Daniel is a PhD student at Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken (Germany). He is a researcher of the Computer Graphics Department, where he works under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Karol Myszkowski and Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Seidel. Daniel obtained his bachelor degree at University of Zaragoza, majoring in Electronic and Automatic Engineering, and later on his master degree majoring in Robotics, Graphics and Computer Vision. He spent some months as research intern at Graphics and Imaging Lab, working with Prof. Dr. Ana Serrano and Prof. Dr. Sandra Malpica. His research is focused on studying human perception and performance in virtual environments, particularly audiovisual interaction and visual response behavior.
Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 2024
We investigate the temporal and spatial relationship of audiovisual interactions, focusing on how auditory cues that precede visual stimuli influence saccadic latency. Our research, conducted within a virtual reality environment, reveals that auditory cues preceding visual information can significantly accelerate saccadic responses, but this effect plateaus beyond certain temporal thresholds. Additionally, while the spatial positioning of visual stimuli influences the speed of these eye movements, we find that the location of auditory cues with respect to their corresponding visual stimulus does not have a comparable effect. To validate our findings, we implement two practical applications: first, a basketball training task set in a more realistic environment with complex audiovisual signals, and second, an interactive farm game that explores previously untested values of our key factors.
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE ISMAR) 2024
We present a computational and probabilistic model to predict VR users’ reaction latency to visual-auditory multisensory targets. To this aim, we first conducted a psychophysical experiment in VR to measure the reaction latency by tracking the onset of eye movements. Experiments with numerical metrics and user studies with naturalistic scenarios showcase the model’s accuracy and generalizability. Lastly, we discuss the potential applications, such as measuring the sufficiency of target appearance duration in immersive video playback, and suggesting the optimal spatial layouts for AR interface design.
The Visual Computer 2024
We leverage the full control of audiovisual cues provided by VR to study an audiovisual suppression effect (ASE) where auditory stimuli degrade visual performance. In particular, we explore if barely audible sounds (in the range of the limits of hearing frequencies) generated following a specific spatiotemporal setup can still trigger the ASE while participants are experiencing high cognitive loads. Our results show that the ASE is robust to variations in frequency, volume and cognitive load, achieving a reduction of visual perception with the proposed hardly audible sounds. Using such auditory cues means that this effect could be used in real applications, from entertaining to VR techniques like redirected walking.
PhD Candidate on Computer Graphics under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Karol Myszkowski and Prof. Dr. HansPeter Seidel. My research is focused on studying human perception and performance in virtual environments, particularly audiovisual interaction and visual response behavior.
Highly competitive Master with a strong research focus. Took courses on Deep Learning, Computer Graphics, VR, Computer Vision, SLAM and Robotics. Master thesis done under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ana Serrano and Prof. Dr. Sandra Malpica with the title "Analysis and experimentation of visual performance degradation effects due to auditory stimuli in immersive virtual environments".
University was Ranked #1 in Spain in Computer Graphics, Robotics and Computer Vision in 2020-2022(edurank)
Top 9 of the promotion. Degree thesis done under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Antonio Bono Nuez with the title "Design of a platform for monitoring and data analysis with commercial battery cyclers".
Obtained Honors in Industrial Automation.
Our publication "Minimally disruptive auditory cues: their impact on visual performance in virtual reality" has been accepted for publication. Check the project webpage for more information.
Our publication "Measuring and Predicting Multisensory Reaction Latency: A Probabilistic Model for Visual-Auditory Integration" has been accepted for publication. Check the project webpage for more information and see you in Seatle!.
Our publication "Accelerating Saccadic Response through Spatial and Temporal Cross-Modal Misalignments" has been accepted for publication. Check the project webpage for more information and see you in Denver!.