Grégoire Richard
Associate Professor (Maître de conférences) in Computer Science
I am an Associate Professor (Maître de conférences) in Computer Science at Le Mans Université, France. I teach at the IUT de Laval and conduct my research at LIUM (Computer Science Lab of Le Mans University), in the IEIAH team (Technology Enhanced Learning). I work in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Virtual Reality (VR), on haptic feedback and multisensory interaction: I am interested in how a designed signal (tactile, visual, auditory) shapes what people perceive, understand and feel during an interaction, and in the experimental methodology needed to study it. My current work extends this line towards learning: I study how haptic and multimodal signals can guide gestures, support collaboration and structure learning in immersive environments.
Positions
LIUM, Le Mans Université - IUT de Laval, France
Associate Professor (Maître de conférences)
Sept. 2026 - Present
IEIAH team
Heudiasyc (UTC) & ISIR (Sorbonne Université), France
Post-doctoral Researcher (CNRS)
Oct. 2023 - May 2026
ANR MATCH project
CRIStAL-Inria, Université de Lille, France
ATER - Temporary Assistant Teacher
Sept. 2022 - Aug. 2023
Loki team
Education
PhD, Computer Science
CRIStAL-Inria, University of Lille, France
2019 - 2023
Specialized in Human Computer Interaction and Virtual Reality
Master's Degree, Computer Science
Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers, France
2015 - 2019
Specialized in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Engineering Degree
Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers, France
2015 - 2019
Projects
Academic projects
Acceptability of Social Touch in VR
2025-2026, Heudiasyc (UTC) & ISIR (Sorbonne Université), France
This project studies when, and from whom, social touch is acceptable in virtual reality. We adapted the Wizard-of-Oz method to embodied social interaction in VR: the partner is always an experimenter-controlled avatar behaving identically, while participants are told it is either a remote human or an autonomous agent. In a 2x2 between-subjects experiment (N = 47) built on a storytelling task, what participants believed about the partner changed how its empathic touch was received, without changing how human the partner was judged to be.
Multisensory Feedback for Social Touch
2023-2025, Heudiasyc (UTC) & ISIR (Sorbonne Université), France
This project investigates how visual, audio and tactile feedback, alone and combined, contribute to the perception of being socially touched by a virtual agent in VR. Three experiments progressively isolate and combine these modalities. Multisensory feedback improves the experience of social touch: visual and tactile feedback are the main contributors to feeling touched, audio feedback also has a significant impact, and the agent's level of animation and interpersonal distance shape how much it is felt as a social partner.
Spatialized Vibrotactile Controller
2021-2022, CRIStAL-Inria, University of Lille France
This project aimed at designing a controller for VR that enabled spatialized vibrations through the use of the funneling effect. Several aspects of the controller were assessed.Performance-wise, users' ability to locate static vibrations, and their ability to follow dynamic patterns. In terms of user experience, the impact of vibrotactile feedback on embodiment as explored.
Methodological Tools for Embodiment Studies in VR
2020-2021, CRIStAL-Inria, University of Lille France
This project proposes a new methodologicals tools to study embodiments in virtual reality. We assess the ability of within-subjects and between-subjects design to detect effects in relationship with sample size. We explore new correlations between embodiment and other metrics in a replication of a full-body virtual embodiment protocol.
Haptic Feedback and Embodiment
2019-2020, CRIStAL-Inria, University of Lille France
This project explore the relationship between different haptic feedbacks and virtual embodiment, especially the ecological validity of the feedback and its perception by users.
Research
Thesis
Thesis
Rôle du retour haptique sur les interactions avec des avatars en réalité virtuelle

Defended on 19th of June, 2023
ED MADIS, CRIStAL, Université de Lille, France
International Conferences
EuroXR 2026
When a Virtual Agent Touches You: How a Partner's Attributed Agency Shapes the Acceptability of Social Touch in VR
To appear in Proceedings of the EuroXR 2026 International Conference
Journals
Frontiers in VR
"Did she just tap me?": Qualifying Multisensory Feedback for Social Touch during Human-Agent Interaction in Virtual Reality
Frontiers in Virtual Reality, vol. 6, 2025
Frontiers in VR
Studying the Role of Haptic Feedback on Virtual Embodiment in a Drawing Task
Frontiers in Virtual Reality, Section Virtual Reality and Human Behaviour
Workshops
CHI 2026 SAXR
Social Acceptability of Touch: Can a Virtual Agent Touch a Human?
1st ACM CHI 2026 Workshop on Shaping Future Human Connection: Social Augmentation through XR Technologies (SAXR), Barcelona, Spain - CEUR Workshop Proceedings, vol. 4226
WACAI 2024
Qualification des Modalités du Toucher Social dans les Interactions Humain-Agent en Réalité Virtuelle
Workshop sur les Affects, Compagnons Artificiels et Interactions (WACAI 2024), Bordeaux, France