Samory Houzangbe, PhD student at the LAMPA laboratory, Presence and Innovation team, on contract with Eon Reality.
Combining scientific research and the development of virtual reality applications: a childhood dream come true!
Since March 2016, Samory, 28, has been conducting research on the usability and appeal of wearable connected devices for virtual reality while collaborating with the Research and Development teams at Eon Reality (an American company specializing in edutainment—the introduction of entertainment into cultural or educational activities). He tells us about his daily life between his professional life and his life in the lab, surrounded by his peers and experts in his field.
The doctorate: a desire for specialized expertise
When Samory began his higher education after graduating from high school with a science degree, he wanted to work in video games, a dream he had always nurtured. To ensure he would earn a recognized degree, he enrolled in a three-year engineering program atESILV, specializing in computer science and information intelligence. During a six-month internship as a research engineer at LAAS, a CNRS laboratory, he discovered the world of research and humanoid robotics, allowing him to study motion planning for flexible objects as part of a team focused on robot control.
At AKKA Technologies, an engineering and consulting firm, he was on a long-term contract (one and a half years). Seconded to Nexter Systems in the defense sector, he worked as a design engineer developing applications for ballistic trajectory calculation. Despite this, he wasn’t truly passionate about the work, and his desire to pursue a thesis remained strong. After careful consideration, he therefore decided to return to his studies, pursuing Master of Science atthe University of Evry (specializing in Virtual Reality and Intelligent Systems) before continuing on to a PhD program of his choice at Arts et Métiers. Demonstrating the full value and usability of wearable connected devices when a person is immersed in a virtual world is the central question driving his thesis. Measuring all bodily reactions—heart rate, micro-sweating, movements, and more—using so-called “consumer-grade” devices, which are affordable, seems essential to making a virtual experience even more personal and interactive.
I bring a more theoretical, conceptual perspective to my company than my colleagues; I am, in a way, the team's "scientific validation."
A balance between business and laboratory
At the same time, Samory plays a key role at Eon Reality, a company that develops virtual reality and augmented reality applications for edutainment (training and leisure). The results of his experiments are eagerly awaited, as they will help to confirm or refute future projects in the Research and Development department. He brings a more theoretical and conceptual perspective to his company than his colleagues. He is, in a way, the team's "scientific validator." During company meetings, Samory is often consulted for his academic approach, because as a member of the LAMPA laboratory at Arts et Métiers, he is at the forefront of the latest research in his field. He sometimes uses the analyzed results of experiments conducted by other doctoral students at the school. Rigorous and meticulous, he dedicates an hour of his time every morning to in-depth technology monitoring, which will feed into his "state of the art" throughout his thesis, which requires constant updating.
