Alex_Hwang@MEEI.HARVARD.EDU
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About My Research
Center/Research Area Affiliation
Biography
After graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Dr. Alex D. Hwang joined Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear as a postdoctoral fellow. He became an Investigator and was appointed to Instructor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School in 2015. Today, at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear, his work focuses on bioengineering and low-vision rehabilitation.
Dr. Hwang's engineering background and cognitive research experience in eye movements and human visual system have provided the foundation for him to develop a realistic headlight glare simulator. This work led him to a study the functional impact and the behavioral response to oncoming headlight glare during nighttime driving for people with cataracts.
He has also been developing head-mounted display (HMD) software for patients with low vision. He implemented and demonstrated the possibility of using a lightweight, see-through head mount display (Google Glass) as a vision-enhancement device. A unique, augmented edge enhancement technique was fully implemented and runs as standalone application on the Glass. These apps are easily transferable to other HMDs.
Dr. Hwang's interest in HMDs led to full stereoscopic 3D (S3D) imagery. He is now focused on one of the biggest hurdles of HMD technology: motion sickness while watching S3D contents. While most other studies have primarily focused on hardware latency issues or accommodation-vergence conflict, Dr. Hwan'gs S3D motion sickness model focused on viewer’s perceptual depth distortion regarding the scene/viewer motion. It is the first model that illustrates the detailed process of visual perception that may cause motion sickness in S3D.
Education
BS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder (1999)
MS and PhD, Computer Science University of Massachusetts Boston (2003 and 2010)
Postgraduate Training
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear (2013)
Honors
2009: Professional Development Grant
2008: Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN)
- A Pilot Study on EEG-based Evaluation of Visually Induced Motion Sickness. Journal of Imaging Science and Technology (JIST). 2020; 2(64):20501-1-20501-10(10).
- Stereoscopic 3D Optic Flow Distortions Caused by Mismatches between Image Acquisition and Display Parameters. Journal of imaging Science and Technology (JIST). 2020; 6(63): 060412-1–060412-7, 2019.
- Comparison of Pedestrian Detection With and Without Yellow-Lens Glasses During Simulated Night Driving With and Without Headlight Glare. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2019 Oct 01; 137(10):1147-1153.
- IMPACT OF HEADLIGHT GLARE ON PEDESTRIAN DETECTION WITH UNILATERAL CATARACT. Proc Int Driv Symp Hum Factors Driv Assess Train Veh Des. 2019 Jun; 2019:36-42.
- Self-position awareness-based presence and interaction in virtual reality. Virtual Reality. 2019; 1-8.
- Correcting geometric distortions in stereoscopic 3D imaging. PLoS One. 2018; 13(10):e0205032.
- Impact of Oncoming Headlight Glare With Cataracts: A Pilot Study. Front Psychol. 2018; 9:164.
- Rapid Adaptation of Night Vision. Front Psychol. 2018; 9:8.
- Quantifying visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) during the stereoscopic 3D viewing using VIMS level rating. Journal of Imaging Science and Technology. 2017; 6(61):60405-1.
- Measuring visually induced motion sickness using wearable devices. Electronic Imaging. 2017; (14):218-223.
- New Contrast Metric for Realistic Display Performance Measure. Dig Tech Pap. 2016 May; 47(1):982-985.
- Positive and negative polarity contrast sensitivity measuring app. IS&T Int Symp Electron Imaging. 2016; 2016.
- COMPENSATING 3D STEREOSCOPIC IMAGERY. 2016.
- METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ADJUSTING CONTRAST IN DEVICES. 2016.
- Pilot study of gaze scanning and intersection detection failures by drivers with hemianopia. 2015.
- Instability of the perceived world while watching 3D stereoscopic imagery: A likely source of motion sickness symptoms. Iperception. 2014; 5(6):515-35.
- An augmented-reality edge enhancement application for Google Glass. Optom Vis Sci. 2014 Aug; 91(8):1021-30.
- Augmented Edge Enhancement on Google Glass for Vision-Impaired Users. 2014.
- Development of a Headlight Glare Simulator for a Driving Simulator. Transp Res Part C Emerg Technol. 2013 Jul 01; 32:129-143.
- Semantic guidance of eye movements in real-world scenes. Vision Res. 2011 May 25; 51(10):1192-205.
- Headlight Glare Simulator for Driving Simulator 2.0. 2011.
- Object Frequency and Predictability Effects on Eye Fixation Durations in Real-world Scene Viewing. Journal of Eye Movement Research. 2010; 3(3(3)):1-10.
- The dynamics of top-down and bottom-up control of visual attention during search in complex scenes. 2010; 7(10):1275-1275.
- Modeling the Control of Attention by Visual and Semantic Factors in Real-World Scenes. 2010.
- A model of top-down attentional control during visual search in complex scenes. J Vis. 2009 May 27; 9(5):25.1-18.
- A Model of Top-Down Attention during Visual Search in Real-World Scenes. 2008.
- How chromaticity guides visual search in real-world scenes. 2007; 371-378.
- Semantic Guidance of Eye Movements during Real-World Scene Perception. 2000; 2534-2539.
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Impact of Headlight Glare in Patients with Cataracts
Using a physically validated, novel, real-time headlight glare simulator that runs concurrently with a driving simulator, Dr. Hwang aims to determine the functional impact and the behavioral responses to oncoming headlight glare, and how the presence of cataract in one or both eyes affects nighttime driving. The proposed studies will provide the first comprehensive data about the impact of headlight glare for cataract patients, before, between, and after sequential cataract surgeries.
Motion Sickness During Stereoscopic 3D Video Watching
The project aims to identify the causes and develop a non-medication-based solution to prevent or reduce motion sickness associated with stereoscopic 3D vision.
Face Recognition App for People with AMD
The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate the utility of the Google Glass as a face-magnifying and contrast-enhancing visual aid for patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
