Rice University School of Engineering and Computing, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Rice University
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Experiential Pixels Lab

The EXP LAB builds hardware and software systems for spatial computing, making XR platforms more capable through adaptive sensing, visual computing, networking, and real-time interaction.

Explore Research About the Lab
Students testing a spatial computing system in the lab

Spatial Computing Systems

The Experiential Pixels Lab advances spatial computing by designing system architectures that sense the physical world, process multimodal data, render interactive 3D content, stream experiences across networks, and drive real-time feedback.

Our work spans XR systems, edge and mobile computing, visual computing pipelines, multi-sensory interfaces, and immersive visualization tools for science, learning, design, and creative production.

We have published our research at MobiSys, MobiCom, IEEE VR, UIST, TEI, and ASPLOS, and routinely exhibit our planetary visualization work at AGU and LPSC.

Recent News

  • 2026

    Spectral Splats paper accepted to ImmerCom '26

    "Spectral Splats: Active Hyperspectral Projection towards Material-Aware Volumetric Sensing" accepted for publication at ImmerCom @ MobiCom '26, to be presented October in Austin, TX. ImmerCom is the ACM Workshop on Mobile Immersive Computing, Networking, and Systems.

  • 2026

    TXR Workshop @ Rice

    Hosted the first ever TXR Workshop, a VR hackathon uniting Texas A&M, Texas Southern University, University of Houston, and Rice University students in friendly competition

  • 2026

    Parfait @ LPSC '26

    Presented a booth for Planetary Parfait at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, TX. Parfait is an open-source planetary science XR GIS visualization tool, available for download on Steam.

  • 2026

    Volumetric Streaming @ HotMobile '26

    Demoed our volumetric splat streaming simulator at ACM HotMobile in Atlanta, GA

  • 2025

    STARS Summit, Houston Methodist Bookout Center

    Hosted the Surgical Technology & Robotic Surgery Summit (STaRS) through the Houston Methodist Bookout Center

  • 2025

    Research Frontiers Showcase in Washington DC

    Presented XR and volumetric capture systems work to federal agency stakeholders and congressional delegates on behalf of Rice University