2025-04-15: Celebrating Global Collaboration and Innovation at ODU

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We were honored to host Dr. Michael Herzog and his colleague Stefan Puest from Magdeburg-Stendal University for his annual visit to Hampton Roads. During his visit, he engaged with students and faculty of the NIRDS Lab and WS-DL group, including Dr. Faryaneh Poursardar, Dr. Michael Nelson, and Dr. Sampath Jayarathna. The visit reinforced our commitment to global academic collaboration and provided a meaningful platform for showcasing student-led research at the intersection of technology, society, and human behavior.

Nirdslab and WS-DL group Students Research Presentation and Demonstration

The day featured hands-on demonstrations of ongoing projects, including groundbreaking work in eye-tracking research by students Lawrence, Yasasi, Bhanuka, Kumushini, and James.

Lawrence presented his research on human-AI teaming, highlighting how electrodermal responses, heart rate, and speech data can be integrated using custom-built sensors—including the Rosetta Stone and various bracelet sensors—for real-time data collection. The ultimate aim of his work is to integrate these real-time data streams with AI models to infer the emotional state of a human team member during collaborative tasks.

Kumushini introduced the Project Aria glasses during her demonstration, explaining the diverse sensors integrated into the glasses and their respective capabilities. She detailed how data recording is achieved through the glasses and introduced the companion applications designed to streamline data collection. Furthermore, she described how the NIRDS Lab team employs Project Aria glasses for eye-tracking research, with a focus on studying joint visual attention—that is, how multiple people focus on similar objects or areas within shared environments. This research involves using several time-synchronized Project Aria glasses during user studies.

Yasasi presented her eye-tracking research focused on measuring visual attention in gaze-driven virtual reality (VR) learning environments, using the Meta Quest Pro VR headset. She demonstrated a VR learning application developed using Unity that features gaze-driven content rendering. In the application, virtual learning materials appear within the user’s field of view when they fixate on specific areas of interest (AOIs) and remain visible only so long as the user’s gaze stays on the designated AOI. As part of her study, Yasasi collects eye-tracking data, which she then analyzes to assess visual attention.

Bhanuka showcased his work on distributed eye tracking for online collaborations (DisETrac). This study presents a flexible system for capturing multi-user eye-tracking data over public networks, aggregating this data, and generating both individual and multi-user eye-tracking measures and visualizations. This innovative approach allows researchers to obtain naturalistic eye-tracking data in virtual collaboration settings—areas where traditional eye-tracking tools have often been limited.

James demonstrated an API for RAEMAP (Real Time Advanced Eye Movement Analysis Pipeline), which calculates advanced gaze metrics from raw eye-tracking data (specifically, x and y coordinates and timestamps). While RAEMAP was originally developed by Gavindya Jayawardena, earlier implementations required hard-coded parameters for eye trackers, datasets, and algorithm options. James’s research involves converting  RAEMAP into a FastAPI application hosted in the cloud and accessible via Swagger UI. His work also includes the development of machine learning models to predict cognitive load from advanced eye-gaze metrics, with models trained using workload scales such as NASA-TLX.

Collectively, these projects explore how gaze patterns can provide insights into cognitive load, attention shifts, emotional states, and user interaction. The research reflects technical rigor and deep interdisciplinary thinking, merging computer science, psychology, and design to solve real-world challenges.

Dr. Michael Herzog explored how these insights might translate to adaptive learning systems and accessible technologies for individuals with disabilities, and sparked ideas for future joint research between Old Dominion University and Magdeburg-Stendal University.

Visit to Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium (HRBRC)

Beyond the lab, Dr. Michael Herzog toured the Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium (HRBRC), a state-sponsored initiative uniting Old Dominion University, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Sentara Healthcare, and Norfolk State University. HRBRC represents a pioneering effort to align clinical practice, academic research, and data science to address regional and global health challenges.

During the tour, Dr. Michael Herzog met with researchers and technicians working on next-generation medical devices, biomedical 3D printings, and human systems integration—highlighting the rich ecosystem of applied research in the Hampton Roads area. Patrick Ball demonstrated the use of the HRBRC 3D printing lab.

Cultural exchange was woven throughout the visit. A highlight of the day included a traditional Iranian dessert generously prepared by Dr. Faryaneh Poursardar, offering a reminder of the shared humanity behind global scholarship. This gesture sparked warm conversations that extended beyond research—creating moments of connection that celebrated cultural diversity, hospitality, and mutual appreciation, curiosity. These personal interactions added depth to the academic exchange, reinforcing a spirit of respect, curiosity, and collaboration.

Dr. Michael Herzog's visit served not only as an opportunity to celebrate shared achievements, but also to identify future directions for student exchanges, joint publications, and collaborative grant initiatives. 

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Michael Herzog for his continued partnership support, and to our students, collaborators, and faculty whose passion and hard work made this visit an outstanding success.


About the Authors:

1. Lawrence Obiuwevwi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science, a graduate research assistant with the Center for Mission Engineering, and a proud student member of The Storymodelers, and The Web Science and Digital Libraries (WS-DL) Research Group, and Nirds Lab at Old Dominion University.

2. Kumushini Thennakoon is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science and is affiliated with The Web Science and Digital Libraries (WS-DL) Research Group and Nirds Lab at Old Dominion University.


Lawrence Obiuwevwi
Graduate Research Assistant
Virginia Modeling, Analysis, & Simulation Center
Center for Mission Engineering
Department of Computer Science
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529
Email: lobiu001@odu.edu
Web : lawobiu.com


Kumushini Thennakoon

PhD Student | Department of Computer Science,

Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529

Email: kthen001@odu.edu

Web : https://www.cs.odu.edu/~cs_kthen001/

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