Events

XR Pediatrics will host the “XR for Behavioral Health” workshop at IEEE ISMAR 2026 in Bari, Italy. The workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of extended reality and behavioral health to discuss physiological sensing, health behavior change through game technologies, and responsible co-design with vulnerable populations. The is workshop scheduled for October 6, 2026. Learn more here.

Dr. Shu Wei presented “Your Past, Present, and Future in the Same Room: Self-Dialogue in XR” which introduced a mixed-reality framework that enables users to embody and interact with their child, present, and future selves through self-dialogue in XR. Dr. Kimberly Hieftje also showcased “Year of the Cicadas,” and Dr. Wei showcased “The Arborist” as technology demonstrations at the AWE Playground and Art Festival, where attendees experienced and provided feedback on both immersive experiences.

Dr. Veronica Weser presented the poster "Caregiver Infection Prevention Education in the NICU through Virtual Reality Hand Hygiene Training Game" at Yale Med Ed Day. Co-authored by Drs. Thomas Murray, Asher Marks, and Kimberly Hieftje, their work demonstrated how virtual reality can support caregiver education and improve infection prevention training in neonatal intensive care settings.

Dr. Deepa Camenga presented the technology demonstration, “Youth Prevention through Immersive Technology: Invite Only VR.” Dr. Kimberly Hieftje presented the poster, “Virtual Reality for Vaping Prevention in Middle Schools: A CFIR-Based Assessment of Implementation Readiness.” Finally, our postgraduate associate Palomi Kurade presented the poster, “Evaluation and Optimization of a Virtual Reality Game for Nicotine and Cannabis E-Cigarette Prevention Among Middle School Students.”

Our postgraduate Associates Palomi Kurade and Shawn Van represented the lab at the 14th Annual Pediatric Research Forum at Yale on May 13. Shawn presented a poster on using improvisational theater techniques to co-design authentic peer interactions around vaping in virtual reality. Palomi presented two posters on evaluating a virtual reality video game for nicotine and cannabis e-cigarette prevention in middle school students and examining middle school students' perceptions of the mental health impacts of nicotine and cannabis vaping.

Dr. Asher Marks will deliver a keynote talk titled “AI in Cancer Care: Paging Dr. ChatGPT?” at CancerCon 2026, held from April 30 to May 3 in Seattle, WA. His talk will explore the growing role of artificial intelligence in cancer care and its potential to transform clinical decision-making and patient support. Register here.

Drs. Kimberly Hieftje and Deepa Camenga, and our postgrad associate, Palomi Kurade, facilitated a workshop titled “Immersive Technology-Driven Strategies to Incorporate Healthy Coping and Emotion Regulation Skills into Cannabis and Nicotine Vaping Prevention Curricula” at the Annual Virtual Cannabis Awareness and Prevention Conference hosted by the Halpern-Felsher REACH Lab at Stanford Medicine on April 22, 2026 from 12:25 PM – 1:35 PM ET. Learn more here.

Dr. Veronica Weser will present a talk entitled “Chopsticks, Tennis Rackets, and Canes: What Tool Experts Reveal About Embodiment”at 2pm as part of the Sports Neuroscience Breakout Session. The International Symposium on Embodied Cognition (ISEC 2026) will bring together leading researchers, clinicians, educators, and students to explore the dynamic connections among body, brain, and behavior. Learn more and register here.

Drs. Kimberly Hieftje, Shu Wei, and Veronica Weser represented XR Pediatrics at the 33rd IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR 2026). They led the tutorial, "The Game Playbook: Designing for Serious Games," and showcased The Arborist and Year of the Cicadas as technology demonstrations. Year of the Cicadas also received an Honorable Mention for Best XR Gallery. Feedback from the tutorial and demonstrations is informing continued refinement of the Game Playbook framework and future immersive experiences.