Jacob Sauer

profile

Position:

MSc Student

Contact:

jacob_sauer at sfu dot ca

Affiliations:

Biography

Jacob joined the iSpace lab in Fall 2023 as a MSc stu­dent. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Software Systems Engineering from the University of Regina. During his time at URegina, he also worked as an under­grad­u­ate researcher in the Department of Computer Science’s aRMADILo Lab; his research focus was inter­dis­ci­pli­nary appli­ca­tions for immer­sive vir­tual real­ity expe­ri­ences, specif­i­cally in the areas of spa­tial cog­ni­tion and iso­lated phobia expo­sure ther­apy. He is also self-taught in Unity (since early 2019) and Unreal Engine (since early 2022), and has pre­vi­ously worked in the indus­try as an inter­ac­tive dig­i­tal media developer.

Projects

Echoes of Me

Echoes of Me

Echoes of Me is an experience that invites participants into an intimate dialogue with themselves through an immersive XR journey inspired by research on self-compassion and perspective-taking in VR. The experience is designed to evoke conceptual change and feelings of self-compassion through virtual embodiment and embodied interaction. Echoes of Me is a guided encounter, not about becoming someon...

By noah miller, jacob sauer, pouya salehi, bernhard riecke, denise quesnel & alex kitson Read more
Compassionate Connection Oasis VR Toolkit (ccOasisVR)

Compassionate Connection Oasis VR Toolkit (ccOasisVR)

Empowering Emerging Adults through Compassion and Enhanced Social Connection: Co-creating a Compassionate Connection Oasis VR Toolkit (ccOasisVR) Emerging adulthood (18-25) is a critical developmental phase, a tumultuous transition marked by heightened distress, and, unfortunately, a decreased likelihood that Emerging Adults (EAs) will seek support. The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed the urge...

By bernhard riecke, alex kitson, denise quesnel, noah miller, jacob sauer, andrea gaggioli, katarina tabi, patrick pennefather, alissa antle, steve dipaola, david glowacki & maja wrzesien Read more
HemisFear

HemisFear

HemisFear: A Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Prototype Driven by Cross-Cultural Understanding of Dog Phobia Can virtual reality turn your terror of a barking stray into calm curiosity? HemisFear’s culturally attuned exposure therapy confronts dog phobias in both suburban backyards and bustling Indian streets, letting you practice handling real-life triggers with the safety of VR. Cynophobia, ...

By jacob sauer & Bernhard riecke Read more
Pathways to flourishing

Pathways to flourishing

Leveraging Virtual Reality for cultivating compassion, resilience, social connectedness, and healthy habits in emerging adults facing chronic health challenges About half of youths with chronic physical conditions develop anxiety and/or depression, causing significant distress and disruption within their lives over many years. This underscores their need for well-being tools- particularly ones t...

By denise quesnel, bernhard riecke, noah miller, jacob sauer, alex kitson, katarina tabi, sylvain moreno, beth payne, faranak farzan, dzung vo, steve dipaola & jennifer wilson Read more
Awedyssey: VR for pro­mo­ting and enhancing well-being

Awedyssey: VR for pro­mo­ting and enhancing well-being

We are investigating and creating a new virtual reality (VR) experience, 'Awedyssey', for the promotion and enhancement of well-being. Today, digital technology pervasively intersects with our daily lives, and VR stands out as a digital tool capable of fostering positive emotion like awe, self-transcendence, and authentic social connection. Connecting with nature is very important for our mental...

By denise quesnel, noah miller, katerina stepanova, john desnoyers stewart, jacob sauer, ashu adhikari, patrick pennefather, alex kitson, alexander stahn & bernhard riecke Read more

Publications

Norton, Wil J., Jacob Sauer, and David Gerhard. 2020. “A Quantifiable Framework for Describing Immersion.” PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality 29 (December):191–200. https://doi.org/10.1162/pres_a_00361.
Sauer, J. (2022). Chapter 10: Locomotion and Navigation. In D. Gerhard & W. J. Norton, Virtual Reality Usability Design (1st ed., pp. 261–297). CRC Press. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.1201/9781003261230/virtual-reality-usability-design-david-gerhard-wil-norton
Miller, Noah, Jacob Sauer, Pouya Salehi, Denise Quesnel, Alexandra Kitson, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2025. “Echoes of Me.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. Signals Creative Tech Expo, DigiBC Creative Tech Studio, Vancouver, BC, Canada, DigiBC Creative Tech Studio, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 3. https://signals.digibc.org/.
Sauer, Jacob, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2025. “Baxter VR: A Scale-Based Prototype for Simulating Human-Dog Interactions in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy.” Adjunct Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) 2025: Workshop on Mixed/Augmented Reality for Mental Health (MARMH) (Daejeon, South Korea), 1–7.
Sauer, Jacob, Denise Quesnel, Noah Miller, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2025. “Self-Compassionate Engagement and Cultural Background Explain Gains in Emerging Adults’ Temporal Well-Being After a Virtual Reality Experience.” Adjunct Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) 2025: Workshop on Mixed/Augmented Reality for Mental Health (MARMH) (Daejeon, South Korea), 1–9.
Sauer, Jacob, and Bernhard E Riecke. 2025. “HemisFear: A Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Prototype Driven by Cross-Cultural Understanding of Dog Phobia.” ACM CHI EA ’25 (Yokohama, Japan), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3719970.