Swati Pandita

Cornell University | CU · Department of Communication

In social virtual reality platforms avatars represent users and allow them to interact with others. These avatars can be customized to represent users’ identities. Character creation interfaces (CCIs) offer a wealth of customization options, but is increased choice sufficient to address known disparities in representation? This article utilizes the...

This experiment examined the effects of social presence and perceived location of a virtual environment onparticipants’ pain thresholds in a preregistered, within-subjects experiment. First, we examined the effects of socialinteraction versus being alone in a virtual environment. Second, we compared a virtual environment representing aremote locati...

Immersive virtual reality (VR) has enormous potential for education, but classroom resources are limited. Thus, it is important to identify whether and when VR provides sufficient advantages over other modes of learning to justify its deployment. In a between-subjects experiment, we compared three methods of teaching Moon phases (a hands-on activit...

Clinical virtual reality (VR) interventions can spur perceptual, behavioral, and attitudinal changes in patients. Long-standing patient-centered applications include pain management, physical therapy, psychotherapy, treating neurological conditions, and promoting healthy behaviors. Recent improvements in tracking, hardware fit, and increased mobili...

Immersive virtual reality (VR) has enormous potential for education, but classroom resources are limited. Thus, it is important to identify whether and when VR provides sufficient advantages over other modes of learning to justify its deployment. In a between-subjects experiment, we compared three methods of teaching Moon phases (a hands-on activit...

A ball on a stick is a common and simple activity for teaching the phases of the Moon. This activity, like many others in physics and astronomy, gives students a perspective they otherwise could only imagine. For Moon phases, a third person view and control over time allows students to rapidly build a mental model that connects all the moving parts...

The environment is replete with redundant visual information, which the visual system can compress into an efficient, ensemble representation. Ensemble perceptual systems have been shown to operate with remarkable flexibility across a host of visual domains. In the current set of experiments, we however, tested whether ensemble information may be r...