About the project
Objective
- Development of novel interaction techniques that enable users to collaboratively create and modify immersive environments in real time, leveraging generative AI for dynamic content generation based on user input.
- Creation of AI-enhanced XR scenarios that vary in visual fidelity, input modalities, and agent embodiment. These will be systematically evaluated to understand their effects on user engagement, interaction quality, and perceived agency of AI.
- In-depth studies on how users perceive, interact with, and respond to AI agents in XR, with attention to trust, collaboration, and perceived autonomy in task performance and social interaction.
- Evidence-based design guidelines for integrating agentic AI in immersive environments, with considerations for interaction design, ethical implications, and support for individual and collaborative experiences.
This project is primarily situated at the intersection of Rich and Healthy Life and Cooperate within the Digital Futures research matrix. It explores how AI-enhanced XR environments can foster meaningful human-AI collaboration across immersive scenarios. The project also contributes to the societal context by designing XR experiences that support personal development, creativity, and skill-building. Through dynamic, interactive, and adaptive environments, the system enables users to engage in: (1) self-paced learning and creative prototyping, (2) scenario rehearsal and training, and (3) immersive co-creation. Central to the Cooperate theme is the exploration of multi-agent and multi-user interaction, focusing on how AI agents can support, guide, or adapt in real time to facilitate shared decision-making and effective human-human collaboration, mediated or enhanced by AI.
Background
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR), which includes Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR), represent two rapidly evolving domains that are reshaping the modalities through which humans engage with digital systems. AI technologies are now deeply embedded in a wide array of applications, ranging from algorithmic recommendation systems and automated content generation to complex decision-support tools used in domains such as traffic management and surgical procedures. Concurrently, XR technologies are becoming increasingly mainstream due to advances in hardware and the availability of affordable head-mounted displays, making immersive experiences more accessible to both industry and the general public. Although both AI and XR are subjects of extensive research, the intersection of these fields, particularly within the context of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), remains relatively under-investigated. In particular, the integration of AI-driven agents, including conversational agents, within XR environments poses novel questions regarding interaction design, user experience, and the role of intelligent systems as co-actors in immersive settings.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration
The researchers in the team represent the KTH School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Digital Systems Division.
