about me

I’m a fourth-year HCI Ph.D. Candidate at Stanford University advised by Professor Jeremy Bailenson and Professor James Landay. As a member of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab and Human-Computer Interaction Group, my work exists at the intersection of social science, computer science, and design. My research explores how immersive technologies can foster enriching and inclusive human experiences. I build and study AR/MR/VR for learning, creativity, digital self-representation, and belonging. In addition to examining the psychological, behavioral, and social implications of these technologies, my work aims to offer design implications for future immersive interfaces.

I am supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Stanford Graduate Fellowship in Science & Engineering, Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education Doctoral Fellowship, and Technology & Racial Equity Graduate Fellowship. This summer, I was a Research Scientist Intern at Microsoft on the Speaking the World into Existence project exploring the application of large language models for creating interactive 3D scenes in virtual reality. Previously, I worked at Google as a Software Engineer and earned an interdepartmental B.A. in Computer Science and Visual & Media Studies from Duke University.

Social VR enables users to immerse in networked virtual environments together. One thread of my research in graduate school has explored the potential of this medium in cultivating connectedness with others and learning content in K12 and university classrooms. Using the virtual classroom as a longitudinal social context, this work also aims to understand the psychological and behavioral implications of the medium, including the evaluation of behavioral indicators of presence.

social virtual reality for education

Publications:

DeVeaux, C., & Bailenson, J.N. (2022). Learning about VR in VR. XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students, 29(1), 14–19. (link)

DeVeaux, C., Markowitz, D.M., Han, E., Miller, M.R., Hancock, J.T., & Bailenson, J.N. (2023) Descriptive Linguistic Patterns of Group Conversations in VR. In 2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW). (link)

DeVeaux, C., Markowitz, D.M., Han, E., Miller, M.R., Hancock, J. T., & Bailenson, J.N. (2024) Presence and Pronouns: An Exploratory Investigation into the Language of Social VR. Journal of Language and Social Psychology. (link)

Han, E., Miller, M. R., DeVeaux, C., Jun, H., Nowak, K. L., Hancock, J. T., Ram, N., & Bailenson, J.N. (2023). People, places, and time: a large-scale, longitudinal study of transformed avatars and environmental context in group interaction in the metaverse. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. (link)

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., Bailenson, J. N. (2023), Collaborative Tasks in Immersive Virtual Reality Increase Learning. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning-CSCL 2023. International Society of the Learning Sciences. (link)

Body-worn trackers enable real-time syncing between a user’s physical movements and their avatar’s movements in social VR. This novel form of avatar-mediated communication, combined with the customization of one’s virtual appearance, can make the experience of wearing avatars in social VR feel personal. Another thread of my work has explored the unique, embodied, and psychological consequences of perceived avatar discrepancies in the context of this immersive environment.