Jing Xu, PhD

Contact jxu@envisionus.com 316-440-1527

Expertise And Interests

• Human-Machine Interactions, Human Factors and Driver Behavior

• Virtual Reality, Immersive Virtual Simulation Design, Development and Evaluation

• Assistance and Automation Technologies for Visually Impaired Drivers

Research Associate

Dr. Jing Xu is a Research Associate at the Envision Research Institute, working under the mentorship of Dr. Alex Bowers, an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Research Scientist at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Dr. Rui Ni, an Associate Professor of Psychology at Wichita State University and Director of Visual Perception and Cognition Laboratory.

Dr. Xu earned her Doctorate of Philosophy in Industrial Engineering with a concentration in human-machine interaction and driving safety research in the Intelligent Human-Machine Systems Laboratory at Northeastern University. After graduation, she has worked under the guidance of Dr. Alex Bowers as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Bowers Laboratory.

Her main research interests focus on using virtual simulation technology to investigate the impact of vision impairments on driving, developing and investigating new assistance and automation technologies to support safe mobility for drivers with age-related vision loss. One of her projects at Schepens Eye Research Institute has been to develop and assess a Head Scanning Reminder Device to help drivers with Homonymous Hemianopia. Preliminary results show that this device can effectively promote early, proactive head scans to the blind side with significant positive effects on driving safety. For her dissertation research, she developed a novel networked multi-driver simulation platform, which can conduct various single-driver behavior studies, and engage multiple drivers in a shared virtual environment for real-life interaction scenarios. Enlightening studies on Connected Vehicles, Crash Avoidance Assistance Systems, driving distractions, and vulnerable road user safety were conducted by using this platform.

Click here for more information on Dr. Xu's survey study.

Click here for more information on Dr. Xu's driving simulator study.

Publications

Xu, J., Emmermann, B., Herzog, O., Swan, S., Lehsing, C., & Bowers, AR (2019). Pilot Study of an Auditory Scanning Reminder System for Drivers with Hemianopia. Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting 2019 (Paper in Preparation).

Xu, J., & Lin, Y. (2018). Impact of distracted drivers on individual and group behavior of following vehicles: a networked multi-driver simulator study. Transportation Research Record (Journal of Transportation Research Board) 2672(37), 45-54.

Xu, J., Lin, Y., & Schmidt, D. (2017). Exploring the Influence of Simulated Road Environments on Cyclist Behavior. International Journal of Virtual Reality, 17(3): 15-26.

Xu, J. (2017). A Networked Multi-Driver Simulation Platform for Connected Vehicle Applications. Presentation at the New England Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s Annual Conference, Cambridge, MA. Volpe (National Transportation Systems Center) Award for the Best Transportation Presentation

Yu, M., Lin, Y., Tang, X., Xu, J., Schmidt, D., Wang, X., & Guo, Y. (2015). An easy iris center detection method for eye gaze tracking system. Journal of Eye Movement Research, 8(3): 5, 1-20.