Abstract: We are entering the era of immersive computing where extended reality (XR) and AI technologies will enable the seamless integration of the physical with the virtual. This new era of computing will transform how we design and interact with computers similar to the changes from mainframe to personal to mobile to internet/cloud computing, with impacts on all human activities and industries. Immersive systems that provide comfortable, mobile, all day, trustworthy, rich experiences, however, remain a grand challenge. Addressing this grand challenge requires an interdisciplinary approach to bridge the orders of magnitude gaps between the state-of-the-art and desired systems, with the human experience at its center. The IMMERSE Center for Immersive Computing at Illinois brings together campuswide expertise in immersive technologies, applications, and human experience to address this grand challenge. This talk will provide an overview of the research, education, and infrastructure activities of IMMERSE, with the human experience as a critical focus.

Bio: Sarita Adve is the Richard T. Cheng Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she directs the campus-wide IMMERSE Center for Immersive Computing. She has broad research interests spanning the computing system stack, with a current focus on immersive or extended reality (XR) systems. Her notable contributions include ILLIXR (Illinois Extended Reality), the first open-source end-to-end XR system, and the XR systems research it has enabled; the data-race-free, Java, and C++ memory models which form the foundation for memory models used in most hardware and software systems today; and pioneering software-driven approaches for hardware resiliency. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the ACM, IEEE, and AAAS, and a recipient of the ACM/IEEE-CS Ken Kennedy award, the Computing Research Association (CRA) distinguished service award for the CARES movement, the IIT Bombay distinguished alumni award, and the UIUC campus award for excellence in graduate student mentoring.