Shortly after earning my graduate degree in Human-Computer Interaction, I joined a team at Iowa State University's Virtual Reality Applications Center to help develop an advanced augmented reality laboratory. Funded by Boeing and the U.S. Army, our award-winning team was tasked with creating a reconfigurable training environment that combined physical and digital experiences to support immersive military training.

The laboratory integrated large-scale projection systems that extended virtual environments beyond the physical walls of the space, realistic sets and props, ceiling-mounted infrared tracking systems for precise spatial positioning, and wearable haptic technologies that provided tactile feedback. The result was a highly immersive environment that was meant to blur the boundary between the physical and digital worlds, allowing users to train within realistic, dynamically changing scenarios.