Joe Gabbard is General Chair of the 2021 ISMAR Conference

Joseph Gabbard (ISE), head of the Cogent Lab and Executive Committee member of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI) at Virginia Tech, is General Chair of the 2021 International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) Conference. His co-chairs include Antonello Uva and Michele Fiorentino from Politecnico di Bari, Italy, and Veronica Teichrieb from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil. ISMAR, sponsored by IEEE, is the leading international academic conference in the fields of Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. The conference will be held during the first week of October 2021 in Bari, Italy at Politecnico di Bari. Conference organizers are optimistic about a hybrid (in person and virtual) format for the conference. A diversity and inclusion committee will work to ensure accessibility to the conference.

In addition to Joe Gabbard, other CHCI members are involved in the conference. Wallace Lages (SOVA) is Chair of Pitch-Your-Lab, overseeing sessions where faculty can come and promote their lab, in hopes of recruiting PhD students and postdocs to their projects. Doug Bowman will serve as TVCG liaison. Sang Won Lee (CS) is Chair for Online Experiences. Cassidy Nelson (ISE) is Chair of Student Volunteers, Lee Lisle (CS) is Web Chair, Nayara Faria (ISE) is Chair for Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. Alex Krasner (CS) is assisting in standing up and managing Discord, the conference communication and planning channel. Cassidy Nelson, Nayara Faria, and Alex Krasner work in the Cogent Lab. 

In response to the recent explosion of commercial and research activities related to AR and MR and continuing the expansion of its scope over the past several years, ISMAR 2021 will cover the full range of technologies from interfaces in the real world to fully immersive experiences. This range goes far beyond the traditional definition of AR, which focused on precise 3D tracking, visual display, and real-time performance. ISMAR 2021 is striving to offer a hybrid conference of the future to support engaging experiences for both virtual and physical attendees, and organizers hope the conference will provide new ideas on how AR and VR can assist in future conference gatherings. 

Joe Gabbard’s involvement, and the conference location, reflect the spirit of collaboration that brought the conference organizers together. After reviewing a paper from researchers at Politecnico di Bari in 2012, Joe began a dialogue with Michele and Antonello’s VR3 Lab. They began to collaborate and publish together on topics related to AR user interface design. In 2018, Joe Gabbard was invited to be a visiting professor at Politecnico di Bari. This opportunity to collaborate closely over three months was the nexus for the 2021 ISMAR conference team and location. The moral of the story according to Joe: “Embrace collaboration over competition and be open to those who are working in your area.”