Aryabrata Basu, Ph.D.

Dr. Aryabrata Basu is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Director of Immersive Interactive Technology Research at the Donaghey Emerging Analytics Center. His research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction, immersive systems, extended reality (XR), spatial computing, and artificial intelligence, with a particular emphasis on understanding how people perceive, navigate, learn, and make decisions within complex virtual and augmented environments.

Dr. Basu leads the Spatiotemporality research group at UA Little Rock, where he and his students investigate immersive learning, human spatial decision-making, behavioral and gaze analytics, privacy-aware immersive computing, scientific visualization, and human-centered AI. His work increasingly extends immersive computing into areas including medical visualization, cybersecurity training, digital twins, and decision-support systems.

Prior to joining UA Little Rock in 2022, Dr. Basu spent six years at Emory University’s Center for Digital Scholarship, where he developed interactive 3D and immersive experiences supporting research and public scholarship across disciplines ranging from history and archaeology to medicine. His overarching goal is to build immersive technologies that extend human capabilities while remaining measurable, trustworthy, inclusive, and centered on human agency.

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 2018
  Dissertation: Designing and Evaluating Ubiquitous Wearable Virtual Reality
• Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology, West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata, India, 2007

Dr. Basu’s research examines how immersive and intelligent computing systems can augment human perception, learning, decision-making, and collaboration while remaining trustworthy and human-centered. His work combines human-computer interaction, virtual and augmented reality, spatial computing, behavioral measurement, artificial intelligence, and scientific visualization.

Current research areas include:

• Immersive Systems and Extended Reality (XR): Design and evaluation of virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality environments for learning, training, collaboration, and decision support.
• Human Spatial Decision-Making: Understanding navigation, spatial cognition, expertise, and user behavior through trajectory, interaction, and gaze-based measurements.
• Immersive Learning and Human-Centered AI: Studying how novelty, cognitive load, adaptation, and AI-mediated interaction influence learning and performance in immersive environments.
• Trustworthy Immersive Analytics: Developing methods for behavioral telemetry, eye-tracking, replay, usability analytics, privacy protection, and responsible collection and interpretation of spatial data.
• Scientific and Biomedical Visualization: Applying interactive 3D visualization to complex scientific and medical problems, including cardiac arterial reconstruction and visualization for surgical preplanning.
• Cyber-Physical Systems, Digital Twins, and Secure Training: Exploring immersive interfaces, simulation, distributed visualization, and human-in-the-loop approaches for cybersecurity, infrastructure, and other high-consequence environments.

Across these areas, Dr. Basu’s research asks a common question: How can computational environments become more measurable, adaptive, and intelligent without diminishing human agency?

• Biener, V., et al., including Basu, A. “XR for Knowledge Work: Ten Challenges.” IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 46(4), 96–103, 2026.
• Kharel, A., Sunny, M. J. M., and Basu, A. “DataEcho: Reflective Telemetry Replay for Studying Navigation Strategy Refinement in XR.” 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), 2026.
• Karim, M. A. B., Sunny, M. J. M., and Basu, A. “Vibrotactile Mass Cues for Planetary Interaction in VR.” 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), 2026.
• Lee, J., Chen, C., and Basu, A. “From Novelty to Knowledge: A Longitudinal Investigation of the Novelty Effect on Learning Outcomes in Virtual Reality.” IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 31(5), 3204–3212, 2025. IEEE VR 2025 Best Paper Award – Honorable Mention.
• Sunny, M. J. M., Guthula, J. S. N., Kharel, A., et al., and Basu, A. “Gaze Insights in XR: Real-Time Eye-Tracking Analytics with Elasticsearch.” 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), 2025.
• Guthula, J. S. N., Rashid, H., Springer, J. P., and Basu, A. “Preserving Privacy in VR Telemetry Data.” 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), 2025.
• Sunny, M. J. M., and Basu, A. “Non-linear Parameterization of Spatial Decision Making in Immersive Virtual Environment.” 2024 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), 389–395, 2024.

• 2025 – Best Paper Award, Honorable Mention, IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces, for “From Novelty to Knowledge: A Longitudinal Investigation of the Novelty Effect on Learning Outcomes in Virtual Reality.”
• 2023 – IEEE Senior Member, conferred in recognition of professional experience and significant technical accomplishment.
• 2014 – Best Paper Award, IEEE Virtual Reality, for “Mixed Reality Virtual Pets to Reduce Childhood Obesity.”
• 2013 – Best Poster Award, IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces, for “Evolution and Usability of Ubiquitous Immersive 3D Interfaces.”
• 2010 – Best Poster Award, Honorable Mention, University of Georgia Computer Science Research Day, for “Field Valid Probability Assessment in Uncertain and Multi-agent Settings.”

Dr. Basu teaches undergraduate and graduate courses across computer systems, networking, distributed computing, computer architecture, operating systems, databases, and capstone project development. His teaching emphasizes project-based learning, systems thinking, research-informed problem solving, and the translation of foundational computer science concepts into working applications and experimentally testable systems.

At UA Little Rock, his teaching has included Computer Networks, Database Concepts, Distributed Computing, Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, and Capstone Projects. Through capstone and graduate instruction, he encourages students to move beyond implementation toward problem formulation, experimental evaluation, technical communication, and responsible design.

Prior to joining UA Little Rock, Dr. Basu served as lead instructor for Introduction to 3D Visualization and Interactive Media Design at Emory University from 2019–2022, integrating 3D modeling, interactive media, visualization, and digital scholarship.

• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) — Senior Member
• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) — Lifetime Professional Member

• Faculty Advisor, ACM Student Chapter, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2023–2024
• Graduate Student Advising and Mentoring, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2025–2026
• Program Committee Member, IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Extended and Virtual Reality (AIxVR), 2026
• Reviewer, IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR), 2025
• Community of Transformation Member, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2024
• Associate Editor, Presence: Virtual and Augmented Reality, 2020–present
• Review Editor, Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2020–present
• Review Editor, Virtual Reality, Springer Nature, 2020–present
• Reviewer, National Science Foundation, 2020
• Program Committee Member, International Symposium on Visual Computing, 2020–2021
• Session Chair, Immersive Learning Research Network, 2020
• Local Arrangements Chair and Usability Study Researcher, IEEE Virtual Reality, 2020
• University Senate Committee Member, Emory University, 2021

• 2022–Present — Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas
• 2022–Present — Director of Immersive Interactive Technology Research, Donaghey Emerging Analytics Center, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas
• 2016–2022 — Visual Information Specialist / Research Scientist, Emory Center for Digital Scholarship, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
• 2010–2016 — Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Computer Science, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
• 2009–2010 — Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Computer Science, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia