Four UCF Institute for Simulation & Training (IST) Faculty Members Honored with IEEE’s Test of Time Paper Award

Charles Hughes

Eileen Smith

In 2005, four University of Central Florida faculty members, Charles E. Hughes, Christopher B. Stapleton, Darin E. Hughes, and Eileen M. Smith, published their research “Mixed Reality in Education, Entertainment, and Training” in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications journal. In late May 2025, the historic work was honored with the IEEE’s 2024 Test-of-Time (ToT) Paper Award.

Charles Hughes is Pegasus Professor Emeritus, Computer Science, and Co-Director of the IST’s Synthetic Reality Lab. Stapleton and Darin Hughes were research faculty members at the IST when the article was published. Eileen Smith is the Program Director of Applied Research and Director of the IST’s E2i Creative Studio.

Of the announcement, Hughes says, “We appreciate the recognition of our work, which was an early example of the use and value of Mixed Reality in a broad range of learning and playful contexts. It’s always nice when having fun and achieving meaningful results coincide. We are grateful for the support we received from Canon’s Mixed Reality Laboratory, the Navy Research Laboratory, the Army RDECOM (now known as the DEVCOM Army Research Lab, and the Orlando Science Center, as well as UCF’s Institute for Simulation & Training and its College of Engineering & Computer Science.”

“The IEEE Test of Time recognition,” says Smith, “is an amazing reminder of the reason that I came to UCF in 2003. Timeless elements in the article continue to manifest in new, timely techniques, technologies, and systems. Narrative interplay continues to evolve as the inherently human element of connection and the true test of agency.”

The honored article describes how “a multidisciplinary research team transformed core mixed reality (MR) technology and methods into diverse urban terrain applications. These applications are used for military training and situational awareness, as well as for community learning to significantly increase the entertainment, educational, and satisfaction levels of existing experiences in public venues. The article is available at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1528429.

The IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A) Awards celebrate outstanding contributions to computer graphics, recognizing excellence in research, editorial leadership, and peer review. These prestigious awards honor individuals and teams whose work has significantly advanced the state of the art in computer graphics, visualization, virtual reality, and interactive techniques. The Test of Time Award honors papers with a lasting and profound influence on computer graphics.