Parastoo Abtahi

Stanford University, Princeton University

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Parastoo Abtahi is a leading researcher at the intersection of haptics, virtual reality, and human-robot interaction, whose work redefines how users physically experience digital worlds. Her primary contributions lie in developing encounter-type haptic devices (EHDs) that allow users to touch and feel virtual objects through dynamic physical proxies. Her most impactful work, “REACH+” (2020, 72 citations), introduces a groundbreaking framework for visuo-haptic redirection, overcoming critical limitations of EHDs such as workspace constraints and device latency. By cleverly decoupling visual and physical feedback, Abtahi’s system significantly enhances the perceived realism and performance of virtual interactions. Beyond technical innovation, she explores the human side of robotics through bodystorming methodologies, as seen in her 2020 paper on human-robot interaction design challenges. Her forward-looking research on “Reality Promises” (2025) further pushes boundaries by using invisible mobile robots to create seamless virtual-physical decoupling illusions in mixed reality. Abtahi’s work is essential reading for anyone interested in making virtual experiences feel authentically tangible, bridging the gap between digital content and physical sensation.