Research

Featured Work

Cypherspace: Designing for Embodied Learning in Immersive VR

[ grant ]

Situated in arts & humanities education, we are investigating how VR can cultivate joyful learning experiences through meaningful movement-based interaction. We present Cypherspace, a system that engages learners with the history of hip-hop through embodied learning activities. The project aims to promote a more active paradigm for VR education experiences. Art by: Grace Wang

Cypherspace: Designing for Embodied Learning in Immersive VR

Supporting Technology Career Interest and Prosocial Attitudes through Virtual Reality Co-creation in the Classroom

Cyan DeVeaux, Kai Frazier, James A. Landay, Jeremy Bailenson. In Proc. IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) ’26 Adjunct (TeacXR ’26).

[ short paper ]

Grounded in creative learning and culturally responsive computing, this case study investigates the use of virtual reality (VR) co-creation as a meaningful context for K-12 students' engagement with spatial computing.

Supporting Technology Career Interest and Prosocial Attitudes through Virtual Reality Co-creation in the Classroom

Social Conjurer: Multi-User Runtime Collaboration with GenAI in Building Virtual Reality Worlds

Amina Kobenova*, Cyan DeVeaux*, Samyak Parajuli*, Andrzej Banburski-Fahey, Judith Amores, Jaron Lanier. In Proc. ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) '25.

[ poster ] [ arxiv ]

We present Social Conjurer, a system and framework that enables real-time, AI-augmented creation of virtual 3D environments for multiple users.

Social Conjurer: Multi-User Runtime Collaboration with GenAI in Building Virtual Reality Worlds

Audiovisual Realism in MR: Investigating the Effects of Room Acoustics on Co-Presence with Photorealistic Avatars

Cyan DeVeaux, Elizabeth H. Hall, Andy J. Shaw, Andrew Frederick Francl, Paulus van Horne, Frank M. Nieuwenhuizen, Sebastià V. Amengual Garí, Madeline Huberth. In Proc. IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR) '26.

[ paper ]

In this exploratory, within-subjects study, we investigate the effects of audio quality on co-presence and associated experiential outcomes during avatar-mediated conversations in MR.

Audiovisual Realism in MR: Investigating the Effects of Room Acoustics on Co-Presence with Photorealistic Avatars

Black Immersive Virtuality: Racialized Experiences of Avatar Embodiment and Customization Among Black Users in Social VR

Cyan DeVeaux, Eugy Han, Zora Hudson, Jordan Egelman, James A. Landay, Jeremy N. Bailenson. In Computers in Human Behavior, 2025.

[ paper ]

Leveraging Intersectional Tech and the Virtual Identity Discrepancy Model as frameworks, we report on findings from an interview study and experimental study aimed at understanding the avatar embodiment experiences of Black users on VRChat, a social VR platform.

Black Immersive Virtuality: Racialized Experiences of Avatar Embodiment and Customization Among Black Users in Social VR

An Exploratory Investigation into the Language of Social VR

Cyan DeVeaux, David M. Markowitz, Eugy Han, Mark R. Miller, Jeffrey T. Hancock, Jeremy N. Bailenson. In Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 2024.

[ paper ]

We explore language patterns as a behavioral link to presence in VR using an exploratory text analysis of over 4,800 min of conversation in social VR, consisting of over 130,000 spoken words from 126 participants.

An Exploratory Investigation into the Language of Social VR

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

  • Explaining Age Differences in Virtual Reality Education Outcomes through Presence and Pedagogical Agent Perception

    DeVeaux, C., Han, E., Queiroz, A. C. M., and Bailenson, J. N.

    Under review.

  • Black Immersive Virtuality: Racialized Experiences of Avatar Embodiment and Customization Among Black Users in Social VR

    DeVeaux, C., Han, E., Hudson, Z., Egelman, J., Landay, J. A., and Bailenson, J. N.

    Computers in Human Behavior, 2025.

  • Five Canonical Findings from 30 Years of Psychological Experimentation in Virtual Reality

    Bailenson, J. N., DeVeaux, C., Han, E., Markowitz, D. M., Santoso, M., and Wang, P.

    Nature Human Behaviour, 2025.

  • Presence and Pronouns: An Exploratory Investigation into the Language of Social VR

    DeVeaux, C., Markowitz, D. M., Han, E., Miller, M. R., Hancock, J. T., and Bailenson, J. N.

    Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 2024.

  • Seeing the World through Digital Prisms: Psychological Implications of Commonplace Use of Passthrough Video in Mixed Reality

    Bailenson, J. N., Beams, B., Brown, J., DeVeaux, C., Han, E., Queiroz, A. C. M., Ratan, R., Santoso, M., Srirangarajan, T., Tao, Y., and Wang, P.

    Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 2024.

  • Exploring the Relationship Between Attribute Discrepancy and Avatar Embodiment in Immersive Social Virtual Reality

    DeVeaux, C., Han, E., Landay, J. A., and Bailenson, J. N.

    Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 2023.

  • People, Places, and Time: A Large-Scale, Longitudinal Study of Transformed Avatars and Environmental Context in Group Interaction in the Metaverse

    Han, E., Miller, M. R., DeVeaux, C., Jun, H., Nowak, K. L., Hancock, J. T., Ram, N., and Bailenson, J. N.

    Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2023.

Conference Proceedings

  • Self-Similar Avatars Increase Self-Presence but Decrease Playfulness while Dancing in Social Virtual Reality

    DeVeaux, C., Wang, P., Han, E., Santoso, M., and Bailenson, J. N.

    Under review.

  • Supporting Technology Career Interest and Prosocial Attitudes through Virtual Reality Co-creation in the Classroom

    DeVeaux, C., Frazier, K., Landay, J. A., and Bailenson, J. N.

    ISMAR 2026 (TeacXR).

  • Audiovisual Realism in MR: Investigating the Combined Effects of Room Acoustics and Avatar Realism on Co-Presence

    DeVeaux, C., Hall, E. H., Shaw, A. J., Francl, A. F., van Horne, P., Nieuwenhuizen, F., Amengual Garí, S. V., and Huberth, M.

    IEEE VR 2026.

  • To Tango or to Disentangle? Making Ethnography Public in the Digital Age

    Mwesigwa, D., DeVeaux, C., and Vaghela, P.

    CSCW 2026.

  • Designing Immersive, Narrative-Based Interfaces to Guide Outdoor Learning

    Cheng, A. Y., Ritchie, J., Agrawal, N., Childs, E., DeVeaux, C., Jee, Y., Leon, T., Maples, B., Cuadra, A., and Landay, J. A.

    CHI 2023.

  • Collaborative Tasks in Immersive Virtual Reality Increase Learning

    Queiroz, A. C. M., McGivney, E., Liu, S. X., Anderson, C. O., Beams, B., DeVeaux, C., Frazier, K., Han, E., Miller, M. R., Petersen, X. S., Woolsey, E. S., Hancock, J., and Bailenson, J. N.

    CSCL 2023.

Other Publications

  • Social Conjuring: Runtime Multi-User Collaboration with AI in Building Virtual 3D Worlds

    Kobenova, A.*, DeVeaux, C.*, Parajuli, S.*, Banburski-Fahey, A., Amores, J., and Lanier, J.

    VRST 2025.

  • BEASTS: Dual Perspectives on Virtual Puppetry through Theatrical Expression and XR Research

    Kim, S., DeVeaux, C., Tao, Y., Srirangarajan, T., and Bailenson, J.

    SIGGRAPH Spatial Storytelling 2025.

  • Techno-Ratchery: How Cita’s World Innovated Black Digital Engagement

    DeVeaux, C., Gray, K. L., Stein, K., and Frey, W. R.

    Forthcoming in A 90s Kind of World: Black Girls’ and Women’s Popular Culture.

  • Descriptive Linguistic Patterns of Group Conversations in VR

    DeVeaux, C., Markowitz, D. M., Han, E., Miller, M. R., Hancock, J. T., and Bailenson, J. N.

    IEEE VR Workshops 2023.

  • Body Crumple, Sound Intrusion, and Embodiment Violation: Toward a Framework for Miscommunication in VR

    Akselrad, D., DeVeaux, C., Han, E., Miller, M. R., and Bailenson, J. N.

    CSCW 2023.

  • Learning about VR in VR

    DeVeaux, C. and Bailenson, J. N.

    XRDS, 2022.

  • Expanding Education through Virtual Reality

    DeVeaux, C., Han, E., and Bailenson, J. N.

    The Future of Online Education, 2022.