EVL Faculty Professor, School of Design

Daria Tsoupikova

Written and programmed for EVL&rsquo;s CAVE2 by UIC Masters of Design student Quentin Bu, &ldquo;Elegy&rdquo; is a highly experimental virtual reality work, merging the artist&rsquo;s original poetry and audio composition, graphic design, 3D typography and physical computing activated through participant movement and gestures. Created as Bu&rsquo;s Masters thesis - Elegy uniquely combines performance art with virtual reality. 
To escape, to free, to grow, to part, to forget, to recall, is to reorganize and make choices about what to let go of and what to hold on to, and it is to physically leave a place and move far away without knowing if you&rsquo;ll find a way back. 
Writing is my emotional conduit, for the moments when strong emotions have nowhere else to flow: whether it&rsquo;s journaling, composing bad poetry, scribbling on an airplane sickness bag, jotting down stream of consciousness, or repeating phrases in my head while wandering around unfamiliar streets. The Elegy is my poetic, perhaps futile attempt to consolidate and immortalize the transitory states of life. 
My design methods include object-making, working with restrictions, experimenting with technology, and exploring metaphors. An Elegy for the Departed is a culmination of my creative endeavors with the media to realize them. 
The Elegy is also a technological experiment. It is a performance using wearable technology to track body movements, connecting the physical body with a virtual digital metaphor for a body. What does typography in virtual reality spaces look like? How can I best use the technology I&rsquo;ve developed to effectively tell a story?

Elegy in EVL&rsquo;s CAVE2

An Elegy for the Departed - an Interactive Virtual Reality+Physical Computing Typographic Performance

Master of Design graduate student Quentin Bu presents her virtual reality performance piece &ldquo;An Elegy for the Departed - an Interactive Virtual Reality+Physical Computing Typographic Performance&rdquo; in EVL&rsquo;s CAVE2. 
Friday, May 5, 2023 
11:15 - 11:45 AM 
Room 2036 ERF 
Elegy is a highly experimental virtual reality work, merging the artist&rsquo;s original poetry and audio composition, graphic design, 3D typography and physical computing activated through participant movement and gestures. In the artist&rsquo;s own words &ldquo;The Elegy is my poetic, perhaps futile attempt to consolidate and immortalize the transitory states of life.&rdquo;

MDES Thesis Presentation &ldquo;The Elegy&rdquo;

The National Science Foundation has awarded EVL a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant to build the Data Observation and Computation Collaboratory (DOCC) in the new Computer Design Research and Learning Center (CDRBC) building. The Data Observation and Computation Collaboratory (DOCC, &rsquo;the dock&rsquo;) is a much-needed visual data science instrument for UIC science and engineering research and research training. DOCC provides high-performance computing, advanced networking, high-speed data storage, interactive high-resolution displays and software and services for Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML), data analytics, data simulations, visualization, and virtual-reality requirements. Given how varied modern data-science application requirements can be, DOCC is designed as a configurable, heterogeneous computing environment that prioritizes real-time, interactive, collaborative applications and remote data streaming, but can be scheduled off-hours for large, batch-mode processing. 
DOCC will empower users to work with their data and their colleagues in real-time, test codes, view a &rsquo;window in the oven&rsquo;to watch large simulations run, and simultaneously view results along with related data and ensemble runs on large display walls. DOCC has a visual front end that enables users to easily access familiar collaboration tools, scientific notebooks, AI/ML workflows, and popular visualization software. 
Alternatively, users can add new AI/ML models or create them from scratch. And because DOCC will be connected to the campus research network, data and/or computer codes can be ported to remote computer and cloud resources located on campus, regionally, nationally, or internationally. 
A room-sized instrument, DOCC will be located in the high-trafficked atrium of the new CDRLC, home to the UIC Computer Science Department, part of the College of Engineering, situated across from an auditorium and multi-purpose event space. This location will promote UIC data-science research initiatives and the instrument&rsquo;s collaboration potential. DOCC will also be used to conduct campus research meetings, programs and training initiatives. 
Award Number (FAIN): 2320261 
Period of Performance: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2026 
Project Title: Research Infrastructure: MRI: Track 2 Acquisition of Data Observation and Computation Collaboratory (DOCC)

EVL Awarded NSF MRI Support to Build the Data Observation and Computation Collaboratory (DOCC)

The first Creative Coding Community Workshop brought together a diverse group of Chicago public high school students ranging in age from 13 to 15 to introduce students to the basics of coding, interactive 3D, typography and game design. Hosted at the University of Illinois Chicago&rsquo;s (UIC), Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) and organized by professor Daria Tsoupikova, participating students productively conquered a steep learning curve to learn the basics of coding, - starting from ground zero to produce interactive Virtual Reality (VR) projects for a public exhibition – all within 2 weeks! Their projects investigated critical global concepts such as global warming, air and water pollution, migration, and mental health in immersive dimensions of Computer Science + Design. Several projects were featured in the CAVE2 Hybrid Reality Environment VR exhibition after the Workshop. The Workshop was a tremendous success and very well received by participants and organizers. 
Congratulations to all participants and good luck with your future pursuits in Computer Science and Design! 
Special thanks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-nishimoto-55a61047/">Arthur Nishimoto</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/farah-kamleh-aa8b41248/">Farah Kamleh</a>. 
<a href="https://youtu.be/8YZdeWj8uA4">See a video documenting the Workshop.</a> 
This Workshop was made possible through support from EVL and UIC.

Participant in CAVE2 Hybrid Reality Environment

UIC&rsquo;s First Creative Coding Community Workshop a Tremendous Success!

EVL faculty and UIC Design Professor Daria Tsoupikova is featured in the Fall 2024 College Engineering RISE magazine issue. The article covers Daria&rsquo; collaboration with the Chicago Design Archive and Columbia College Chicago.   The project entitled &ldquo;Chicago Design Milestones 1920-2019&rdquo; focuses on design milestones in the city of Chicago from 1920-2019.  The media design installation features 3,200 examples of design work done in the city, and premiered on the 150 Media Stream screens in the lobby of 150 North Riverside Plaza on the Chicago River July 1, 2019.

Daria Tsoupikova Featured in Fall 2024 RISE

Hummingbird is an innovative, award-winning performance engaging participants in active storytelling that bridges live theater and collaborative interaction through virtual reality (VR). Hummingbird&rsquo;s story celebrates courage and coming of age through the eyes of a gutsy teen who must outsmart her mother&rsquo;s egotistic boss and survive a dangerous new technology in a live, immersive adventure. Developed at the University of Illinois Chicago by faculty and over 30 students from the departments of Computer Science and Design in partnership with professional theater producers, directors, actors, videographers and composers, this project advanced interdisciplinary collaboration, provided a unique learning environment and broadened the research experience for several cohorts of students. Over 500 people attended Hummingbird’s performances at the Tony Award-winning Goodman Theatre&rsquo;s New Stages Festival, Chicago Children&rsquo;s Theater and SIGGRAPH 2022 in Vancouver, Canada, with over 200 active VR participants. In each performance, five VR participants actively collaborate with each other and a lead actor within the VR adventure, contributing problem-solving, collaboration and teamwork, while a greater audience simultaneously follows the virtual performance aspects on a large video wall in real-time. Discussion sessions and audience evaluations followed each performance, informed the Hummingbird team on script, design and interactivity to improve future performances. Through qualitative analysis of audience experiences and insights from our collaboration, we discuss key considerations and design recommendations for integrating VR with live theater. Hummingbird demonstrates how VR can revolutionize theatrical storytelling by enabling traditional theater to narrate epic stories that were once considered too ambitious for traditional stage by extending live theater and making VR accessible to a broader audience. This project profit theater and interdisciplinary research institutions to increase opportunities for cross-disciplinary student education. 
CCS CONCEPTS: Computing methodologies; Computer Graphics; Graphics systems and interfaces; Virtual reality; Applied computing; Arts and humanities; Performing arts 
KEYWORDS Virtual reality, Storytelling, Theater, Multi-user, Performance, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Design Process

VR participants interact in the Orchard scene while observers watch their interaction on the large screen.

Hummingbird: Live Theater Adventure Empowering Collaboration in Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality Exhibition in the CAVE2 
Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) 
Friday, March 21 @3-5pm 
842 W Taylor Street, Room 2036 
Global challenges pose significant threats to humanity&rsquo;s future. However, design and virtual reality offer innovative strategies to address the United Nations&rsquo; 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This VR exhibition showcases immersive projects that explore the intersections of design, theater, creative coding, and VR to tackle complex global issues - from combating climate change and improving health to promoting equality and protecting our oceans and forests. 
This VR exhibition highlights immersive projects that explore the intersections of design, theater, creative coding, and VR to tackle complex global issues. Between 2021 and 2024, CS+DES student teams collaborated on inspiring VR projects focused on global challenges within a Creative Coding course, advancing these crucial objectives. These projects have the potential to contribute meaningfully to the Sustainable Development Goals, fostering innovative solutions and promoting positive global change. 
We hope you can join us! 
Daria Tsoupikova 
CS+DES Chair I Design 
Professor, School of Design

VR Design for Sustainable and Inclusive Futures

The The VR project &ldquo;Fulfillment: a field guide to the logistical city&rdquo; a multi-year research project developed at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) in collaboration with the Anthropology Department at the University of Chicago will be exhibited as part of the <a href="https://ht.acm.org/ht2025/">ACM Hypertext 2025 Conference</a> to be held in Chicago, September 15-18. 
Spearheaded by UIC School of Design and EVL Professor Daria Tsoupikova, &ldquo;Fulfillment&rdquo; was enabled through a unique collaboration between anthropologists, designers, and other social scientists from several research institutions spanning the U.S., Europe and Asia with support from the National Science Foundation. The project brings VR technology to the forefront of anthropological research to engage participants in guided first-hand observation of the hidden aspects of logistics and the behind-the-scenes effects of supply chain capitalism on ecology, labor and socio-economic well-being. This immersive experience unfolds the increasingly pervasive yet often obscured ways in which the infrastructural and operative dimensions of commercial logistics are reshaping the way we work, live, and relate to each other and to our environments.

CAVE2 Virtual Reality Exhibition: Project &ldquo;Fulfillment&rdquo;

Hypertext 2025 Virtual Reality Exhibition in the CAVE2 VR Environment 
Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) 
842 W Taylor St. Room 2036 
Chicago IL 60607 
September 16, 2025 @ 4.30pm 
Your VR Theater experience awaits! 
Plunge into the surrounds of our burning forests. Explore the ghostly seams of the logistical city. 
Immersive CAVE2 Virtual Reality Exhibition -- Hidden Costs of Logistics and the Disappearing Wild -- highlights immersive projects that explore the intersections of anthropology, design, theater, creative coding, typography, and hypertext interaction to tackle some of the world’s most complex problems. From disappearing ecosystems to the invisible machinery behind global supply chains, each project invites participants to observe and reflect on the environmental, social, and economic impacts shaping the American Midwest and our planetary well-being. 
Developed by multi-institutional teams of anthropologists, artists, and computer scientists from the University of Chicago, UIC, and Yale, and created by the Creative Coding participants in the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), these VR experiences confront pressing global challenges with ethnographic insight and design innovation. Participants will journey through digitally rendered 360 landscapes of deforestation and the unseen logistical labor behind everyday commodities. By merging art, technology, and interactive hypertext in storytelling, these projects advance critical conversations around climate change, social justice, and the hidden infrastructures that sustain -- and strain -- life on Earth. 
Supported and organized by the Hypertext2025 Conference, the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), the Department of Computer Science and the School of Design at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. 
Featured Projects: 
CAVE2 Virtual Reality Exhibition: Project Fulfillment 
by Daria Tsoupikova, Julie Y. Chu, Alexandria Schmidt, Harini Kumar, Shahira Bhasha, Gaeun Lee, Eunseo Ko, Kenzell Huggins, Darshan Shet and Farah Kamleh 
Interactive VR Exhibition: Why Must We Make It All Burn? 
by Alexandra Preuss 
ACM Hypertext 2025 Conference <a href="https://ht.acm.org/ht2025/">website</a>.

Why Must We Make It All Burn?

CAVE2 VR Exhibition: The Hidden Costs of Logistics and the Disappearing Wild

You Can Grow Here: A Therapeutic VR Journey for Anxiety Management is an immersive VR experience developed for the CAVE2&trade; environment, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-Being. In response to the mental health challenges intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project explores how interactive storytelling, ambient sound, and 3D typography can support emotional reflection and teach anxiety coping strategies. Built in Unity with custom assets from Blender and Maya, the experience differs from most clinical VR programs, allowing users to independently explore emotions, manage anxiety, and practice evidence-based calming techniques within a safe, narrative-driven space that builds emotional resilience. 
The project was developed by UIC CS+DES students Gaeun Lee, Hope Jo, Cindy Nakhammouane, and CS student Khin Yuupar Myat in the CS/DES 427/450 Creative Coding course, taught by Professors Daria Tsoupikova and Mike Papka with support from TA Hal Brynteson.

Participant interacting with &ldquo;You Can Grow Here&rdquo;

You Can Grow Here: A Therapeutic VR Journey for Anxiety Management

We are thrilled to announce that CS+DES students Gaeun Lee, Hope Jo, Cindy Nakhammouane, and CS student Khin Yuupar Myat presented their virtual reality project You Can Grow Here: A Therapeutic VR Journey for Anxiety Management at <a href="https://s2025.siggraph.org/">ACM SIGGRAPH 2025</a>, held in Vancouver, Canada August 10-14, 2025! 
This innovative project was developed in the CS/DES 427/450 Creative Coding course, taught by Professors Daria Tsoupikova and Mike Papka with support from TA Hal Brynteson. The work explores the intersection of technology, design, and mental health through a VR experience aimed at anxiety management. 
ACM SIGGRAPH is the world&rsquo;s premier international conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, known for its competitive selection process and global prestige. Having undergraduate students accepted to present at SIGGRAPH is a rare and outstanding achievement. 
Congratulations to our CS+DES students for this remarkable accomplishment and for showcasing the creativity and impact of the CS+DES program on an international stage!

CS+DES Students Presented &ldquo;You Can Grow Here: A Therapeutic VR Journey for Anxiety Management&rdquo; at ACM SIGGRAPH 2025

Anxiety is one of the most widespread mental health issues, affecting nearly 30% of U.S. adults. In 2024, 43% reported feeling more anxious than the year before.
Traditional treatments often require clinical settings, which can be costly, inaccessible, or intimidating. There&rsquo;s a growing need for self-guided, engaging
tools that support emotional regulation in everyday environments. 
VR is emerging as a powerful tool in clinical anxiety treatment. At Princeton House, VR sessions led to a 35% reduction in anxiety, and CUCARD uses VR
for exposure therapy in controlled environments like classrooms. However, these tools rely on professional oversight and offer limited user agency. &ldquo;You Can Grow Here&rdquo; builds on this research by offering a non-clinical, self-directed VR experience - making emotional support more personal, immersive, and accessible. 
Our project followed an iterative design process centered on user feedback and therapeutic impact. Through frequent testing, we refined key elements such as
lighting, sound balance, and interaction flow to enhance emotional engagement. Demonstrations leveraging improv theatre were used to prototype the user journey, ensuring each interaction supported our well-being goals. Weekly meetings and collaborative tools like Unity, Figma, and Discord enabled efficient teamwork. Continuous evaluation ensured alignment with our therapeutic objectives, fostering a meaningful and emotionally restorative experience.

Overview image of the island with key locations of scenes numbered.

You Can Grow Here A Theraputic VR Journey for Anxiety Management

&ldquo;You Can Grow Here&rdquo; is an immersive VR experience developed for the CAVE2&trade: environment, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-Being. In response to the mental health challenges intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project explores how interactive storytelling, ambient sound, and 3D typography can support emotional reflection and teach anxiety coping strategies. Built in Unity with custom assets from Blender and Maya, the experience differs from most clinical VR programs, allowing users to independently explore emotions, manage anxiety, and practice evidence-based calming techniques within a safe, narrative-driven space that builds emotional resilience. 
CCS Concepts: Human-centered computing - Interaction design process and methods; Interaction design theory, concepts, and paradigms.

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