Ali Sadeghi Milani

Dr. Milani is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Oklahoma State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2026, with a specialization in virtual reality, human-computer interaction and machine learning.

His research focuses on extended reality (XR) systems that help people work alongside autonomous machines such as drones, ground robots, and AI agents. His dissertation developed immersive VR telepresence systems for flying a micro-drone with head and hand input, and for driving a ground robot while an autonomous drone follows to provide an aerial view. The work combines real-time computer vision, Kalman filtering, GPU video pipelines, and user studies.

During his doctoral studies, he also worked on building mixed reality and VR training systems with domain experts. These include a HoloLens 2 trainer for reverse total shoulder arthroplasty developed with orthopedic surgeons at Texas Tech University, a VR application for stuttering therapy, and a lunar exploration simulator. He is currently developing human-like AI opponents for games using reinforcement learning.

At OSU, he teaches UNIX Programming and Mobile App Development, and has designed two new courses for the department's game design program: Foundations of Game Development and Shader Programming for Games. He has mentored undergraduate researchers through the NSF REU and IRES programs. Before his academic career, he worked for more than nine years as a 3D artist and taught 3D modeling and animation.

Research Interests:

Extended reality (XR) for human-autonomy teaming; immersive telepresence and teleoperation of UAVs and ground robots; real-time perception and object tracking; XR simulation for medical, therapeutic, and aerospace training; human-like AI for games and simulation; human-computer interaction and user-centered evaluation.