Explore the Future of XR Innovation

The Realities Lab at Kennesaw State University is an innovation hub focused on advancing extended reality (XR) for education, healthcare, and human development. Led by Dr. Joy Li in the Department of Software Engineering and Game Development, the lab brings together faculty, students, and partners to create immersive experiences that foster learning, empathy, and well-being.

Equipped with cutting-edge XR tools, the lab transforms ideas into prototypes that tackle real-world challenges—from dementia care and autism support to healthcare training and blood donation awareness. Guided by the principle of “XR for Good,” projects combine serious game design, AI, and human-centered research to drive positive impact.

Through collaborations with schools, healthcare organizations, and industry, the Realities Lab also serves as a training ground for students in XR design and usability research. Supported by KSU’s Center for Interactive Media, the lab is part of a growing ecosystem of interactive media innovation.

Featured Projects

  • Designed to study driver behavior and reaction in realistic but controlled settings, the project demonstrates how virtual reality can safely replicate complex, unpredictable traffic situations. 

    Built with performance-optimized, low-poly visuals, the simulation runs smoothly on standard Windows PCs equipped with mid-range graphics hardware, making it a portable and accessible research tool. 
    The experience features three interactive driving scenarios: 

    • Parking Challenge: Drivers navigate a grocery store parking lot and must react quickly when a pedestrian or shopping cart suddenly appears behind the car. 
    • Traffic Stop Scenario: Players leave the parking area and encounter moderate traffic before being pulled over unexpectedly by police for a simulated violation.
    • Rear-End Collision Scenario: Drivers follow a preset route where the leading vehicle stops abruptly, resulting in a controlled minor accident sequence. 

    Together, these scenarios provide a safe, repeatable environment to examine human attention, stress response, and decision-making under real-world driving pressures—advancing both virtual-reality research and experiential learning for students. 

  • Empathy-Building Through Immersive Caregiving Simulations 

    The Dementia Care XR Game is an interactive virtual-reality experience developed to help players better understand the everyday challenges faced by individuals living with dementia. Using immersive first-person storytelling, the game allows participants to step into the perspective of a person with cognitive decline and experience moments of confusion, frustration, and sensory overload in a safe virtual setting. 

    This project supports the lab’s broader mission of designing XR tools that promote empathy and social awareness. Players explore realistic scenarios, from navigating a familiar home environment that suddenly feels disorienting to interacting with caregivers who may or may not respond appropriately. Through guided reflection and data-driven evaluation, the experience fosters emotional understanding while providing researchers with insights into how immersive technology can improve caregiver training and patient communication. 

  • Reducing Anxiety and Inspiring Future Donors Through Immersive Learning

    The VR Blood Donation Experience is an immersive educational tool created to help reduce fear and anxiety surrounding blood donation while promoting awareness of its life-saving impact.  

    The virtual environment is organized into themed spaces that support learning and relaxation: 

    • Educational Theater: short informational videos explain each step of the donation process, addressing common misconceptions and emphasizing safety. 
    • Library with Trivia: interactive articles and quizzes reinforce factual knowledge and build donor confidence. 
    • Meditation Scenery: serene visuals and guided breathing exercises help users manage stress before or during donation. 
    • Arcade Games: light, engaging mini-games offer distraction and fun to lower anxiety levels. 
    • Art Gallery: calming visual art with short captions encourages mindfulness and emotional ease. 

    Accessibility and user comfort were central to the design. A simple, one-handed control system allows users to explore freely—even imagining the physical constraint of having one arm at rest during a real donation. By integrating education, agency, and relaxation, this project demonstrates how extended reality can transform healthcare outreach and encourage a new generation of confident, informed donors. 

  • Teaching Safe Digital Practices Through Immersive Play 

    The Cybersecurity Awareness VR project transforms cybersecurity education into an interactive and engaging virtual experience for middle school learners. The simulation uses game-based learning to introduce essential cybersecurity concepts, such as malware, phishing, ethical hacking, and data privacy, through hands-on exploration in an immersive 3D environment. 
    Within the Cybersecurity Hub, players enter a series of themed mini-games, each designed around a real-world cybersecurity challenge: 

    • Whack-a-Malware: Identify and eliminate viruses, spyware, and ransomware while learning how each threat works. 
    • Trojan Horse Game: Role-play as a knight defending a digital kingdom, discovering how deceptive software disguises itself as something safe. 
      Phishing Challenge: Catch and sort virtual “fish” to distinguish real messages from phishing scams. 
    • Digital Footprint Investigation: Become a detective tracing online clues to uncover privacy risks and hidden cyber trails. 
    • Authentication and Access Control: Act as a fast-food worker managing secure orders using password, biometric, and multi-factor authentication. 
    • Cryptography Maze: Decode substitution ciphers to navigate a maze, learning how encryption protects information. 

    Each module combines visual storytelling, responsive controls, and immediate feedback to make learning cybersecurity fun and memorable. Players practice identifying threats, applying ethical decision-making, and reflecting on the consequences of digital actions while developing confidence in a safe, gamified learning space. 

    By blending education, interactivity, and virtual immersion, Cybersecurity Awareness VR equips students with practical knowledge to navigate the digital world responsibly and prepares them for future opportunities in technology and cybersecurity. 

    Funding: This work was supported by the NSA-GenCyber under GC-22-GA-KSUx-B2.

  • Enhancing Focus Through Immersive and Data-Driven Interventions 

    The VR Classroom for Attention Training project explores how immersive virtual environments can help strengthen attention and focus for individuals on the autism spectrum. This research integrates interactive virtual reality with real-time physiological data to study and enhance attentional control in learning environments. 

    The project introduces VR-PDA (Virtual Reality Physiological Data Analysis), a novel framework that monitors users’ gaze and physiological responses to adapt the training experience. Within a simulated classroom, participants engage in attention-based exercises using four reinforcement strategies—noise, score, object opacity, and red vignette—each designed to guide and sustain focus in different ways. 

    Preliminary findings show that these reinforcement strategies significantly improve attention among individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), particularly when using the noise-based approach. The study also demonstrates how adaptive, data-informed VR environments can personalize attention training and promote more effective learning experiences. 

    By combining virtual reality and physiological feedback, this project advances research in neurodiversity-centered technology design and lays the foundation for scalable, personalized attention-training tools for individuals with autism and related conditions. 

    Funding: This work was partly supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grants CNS-2244450 and IIS-1850438.

    Published Article
  • Understanding Human Behavior to Inform Safer Interventions 

    The Suicide Prevention VR Simulation is an experimental research application developed to study human decision-making, perception, and emotional response in extreme virtual environments. Designed using the Unity game engine and deployed on Oculus Quest devices, the experience employs realistic first-person interactions, body tracking, and narrative voice guidance to create deeply immersive yet tightly controlled scenarios. 

    Unlike traditional 360° videos or scripted counseling simulations, this project offers users the ability to navigate and interact freely within a virtual apartment setting. Every element—from movement and gesture controls to object interactions—was designed to simulate everyday decision-making while maintaining a secure, researcher-supervised environment. 

    The application features two primary modes: 

    • Guided Mode, where users follow voice-based instructions within preset storylines, and
    • Exploration Mode, where researchers guide participants live during laboratory sessions. 

    Both modes include strict safety protocols. Participants are monitored at all times by trained research personnel, and the simulation is structured to end safely after a fixed duration or specific player choices. The experience is not intended as therapy, but as a research tool to advance understanding of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional factors related to crisis response. 

    By combining immersive storytelling with psychological safety and empirical design, this project contributes to a growing body of research exploring how virtual reality can enhance suicide prevention training, awareness, and early-intervention strategies for mental health professionals. 

  • Building Empathy Through Simulated Motor Challenges 

    he Parkinson’s Disease VR Simulation is an immersive virtual-reality experience designed in the Realities Lab to help players understand the daily struggles faced by individuals living with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

    Using realistic first-person interactions and medically informed motion effects, the project encourages empathy by allowing users to experience how motor symptoms, especially hand tremors, can make simple daily activities surprisingly difficult. 

    Developed in Unity for Oculus Quest and HTC Vive headsets, the simulation blends narrative storytelling with interactive, task-based gameplay. Players complete six everyday routines, such as brushing teeth, preparing breakfast, or taking medication, while their virtual hands visibly shake to simulate PD tremors.

    The system’s precision tracking and voice-guided instructions create a safe but powerful learning environment where users can reflect on how small physical challenges accumulate into significant barriers. 

    A checklist interface, progress tracker, and adjustable difficulty settings support repeated practice and research data collection. Each task measures completion time and accuracy, providing valuable insights for future accessibility-oriented design and health communication studies. 

    By combining medical knowledge, immersive technology, and human-centered design, this project demonstrates how VR can foster empathy, awareness, and understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, helping educators, caregivers, and the public see daily life through the eyes of those living with Parkinson’s. 

  • Reimagining Mental Health Awareness and Self-Compassion through Immersive Storytelling

    The Depression Prevention through Mutual Empathy Training in VR project explores how virtual reality can foster empathy, self-awareness, and emotional healing through interactive narrative design. Created in the Realities Lab by a team of undergraduate developers under the guidance of clinical counselors and individuals with lived experience of depression, the project bridges technology and psychology to promote understanding and compassion for those experiencing mental health challenges. 

    The simulation is a fully immersive, first-person adventure where users journey through symbolic environments that mirror the emotional landscape of depression—from desolation and fatigue to recovery and renewal. Players complete narrative-driven quests guided by three types of virtual characters: the Wise (representing professional support), the Sage (embodying family and friendship), and the Fool (depicting misunderstanding and stigma).

    Each interaction dynamically shapes the player’s stamina, emotional capacity, and progress, visualized through a “brain map” that illuminates as healing unfolds. 

    The game world evolves in three stages: Desolation, reflecting emotional isolation; Transition, symbolized by a campfire and the birth of a fire fox representing hope; and Civilization, where players rebuild a peaceful garden signifying recovery and reconnection. Background music, visual cues, and reinforcement feedback are carefully designed to guide users through reflection and self-growth. 

    Grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based intervention principles, this project demonstrates how interactive VR storytelling can be used for mental health education, empathy training, and early prevention. By combining professional counseling input with immersive design, the experience offers both caregivers and the public a powerful way to visualize and understand the journey of living with and recovering from depression. 

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