Mission Statement

Research group at the Immersive Visualization Lab (iLab) led by Director, Dr. Jong Bum Kim, and Co-Director, Dr. Debora Verniz, has a two-fold mission. We seek to advance theoretical understanding of immersive experience, spatial understanding, visual cognition, and data analytics within the domain of architecture, communication, and related disciplines. We use this knowledge to explore innovative 3D visualization and simulation techniques to address a variety of applied problems including architectural visualization, building performance analysis and training simulations across disciplines. The iLab aims to achieve its mission through diverse educational opportunities for undergraduate students and research opportunities for faculty and graduate students. Please see next page for an overview of current and recently funded research themes. Projects in the iLab has been funded by federal and state agencies as well as various University of Missouri and UM System initiatives.

Academics

The iLab plays an important role in our department’s educational mission. It is integrated into our curriculum through two courses – ARCH ST 2230: Design Communication and ARCH ST 4555: Recent Trends – Advanced Visualization. The lab trains our students in using advanced visualization tools for design representation and evaluation. The lab is used in a variety of ways in our undergraduate curriculum. It is used by faculty as a dynamic, digital presentation environment for critiques and project reviews, a digitally mediated collaborative space for group projects as well as a venue for independent student explorations with faculty guidance. The lab offers our graduate and undergraduate students hands-on experience with pragmatic aspects of various research methodologies, especially those involving human subjects. Students gain practical experience in research design, development of experimental stimuli and observation as well as measurement techniques. Multiple doctoral dissertations are currently being conducted in the iLab with several being in the data collection stage. These include studies on the impact of structural components of virtual reality technology on spatial experience including immersion and presence as well as impact of a variety of environmental attributes on spatial experience and consumer behavior in retail environments. To read more about the research being conducted in the iLab both by our faculty and our graduate students, please see the Research and People pages.

News & Upcoming Events

Acknowledgments

The iLab was constructed through the volunteer efforts of faculty, students and alumni. In addition to the current lab members, the following alumni and colleagues are gratefully acknowledged for their contributions. John Bohlmeyer, Malia Bucher, Jeffrey Lee, Brad Martin, Uros Pavjovic, Elizabeth Miller, Michael Sullivan, Jim Knapp,  Dr. So-Yeon Yoon, Michael Goldschmidt, Dr. Ron Phillips and Anthony Randazzo – Lighting Associates. The iLab was developed mostly by grant funding from MU Information Technology Council, DoIT, Mizzou Advantage, Research Board, and Architectural Studies.