SCA 2022 - Keynote by Steven LaValle: The Path to Perception Engineering

This talk starts with some motivational background from my own research on robot planning algorithms to the development of the Oculus Rift. This path has led us to propose that virtual reality (VR), and parts of other fields involving sensing and perception, can be reframed as perception engineering, in which the object being engineered is the perceptual illusion itself, and the physical devices that achieve it are auxiliary. This talk will report on our progress toward developing mathematical foundations that attempt to bring the human-centered sciences of perceptual psychology, neuroscience, and physiology closer to core engineering principles by viewing the design and delivery of illusions as a coupled dynamical system. The system is composed of two interacting entities: The organism and its environment, in which the former may be biological or even an engineered robot. Our vision is that the research community will one day have principled engineering approaches to design, simulation, prediction, and analysis of sustained, targeted perceptual experiences. It is hoped that this direction of research will offer valuable guidance and deeper insights into VR, robotics, graphics, and possibly the biological sciences that study perception.