René Weller

Computer graphics · Virtual reality · Haptics

Making virtual worlds touchable.

I am a computer scientist at the University of Bremen's Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality lab. My work centers on geometric data structures and collision detection at haptic rates, physically-based simulation, and their application in medical VR training, planetary exploration and immersive interaction.

Senior Researcher · Coordinator of the VaMEx initiative
Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Research Lab (CGVR), University of Bremen

Publications Projects Google Scholar GitHub
95publications
16journal articles
10paper awards
20years of research

Research

Six threads that keep reappearing in my work — most of them start with a good geometric data structure.

Collision detection & geometric data structures

Bounding volume hierarchies, Inner Sphere Trees, constant-time parallel collision detection (kDet), benchmarking suites and open-source libraries.

Haptics & physically-based simulation

6-DOF haptic rendering, penetration volumes, multi-contact haptics in game engines (UnrealHaptics), and rigid-body dynamics under uncertainty.

Sphere packings

ProtoSphere and adaptive polydisperse packings as a general tool — from collision detection to gravitational field modelling and 3D packing problems.

Medical VR & the smart operating room

Surgical simulators with force feedback (HIPS, dental training), collaborative anatomy learning, autonomous surgical lighting and shadow-free projection.

Space robotics & planetary exploration

Virtual testbeds for heterogeneous robot swarms on Mars (VaMEx), procedural asteroid generation and fast gravity computation for irregular bodies.

Interaction & perception in VR

Teleportation and redirected-walking studies, object selection (LenSelect), navigation agency and immersion, accessible 3D games for sighted and visually impaired players.

Selected publications

  1. kDet: Parallel Constant Time Collision Detection for Polygonal Objects

    René Weller, Nicole Debowski, Gabriel Zachmann

    Computer Graphics Forum (Proc. Eurographics), 2017

  2. Inner Sphere Trees for Proximity and Penetration Queries

    Rene Weller, Gabriel Zachmann

    2009 Robotics: Science and Systems Conference (RSS), 2009

  3. ProtoSphere: A GPU-Assisted Prototype-Guided Sphere Packing Algorithm for Arbitrary Objects

    René Weller, Gabriel Zachmann

    ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2010 Sketches, 2010

  4. Redirected walking in virtual reality with auditory step feedback

    René Weller, Benjamin Brennecke, Gabriel Zachmann

    The Visual Computer, 2022 Best Paper Award

  5. LenSelect: Object Selection in Virtual Environments by Dynamic Object Scaling

    René Weller, Waldemar Wegele, Christoph Schröder, Gabriel Zachmann

    Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2021

  6. Efficient and Accurate Methods for Computing the Gravitational Field of Irregular-Shaped Bodies

    Hermann Meißenhelter, Matthias Noeker, Tom Andert, René Weller, Benjamin Haser, Özgür Karatekin, Birgit Ritter, Max Hofacker, Larissa Balestrero Machado, Gabriel Zachmann

    2022 IEEE Aerospace Conference (AERO), 2022 Best Paper in Track

  7. New Geometric Data Structures for Collision Detection and Haptics

    Rene Weller

    Springer International Publishing, 2013

  8. UnrealHaptics: Plugins for Advanced VR Interactions in Modern Game Engines

    Janis Rosskamp, Hermann Meißenhelter, René Weller, Marc O. Rüdel, Johannes Ganser, Gabriel Zachmann

    Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2021

All 95 publications →