While much virtual reality research is focused on aspects such as modeling, simulation and interaction, the collection and the analysis of user behavior data has received little attention in the literature.

Using visual analysis methods on the large amount of data collected can help gain insights and lead to the discovery of valuable information about the user behavior and the effects of the virtual experience.

My PhD will focus on the development of visual tools for the logging and the analysis of user behaviour concerning single as well as multiple virtual reality sessions. In this way, it will be possible to discover and understand patterns and relationships among data, e.g. strategies chosen by the user to navigate the virtual environment, associations between design features and user actions, individual differences in the behavior of different categories of users.

Initially the tools will be validated in the context of cybertherapy with particular reference to anxiety disorders, afterwards we will take care to generalize them to make them applicable in any domain.