School of Interdisciplinary Engineering & Sciences

XR-HIV Lab

At the Hub of Immersive Virtual Environments (HIVE) we aim to investigate avenues of multimodal interaction for increased immersion in various application domains. Primary research areas include XR, computer haptics and brain-computer interfaces. We explore opportunities to generate enhanced and enriched experiences through immersive visualization and multiple interaction channels

PI’s Profile:

 

 Dr. Shahzad Rasool is an Assistant Professor at SINES. He received his Ph.D. from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, specializing in Computer Engineering. His research interests lie at the intersection of XR, haptics, and brain-computer interfaces. His interdisciplinary research earned him SINES Best Researcher and SINES Best Innovator awards in 2022 while he was awarded SINES Best Teacher award in 2020.  He has received more than PKR 72 million research grants from various organizations and has successfully delivered multiple industrial projects.Previously, he was a research fellow at the Immersive Mathematics Lab of Fraunhofer Singapore.

Dr. Uzma Habib is an Associate Professor at SINES, NUST, Pakistan, and earned her PhD from Heidelberg University, Germany, in 2012. She has been active in teaching and research since 2013 and introduced Computational Chemistry Specialization at RCMS, now SINES in 2014. Her work centers on using computational chemistry particularly DFT to study atomic and molecular properties, reaction mechanisms, and biochemical processes. 

  • Projects:

  1. Managing Student Stress: Building Application to help reduce stress, NUST, PI (1 Million) – In-progress.
  2. Development of a Virtual Reality Training and Testing System for Learning in Complex Domains, HEC, PI (6,28 Million)
  3. Virtual reality simulation for vehicle driving training through restricted outdoor regions, HQ1C PA, 2022-2023, PI (4.69 Million)
  4. Virtual reality training simulator for critical multi-operator vehicle, RDE, 2022-2024, PI (50.33 Million)
  5. Simulation of vehicle operator procedures in virtual reality, HQ1C PA, 2022, PI (2 Million)
  6. Development of vision-based insect flight tracking environment for flight performance estimation of perching and prey-predator maneuver, HEC, 2021-2024, CoPI (7.68 Million)
  7. Tangible Video Communication, HEC, 2017-2018, PI (0.38 Million)
  8. In-silico modeling and analysis on molybdenum cofactor deficiency in humans, HEC, 2019-2021, PI (Rs. 2.988 Million)
  9. Advanced Catalytic Cracking of Facemask Waste in Pakistan: Novel MFI and MWW Zeolites for Targeted Olefins Production, NUST, 2024-2025, PI (Rs. 1 Million)

Human Resource

Typical Enrollment of lab researchers: 5-6 researchers

Lab Equipment /Resources:

VR/MR HMDs
  • HTC Vive Pro 2
  • Oculus/Meta Quest 2 (04)
  • Pico 4 (02)
  • Oculus Rift S
Sensing Devices
  • Leap Motion Controller
  • Insta360 X4
  • Emotiv Insight 5-channel EEG headset
  • Neurosky Mindwave Mobile 2 EEG Headset
  • SeeedStudio Grove GSR Sensor
  • Sensable Phantom Omni Haptic devices
  • 2 DoF Motion platform
Software
  • Gaussian
  • ADF
  • MOE
  • Gromos
  • Unity/Unreal
  • Blender

Expertise/Capabilities of lab:

  • XR Development
  • 3D Modeling
  • Training Simulators Development
  • Serious Game Design for Learning
  • Chemical Education using Virtual Reality
  • Molecular Modeling
  • Solving chemical problems using Computational Chemistry Methods
  • DFT Studies
  • MD Simulations

Contact Us:

Dr Shahzad Rasool
Email: [email protected]
Contact No.: 05190855737
Dr. Uzma Habib
Email: [email protected]
Contact No.: 05190855735