Human Factors | Étienne Peillard

CEXI-HA

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A shared environment for designing, prototyping, and evaluating interactions between people and immersive technologies.

CEXI-HA is an IMT Atlantique shared experimental platform dedicated to the study and evaluation of interactions between people and immersive technologies. It brings together the facilities and expertise needed to design, prototype, and analyze Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality systems, as well as research in human factors, perception, cognitive ergonomics, and neurotechnology.

The platform connects several IMT Atlantique teams and departments to support interdisciplinary research on augmented humans, human–machine collaboration, and the evaluation of interactive systems.

Shared infrastructureFacilities, equipment, and expertise pooled across teams.

Human-centered studiesControlled experiments with rigorous methodological and ethical support.

Open collaborationAcademic projects, international partnerships, industrial research, and services.

Mission

CEXI-HA has four complementary objectives:

support experimental research on immersive interaction and human-assistance technologies;
pool technical and scientific resources for studies involving human participants;
promote methodological and ethical rigor throughout the experimental process;
turn research into demonstrators and interactive prototypes.

Research areas

The platform supports projects spanning:

Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality;
brain–computer interfaces, neurotechnology, and wearable systems;
perception, cognition, and experimental neuroscience;
ergonomics and human factors;
human–human and human–system collaboration;
augmented health, simulation, and immersive training.

Facilities and experimental capabilities

CEXI-HA provides controlled immersive environments and a modular experimental stack. Depending on the project, teams can combine:

immersive headsets, large interactive displays, and collaborative XR systems;
optical motion capture and body tracking;
eye tracking and physiological or neurophysiological sensing;
physical props, tangible interfaces, and spatially registered virtual content;
software for experimental control, data acquisition, synchronization, and analysis.

These capabilities support work ranging from embodied interaction and altered body perception to attention studies, neurofeedback, remote collaboration, and augmented supervision of complex systems.

Immersive experiments can combine virtual content, tracked physical props, and controlled observation.

Mixed-reality prototyping and evaluation integrate sensing, visualization, and interaction.

The platform also supports demonstrators, knowledge transfer, and research outreach.

Activities and services

CEXI-HA helps teams to:

design and run studies with human participants in controlled immersive environments;
measure and analyze behavior and performance using motion capture, eye tracking, and physiological monitoring;
prototype, test, and evaluate immersive, interactive, or collaborative systems;
prepare experimental protocols, ethics-review applications, consent procedures, and data-management plans.

Who can use the platform?

The platform is open to IMT Atlantique researchers, faculty, doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, and students involved in experimental work. It also supports academic consortia, international collaborations, and industrial partners through collaborative research projects, contracts, or services.

A common framework for responsible human-centered research

CEXI-HA helps structure a shared approach to studies involving people at IMT Atlantique. In coordination with teams working in cognition, health, and user-centered design, it contributes to harmonizing:

participant recruitment, information, and consent;
ethics-review and GDPR-compliance practices;
responsible experimental methods and data management.

Governance and scientific positioning

The platform is scientifically led by Étienne Peillard in the Computer Science Department. It is jointly supported by the INUIT (natural interaction and mixed reality), P4S (Industry of the Future), BRAIN (neurocognitive modeling and brain–computer interfaces), and DECIDE (decision, cognition, and ergonomics) teams, together with the Optics Department.

CEXI-HA contributes to IMT Atlantique’s Augmented Human scientific strategy.

Contact

For a research project, collaboration, or service request, contact the platform administration:

CEXI-HA administration
cexiha-admin@imt-atlantique.fr

IMT Atlantique — Brest campus, Computer Science Department
Technopôle Brest-Iroise — CS 83818
29238 Brest Cedex 03, France

View the official CEXI-HA page on the IMT Atlantique website.

Enhancing Perceptual and Cognitive Processes in Augmented Reality Studies to Real-World Applications

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) experiments are commonly carried out in tightly controlled laboratories, although real applications involve moving users, complex backgrounds, changing illumination, shadows, and interactions with both physical and virtual objects. These factors can create conflicts between real and augmented perceptual cues and limit the direct transfer of laboratory findings to ecological situations.

This cotutelle PhD project investigates how perceptual and cognitive processes studied in controlled AR experiments can be understood and supported in realistic environments. The work combines computer science, psychology, Human-Computer Interaction, experimental methods, and perception-driven spatial design.

Research objectives

Characterize laboratory–field differences — identify perceptual conflicts caused by motion cues, lighting, shadows, backgrounds, and real–virtual interactions.
Develop transferable methods — devise approaches for adapting controlled experimental results to realistic AR scenarios.
Validate in ecological conditions — evaluate perceptual and cognitive performance in representative environments and tasks.
Support real applications — improve visual assistance, navigation, and interactive guidance in complex environments.

People involved

PhD student

Min Ni

Min Ni is a multidisciplinary designer and researcher in Virtual and Augmented Reality. She is pursuing a cotutelle PhD at IMT Atlantique and the University of Adelaide within CNRS IRL CROSSING through the MSCA COFUND AUFRANDE program, investigating how perceptual and cognitive findings from controlled AR studies can transfer to real-world applications.

Supervisors at IMT Atlantique

Gilles Coppin

Gilles Coppin is Professor of Computer Science at IMT Atlantique and member of the INUIT team. His roles involve both teaching and conducting pioneering research, particularly in the areas of human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence

Etienne Peillard

Since August 1, 2026, I have been an Associate Professor in the Department of Automatic Control, Production Engineering and Computer Science (DAPI) at IMT Atlantique, on the Nantes campus. I am a member of the PACCE team at the LS2N (UMR CNRS 6004).

University of Adelaide

The cotutelle is supervised at the University of Adelaide by Tim Chen, within the broader AUFRANDE collaboration developed with Anna Ma-Wyatt.

Cotutelle

Min Ni is jointly enrolled at IMT Atlantique and the University of Adelaide from February 1, 2025 to January 31, 2028.

Research environment

The cotutelle is developed within the CNRS International Research Laboratory CROSSING, the French–Australian laboratory for Human / Autonomous Agents Teaming. CROSSING connects the IMT Atlantique and Adelaide research environments supporting this doctoral collaboration.

Publications

Min Ni, Etienne Peillard, Gilles Coppin, Tim Chen (2026). How Opacity and Background Affect Surface Contact Perception in Optical See-Through AR. IEEE TVCG.

Project

Funding

This research project is funded through the Australia-France Network of Doctoral Excellence (AUFRANDE), a Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND doctoral programme under grant agreement No. 101081465, with support from IMT Atlantique and the University of Adelaide. AUFRANDE is the funding and doctoral-training programme, not the name of this research project.

Body Perception and Morphology in Augmented Reality

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

PERCEMOA — Perception of the Body and its Morphology in Augmented Reality

Abstract

Virtual Reality can replace a user’s visible body with an avatar, whereas Augmented Reality can preserve the view of the physical body while adding or substituting a modified virtual representation. This coexistence raises fundamental questions: can users embody the augmented body, how does it affect their perception of their physical body, and what happens when the two representations differ in shape or appearance?

PERCEMOA investigates this distinctive form of embodied self-perception. The project combines cognitive psychology, immersive-system development, and user studies to understand the mechanisms of identification, ownership, agency, and body representation in Augmented Reality. It also explores how controlled virtual body modifications could support research and future clinical protocols related to body image.

Research objectives

Characterize embodiment in Augmented Reality — determine how embodiment mechanisms established in Virtual Reality change when the physical body and environment remain visible.
Study dual body representation — examine how embodying a modified virtual body affects perception of the user’s physical or “initial” body, affordances, movement, and interaction capabilities.
Design controlled body transformations — develop rendering and interaction techniques that make virtual modifications measurable, reproducible, and suitable for experimental studies.
Explore health applications — evaluate how Augmented-Reality representations could complement fixed images and mirrors in research and future clinical work on body-image disturbances.

Methodology

The project combines a review of embodiment and body-perception research with experiments using Virtual- and Augmented-Reality headsets, immersive displays, motion capture, eye tracking, and other physiological measures. User studies compare different real–virtual body configurations and quantify their effects on embodiment and self-perception.

Health-related applications remain a longer-term research perspective. The work focuses on quantifying how modified body representations affect perception and on deriving design recommendations, without presuming clinical validation or therapeutic effectiveness.

People involved

PhD student

Marie-Cécile Léculier is a PhD student at IMT Atlantique, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, and Lab-STICC. Her background in cognitive psychology and immersive technologies supports the project’s combination of perceptual experiments and Augmented-Reality system development.

Academic supervision

The PhD is directed by Gilles Coppin at IMT Atlantique and co-supervised by Nathalie Le Bigot at Université de Bretagne Occidentale and Étienne Peillard. The project connects the INUIT and COMMEDIA teams at Lab-STICC.

Gilles Coppin

Nathalie Le Bigot

Nathalie Le Bigot is an Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Western Brittany (Université de Bretagne Occidentale) and a member of the Lab-STICC laboratory. Her research has focused on perception–action interactions, particularly in the context of virtual and augmented reality.

Etienne Peillard

Publications

The first results of PERCEMOA were published in ACM Transactions on Applied Perception and selected for presentation as an invited TAP paper at the ACM Symposium on Applied Perception (SAP 2026).

Etienne Peillard, Marie-Cécile Léculier, Malena Joly, Nathalie Le Bigot (2026). Investigating Self-Body Perception and its Effect on Affordance in Augmented Reality. ACM TAP.

Project DOI

Funding

This PhD is funded by the Institut Mines-Télécom through its Futur, Ruptures & Impacts doctoral research programme, formerly known as Futur & Ruptures. The Lab-STICC record for Marie-Cécile’s PhD identifies the project as part of the 2024 Futur & Ruptures call for IMT excellence doctoral theses.

Research stay at TU Wien

From May to July 2026, Marie-Cécile completed a three-month doctoral mobility at the Virtual and Augmented Reality Research Unit of TU Wien, hosted by Hugo Brument. This research stay was carried out within the framework of EULiST — European Universities Linking Society and Technology, which brings together both Institut Mines-Télécom and TU Wien, as part of its 2026 short-term mobility opportunities for early-career researchers.

The mobility project extended PERCEMOA from mirror-based body modifications to first-person Augmented-Reality representations applied directly to the body. It focused on the influence of viewpoint and localized modifications, particularly of the hand, on body perception, while exploring emerging Augmented-Reality devices and dynamic or multimodal interaction techniques.

Research environment

PERCEMOA draws on the immersive facilities of Lab-STICC and the European Center for Virtual Reality in Brest, including Virtual- and Augmented-Reality headsets, immersive displays, motion capture, eye tracking, and the CAVE. Experimental development also benefits from IMT Atlantique’s CEXI-HA platform for research on augmented-human interaction.

AI “Perceptive Assistance” During Teleoperations of Rovers in Deep Space

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

Future missions to the Moon and Mars will rely on remotely operated rovers for exploration and construction. Extended-Reality interfaces can help operators understand the rover’s environment, but restricted camera views, communication latency, and the absence of natural perceptual or proprioceptive feedback may reduce situational awareness and performance.

This PhD project investigates AI-based “perceptive assistance” for deep-space rover teleoperation. It combines immersive interaction, human perception, multimodal feedback, state prediction, and human-factors research to design and evaluate assistance adapted to these extreme operating conditions.

Research challenges

Situational awareness — understand how limited fields of view and non-natural head positions affect the operator’s perception of the remote environment.
Communication latency — characterize the perceptual and behavioral effects of Earth–Moon delays, including their possible contribution to cybersickness.
Missing sensory cues — determine which combinations of visual, auditory, haptic, and proprioceptive feedback best compensate for absent or degraded information.
Adaptive assistance — develop AI agents and state-prediction techniques that select or generate effective assistance according to the task and operating conditions.

Methodology and impact

The research combines controlled user studies in simulated Virtual Reality with the development of technical assistance based on sensory compensation and AI. Analogous environments, including underwater teleoperation scenarios, provide experimentally accessible settings for studying constrained perception and remote action.

Beyond space exploration, the results may support teleoperation in other environments affected by degraded communications, limited sensing, or strong physical constraints.

People involved

PhD student

Nazial Kadir

Nazial Kadir is a PhD student at IMT Atlantique and the University of Adelaide within CNRS IRL CROSSING. His research investigates AI-based perceptive assistance for deep-space rover teleoperation and is funded through the MSCA COFUND SEED programme.

Supervisors at IMT Atlantique

Guillaume Moreau

Professor of Computer Science at IMT Atlantique, Brest campus, in France, with research interests in Virtual and Augmented Reality within the Lab-STICC lab. He is also a member of the INRIA Hybrid team and currently serve as Deputy Dean for Research and Innovation at IMT Atlantique.

Gilles Coppin

Etienne Peillard

University of Adelaide

The doctoral research is jointly supervised at the University of Adelaide by Anna Ma-Wyatt, whose work addresses human factors, sensorimotor control, and eye movements.

Research environment

The project draws on the immersive-interaction and eye-tracking facilities of IMT Atlantique and the University of Adelaide. It also benefits from the research environment of the CNRS International Research Laboratory CROSSING and the Andy Thomas Space Resource Centre.

Funding

This research project is funded through SEED, IMT Atlantique’s interdisciplinary, international, and intersectoral doctoral programme co-funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND scheme (grant agreement No. 101126644).