"I was Holding a Magic Box": Investigating the Effects of Private and Projected Displays in Outdoor Heritage Walks

Location-aware mobile guides are a popular technology for enhancing the experience of heritage walks in historical outdoor sites. Smartphones, as typical mediums for such systems, have been criticised for limiting users’ opportunities for embodied engagement with the environment. In this work, we investigate how display technologies beyond the traditional personal mobile screen can facilitate embodied experiences during outdoor heritage walks. To do this, we revisit the use of portable projected displays as a medium that allows us to explore the effects of overt and blended displays in this context. We conducted a study with 42 participants on an out- door heritage walk, using two display modalities: smartphone and projected display. We discovered that besides the display modality, users’ attitude toward technology, their embodied relationship with the device, and incorporation of spatial aspects in interaction play a key role in generating engagement and shaping the experience of heritage walks

Co-creating Meaningful Spaces: Stepping into Virtual Worlds Crafted by People Living with Dementia

This paper presents a unique artistic endeavour that aims to foster an understanding of the profound impact of space, place, and human connection through the lens of individuals living with dementia. Our work involved a five-week co-creation process, comprising twenty sessions, where forty-four participants collaborated with artists to craft four physical boxes representing "Meaningful Places." These boxes were then transformed into immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environments, inviting the participants to engage with their creations in an entirely new way. The art installation during the DIS 2023 Art exhibition features the VR experience alongside the physical boxes our workshop participants created. With this, we invite viewers to step into the worlds imagined and crafted by those living with dementia, but also explore them, in a celebration of the unique perspectives and experiences of those who made them

VRPassport: Travel the world in Virtual Reality for people with Dementia

The loss of autonomy that comes with being in the care of others has a significant impact on the emotional well-being of people with dementia (PwD). Our research aims to investigate key design factors when creating Virtual Reality (VR) non-pharmacological interventions to improve their emotional wellbeing and enhance their interactions with caregivers. This paper, presents the iterative design and initial evaluation of a VR system aiming to enhance the procedure of admitting VR interventions

Keep the VRhythm going: A musician-centred study investigating how Virtual Reality can support creative musical practice

The acoustic and visual experiences of musicians in the spaces they perform in are complex and organic in nature, entailing a continuous interaction with the environment. With this project, we leverage the power of Virtual Reality (VR) to support musicians in their creative practice by transporting them to novel sonic and visual worlds. For this, we developed a musician-centred VR system, featuring various acoustic and visual virtual environments, VR Rehearse & Perform, based on design requirements gathered with musicians and performance experts. To investigate how VR can be designed to support music-makers in their creative musical practice, we performed iterative tests with 19 musicians followed by semi-structured interviews. Our fndings suggest that VR has the potential to support diferent aspects of the creative musical practice, such as rehearsing, performing and improvising. Our research provides insights and inspirations toward designing musician-centred VR experiences for various musical activities

Meaningful Spaces, Meaningful Places: Co-creating VR Experiences with People Living with Dementia

Drawing inspiration from collaborative art-making, our study presents the methodology and findings of a process of co-creating meaningful spaces with individuals living with dementia, and the subsequent exploration of these spaces from a first-person perspective in virtual reality (VR). We examine the dual role of art as a means of communication for expressing emotions and thoughts, as well as a tool for empowerment and transformation which leads to new experiences and perspectives. Through this, our work contributes to the understanding and development of innovative, non-pharmacological interventions for enhancing the emotional well-being and quality of life of people living with dementia

VR Rehearse & Perform - A platform for rehearsing in Virtual Reality

In this paper, we propose VR Rehearse & Perform - a Virtual Reality application for enhancing the rehearsal efforts of performers by providing them access to accurate recreations - both visual and acoustical - of iconic concert venues

Music from anywhere & everywhere: exploring the design space of remote music performance

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly transformed the realm of music performance and consumption, prompting the adoption of novel technologies and interaction methods for musicians and audiences alike. My thesis delves into the design space of remote music performances, concentrating on understanding user needs and preferences as well as exploring the potential of emerging technologies, such as extended reality, to fulfil these desires. The work aims to provide valuable insights into how musicians and audiences can adeptly navigate the swiftly evolving landscape while also informing the creation of more inclusive and inventive solutions that enable individuals to engage with music from anywhere and everywhere. By doing so, my research aspires to offer inspirational starting points for future work and design initiatives that ultimately enhance the overall experience of music performed and experienced remotely for both musicians and audiences in the post-pandemic world

A Workshop on Designing the Performances of the Future at IMX 2022

This workshop aims to start a conversation as to what the performances of the future might look like by inviting both researchers and practitioners to present their work in this domain. It will explore the interception of technology and performance, with a focus on how technology might be leveraged to enhance performances and the process of developing performances, provide new ways to reach and interact with audiences, as well as how it can create new ways of performing

No Pie in the (Digital) Sky: Co-Imagining the Food Metaverse

Human behaviour and habits co-evolve with technology, and the metaverse is poised to become a key player in reshaping how we live our everyday life. Given the importance of food in our daily lives, we ask: how will our relationships with food be transformed by the metaverse, and what are the promises and pitfalls of this technology? To answer this, we propose a co-design study that reveals the important elements people value in their daily interactions with food. We then present a speculative catalogue of novel metaverse food experiences, and insights from discussing these ideas with food designers, anthropologists and metaverse experts. Our work aims to provide designers with inspirations for building a metaverse that: provides inclusive opportunities for the future of food; helps re-discover the forgotten or lost knowledge about food; facilitates the exploration, excitement and joy of eating; and reinvigorates the ways that food can soothe and heal