We are delighted to announce the inaugural Applied Vision Science (AVS) meeting. This one-day conference will be held in St. Pete Beach, Florida on May 20, 2026, the Wednesday immediately following the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society. The one-day meeting program will consist of a series of talks and poster sessions.
The purpose of the AVS meeting is to gather and highlight the highest quality research in applied vision science. The meeting is co-located with the Vision Sciences Society meeting, to maximize sharing between the basic and applied vision science communities. We believe that bringing the best applied vision science to what is already the best vision science conference will benefit both communities.
A satellite workshop to the 2026 Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting, May 13-14, 2026
MODVIS 2026 will be held at the VSS conference venue (the Tradewinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach, FL). We hope you will consider participating; we are providing this heads-up concerning the dates so that those of you who are interested can take them into consideration when making travel plans. The organization will be essentially identical to the previous workshops.
All first (presenting) authors must register for the meeting.
Substitutions for talks are not allowed.
Substitutions for posters require pre-approval by the VSS Program Committee and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. If an author substitution is approved, the first author must still pay the registration fee.
Only abstracts presented at the meeting will be published in the Journal of Vision.
Each member may submit only one first-authored abstract to the meeting.
Each member may present only once at the meeting, unless part of a symposium.
All abstracts are submitted through your MyVSS Account.
Abstracts must be work that has not been accepted for publication or published at the time of submission.
Submitters must note any scheduling constraints under “Special Instructions”. Due to the complex constraints and time required, special requests received after abstract notices may not be accommodated.
Abstract Format
Regular abstracts are limited to 300 words. This does not include title, authors, and affiliations. Additional space is provided for funding acknowledgments and for declaration of commercial interests and conflicts.
Your abstract should consist of an introduction, methods and results sections, and a conclusion. It is not required that the sections be explicitly labeled as such. Abstracts must contain sufficiently detailed descriptions of methods and results. Do not submit an abstract of work that:
you are planning to do
lacks sufficient results to reach a clear conclusion
has been accepted or published elsewhere at the time of submission
Please complete your submission carefully. All abstracts must be in final form. Abstracts are not proofread or corrected in any way prior to publication. Typos and other errors cannot be corrected after the deadline. You may edit your abstract as much as you like until the submission deadline.
Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
It is the responsibility of the First, Corresponding, or Presenting Author to list on the abstract any relevant commercial relationships or other conflicts of interest.
For each abstract and presentation, the First/Corresponding Author must also disclose the name of the organization with which a commercial relationship exists for the First Author and each Co-author.
At a talk, the speaker must orally state and display on a slide at the beginning of the presentation all relevant commercial relationships or other conflicts of interest, as well as the name of the organization(s) with which a commercial relationship(s) exists for the First Author and each Co-author.
At a poster presentation, the presenter must display the relevant commercial relationships or other conflicts of interest, as well as the name of the organization(s) with which a commercial relationship(s) exists for the First Author and each Co-author.
Conformity with this Policy is a requirement.
Abstract Review Process
The Abstract Review Committee evaluates all submitted abstracts in a double-blinded review process. Abstracts submitted for talk sessions are assessed by 2 reviewers; all other abstracts are assessed by 1 reviewer unless they have applied for a travel grant, in which case, 2 reviewers will be assigned. Reviewers are chosen whose area of expertise matches the topic of your abstract.
Abstract Scientific Rating
Abstracts submitted for talk sessions and/or travel grants are evaluated using a five-point scale. Blind ratings from all reviewers are aggregated, and reviewers have the option to recommend rejection of an abstract.
Abstracts submitted for poster sessions are reviewed by a single reviewer, who either approves the abstract for presentation or makes a recommendation to reject the abstract.
Abstract scientific ratings are completed prior to the VSS Board Meeting in late January, during which the abstracts are scheduled into talk and poster sessions.
Rejection Criteria
Criteria for the rejection of abstracts are: insufficient results to reach a clear conclusion, significant flaws or absence of methods, incomprehensibility, repetition of well-known literature, a complete lack of novelty, or describing work that has been accepted for publication or published elsewhere at the time of submission.
Abstracts that are recommended for rejection by at least one reviewer will be evaluated by the Board of Directors and will only be rejected if a two-thirds majority of directors at the board meeting vote for rejection.
Scheduling of Abstracts into Sessions for the Meeting
The VSS Board of Directors meets in January to schedule presentations for the upcoming VSS conference. Abstracts are divided up into thematically organized sessions that include talks or posters, taking into account presentation preferences listed by authors during abstract submission (see below for definitions).
Because there are usually more requests for talks than slots available, a given abstract’s scientific ratings (assigned by its “blind” reviewers) will primarily determine assignment to a talk session. Additionally, the Board will make adjustments to ensure that the talks in a single session fit well together, are gender-balanced, and to prevent a session from being dominated by a single laboratory.
Options for Presentation Preferences
Talk Preferred – Your abstract submission will first be considered for a talk presentation. If not accepted for a talk, your abstract will be considered for a poster presentation.
Poster Only – Your abstract submission will only be considered for a poster presentation.
Remote Presentations
VSS is an in-person meeting. In the recent past, we have allowed a presentation to be remote if a presenter was ill or denied a visa to come to the US, and only for a small number of requests made after abstract submission. This year, you may indicate at the time of abstract submission that you would like to present remotely. Only a limited number of presentations will be allowed to be remote, and requests must follow these rules and procedures:
Remote presentations are allowed only given a compelling reason (e.g. illness, difficulty in obtaining a visa, or other comparable obstacle).
You must indicate your request to present remotely at the time of abstract submission.
Because space for remote presentations is limited, your abstract may be rejected if too many remote requests are received.
Remote abstracts will be published in the Journal of Vision if presented at the meeting.
Remote presenters will pay full registration fees.
Remote Talks
Only one remote talk per meeting talk session will be accepted, so your chance of receiving a talk slot is substantially lower if you request to present remotely.
As with regular talks, remote talks will be selected based on review scores.
Remote talks must be provided as a pre-recorded video before the VSS meeting, which will be played onsite during your scheduled session.
You must join the session via Zoom for the Q&A following your talk.
Remote Posters
The number of remote posters is limited.
Remote posters include a short poster video presentation in lieu of an in-person presentation. (The video is uploaded through your VSS account and VSS staff will place a QR code linking to your video on your board.)
An optional copy of your poster as a PDF can be uploaded to appear with your abstract on the VSS website.
Remote poster presenters must arrange to have their poster printed, transported and then hung onsite during their assigned poster session.
Under special circumstances, if a remote poster presenter cannot find anyone to print, transport and hang the poster, VSS will print and mount the poster for the presenter. (The PDF must meet format and size requirements.) The number of these cases will be strictly limited.
Notices of Abstract Acceptance
After reviewing and scheduling of the abstracts, the authors will be informed of the outcome.
All correspondence, including notification of abstract acceptance and details for poster and talk presentations, will be sent to the “corresponding author” (submitting author) via email.
The corresponding author shall be responsible for informing all contributing authors of any related correspondence.
Presenter Requirements at the Meeting
Talk and poster presenters should plan to attend the meeting in person unless offered a remote presentation. In the event an in-person presentation was expected and you cannot attend the meeting (e.g., due to illness or failure to obtain a visa), contact VSS, and we will determine if we can accommodate a remote presentation.
First authors must register for the meeting and present their poster or talk.
Presenter substitutions for posters require pre-approval by the VSS Program Committee and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. If an author substitution is approved, the first author must still pay the registration fee.
Substitutions for talks are not allowed.
Each registered attendee may present only once at the meeting, unless they are part of a symposium.
Abstract Withdrawal
To withdraw an abstract prior to the meeting, the first author must send an email to .
Under exceptional, unavoidable circumstances, the VSS Board of Directors will consider a co-author replacement for a presentation. To request such a special substitution, a clear explanation must be given in writing in advance (send such requests to ).
Abstracts withdrawn or not presented at the meeting will not be published in the program or in the Journal of Vision.
Authors who fail to present their poster or give their talk without withdrawing their abstract may forfeit the right to present the following year.
Abstract Publication
Titles and authors of all accepted abstracts (talks and posters) are included in the VSS Program. Full abstract text is included in the Abstracts Book. All abstracts presented at the conference are published online in the Journal of Vision.
Submission Schedule
Submissions Open: October 20, 2025 Submissions Close: December 10, 2025 (midnight, last time zone on earth which is approximately 5:00 am PST on December 11) Extended Notification of Accepted Abstracts: February 9, 2026
VSS 2026 will once again offer Undergraduate Just-in-Time Poster Sessions, designed for undergraduate students, post-baccalaureate researchers, and research assistants working on independent research projects. These poster sessions will be held in person at the annual meeting in two sessions (dates and times TBD). Submissions will open on March 2, 2026.
UJIT Submission Policies
A candidate may submit only one abstract to the UJIT Poster Session.
The candidate must be a current VSS member (for 2026).
The candidate must be registered to attend VSS.
If the candidate is a post-bac or research assistant, they must provide proof of status.
Those who already have a regular abstract accepted for VSS 2026 are not eligible to submit to the Just-In-Time session.
Abstracts must be work that has not been accepted for publication or published at the time of submission.
Poster presenter substitutions are not permitted.
UJIT Eligibility
Space is limited. Submission to these sessions is limited to students who:
Are currently enrolled in a 3-year or 4-year program leading to the bachelor’s degree (must be a current student in 2026 to apply)
Have earned a bachelor’s degree in a 3/4-year program and are currently in their first year of study in a program leading to a master’s degree (students studying in European universities may fall into this category)
Are currently in a post-bac research position (letter of attestation from advisor required)
Are currently technical research assistants (letter of attestation from advisor required)
Those who already have a regular abstract accepted as first-authors for VSS 2026 are not eligible.
UJIT Abstract Format
UJIT abstracts are limited to 300 words. This does not include title, authors, and affiliations. Additional space is provided for funding acknowledgments and for declaration of commercial interests and conflicts.
Your abstract should include an introduction, methods and results sections, and a conclusion. While it is not necessary to label these sections explicitly, abstracts must contain sufficiently detailed descriptions of methods and results. Do not submit an abstract of work that:
you are planning to do
without sufficient results to reach a clear conclusion
has been accepted or published elsewhere at the time of submission, or has been accepted as a regular abstract for VSS 2026
Per the VSS Disclosure of Conflict of Interest Policy, authors must reveal any commercial interests or other potential conflicts of interest that they have related to the work described. Any conflicts of interest must be declared on your poster.
Please complete your submission carefully. All abstracts must be in final form. Abstracts are not proofread or corrected in any way prior to publication. Typos and other errors cannot be corrected after the deadline. You may edit your abstract as much as you like until the submission deadline.
Accepted abstracts will appear in the VSS 2026 program, but unlike regular abstract submissions, UJIT abstracts will not be published in the Journal of Vision.
If you have any questions, please contact our office at .
UJIT Abstract Review Process
Given the late UJIT deadline, aspects of abstract review will differ from regular VSS submissions. UJIT submissions will be reviewed by members of the VSS Board of Directors and designates to ensure appropriate content for the meeting.
UJIT Submission Schedule
Submissions Open: March 2, 2026 Submissions Close: March 31, 2026 Notification of Accepted Abstracts: April 10, 2026
For questions about UJIT Poster Submissions, please Contact Us.
