Augmented Reality + Artificial Intelligence + Scientific Rigor
= What We Do

Positive Augmented Research and Development (PAR-D) at California State University Northridge (CSUN) builds and evaluates artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) experiences to promote health, functioning, and team performance. PAR-D’s AR-AI projects have been funded by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Department of Defense with supplemental support from NIH’s Bridges to Doctorate and BUILD PODER Training Programs.

Producing Research That Matters.

What We Do

  1. Our lab creates Augmented Reality  experiences aimed at promoting positive mental, cognitive, and functional health outcomes for communities and organizations in Los Angeles & San Fernando Valley.
  2. Our software engineer and research teams design and build virtual applications to promote positive health outcomes for under-served groups.
  3. Our research teams evaluate Human and Autonomous systems to promote team performance
  4. Our research team works with communities and teams to identify issues and come up with scalable and sustainable technology solutions to promote health equity.

What Makes Us Different 

  1. Every single element in our augmented reality application is based on empirical evidence (e.g., scientific literature, data from our users).
  2. All our software engineers are trained in the principles of augmented reality design.
  3. All our software engineers and researchers re-evaluate their methods to suit the needs of a changing project or model .
  4. All our researchers are trained in principles of developmental neuroscience and community health promotion — giving them  a “whole person” perspective to evaluate all of our work. 

How we can help you.

AR Applications

Developing Augmented Reality Experiences to Promote Mental, Cognitive, & Teamwork

New Technologies

Providing Access to the Latest Technologies & Experiences
for aspiring research students

Visualization Design

Evaluating Augmented Reality Experiences to fit Data Visualization Needs (User-Centered Design)

Serving Community

Conducting Research to Improve the Lives of People from Underserved Communities

Artificial Intelligence

Utilizing Machine Learning Methods to Enhance our Applications with Artificial Intelligence

Health Equity

Leveraging Community Resources to Combat Health Disparities

Our team

  • Postdoctoral Fellowship in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, & Mental Health of Aging, Johns Hopkins University
  • Ph.D. in Positive Developmental Psychology, Claremont Graduate University
  • Predoctoral Scholar in Developmental Psychobiology, Columbia University
  • M.A. in Psychology, The City College of New York
  • B.S. in Psychology, The State University of New York at Oneonta
  • Email: thomas.chan@csun.edu
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institute for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Research, University of Southern California 
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Human Nutrition, Foods, & Exercise, Virginia Tech
  • Ph.D. in Human Nutrition, Foods, & Exercise, Virginia Tech
  • B.S. in Human Performance, Howard University
  • Email: kacie.blackman@csun.edu
Veronica Fruiht, Ph.D.
Positive Developmental Researcher
Developmental Assets Interventionist
  • Ph.D. in Positive Developmental Psychology, Claremont Graduate University
  • M.A. in Positive Developmental Psychology , Claremont Graduate University
  • B.S. in Psychology, Psychology, California Polytechnic State University
  • Email: veronica.fruiht@dominican.edu
Jeremy Argueta
Product Associate
Human-Computer Interaction Specialist
2020-21 NASA-ARCS Associate
2022-23 NASA-ARCS Fellow
Jazlyn Armendariz
Research Associate
Cognitive Health Specialist
2020-22 NIH funded Bridges to Doctorate Training Program Scholar
Giovanna Blanco
Research Associate
Community Intervention Specialist
2021-23 NIH funded Bridges to Doctorate Training Program Scholar
Gerard Samson
Research Associate
Mindfulness Specialist
2020-23 NIH BUILD PODER scholar
Jay Kennedy
Software Engineer
Augmented Reality Specialist
Jared Carrillo
Mechanical Engineer
Autonomous Systems Specialist
2020-21 NASA-ARCS Fellow
Bryan Rowe
Research Associate
Mental Health Specialist
2022-23 NASA-ARCS Associate
Ana Patino
Research Associate
Health & Education Equity Specialist
Co-Lead on Aware Project
2022-23 NASA-ARCS Fellow
Elizabeth Matz
Research Assistant

Our Alumni

Isaac Argueta
Lead Developer
Software Engineer
Sarah Hwang
Research Assistant
Human Development Specialist
2018-21 NIH BUILD PODER Scholar
2020 Sally Casanova Scholar
Jordan Boeder
Senior Research Associate
Aging Motivations Specialist
Joseph Enriquez-Barton
Mechanical Engineer
Christian Joaquin
Research Assistant
Kevin Erikson
Research Assistant
Cynthia Delgado
Research Assistant
Gus
Retired Neurosurgeon
Nonna Milyavskaya
Research Assistant
Clinical Applications Specialist
Austin Kohnle
Research Assistant
Allison Graham
Research Associate
Immersive Reality Story Telling Specialist
Maria Pena
Research Associate
Human-Computer Interaction Specialist
2020-21 NASA-ARCS Fellow
Alejandro Traslavina
Research Assistant

Get in touch

Location

18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge, CA 91330

Lilac Hall as shown below

Contact Us

Phone : + 1 818 677 4818

Email : thomas.chan@csun.edu

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PAR-D, 2022 ©