travel Kinematics in Virtual Reality Increases Learning Efficiency"
IEEE, October (4th Quarter/Autumn), 2021.
Journal Article
Zhan Zhang, Maryam Moeini Meybodi, Aishwarya Ingale, Liza Karimova, Margarita Vinnikov. 2025. "Extended reality technology for emergency medical service training: systematic review." Frontiers in Disaster and Emergency Medicine, vol. 3, pp. 1630167.
Kantida Nanon, Margarita Vinnikov, Mathew L. Schwartz, Michael J. Lee. 2024. "Enhancing Learning of Matrix Transformations through Immersive Virtual and Augmented Reality Interfaces." Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 176-190.
Margarita Vinnikov, Robert S. Allison, Suzette Fernandes. 2017. "Gaze-Contingent Auditory Displays for Improved Spatial Attention in Virtual Reality." ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 1-38.
Margarita Vinnikov, Robert S. Allison, Suzette Fernandes. 2017. "Gaze-Contingent Auditory Displays for Improved Spatial Attention in Virtual Reality." ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 1-38.
Margarita Vinnikov, R.S. Allison, S. Fernandes. 2016. "Impact of depth of field simulation on visual fatigue: Who are impacted? and how?." International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, vol. 91, pp. 37-51.
Margarita Vinnikov, R. S. Allison, S. Fernandes. 2016. "Impact of depth of field simulation on visual fatigue: Who are impacted? and how?." International Journal of Human Computer Studies, vol. 91, pp. 37-51.
Conference Paper
"Usability and Recall Evaluation of Virtual Reality Ontology Object Manipulation (VROOM) System"
American Medical Informatics Association, November, 2023.
"Subjective Assessment of Commercially Common Input and Display Modalities in a Driving Simulator"
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications, 2022.
Chapter
Robert S. Allison, Tracey Brandwood, Margarita Vinnikov, James E. Zacher, Sion Jennings, Todd Macuda, Paul Thomas, Stephen A. Palmisano. "Psychophysics of Night Vision Device Halos." "Vision and Displays for Military and Security Applications," pp. 123-140. Springer New York, 2010.