ADA-VR: Ad­ap­ti­ve Au­then­ti­ca­ti­on in Vir­tu­al Re­a­li­ty

Start: Winter semester 25/26

Description:


This project group will design, implement, and evaluate adaptive authentication (AA) mechanisms tailored for virtual reality (VR) environments. User authentication—the verification of an individual's identity—is vital for protecting sensitive information and ensuring secure access, especially as VR extends beyond gaming into education, healthcare, industry, productivity, and military applications. Traditional authentication (such as passwords) in VR faces usability challenges due to cumbersome input methods (controller + virtual keyboard), slowing down and disrupting the user experience.

Adaptive authentication (AA) addresses these challenges by dynamically adjusting authentication requirements according to contextual factors (e.g., device location, nearby trusted devices, user behavior). This means, for example, that authentication can be easier when the user is at home with familiar devices (deactivation of additional layers), but more stringent in higher-risk contexts (like new locations or devices).

Project Phases:

  • Phase 1: Familiarization
    Get acquainted with VR authentication needs, issues with current methods, and the principles of adaptive authentication—including review of related work and understanding distributed AA system architectures (such as MAPE-K: Monitor, Analyze, Plan, Execute over a Knowledge base).
  • Phase 2: Prototyping and Evaluation
    Design and implement a prototype AA system for VR, taking into account usability, security, architectural choices, privacy risks, and user experience. Use a range of standalone VR devices and a powerful GPU-equipped PC available in the lab. Conduct user testing to evaluate both security and usability. The final outcome will be a working prototype and a comprehensive user testing and evaluation report.

Goals:

  • Develop an adaptive authentication solution for VR that balances strong security with minimal impact on usability and immersion.
  • Investigate how adaptive schemes (including, but not limited to, behavioral biometrics) can add or reduce authentication layers based on context.
  • Produce practical insights and recommendations for secure, user-friendly VR authentication.

Deliverables:

  • Functional prototype of an AA system for VR.
  • User testing and evaluation report.
  • Design and architecture documentation.

Lab facilities:

  • A dedicated workspace equipped with various VR devices and a high-performance PC for development and testing.
     

For questions, please feel free to reach out to Emiram - ekablo@mail.upb.de