UGA Grady College CACHE research update

The Center for Advanced Computer-Human Ecosystems (CACHE) serves as the University of Georgia’s premier facility for conducting interdisciplinary research on immersive and interactive virtual environments, including virtual, augmented and mixed realities.

Recently, CACHE has achieved several new honors and achievements. Below is a highlight of each achievement. 

• Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn, director of the CACHE Lab and professor in advertising and public relations, and team have published an article in npj Digital Medicine titled, “Virtual fitness buddy ecosystem: A mixed reality precision health physical activity intervention for children.” This work presents an innovative mixed reality intervention aimed at improving children’s physical activity. A highlight of this project can be found here and the full article can be viewed here. 
• Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn and colleagues have published “Conferencing together in social VR: Bringing agency back into affordances-based approaches in communication scholarship.” This research delves into how social VR environments enhance participant agency and interaction during virtual conferences. The article can be viewed here.
• Haley Hatfield (Ph.D. ’24) and Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn have a journal article now in press titled, “Translating children’s environmental health science using virtual environments: A community-based participatory research approach,” in Environmental Justice. This article highlights collaborative efforts between academic institutions and community stakeholders in Georgia to translate children’s environmental health research through virtual environments.
• Haley Hatfield and Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn have a forthcoming publication in the Journal of Communication titled, “Addressing whiteness in communication scholar composition and collaboration across seven decades of ICA journals (1951-2022).” This work examines trends in author demographics and collaboration across a large body of communication research.
• Joshua Baldwin, postdoctoral researcher, received the top paper award from the Mass Communication Division at the National Communication Association for his paper titled, “How does narrative content influence enjoyment versus appreciation? Applying Berlyne’s curves to understand how the dimensions of narrative challenge should impact appraisals.” Additionally, this project was awarded a $12,500 Social XR Grant by the Questioning Reality Conference. This project aims to create a virtual reality world to study how people cope with stress and suspense in simulated spaces, particularly examining how virtual agents may help individuals manage these emotions. More about the article can be found here.
• Prerna Shah, postdoctoral researcher, recently published her article titled, “Video-based group-values affirmation reduces defensive responses to risk messages,” in Science Communication. This work evaluates how video inductions that increase group identity can positively impact the intention to reduce beef consumption. The article can be viewed here.
• Prerna Shah co-authored a book chapter, “Science and Health Journalism and Its Effects on Audiences,” published in the Handbook of Science and Health Journalism.” This chapter explores the challenges health journalists face in overcoming mistrust, misinformation, and competition from alternative media in shaping public beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. The chapter can be viewed here. 
• Yuqian (Neil) Ni, postdoctoral researcher,  published the journal article, “Four decades of biological measurement advancing mediated communication theory: a review of literature from 1980–2020,” in the Annals of the International Communication Association. This comprehensive review showcases how biological measurement has contributed to the evolution of communication theory over the past four decades. The journal article can be viewed here.

Author: Lauren A. Pike, lauren.pike@uga.edu