Jingchen Gao

A little about me
Jingchen.jpg
Jingchen Gao outdoors beside a historic stone building

01 / About me

Hi, I’m Jingchen.

I’m an undergraduate at NYU Shanghai, studying Interactive Media Arts with a minor in Computer Science. My research interests span human–computer interaction, immersive experiences, and human–AI collaboration.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Prof. Yun Huang at UIUC, Prof. Yalong Yang at Georgia Tech, and Prof. Yukang Yan at the University of Rochester.

Human–Computer InteractionVR / ARHuman–AI Collaboration
jg7920@nyu.edu

Education

NYU Shanghai logo

New York University Shanghai

2023 — 2027 (expected)

B.S. in Interactive Media Arts

Minor in Computer Science

New York University logo

New York University

August 2025 — May 2026

Study away · New York

02 / Research Experiences

Georgia Institute of Technology logo

Georgia Institute of Technology

May — September 2026

Mentor: Prof. Yalong Yang

University of Rochester logo

University of Rochester

April 2026 — Present

Mentor: Prof. Yukang Yan

New York University · CUSP logo

New York University · CUSP

August 2025 — January 2026

Mentor: Prof. Paul Torrens

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign logo

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

May — September 2025

Mentor: Prof. Yun Huang

NYU Shanghai · Digital Heritage Lab logo

NYU Shanghai · Digital Heritage Lab

August 2024 — Present

Mentors: Prof. Lala Zuo & Prof. Xingchen Zhang

03 / Selected Research Projects

VR evacuation study · System demonstration
PublishedIEEE TVCG · 2026 · Second author

Follow the Signs or the Crowd?

Effects of Environmental Load and Crowd Dynamics in VR Evacuation

This project explores how environmental load and crowd dynamics shape people’s behavior during a VR evacuation. I developed Unity-based scenarios with crowd agents and environmental hazards, and contributed to the study design, deployment, and analysis. I am the second author and presented the work at IEEE VR 2026.

Zheng Wei, Jingchen Gao, Zhe Yan, Yihan Liu, Linjie Qiu, Xian Xu, Yun Huang, and Huamin Qu

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
32(5), 3229–3239 · 2026

Read the paper
A virtual classroom with seated avatars, cool lighting, and a brightly lit task area at the front
A classroom environment used in the study
Under reviewFirst author

Lighting in a crowded virtual classroom

As first author, I investigate how lighting built into a virtual classroom relates to people’s head-oriented monitoring and task performance in a crowded environment. The project explores warm and cool lighting, uniform and focused illumination, and different levels of social and environmental load as part of the scene itself.

  • Unity
  • Virtual reality
  • Lighting design
  • User study
Under reviewFirst author

Extending the space around a movie

I explore how the space around a conventional movie can become part of the viewing experience in VR. As first author, I led the development of a WebXR system that combines generated panoramic backgrounds and curated visual effects while keeping the original movie, sound, and central screen intact. The project considers how surrounding visual content can support a movie while balancing immersion and distraction.

  • WebXR
  • Generative media
  • Visual effects
  • User study
Under reviewSecond author

Web-to-VR Authoring Tool

This project explores how spatial web stories can be transformed into immersive experiences through a human-guided generative process. The authoring workflow turns a prepared web story into an editable spatial experience and a WebXR reader, allowing people to review and shape the result. I am the second author of this work with the IVI Lab at Georgia Tech.

  • WebXR
  • Spatial storytelling
  • Generative AI
  • Human–AI collaboration
Under reviewCo-author

Hazard profiles for training simulations

I am a co-author of research on characterizing hazards for training simulations. The work considers how hazard profiles can provide a framework for describing simulated training scenarios.