Collaborating with faculty members and researchers, students helped develop and create immersive technology applications that address environmental awareness, the well-being of cancer patients, and the history of a historic Miami neighborhood.

During a demo session at Miami XR 2026, computer science and interactive media student Sidney Cocimano assists Keanu Diaz in operating the VR headset and hand controls for the environmental awareness game Swampocalypse. Photo: Debora Cabrera for the University of Miami

By Robert C. Jones Jr.
2-17-2026
This story originally appeared in News@TheU

Overtown came alive before Faith Jimenez’s very eyes on a cool Friday morning, but the University of Miami senior was nowhere near the 130-year-old neighborhood. She was nearly 8 miles away, standing in the Donna E. Shalala Student Center’s ballroom and wearing a VR headset that placed her in the heart of the historic community.

Standing next to Jimenez and giving her a quick tutorial on how to use the wearable device was Ma’at Hetep, a graduate student in interactive media at the School of Communication. With Hetep’s assistance, Jimenez was soon navigating different areas of Overtown to view murals that are painted on buildings and tell the story of the African American community’s past.

“I had heard of Overtown before but didn’t know anything about its history,” Jimenez said. “Now, I’m compelled to want to learn even more about it and actually visit in person.”

Graduate student in interactive media Ma’at Hetep explains to students Faith Jimenez, left, and Barbara Griffin how the virtual reality murals experience “Telling Overtown Stories, Saying Their Names” works. Photo: Robert C. Jones Jr./University of Miami

The encounter between Jimenez and Hetep was part of a daylong series of demonstrations of extended reality applications featured at the recent Miami XR 2026, a conference that explored and highlighted immersive media’s many uses.

University students not only played a pivotal role in helping to organize the two-day summit, but they also collaborated with faculty members to develop and create the apps that were demoed at the event.

Hetep served as the research lead for a project that created a virtual exhibit of murals that reveal Overtown’s rich history. She visited the community on several occasions, interviewing longtime residents who represent generations of families that called the neighborhood home over the years.

With an uncle who was a longshoreman who live and worked in Overtown, Hetep wanted “to do a service to the people of that community by working on the project,” she said. “Overtown’s embedded in my life, and this project was important to me to not only keep its history alive but also to propel it into the future.”

Hetep and other graduate students on her team completed the project as part of a class taught by interactive media faculty member Lorena Lopez.

Meanwhile, other students who showcased projects at the conference were just as involved as Hetep in developing apps in collaboration with faculty through the Virtual Experiences Simulation Lab (VESL).

Thomas Sydnor, a junior studying computer science, and other students worked with Miller School of Medicine radiation oncologists to help develop Radiotherapy Patient Education with XR, a mixed reality project designed to empower oncology patients and their families to gain comprehensive insights into their pre-, during, and post-radiotherapy and recovery journey. The project, which is nearing its completion phase after extensive testing, produces an accessible Snapchat lens as well as a physical smart mirror, both of which overlay content onto patients, enhancing their engagement and understanding of treatment.

“It’s great to know that something like this helps the doctors as well,” said Sydnor, who helped organize Miami XR 2026 and is the president of the University of Miami chapter of Kappa Theta Pi, a coed fraternity specializing in the field of information technology. “The physicians we’ve been working with are excited about this technology. It will help them connect with patients in a way that’s more than just talking to them about next steps.”

If all goes well, the app could be completed by the end of this semester and rolled out in a clinical setting soon after, according to Dr. Benjamin Rich, an assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Miller School, who has worked closely on the project with students from the VESL.

“Some patients with cancer have a lot of anxiety coming into radiation therapy and coming into cancer therapy in general,” Rich said. “We know that the anxiety peaks right before starting treatment. And so being able to educate patients, whether it’s through this mirror platform or with the virtual reality device, I think will help lower that anxiety right before starting treatment.”

In Swampocalypse: An Immersive VR Airboat Experience for Environmental Awareness, players pilot an airboat through a postapocalyptic, zombie-infested Everglades, shutting down toxic pipelines, eliminating mutated invasive species, and dispersing seed pods to restore the River of Grass to its former splendor.

Computer engineering student Jacob Ahrens tests the app Radiotherapy Patient Education with XR. In the background, Thomas Sydnor, a junior studying computer science, explains to a conference attendee how the app works. Photo: Debora Cabrera for the University of Miami

Dan Zahal, a first-year graduate student at the Frost School of Music studying music engineering and technology, serves as the sound engineer on the project, utilizing skills he learned as an undergraduate at the Berklee College of Music and from his earliest years under the tutelage of his parents.

“My parents definitely were the ones who brought me into the music world,” he said. “My dad is a huge music fan, introduced me to a lot of instruments at a very young age, and that’s always been a skill that they have been honing throughout my life. I didn’t really take too much interest in making my own music or anything beyond just playing piano recitals for whoever was my teacher at the time until I found video game music to be fascinating. So, combining my love for video games and my skill for music really is where it all converged.”

Other projects demoed at the conference included:

• Crash Loop, in which a player dons a VR headset and must escape from different rooms by solving a series of puzzles, with the final challenge revealing the dangers of impaired driving. “It has an educational component to it that all young people could definitely learn from,” said one of the app’s developers, Josh Rocha, a senior majoring in interactive media with minors in game design and motion pictures.
• Adaptive Self‑Efficacy-Based AI Coaching for Enhanced Indoor Cycling Performance, an AI coaching system that learns when motivational support will be most effective for a cyclist based on real-time physiological and performance feedback from the power a cyclist generates during an indoor cycling session. “I’ve always been fascinated by fitness and interested in ways to increase performance,” said the app’s developer, Meshak Cole, a first-year interactive media major. “This app is similar to a smartwatch that tracks your stress but with a VR component to it.”