Haoyang Du

resume | scholar | linkedin | email

I am a third-year PhD student at Technological University Dublin, supervised by Cathy Ennis, Brian Keegan, and Rachel McDonnell. My research focuses on speech-driven conversational gestures for virtual characters and on how people perceive them, with the goal of enabling more natural human–agent interaction in immersive VR/AR environments.

Alongside my research, I build XR prototypes and interactive systems that explore embodied interaction, virtual characters, and immersive user experiences. A selection of projects and demos can be found here.

publications

• Reality Check: How Avatar and Face Representation Affect the Perceptual Evaluation of Synthesized Gestures
  Haoyang Du, Yinghan Xu, John Dingliana, Brian Keegan, Rachel McDonnell, Cathy Ennis
  SIGGRAPH 2026
  paper | project


• Synthetically Expressive: Evaluating Gesture and Voice for Emotion and Empathy in VR and 2D Scenarios
  Haoyang Du, K Chhatre, C Peters, B Keegan, R McDonnell, C Ennis
  IVA 2025 ★ Best Paper Award
  paper | project


• Digital Twin Embodied Interactions Design: Synchronized and Aligned Physical Sensation in Location-Based Social VR
  J Zhang, F Ma, Y Pi, Haoyang Du, X Pan
  Frontiers in Virtual Reality 6, 1499845 (2025)
  paper


• Co-developing a Virtual Reality Screening Tool for Developmental Coordination Disorder
  G Buckingham, Haoyang Du, K L Allen, J O Evans, L Hill
  IDC 2025
  paper


• Evaluating the Impact of Virtual Reality Game Training on Upper Limb Motor Performance in Children and Adolescents with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Scoping Review
  M Alharbi, Haoyang Du, D Harris, G Wood, H Dodd, G Buckingham
  Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 21(1), 95 (2024)
  paper


• Mythology Meets Technology: Transforming a 2D Game into a Virtual Reality Journey for Language Reconnection
  L Xu, Haoyang Du, S Jia, M Andrade, C Ennis, E U Dhonnchadha, M Ward
  ICIR 2024
  paper


• Towards More Child Safety-Oriented Decisions Through VR
  Haoyang Du, S Jia, J Gautschi, J Quehenberger, D Lätsch, X Pan
  IEEE VR 2023
  paper


• Is Professionals’ Empathy Associated with Safety-Oriented Decisions in Child Protection?: Findings from an Experimental Virtual Reality Study
  J Gautschi, J Quehenberger, D Lätsch, Haoyang Du, S Jia, X Pan
  EuSARF 2023
  paper