Dr Sabah Boustila
Lecturer
My profile
Biography
I am a Lecturer in User Experience and Web design at Manchester Metropolitan University. I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Strasbourg, France in May 2016. I am passionate about teaching and sharing knowledge. I have multiple teaching experiences as a teaching assistant and lecturer in a variety of disciplines including computer science, digital media, and information.
Previously, I held a Lecturer and Research Assistant position at the University of Strasbourg between 2015-2017. In January 2018, I joined the University of Toronto (Canada) as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for two years. After that, I joined again my team in Strasbourg as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Throughout my career, my research interests have been on Virtual and Augmented Reality (XR) for real-world problems, Three-Dimensional interactions, and user experience. My aim is to contribute to research that serves the community. Consequently, I have addressed issues related to user experience and spatial perception in virtual environments and provided solutions for real-world problems: army, transportation, building, and constructions.
Academic and professional qualifications
- University of Strasbourg Strasbourg, France
Ph.D., Computer Science December 2012-May 2016
- Dissertation topic: “Design and evaluation of an architectural project review tool in virtual reality: the problem of the perception of distances in virtual environments”.
Advisor: Pr. Dominique Bechmann
- University of Claude Bernard (Lyon I) Lyon, France
MSc in Computer Graphics and Image 2011-2012
- University of Badji Badji Annaba, Algeria
MSc in Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications 2007-2009
Other academic service (administration and management)
Poster judge
- The 10th Annual Graduate Research Symposium, University of Toronto June 25th, 2019
- Poster event MIE 344, HCI course, University of Toronto December 3rd, 2019
Languages
- Arabic (Native Proficiency)
- English (Full Professional Proficiency)
- French (Full Professional Proficiency)
Expert reviewer for external funding bodies
- IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 2021
- Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds (CAVW) 2018
- Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI) 2018
- The ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) 2018
- IEEE Virtual Reality (VR), journal and conference papers 2018,2019 and 2020
- ACM SIGCHI Conference on Automotive User Interfaces (AutoUI) 2019
- Journal of Perceptual Imaging 2019
Teaching
Why do I teach?
I believe that teaching is one of the most effective ways to pass on our knowledge and a privilege to contribute to the continuity and the advancement of knowledge.
How I’ll teach you
I will teach you in a friendly and safe environment, where students are respected and contribute equally to the lecture’s discussions. I vary my teaching content (fundamentals, examples, videos) and activities (quizzes, in-class activities) during my lectures to accommodate the needs of students with diverse learning styles, abilities, backgrounds, and experiences. I deliver engaging lectures where you are welcome to interact and ask questions. One of my practices is group work, I usually include in-class group work to foster communication among students and help you to build your critical thinking.
Postgraduate teaching
- iSchool, Manchester Metropolitan University Winter 2021
User Experience for Creative Industries
Web Site Development
- Faculty of information, University of Toronto Fall 2018-2019
Fundamentals of UX 1602H
Subject areas
User Experience and Web Design
Supervision
- ICube Lab, Strasbourg University, France (With Pr Dominique Bechmann)
M.S. students: Mehmet Ozkan January -July 2020
- Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Kitamura-Lab, Tohoku University, Japan (with Pr Kazuki Takashima and Yoshifumi Kitamura )
M.S. students
- Hao Zheng November 2018-December 2019
- Shuxia Bai December 2017-August 2019
Research outputs
My primary research interests are Virtual and Augmented Reality (XR) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). My research focuses on real-world problems such as navigation aids. In XR, my goal is to create efficient tools for various applications that allow accurate decision-making and proper task performance. The crucial question in such applications is how accurate virtual environments/contents could be perceived and interpreted compared to real ones. To this end, I have been conducting research since starting my Ph.D. to address issues in spatial perception and user performance. My passion for research in XR and HCI stems from the fact that they are multidisciplinary domains bringing together many research areas (e.g., computer science and engineering, human factors, etc.). My interest in HCI and XR research is driven by the desire to construct better systems that are more reliable and intuitive.
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Journal articles
Reiner, A.J., Hollands, J.G., Jamieson, G.A., Boustila, S. (2020) 'A mirror in the sky: assessment of an augmented reality method for depicting navigational information.' Ergonomics, 63(5) pp. 548-562.
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Conference papers
Oberfeld, D., Kalmbach, N., Von Castell, C., Boustila, S., Aspöck, L., Bechmann, D. (2023) 'Reverberation makes interior spaces appear larger.' 11/9/2023 - 15/9/2023. European Acoustics Association, pp. 5003-5007.
Boustila, S., Ozkan, M., Bechmann, D. (2020) 'Interactions with a Hybrid Map for Navigation Information Visualization in Virtual Reality.' pp. 69-72.
Boustila, S., Milgram, P., Jamieson, G.A. (2020) 'Map Displays and Landmark Effects on Wayfinding in Unfamiliar Environments.' pp. 629-630.
Boustila, S., Milgram, P., Jamieson, G.A. (2020) 'Map Displays and Landmark Effects on Wayfinding in Unfamiliar Environments.' In 27th IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR). Atlanta, GA, 22/3/2020 - 26/3/2020. IEEE COMPUTER SOC, pp. 629-630.
Boustila, S., Zheng, H., Shuxia, B., Takashima, K., Kitamura, Y. (2019) 'Exploring scalable workspace based on virtual and physical movable wall.' pp. 862-863.
Boustila, S., Guegan, T., Takashima, K., Kitamura, Y. (2019) 'Text typing in VR using smartphones touchscreen and HMD.' pp. 860-861.
Boustila, S., Bechmann, D., Capobianco, A. (2017) 'Effects of adding visual cues on distance estimation, presence and simulator sickness during virtual visits using wall screen.' Part F128640.
Boustila, S., Bechmann, D., Capobianco, A. (2017) 'Effects of stereo and head tracking on distance estimation, presence, and simulator sickness using wall screen in architectural project review.' pp. 231-232.
Boustila, S., Capobianco, A., Génevaux, O., Bechmann, D. (2016) 'New hybrid projection to widen the vertical field of view with large screen to improve the perception of personal space in architectural project review.' 2016-July. pp. 159-160.
Boustila, S., Capobianco, A., Bechmann, D., Genevaux, O. (2016) 'A Hybrid Projection to Widen the Vertical Field of View with Large Screens to Improve the Perception of Personal Space in Architectural Project Review.' In IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI). Greenville, SC, USA, 19/3/2016 - 20/3/2016. Thomas, B.H., Lindeman, R., Marchal, M. (ed.) IEEE, pp. 191-200.
Boustila, S., Capobianco, A., Bechmann, D. (2015) 'Evaluation of factors affecting distance perception in architectural project review in immersive virtual environments.' 13-15-November-2015. pp. 207-216.
Boustila, S., Bechmann, D., Capobianco, A. (2015) 'Evaluation of factors affecting distance perception in immersive virtual environments during virtual visits of houses.' pp. 104-111.
Hamon, L., Gibet, S., Boustila, S. (2013) 'Interactive editing of utterances in French sign language dedicated to signing avatars.' 2. pp. 547-554.