Headshot of Johann Wentzel, wearing a VR headset.

Johann Wentzel

Download CV

I'm a PhD candidate in the UWaterloo HCI Lab, supervised by Daniel Vogel. My research focuses on making VR and AR more accessible for people with limited mobility by co-designing, developing, and evaluating new interaction techniques.

Other research interests include social media ethics, generative AI, and novel 3D interaction techniques.

During my graduate studies I have interned with Meta Reality Labs (CTRL-Labs), Microsoft Research (Ability Team), and Autodesk Research.

Headshot of Johann Wentzel, wearing a VR headset.

Timeline

Timeline of studies and career. Information also available in CV.

Publications

A Valve Index controller raycasting toward a white sphere.

Bring-Your-Own Input: Context-Aware Multi-Modal Input for More Accessible Virtual Reality, CHI 2023 Doctoral Consortium

Johann Wentzel

PDF | ACM Listing | Poster

A space scene with a bright sun, showing lens flare artifacts.

Volumetric and User-Centric Rendering Techniques for Lens Flare and Film Grain in Virtual Reality Environments, CVMP 2022 Extended Abstracts

Johann Wentzel, Lesley Istead

PDF

A person's feet interacting with the buttons on the Xbox Adaptive Controller, with several button switches surrounding it.

Understanding How People with Limited Mobility Use Multi-Modal Input, CHI 2022

Johann Wentzel, Sasa Junuzovic, James Devine, John Porter, Martez Mott

Blog | PDF | ACM Listing | Talk (YouTube)

The letter B, written in a fleshy font.

Same Place, Different Space: Designing for Differing Physical Spaces in Social Virtual Reality, CHI 2021 Social VR Workshop

Johann Wentzel, Daekun Kim, Jeremy Hartmann

Blog | PDF

The letter B, written in a fleshy font.

Font Your Friends and Loved Ones: On the Utility of Ugly Interfaces, alt.chi 2021

Josh Urban Davis, Johann Wentzel

Blog | PDF | ACM Listing | Demo | YouTube

Man with VR headset gestures, a virtual controller appears further away from his hand.

Improving Virtual Reality Ergonomics through Reach-Bounded Non-Linear Input Amplification, CHI 2020

Johann Wentzel, Greg d'Eon, Daniel Vogel

Blog | PDF | ACM Listing | YouTube

 Best Paper Honourable Mention

A robot holding a circuit board while a man solders it.

Shared Presence and Collaboration using a Co-Located Humanoid Robot, HAI 2015

Johann Wentzel, Daniel J. Rea, James E. Young, Ehud Sharlin

PDF | ACM Listing | YouTube