As innovative new technologies continue to evolve, researchers are exploring new ways to integrate them into our communities. One such researcher is Dr. Regis Kopper. Dr. Kopper is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Iowa State University. His research focuses on using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), or extended reality (XR), to develop new trainings for first responders and medical professionals.
Dr. Kopper began his research focusing on low-level interaction techniques for virtual environments and large physical displays. However, since he began working on his research over 20 years ago, technology has evolved, and so has the scope of his work.
“We are currently in a stage where there is a lot of potential for developing highly impactful serious XR applications and relatively few use cases,” he explained. “My recent work aims to investigate what aspects of 3D user interfaces can be leveraged to benefit critical domains.” Dr. Kopper added, "With the advancement of immersive technology, we can start to make a real-world impact and extend the research from the lab (which is still very important for scientific rigor) to the application areas where these technologies can soon be adopted.”
Research Applications
Dr. Kopper’s goal is to apply his research to real-world domains where immersive technologies can be put into practice to serve community needs. For Dr. Kopper, the domains include law enforcement and healthcare. His research, while focusing on the basic design and evaluation of interaction techniques, also includes an understanding of human behavior and performance while interacting with immersive environments. As a result, he has extended his research to include applying such interfaces in high-impact areas of the community, including public safety and health care.
A lot of Dr. Kopper’s research is collaborative in nature. He is working with Duke University Hospital and Barrow Neurological Institute, with the Iowa State Police Department, and with other public safety organizations. Dr. Kopper’s team was recently awarded a $800,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. He will work with the Iowa State University Police Department and the city of Greensboro, North Carolina. NextGen Interactions, an extended reality (XR) start-up from North Carolina, will also partner in the project. The team will create an effective, evidence-based VR training protocol focused on law enforcement de-escalation techniques that will enhance law enforcement training.
“I’m interested in learning more about how my research can combine with other strong research areas at Iowa State. For example, there is some pretty interesting work on agricultural and land surveying using drones and geographic information systems, and I’m interested in learning more about it to see if there’s an opportunity to collaborate,” Dr. Kopper stated when asked about any collaborations he may be interested in pursuing in the future.
Openness to Innovation
Introducing innovative technologies to professionals can often be met with hesitation, and researchers can encounter resistance to new ideas and techniques. Dr. Kopper expressed gratitude towards the members of law enforcement he has worked with for their openness towards innovation.
“I would expect law enforcement's resistance to integrating Augmented Reality, as any new technology may disrupt processes that have been used for decades. Given that officers' lives are on the line, changing how things are done could raise concerns about the safety of any new technology,” Dr. Kopper stated. “What I’ve found, however, is that police officers were very welcoming to new technology, as long as it seamlessly integrated with current procedures.”
When asked about any challenges, Dr. Kopper focused more on the challenges of understanding the target users and their input. The best way to design something to help someone do their job is to have a good understanding of the best ways to help.
“Some unique challenges in working with law enforcement (and EMTs and firefighters) have been understanding their requirements, the important things they do today that cannot change, and where the technology could supplement and improve what they do today rather than replace it. Understanding these requirements directly shapes the tools we elect to develop and the scenarios in which next-generation public safety applications will be most beneficial.”
When it comes to the medical field, Dr. Kopper sees exciting opportunities ahead. “I want to investigate how we can use computer vision and other machine-learning tools in real-time to alert an expert surgeon to pay attention to a surgical procedure being performed. That way, we can scale up the number of simultaneous procedures supervised by a single remote expert.”
Impact on the Community
Dr. Kopper’s research can have an extensive impact on helping improve the training of our first responders and help aid our medical community.
“I firmly believe that immersive technologies will save lives. That ranges from allowing police officers more situational awareness at lower cognitive costs to eliminating geographic and economic barriers to the delivery of healthcare,” he concluded.
For a video demonstrating some of his extended-reality interfaces, please click here.