PhD Student · University of Texas at Dallas
Ayush Bhardwaj
Designing how people feel and connect across physical and digital worlds.
I am a PhD student in the Multimodal Interaction Lab at UT Dallas, advised by Dr. Jin Ryong Kim. My research focuses on human-centered AI and HCI, studying how human behavior and context shape interaction across physical and virtual environments. I analyze social touch and object grasping to develop taxonomies and design guidance for context-aware systems.
My work combines multimodal video analysis with controlled studies of perception and movement, and spans collaborative XR, haptics, immersive authoring, and data visualization, including systems such as MetaTwin and TangibleData. I have published at CHI, IMWUT, UIST, VRST, SIGGRAPH, and ISMAR. I will graduate in December 2026 and am actively seeking job opportunities.
Social TouchCollaborative XRVR/XRHuman-Computer InteractionImmersive Authoring ToolsMid-Air HapticsImmersive Analytics
Beyond Research
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Football (soccer) enthusiast
I enjoy playing football and following the sport—equal parts competition, teamwork, and appreciation for the beautiful game.
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Curious traveler
I enjoy exploring new places, experiencing local cultures, and learning from the people I meet along the way.
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Adventurous home cook
I enjoy experimenting with new recipes and discovering dishes and flavors from cuisines around the world.
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Coffee ritual
Coffee is a small daily ritual—part pause, part fuel, and often the beginning of a good conversation.
Research
Projects, publications, and ongoing work at the intersection of social touch, haptics, visualization, and immersive collaborative environments.
Papers
6
▶ Watch Video
Touch with Meaning: A Contextual Analysis of Social Touch
Social touch communicates emotion and intent, but its meaning depends heavily on context. Analyzing 5,016 real-world touch events, we show that gesture meaning varies with body location, relationships, and cultural setting, offering design insights for socially aware interactive systems.
▶ Watch Video
Understanding Latency Sensitivity in Thermal and Tactile Feedback for Multimodal Haptics in VR
A psychophysical study examining how users perceive and tolerate latency in combined thermal and tactile feedback within VR environments, informing real-time multimodal haptic system design.
▶ Watch Video
UltraEdit: In-Situ Design Environment for Ultrasound Haptization
UltraEdit is an in-situ design tool that allows creators to author mid-air ultrasound haptic feedback directly within the spatial context of their applications, bridging haptic design and deployment.
▶ Watch Video
MetaTwin: A Collaborative XR Platform for Seamless Physical-Virtual Synchronization
MetaTwin is a collaborative XR platform enabling real-time bidirectional synchronization between physical and virtual environments, supporting seamless co-presence and multi-user interaction.
▶ Watch Video
Improving Finger Stroke Recognition Rate for Eyes-Free Mid-Air Typing in VR
Presents techniques to improve the accuracy of eyes-free mid-air finger stroke recognition for text input in VR, reducing cognitive load during typing without requiring visual attention.
▶ Watch Video
TangibleData: Interactive Data Visualization with Mid-Air Haptics
TangibleData introduces mid-air haptic feedback as a channel for data exploration in immersive environments, allowing users to physically feel data patterns and relationships.
Posters
3
▶ Watch Video
Virtual Streamer with Conversational and Tactile Interaction
A virtual streaming system incorporating real-time conversational AI and tactile feedback, enabling richer, more embodied audience interactions during live virtual performance.
MetaTwin: Synchronizing Physical and Virtual Spaces for Seamless World
An early MetaTwin demonstration showing real-time physical-virtual world synchronization for collaborative and immersive shared experiences.
Data Abstraction for Visual and Haptic Representations in Flow Visualization
A framework for encoding flow data into combined visual and mid-air haptic representations, enabling analysts to both see and feel complex flow datasets in immersive environments.
Demonstrations
3Demonstration of Tangible Data: Immersive Data Exploration With Touch
A live demonstration of the TangibleData system showcasing immersive data exploration through mid-air haptic touch in augmented and mixed reality environments.
Tangible Data: Immersive Data Exploration with Touch
Featured in SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies, this demonstration invites attendees to experience haptic-augmented data exploration, feeling data structures through mid-air touch.
▶ Watch Video
Demonstrating Virtual Streamer with Conversational and Tactile Interaction
A demonstration of the Virtual Streamer system, allowing conference attendees to interact with a virtual host through conversation and receive haptic feedback.
Awards
22025
🏆 Travel Award
UIST 2025 — UltraEdit: In-Situ Design Environment for Ultrasound Haptization
2022
🏆 Best Poster Award
VRST 2022 — Data Abstraction for Visual and Haptic Representations in Flow Visualization
News
Recent updates, milestones, and what I've been up to.
March 2026
Paper
Touch with Meaning accepted at CHI 2026
Our paper on contextual analysis of social touch was accepted at CHI 2026 — the flagship HCI conference.
December 2025
Milestone
1AC TEI 2026
Served as 1AC for TEI 2026 for Work in Progress Track
November 2025
Paper
Understanding Latency published in VRST 2025
Understanding Latency Sensitivity in Thermal and Tactile Feedback for Multimodal Haptics in VR published in VRST 2025
October 2025
Talk
Presented UltraEdit at UIST 2025
Presented UltraEdit, our in-situ haptic design environment, at UIST 2025. Received a Travel Award.
September 2025
Award
Travel Award at UIST 2025
Received the UIST 2025 Travel Award for presenting UltraEdit: In-Situ Design Environment for Ultrasound Haptization.
September 2024
Paper
UltraEdit published in UIST 2025
UltraEdit our immersive authoring tool got published in UIST 2025
June 2025
Paper
MetaTwin published in IMWUT 2025
Our collaborative XR platform MetaTwin was published in ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies.
August 2024
Talk
Demo at SIGGRAPH 2024 Emerging Technologies
Presented Tangible Data at SIGGRAPH 2024 Emerging Technologies to an international audience.
January 2024
Milestone
Passed PhD Qualifying Exam
Successfully defended my qualifying examination, officially advancing to PhD candidacy.
November 2022
Award
Best Poster Award at VRST 2022
Received Best Poster Award at the 28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology.