Omar A. Khan | XR Researcher

About Me

I am a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA. I am advised by Dr. Tiffany D. Do as a member of the DIVA Lab.

My research lies at the intersection of embodiment and multisensory perception across VR, AR, and the real world. For example, evaluating haptics in embodied interactions for social VR, teleoperation, and human-robot interaction, to ensure they are designed in a way that is useful and beneficial.

I publish in TVCG, IEEE VR, ISMAR, and CHI.

Previously, I was an undergraduate research assistant with Dr. Kangsoo Kim as a member of the HXI Lab at the University of Calgary, in Canada.

Timeline

September 2026: One conference paper accepted to ACM VRST 2026!
June 2026: One TVCG paper accepted to IEEE ISMAR 2026, and one poster accepted to ACM SUI 2026!
April 2026: Gave an invited talk at Stony Brook University!
February 2026: One poster accepted to ACM CHI 2026!
January 2026: One TVCG paper accepted to IEEE VR 2026!
October 2025: Received an honorable mention for my TVCG paper, and served as a student volunteer at ISMAR!
September 2025: Joined Drexel University as a Ph.D. Student!
June 2025: One TVCG paper accepted to IEEE ISMAR 2025!
January 2025: Two workshop papers (1, 2) and one poster accepted to IEEE VR 2025!
November 2024: Winner at the University of Calgary Undergraduate Research Symposium!
May 2024: Received an Alberta Innovates SRS award ($7500 CAD) to conduct research over the summer!
January 2024: One poster accepted to IEEE VR 2024!
May 2023: Received an NSERC USRA award ($7500 CAD) to conduct research over the summer!
January 2023: Joined the HXI Lab as an undergraduate research assistant!

Journal Articles

Our 4 experimental conditions for feeling dog ears: no haptics, active haptics, passive haptics, and both.

New! Having Dog Ears "for Real": Effects of Active and Passive Haptics on Embodying Non-Human Body Parts in VR

Omar A. Khan, Bao Han Trinh, Lee Lisle, Tiffany D. Do

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 2026.

Acceptance rate: 16%

Impact Factor: 6.8

Influence of Avatar Appearance and Target Distance on Locomotion Method Selection in Virtual Reality

Omar A. Khan, Junyeong Kum, Hyeongil Nam, Myungho Lee, Kangsoo Kim

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 4668-4677, 2026.

Acceptance rate: 20%

Impact Factor: 6.8

🏅Honorable Mention for Best Paper Award at IEEE ISMAR 2025 (Top 3%)

Impact of Avatar-Locomotion Congruence on User Experience and Identification in Virtual Reality

Omar Khan, Hyeongil Nam, Kangsoo Kim

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), vol. 31, no. 11, pp. 9878–9888, 2025.

Acceptance rate: 8%

Impact Factor: 6.8

Conference Proceedings

Participant speaking to the embodied AI counselor in VR.

New! Listening and Mirroring: The Effects of Verbal Attunement and Behavioral Mimicry on Social and Empathic Perceptions of Embodied AI Agents in VR

Nathalia Gomez, Haig Shamlian, Omar Khan, Tiffany D. Do

Proceedings of 2026 ACM Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST), pp. 1-10, 2026.

Acceptance rate: 27%

ICORE conf. rank: B

Extended Abstracts and Workshop Papers

Non-human avatars with various body parts labeled, along with the frequencies reported in our survey.

New! Non-Human Body Parts in Social VR: A Survey of Furry and Kemonomimi Communities

Omar A. Khan, Lee Lisle, Tiffany D. Do

Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI), 2026.

Excerpt of our system and study conditions.

Exploring Experiential Differences Between Virtual and Physical Memory-Linked Objects in Extended Reality

Zaid Ahmed, Omar A. Khan, Hyeongil Nam, Kangsoo Kim

Proceedings of ACM CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA), no. 269, pp. 1-5, 2026.

Acceptance rate: 38%

ICORE conf. rank: A*

An illustration depicting our concept of TangibleMoments: the user uses a sticker to embed an XR memory of playing a video game on the controller, then re-experiences the memory at a later time.

TangibleMoments: Embedding XR Memories onto Physical Objects

Omar Khan, Zaid Ahmed, Hyeongil Nam, Kangsoo Kim

Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW), pp. 1147–1153, 2025.

“I look like a gorilla, but don’t move like one!”: Impact of Avatar-Locomotion Congruence in Virtual Reality

Omar Khan, Hyeongil Nam, Kangsoo Kim

Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW), pp. 1202–1203, 2025.

Virtual Human and Symbol-based Guide Cue in a digitally reconstructed campus building.

Exploring the Impact of Virtual Human and Symbol-Based Guide Cues in Immersive VR on Real-World Navigation Experience

Omar Khan, Anh Nguyen, Michael Francis, Kangsoo Kim

Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW), pp. 883–884, 2024.

Professional Activities

External reviewer for IEEE VR, IEEE ISMAR, ACM CHI, ACM VRST, and Springer Virtual Reality.
Student volunteer at IEEE ISMAR 2025 and 2026.
Event coordinator for the Doctoral Student Association of Drexel College of Computing and Informatics, 2026-27.

Facts

I am Canadian. I was born and raised in Mississauga, but spent my high-school and college years in Calgary. 🍁
I love gaming. My favorite video games are Elden Ring, Deltarune, and Outer Wilds. 🪐