Hi! My name is Eugy and I am currently a 4th year Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University. I am advised by Prof. Jeremy Bailenson at the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University. Prior to Stanford, I received my B.S. in Cognitive Science at Brown University.

My research focuses on cognitive and behavioral responses to social interactions in virtual reality. How do factors such as your virtual appearance and your surroundings influence the way you perceive and move in the virtual world? Ultimately, I am interested in how these findings can shape virtual practices in domains such as law and education. My most recent project involves a longitudinal, large-scale examination of social interactions.

email: eugyoung at stanford.edu

Research

Selected Publications

• 

  People, Places, and Time: A Large-scale, Longitudinal Study of Transformed Avatars and Environmental Context in Group Interaction in the Metaverse (2023)

  Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

  Han, E.*, Miller, M.R., DeVeaux, C., Jun, H., Nowak, K.L., Hancock, J.T., Ram, N., Bailenson, J.N.

  Understanding how people connect socially via avatars in immersive virtual reality has become increasingly important given the prolific rise of the metaverse. In two large-scale, longitudinal field experiments, we extend predictions of the Transformed Social Interaction paradigm to investigate how the appearance of avatars and the characteristics of the virtual environment influence people’s behaviors and attitudes over time.

• 

  Prerequisites for Learning in Networked Immersive Virtual Reality (2022)

  Technology, Mind, and Behavior

  Han, E.*, Nowak, K.L., & Bailenson, J.N.

  There has been growing interest in using virtual reality (VR) as a solution for many of the challenges facing distance education, such as fostering a sense of connectedness with classmates. However, implementing VR in distance education has its share of challenges, such as hardware accessibility and a scarcity of content which match curricula. In this exploratory, mixed-methods study, we examine students’ use of head-mounted displays to meet with classmates inside social VR.

Body Crumple, Sound Intrusion, and Embodiment Violation: Toward a Framework for Miscommunication in VR (2023)

Computer-Supported Cooperative Work And Social Computing (CSCW)

Akselrad, D., DeVeaux, C., Han, E.*, Miller, M.R., & Bailenson, J.N.

The advent of widely-accessible VR has enabled individuals to communicate—and miscommunicate—in new ways. To explore these miscommunications, we introduce a preliminary framework based on events that occurred during 3600 minutes of observation inside a university course taught in VR. We identify three types of miscommunication that routinely occurred: body crumple, sound intrusion, and embodiment violation. By mapping the affordances by which social VR fails to facilitate effective communication, we hope to provide educators, developers, and virtual ethnographers with a means for understanding and navigating the challenges of VR-based collaboration

Large-Scale Study of Proxemics and Gaze in Groups (2023)

IEEE Virtual Reality

Miller, M.R., DeVeaux, C., Han, E.*, Ram, N., Bailenson, J.N.

Scholars who study nonverbal behavior have focused an incredible amount of work on proxemics, how close people stand to one another, and mutual gaze, whether or not they are looking at one another. Moreover, many studies have demonstrated a correlation between gaze and distance, and so-called equilibrium theory posits that people modulate gaze and distance to maintain proper levels of nonverbal intimacy. In this experimental field study, we analyze the proxemics and gaze of 232 participants over two experimental studies who each contributed up to about 240 minutes of tracking data during eight weekly 30-minute social virtual reality sessions.

Other Publications

DeVeaux, C., Markowitz, D. M., Han, E.*, Miller, M. R., Hancock, J. T., & Bailenson, J. N. (2023). Descriptive Linguistic Patterns of Group Conversations in VR. In 2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW) (pp. 785-786). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/VRW58643.2023.00235 [Poster]

DeVeaux, C., Han, E.*, Landay, J.A., Bailenson, J.N. (2023).
"Exploring the Relationship Between Attribute Discrepancy and Avatar Embodiment in Immersive Social Virtual Reality."
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.[Full Paper]

Han, E.* & Bailenson, J.N. (Forthcoming).
"Lessons for Lessons in Virtual Classrooms: Designing a Model for Classrooms inside Virtual Reality."
Imagining Futures for Communication Education Forum.

Queiroz, A., McGivney, E., Xiu, S.L., Anderson, C., Beams, B., DeVeaux, C., Frazier, K., Han, E.*, Miller, M. R., Hancock, J. T., & Bailenson, J. N. (2023). Collaborative Tasks in Immersive Virtual Reality Increase Learning. In Proceedings of the 16th Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). [Full Paper]

Conferences

DeVeaux, C., Han, E.*, Landay, J.A., Bailenson, J.N. (2023, May 25-29).
"A Presence of Absence: Understanding Disparities in Avatar Racial Representation and Embodiment in Social VR."
73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [Full Paper]

DeVeaux, C., Markowitz, D., Han, E.*, Miller, M.R., Hancock, J.T., Bailenson, J.N. (2023, May 25-29).
"A Large Scale, Longitudinal Analysis of Speech in Social VR: Language in the Virtual Classroom."
73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [Full Paper]

Han, E.*, DeVeaux, C., Harari, G.M., Bailenson, J.N. (2023, May 25-29).
"VRtivity: Understanding Creativity Expression in Shared Virtual Environments."
73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [Extended Abstract]

Lin Q., Ratan R., Lover A., Lim C., Jang D., Schultz Z., An Y., Han, E.* (2023, May 25-29).
"Is Teaching in Virtual Reality Superior to Video Conferencing? Examining the Role of Social Presence."
73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [Research Escalator]

Park, R., DeVeaux, C., Han, E.*, Miller, M.R., Bailenson, J.N., Ram, N. (2023, May 25-29).
"Modeling the Formation and Dissolution of Social Ties in Virtual Reality."
73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [Poster]

Han, E.*, Nowak, K.L., Bailenson, J.N. (2023, May 18).
"Virtual Reality: Transforming Research and Communication Campaigns for the Future."
UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media CHASM Conference. [Video Poster]

Han, E.*, Nowak, K.L., Bailenson, J.N. (2022, May 26-30).
"Learning Together in Virtual Reality: A Longitudinal Case Study."
72nd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Paris, France. [Full Paper] 🏆 Top Student Paper Award, Information Systems Division

Han, E.*, Miller M.R., Nowak, K.L., Bailenson, J.N., Hancock, J.T. (2022, May 26-30).
"The “Social” in Social VR: A Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Behavior in Groups."
72nd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Paris, France. [Extended Abstract]

Han, E.*, Miller M.R., Ram, N., Nowak, K.L., Bailenson, J.N. (2022, May 26-30).
"Understanding Group Behavior in Virtual Reality: A Large-Scale, Longitudinal Study in the Metaverse."
72nd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Paris, France. [Full Paper] [Pre-Print]

Han, E.*, Willcoxon, M., Wirth, D. T., Warren, H. W. (2020, June)
"Weighted-averaging model of crowd motion generalizes to different turn angles and crowd sizes."
Vision Sciences Society.[Poster]

Book Chapters

Han, E.*. & Bailenson, J.N. (In Preparation).
"Social Interaction in VR."
In Schmierbach, M. & Nussbaum, J. (Eds.),Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. Oxford University Press.

Han, E.* & Bailenson, J.N. (2023).
"Moral Behavior in Virtual Reality."
In Kissel, A. & Ramirez, E. (Eds.), Philosophical Issues in Virtual and Augmented Reality. Routledge.[Book Chapter]

Han, E.* & Quintero, S.I. (2023).
"Enacting Virtual Boundaries: Music Video and the Changing Technological Landscape."
In Korsgaard, M.B. & Jirsa, T. (Eds.), Traveling Music Videos. Bloomsbury. [Book Chapter]

DeVeaux, C., Han, E.*, Bailenson, J.N. (2022).
"Expanding Education through Virtual Reality."
In McKenzie, S. P., Arulkadacham, L., Chung, J., & Aziz, Z. (Eds.), The Future of Online Education (pp. 325-336). Nova Science Publishers.

Talks + Panels

1. University of Florida, Digital Worlds Institute, Talk

   November 2023

   Research in AR/VR/MR

2. AWE, Panel

   June 2023

   Avatars, Environments & Self-Expression - from Social VR to Cross-Reality Experiences

3. Stanford XR, Education Panel

   May 2023

   Limitless Future: Exploring Virtual Possibilities” Education Panel

4. SALTISE Conference, Panel

   June 2022

   Symposium Panel: Active learning through virtual realities and 3D avatars: A sneak peek behind the scenes of the process of conception, development, and implementation

5. CodeX FutureLaw Conference, Panel

   April 2022

   Computational Law and the Metaverse (Do Virtual Realities Need Law?)
   with Harry Surden, Lawrence Lessig, Anya Kanevsky, Bill Tai

6. Université Laval, Talk

   February 2022

   Virtual Teachers, Students, & Classrooms

7. Bodyswaps: The Educators vs. Virtual Reality, Panel

   January 2022

   The Virtual World is your Classroom: Learning in the Metaverse