XR & Spatial Interaction
Spatial interaction that holds up outside the lab — usable, socially acceptable, deployment-ready.
Professor of Computer Science · Immersive Media
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan-Niklas Voigt-Antons
Making immersive systems measurably better.
I study how virtual and augmented reality systems can be built so they actually work for people. My work pairs EEG, eye tracking and physiological sensing with XR deployments in hospitals, public space and safety-critical training — measuring what questionnaires cannot capture.
Professor at Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, Director of the Immersive Reality Lab, and Guest Researcher at TU Berlin.
€4.609Mthird-party funding
234publications
2,987citations · h-index 29
ITU-T P.812co-developer
Google Scholar, 2 August 2026 · funding continuous since 2015, awards running through 2029
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Research lines
Most XR research either studies interaction in the lab or measures physiology separately. I do both together — and take XR out of the lab, into hospitals, public spaces and safety-critical training environments.
Quality of Experience
Linking technical system behaviour to perceived quality, trust and adoption — streaming to VR cloud gaming.
Psychophysiology & Behaviour
EEG, eye tracking and behavioural coding as a complement to self-report for robust user-state assessment.
Digital Health & Learning
Human-centered XR and serious games that measurably improve engagement and training outcomes.
Generative AI in Media
Embodied agents and synthetic media enter health and training faster than methods to evaluate trust in them.
Methods toolbox
Eye tracking · physiological sensing · behavioural coding · QoE questionnaires · simulator studies · multimodal fusion
Full research overview →02
Track record
Continuous third-party funding since 2015, teaching since 2013, standardization since 2016.
Funding & projects
- €4.609Mthird-party funding since 2015, awards running through 2029
- 22funded projects from 10 funding lines
- 20 / 3of 22 self-initiated and led (€4.509M) / coordinated as consortium lead
- FundersHorizon Europe, EFRE, BMBF, BMWE, BMDV, G-BA, GKV, EIT Digital, DAAD
Leadership
- DirectorImmersive Reality Lab — 11 research staff, 7 student assistants, ≈ €1M annual budget
- HeadVirtual Institute, Digitalise SÜDWESTFALEN
- Co-HeadComputer Visualistics and Design degree programme, HSHL
- LeadHuman-Machine Interaction research area, HSHL
Teaching & supervision
- since 2013continuous teaching at TU Berlin and HSHL, in German and English
- 5ongoing doctoral projects; 4 completed doctoral examinations supervised or reviewed
- 35 / 70Master's / Bachelor's theses supervised since 2011
- ModulesHuman Perception · UX Research
Service & standardization
- ITU-T P.812co-developer — subjective test methods for interactive VR (2024); 17 standardization contributions
- QoMEXSteering Committee since 2026 · General Chair 2022, Lippstadt
- MMVE 2026Technical Program Chair, Hong Kong (co-located with ACM MMSys '26)
- EditorialVirtual Worlds (MDPI) · Quality and User Experience (Springer)
Awards & recognition
- 2024Key Innovator, Innovation Radar of the European Commission — two XR digital-twin innovations
- 2025Best Paper Award, MMVE Workshop @ ACM MMSys
- 2023Best Journal Paper Award, IEEE Communications Society (MMTC)
- 2023Diversity and Societal Impact Award, QoMEX
- 2021Honorable Mention, IEEE VR
Background
- 2021–Professor of Computer Science (Immersive Media), HSHL
- 2015–21Senior Research Scientist, TU Berlin
- 2009–14Research Scientist, Telekom Innovation Laboratories
- Dr.-Ing.TU Berlin 2014, magna cum laude — dissertation published by Springer
- Dipl.-Psych.TU Darmstadt 2008, sehr gut
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Current projects
Selection from 22 funded projects. Full funding table with partners and outputs on the projects page.
2026–2029 · EFRE NRW
ITT
Immersive training for theatre technology and vocational education.
Subproject lead2026–2029 · EFRE NRW
XRT-HuFuSa
XR training and digital twins for critical industries, five partners.
Consortium coordinator2026–2028 · DAAD
INFUSE
International, inclusive learning and future skills across four continents.
Project contributor2025–2027 · ZIM
Silent Bed Monitor
Contact-free health monitoring in care, using sensor systems and machine learning.
Subproject lead2025–2027 · BMWE
XRwise
Business models and pioneering solutions for XR event creation.
Subproject lead2023–2027 · Innovative Hochschule
Digitalise SÜDWESTFALEN
Regional VR/AR knowledge transfer and innovation across South Westphalia.
Subproject lead04
Selected publications
234 publications: 2 monographs and edited volumes · 5 book chapters · 39 peer-reviewed journal articles and 6 further · 105 peer-reviewed conference papers and 58 further · 17 standardization contributions · 2 position papers.
2026
Hearing the Way: Influence of Varying Spatialized Audio Cues and Device Type on AR Navigation Experience
JOURNAL
2024
Working with Mixed Reality in Public: Effects of Virtual Display Layouts on Feeling of Safety, Productivity and Social Acceptability
CONFERENCE
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Latest notes
Occasional writing on measurement methods, XR research practice and standardization work.
When Navigation Speaks to its Environment: How AR Can Change the Way We Move Through Cities
The ARiadne project develops AR pedestrian navigation with HSHL and SWCode — and drew a visit from NRW Minister of Economics Mona Neubaur.
CHI 2026: XR Research from the Immersive Reality Lab
Three lab contributions in Barcelona — on XR under stress, adaptive resilience in fast-jet training, and cross-cultural user experience in VR.
MMVE 2026: How Immersive Media Systems Bring XR Research Together
A workshop on immersive technology, experience design and systems development — and the question of who gets left behind as XR spreads.
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Collaborate
If your system needs evidence about how people actually experience it, that is what I do.
Let's build something together
Open to joint proposals, clinical and industrial studies, and invited talks. Response usually within a few days.
- Joint proposals — Horizon Europe, BMBF, EFRE, DFG, ZIM
- User studies with multimodal measurement (EEG, eye tracking, physiology)
- QoE evaluation and ITU-T standardization input
- Clinical, industrial and public-sector XR deployments
- Invited talks, panels and programme committees
Looking for a PhD position, thesis topic or student assistant role? Those are advertised on the Immersive Reality Lab site.