XR Engineer · User Researcher · Teacher · Project Manager
Hugo Brument
I design, build, and evaluate immersive systems, from Unity prototypes on Meta Quest to XR training platforms deployed with NATO operators. Seven years of applied research at TU Wien and Inria taught me to ship working software and to prove, with data, that it works for the people who use it.
VR (Unity, Unreal) · AR (Lens Studio, Vuforia) · Data Analyses (R, Python) · User studies · EU / FFG / NATO projects
21
peer-reviewed publications: 4 journal articles, 17 conference papers, 165 citations
€800k+
R&D funding co-acquired (EU, FFG, NATO)
6
funded R&D projects, delivered or running
15+
user studies designed, run, and analysed
15+
students supervised (PhD, master, bachelor)
7
awards, incl. ACM SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies and IEEE ISMAR 2026 Outstanding Reviewer
Transferable skills
What I bring to a team
01
XR software engineering
Unity and C# applications for Meta Quest and PC VR, multi-user networked XR (H2020 Bridges), and integration of novel hardware such as haptic and olfactory displays.
Unity · C# · Unreal · Meta Quest
02
User research & UX evaluation
Controlled experiments and usability studies with clear success measures: task performance, workload, comfort, and cybersickness. 15+ studies designed, run, and analysed.
Experiment design · Usability · Eye tracking
03
Data analysis & visualisation
Pipelines combining motion tracking, eye tracking, and physiological data, statistical modelling in R and Python, and findings turned into design decisions.
R · Python · Mixed models · Matlab
04
Project & stakeholder management
Multi-partner projects with budgets up to €500k across EU, FFG, and NATO consortia: milestones, deliverables, reporting, and partner coordination.
Budgets · Milestones · Consortia
05
Funding & business development
Proposals for EU Horizon, FFG, NATO, FWF, and WWTF, with €800k+ in R&D funding co-acquired, from scope definition to consortium building.
Proposals · Partnerships · Scoping
06
Team leadership & communication
Supervised 15+ students, responsible for university courses, and presented results to engineers, executives, and ministries, including workshops with the Austrian Ministry of Defence.
Mentoring · Teaching · Presenting
Selected work
Projects that reached real users
NATO STO HFM-NMSG-354
CBRN XR training platform
Designed, built, and deployed a VR training platform for CBRN scenarios, used with military and civilian operators across NATO nations.
HFM Panel Excellence Award 2026
IEEE TVCG 2025
Shiftly: shape-shifting haptics
Origami-inspired shape-shifting haptic device for VR, from mechanical prototype to Unity integration and user evaluation.
Hardware · Unity · User study
ICAT-EGVE 2025
SCENTAUR: smell in VR
Encountered-type olfactory display that brings large-scale smell interaction to virtual reality.
Best Paper Honorable Mention
IEEE VRW 2025 · FFG €300k
GeoCROW: geodata on Meta Quest
Interactive geospatial data visualisation on standalone headsets, making dense spatial data usable for situational awareness.
Meta Quest · Data visualisation
Background
About me
Since January 2022, I have been a University Assistant (post-doc) at the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien), in the Virtual and Augmented Reality Research Unit led by Prof. Hannes Kaufmann (https://www.vr.tuwien.ac.at).
Before that, I was a third-year PhD student at the National Institute of Research in Informatics and Automation (Inria) in Rennes, France. I was under the supervision of Ferran Argelaguet from Hybrid team, Maud Marchal from Rainbow team and Anne-Hélène Olivier from MimeTIC team. My PhD, entitled “Towards User-Adapted Navigation Techniques in Virtual Environments: Study of Factors Influencing Users Behavior in Virtual Reality” focused on research contributing to navigation in Virtual Environments literature. It aimed at providing new insights about the influence of experimental conditions on users’ navigation in Virtual Reality (VR) as well as new analyzes methods for assessing locomotion techniques to have a better understanding of human perception and action while navigating in VR. We aimed at improving users’ navigation in VR through techniques based on human locomotion laws. We used a multidisciplinary approach combining Computer Science, Human Movement Science and Perception.
Before, I studied at the National Institute of Applied Science (Insa Rennes) in France, where I completed my master’s degree in Computer Science in 2018. I also did an exchange semester at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics during my master’s (BME) in 2017.
My research focuses on Extended Reality (XR). In particular, I focus on locomotion, motion perception, human factors during XR interaction, virtual avatars, tangible interfaces, spatial collaboration of users, human-robot interaction, and embodied conversational agents.
You can download my full CV at the following link (English version).
Last update: October 2026