Pedro Acevedo
Assistant Professor
Dr. Pedro Acevedo is an assistant professor at University of North Carolina Wilmington. He has a Ph.D. in Technology from Purdue University. His research focused on Virtual Reality (VR), Educational Technology, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Games, Procedural Content Generation, and AI-driven Virtual Agents.
Education
Ph.D. in Technology, Purdue University
M.Sc. in Software Engineering, Universidad Del Norte, Colombia
B.Sc. in Software Engineering, Universidad Del Norte, Colombia
Specialization in Teaching
Virtual Reality
Game Development
Human-Computer Interaction
Research Interests
My research in virtual reality (VR) and human-computer interaction (HCI) focuses on designing and developing learning and training experiences that align with user preferences and enhance performance. To optimize these experiences, I consider factors such as task load, usability, engagement, and learning outcomes. Other of my research interests have focused on providing methods through optimization techniques that can automate and facilitate design through computer-assisted solutions.
My work includes: (1) exploring affordances that can benefit learning experiences (e.g., haptics), (2) validating features that contribute to the comfort and practicality of VR experiences (e.g., dimensionality and medium), (3) developing tools that enhance embodied interactions, drawing on principles such as embodied cognition theories and active learning (see Figure 1), (4) optimization algorithms to targeted different design task such as a game level, and (5) interactive simulations scenarios leveraging human and agent collaborations
Professional Service
Journal Reviewing: International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (2025), Journal of Metaverse (2025), Computer & Graphics (2023-2024), Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds (2024), IEEE Access (2022)
Conference Reviewing: ISMAR (2025), VRST (2025), CASA (2025), FDG (2024-2025), FIE (2024-2025), IMX WIP (2024), IEEE VR Workshop (2023), CHI PLAY WIP (2023)
Technical Committee: IEEE International Symposium on Emerging Metaverse (ISEMV) (2025)