About

Dr. Ryan P. McMahan is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and of Learning Sciences at the University of Central Florida (UCF), where he directs the eXtended Reality & Training (XRT) Lab. His research primarily focuses on using extended reality (XR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies to facilitate and enhance training and education. Before joining UCF in Fall 2019, he was an Associate Professor of Computer Science and of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas). He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Applications from Virginia Tech in 2011. Dr. McMahan has contributed to acquiring over $3.4 million in funding and is personally credited with over $2.3 million in awards. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. He is a coauthor of the book "3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice, 2nd Edition," and has over 5000 citations, an h-index of 26, and an i10-index of 49. He has advised 7 Ph.D. graduates and 6 M.S. thesis graduates to completion. His teaching experience includes over 30 courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels in computer science, consistently earning high student perception of instruction scores averaging over 4.8 out of 5.0. He has received multiple teaching awards, including the Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award from the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at UT Dallas in 2016 and the Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award from the College of Engineering and Computer Science at UCF in 2023. In addition to his research and teaching, Dr. McMahan has served in numerous professional service roles such as Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics and the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. He has held leadership roles in conferences, including Program Chair for the 2020 International Conference on Artificial Reality and Teleexistence & Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments, and has been a program committee member, organizing committee member, workshop organizer, and NSF panelist. At the university level, he has contributed through various service roles at both UCF and UT Dallas, including faculty advisor positions for student organizations, committee memberships, and publicity roles.

Research topics

• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Science
• Physics
• Computer vision
• Human–computer interaction
• Psychology
• Optics
• Engineering
• Data science
• Computer graphics (images)

Selected publications

• XR application development in the 21st century: a survey spanning two decades of XR developers, applications, and challenges

  Frontiers in Virtual Reality · 2026-04-30

  articleOpen access

  This article provides an in-depth analysis of how virtual and augmented reality (XR) application development has evolved since the emergence of affordable XR hardware in the mid-2010s. Based on surveying 158 XR developers about their experiences between 2003 and 2020, and additional interviews conducted in 2024, our study reveals a significant reduction in barriers to entry for creating XR applications. Although many of the technical challenges faced by developers have eased over time, testing-related difficulties remain a major hurdle in XR application development, and possibly have become more pronounced over time. Moreover, despite the availability of XR toolkits, developers still tend to build common features like graphical user interfaces and object manipulation from scratch rather than reusing existing components. In addition to documenting these trends in the post-2015 XR landscape, the article proposes strategies to address ongoing challenges, presents a ranked developer wishlist of XR toolkit features, and suggests ways to further support and empower XR developers.

  PublisherDOI

• Effects of Virtual Reality System Fidelity on Presence using the Fidelity-based Presence Scale

  2026-04-13 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Numerous studies have investigated the effects of system fidelity as a whole on one’s total sense of presence in virtual reality (VR). The Fidelity-based Presence Scale (FPS), a recently introduced presence questionnaire, provides a method for investigating the effects of different system fidelities (interaction, scenario, and display) on different aspects of one’s sense of presence. In this paper, we present one of the first studies to investigate those effects for a locomotion task by conducting a 2 × 2 × 2 within-subjects experiment that reveals insight on how the components of system fidelity affect sense of presence. Like recent research, our results indicate that interaction fidelity and display fidelity significantly affect one’s interaction presence and display presence, respectively. However, unlike prior work, we did not find that changes in scenario fidelity significantly affected one’s scenario presence. We discuss other results and the possible implications of this research.

  PublisherDOI

• Motion-based user identification across XR and metaverse applications by deep classification and similarity learning

  Frontiers in Virtual Reality · 2026-03-06

  articleOpen access

  This paper examines the generalization capacity of two state-of-the-art classification and similarity learning models in reliably identifying users from their motion patterns across diverse eXtended Reality (XR) applications. We introduce a novel dataset comprising motion data from 49 users in five XR applications: four XR games with distinct task and action profiles, and one social XR application without predefined tasks. Using this dataset, we evaluate both models’ identification performance and, in particular, their ability to generalize across applications. Our results show that while the models can accurately identify individuals within the same application, their cross-application performance remains limited. Accordingly, recent approaches to biometric motion-based verification and identification exhibit low generalization capacity. While the results suggest that current risks of unintended or privacy-critical user identification in XR and Metaverse contexts are limited, they also indicate that these risks are likely to grow rapidly as model generalization improves. To support reproducibility and encourage further research on motion-based user identification in typical Metaverse use cases, we release our cross-application XR motion dataset and accompanying code publicly.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Advancing Pedagogical Innovation: Educational Supplemental XR Module Guide

  Lecture notes in computer science · 2026-01-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• An Investigation of Look Cues and Pick Cues for Guidance in Dense Operating Environments

  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · 2025-09-01

  article

  Interaction cues, which inform users about potential actions to take, are common to many types of extended reality applications. While numerous studies have compared individual interaction cues, few studies have investigated combinations of interaction cues for complex tasks, particularly ones involving high counts of similar actions. We present a within-subject study ( n = 48) investigating the effects of interaction cue combinations for guiding users through in-cockpit procedures for a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The results of our study indicate significant effects for different interaction cue combinations for perceived mental effort and discomfort. Furthermore, the completion time results in our study contradict previous results pertaining to the effectiveness of specific interaction cues, which we believe are due to the context and complexity of the real-world application underlying our study. These results imply that Look Arrow and Pick Arrow are the optimal interaction cue combination for scenarios that involve dense operating environments.

  PublisherDOI

• QISCIT: A validated concept inventory assessment for quantum information science

  ArXiv.org · 2025-06-20

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Quantum information science (QIS) is a critical interdisciplinary field that requires a well-educated workforce in the near future. Numerous researchers and educators have been actively investigating how to best educate and prepare such a workforce. An open issue has been the lack of a validated tool to asses QIS understanding without requiring college-level math. In this paper, we present the systematic development and content validation of a new assessment instrument called the Quantum Information Science Concept Introductory Test (QISCIT). With feedback from 11 QIS experts, we have developed and validated a 31-item version of QISCIT that covers concepts like quantum states, quantum measurement, qubits, entanglement, coherence and decoherence, quantum gates and computing, and quantum communication. In addition to openly sharing our new concept inventory, we discuss how introductory QIS instructors can use it in their courses.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Fidelity-based Presence Scale (FPS): Modeling the Effects of Fidelity on Sense of Presence

  2025-04-24 · 4 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Within the virtual reality (VR) research community, there have been several efforts to develop questionnaires with the aim of better understanding the sense of presence. Despite having numerous surveys, the community does not have a questionnaire that informs which components of a VR application contributed to the sense of presence. Furthermore, previous literature notes the absence of consensus on which questionnaire or questions should be used. Therefore, we conducted a Delphi study, engaging presence experts to establish a consensus on the most important presence questions and their respective verbiage. We then conducted a validation study with an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The efforts between our two studies led to the creation of the Fidelity-based Presence Scale (FPS). With our consensus-driven approach and fidelity-based factoring, we hope the FPS will enable better communication within the research community and yield important future results regarding the relationship between VR system fidelity and presence.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• AdaptiveCoPilot: Design and Testing of a NeuroAdaptive LLM Cockpit Guidance System in both Novice and Expert Pilots

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2025-01-07 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Pilots operating modern cockpits often face high cognitive demands due to complex interfaces and multitasking requirements, which can lead to overload and decreased performance. This study introduces AdaptiveCoPilot, a neuroadaptive guidance system that adapts visual, auditory, and textual cues in real time based on the pilot's cognitive workload, measured via functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). A formative study with expert pilots (N=3) identified adaptive rules for modality switching and information load adjustments during preflight tasks. These insights informed the design of AdaptiveCoPilot, which integrates cognitive state assessments, behavioral data, and adaptive strategies within a context-aware Large Language Model (LLM). The system was evaluated in a virtual reality (VR) simulated cockpit with licensed pilots (N=8), comparing its performance against baseline and random feedback conditions. The results indicate that the pilots using AdaptiveCoPilot exhibited higher rates of optimal cognitive load states on the facets of working memory and perception, along with reduced task completion times. Based on the formative study, experimental findings, qualitative interviews, we propose a set of strategies for future development of neuroadaptive pilot guidance systems and highlight the potential of neuroadaptive systems to enhance pilot performance and safety in aviation environments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cuing Multiple-Targets for Visual Search in Virtual Reality

  2025-03-08

  article

  Visual search is a common task, especially given the high amount of spatial information we process visually. To aid in searching an environment for targets, various cues have been developed and implemented for augmented reality (AR) head-mounted displays (HMDs). A variety of designs have emerged from prior literature including the gaze line, 2D wedge, and 3D arrow, each with unique design characteristics. However, many of these designs are not evaluated beyond their initial design proposals. Results favored the gaze line cue for search time, accuracy, and reported mental effort, potentially highlighting the benefit of having both direction and location information embedded into the cue.

  PublisherDOI

• AdaptiveCoPilot: Design and Testing of a NeuroAdaptive LLM Cockpit Guidance System in both Novice and Expert Pilots

  2025-03-08 · 12 citations

  article

  Pilots operating modern cockpits often face high cognitive demands due to complex interfaces and multitasking requirements, which can lead to overload and decreased performance. This study introduces AdaptiveCoPilot, a neuroadaptive guidance system that adapts visual, auditory, and textual cues in real time based on the pilot’s cognitive workload, measured via functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). A formative study with expert pilots (N=3) identified adaptive rules for modality switching and information load adjustments during preflight tasks. These insights informed the design of AdaptiveCoPilot, which integrates cognitive state assessments, behavioral data, and adaptive strategies within a context-aware Large Language Model (LLM). The system was evaluated in a virtual reality (VR) simulated cockpit with licensed pilots (N=8), comparing its performance against baseline and random feedback conditions. The results indicate that the pilots using AdaptiveCoPilot exhibited higher rates of optimal cognitive load states on the facets of working memory and perception, along with reduced task completion times. Based on the formative study, experimental findings, qualitative interviews, we propose a set of strategies for future development of neuroadaptive pilot guidance systems and highlight the potential of neuroadaptive systems to enhance pilot performance and safety in aviation environments.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Leveraging the Virtualness of Virtual Reality for More-Effective Training

  NSF · $435k · 2016–2020

• CAREER: Leveraging the Virtualness of Virtual Reality for More-Effective Training

  NSF · $289k · 2019–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Doug A. Bowman

  24 shared

• Alec G. Moore

  18 shared

• D. Tiffany

  University of Central Florida

  16 shared

• Chengyuan Lai

  The University of Texas at Dallas

  10 shared

• Regis Kopper

  University of North Carolina at Greensboro

  9 shared

• James Coleman Eubanks

  RTX (United States)

  8 shared

• Eric D. Ragan

  8 shared

• Camille Isabella Protko

  6 shared