Austin Erickson

About Me:

I am an augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) researcher, developer, and enthusiast with five years of experience conducting AR/VR research funded by the Office of Naval Research and Air Force Research Lab.

My research interests lay at the intersection of AR/VR displays, human-computer interaction (HCI), and vision science. My research has so far focused primarily on understanding how the perceived appearance of imagery on AR displays is affected by the characteristics of the user’s environment. As a part of this research, I have established a model that allows for characterization of the user’s environment in terms of photometric units, which can be used to identify conditions in which the user is subject to misperceiving or missing out on information shown on the display.

I have experience developing for many types of AR and VR displays, including the Microsoft HoloLens, Magic Leap, Oculus Rift, HTC VIVE, handheld/mobile AR, and CAVE VR systems. I have over ten years of experience developing using the Unity engine, C#, and HLSL.



Education:

04/2023:

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science

University of Central Florida

05/2021:

Master of Science in Computer Science

University of Central Florida

07/2018:

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

University of South Florida

Professional Positions:

03/2023 – Present:

Simulation Scientist for AR Research

KBR, Air Force Research Lab

Operational Based Vision Assessment Lab (OBVA)
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Dayton, Ohio

08/2018 – 04/2023:

Research Assistant

Synthetic Reality Lab (SREAL)

University of Central Florida

Orlando, Florida

01/2018 – 07/2018:

Research Assistant

Advancing Machine and Human Reasoning Lab (AMHR)

University of South Florida

Tampa, Florida

05/2014 – 07/2018:

Certified Ophthalmic Assistant

Center for Sight

Sarasota, Florida