Advanced Reality Lab (ARL)

At the Advanced Reality Lab (ARL), we investigate the integration of humans and machines. We have assembled a multidisciplinary team combining communications, psychology, computer science, and biomedical engineering to develop advanced interface systems. We focus on virtual and augmented reality as candidates for the "Ultimate Display" and brain-computer interfaces as the potential "Ultimate Interface" while integrating deep neural networks and generative AI with extended reality (XR). Through groundbreaking research and international collaborations, we aim to redefine the boundaries of human-machine interaction, creating intuitive and immersive experiences. Our vision goes beyond mere innovation; we are committed to ethical advancement, particularly in mental health and medical applications, as we shape a future where technology seamlessly enhances human potential.

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Projects

The front of academic research in the fields of VR and AR

2022
- Science, technology, applications, and implications.
  
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2021
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2020
- AI & Robotics Technologies applied to human health. Italian-Israeli Cooperation Webinar R & D on Artificial Intelligence & Advanced Technologies for Social and Cognitive Impairment.
  
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- As part of the Frontiers in VR online seminar series, Doron Friedman will give a talk on Brain Control Interfaces (BCI) for VR: Explicit Control and Beyond.
  
  Online participants are welcome to ask questions; we will also have Christoph guger (gTec, Austria) who can respond during the Q&A.
  
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- Goals:
  
  Discussion and potential collaboration between UB and IDC in the scope of the EU MoTIVE Project.
  
  How can we leverage recent advances in DL to automatically generate VR scenes from audio-visual content?
  
  How can we leverage recent advances in DL to create believable virtual humans?
  
  Discuss technical details, show demos, and opportunities for collaboration.
  
  Comment: in order to make this day useful each talk includes at least one reference (typically a paper). Ideally all participants will have at least a passing knowledge of the topics discussed in the paper, which would allow for in depth discussion.
2019
- Virtual reality (VR) is gradually becoming widely available as an indispensable tool for researchers, artists, social activists, and journalists. VR and related technologies – augmented reality and telepresence (referred to as XR) – offer new ways to explore the human mind, brain, and body, as well as (arguably) a tool with an unprecedented ability for persuasion and influence. Research in the last decade has discovered the fascinating possibility to manipulate not only our external senses, but also our sense of body ownership, and with it the possibility of transforming our "self", as well as our attitudes towards others. At the same time, popular culture heralds VR as the ultimate "empathy" machine, leading to a proliferation of projects aimed at making us more empathic to each other. The goal of this symposium is to offer a multi-disciplinary perspective; we invite scholars from social and natural sciences and the humanities as well as artists, activists, or industry members, to suggest talks discussing the following or similar questions:
  
  Embodiment and re-embodiment in VR.
  
  XR as a tool for transforming the self.
  
  XR and empathy.
  
  Immersive journalism.
  
  XR as a tool for social science research.
  
  XR as a tool for social activism and art.
  
  XR as a tool for human neuroscience.
  
  Keynote speaker: Prof Maria-Sanchez Vives, ICREA/IDIBAPS, co-founder of EventLab Barcelona (neuroscience and VR research) and Virtual Bodyworks.
  
  Organizers: Daniel Landau and Doron Friedman, IDC Herzliya.