Keynotes
Emeritus Professor, Aalborg University, Denmark
Dr. Anthony (aka Tony) Brooks is acknowledged and celebrated as an eminent and renowned Emeritus Professor of Aalborg University, Denmark, with his research resulting in national and international awards of significance; national and international multi-million Euros funded projects, and his being conferred fellow of international societies for his global contributions (e.g., ICAT; EAI). His focus is on researching ways of achieving human afferent efferent neural feedback loop closure vis participants’ creative self-expression from within Brooks’ optimised adaptive technical sensing system(s). The research is applied across ranges of participants across diagnosis/dysfunction, age (young/old), and situation. Interested in the effects of interpersonal multisensory stimulation (IMS) on the mental representation of the self beyond solely visual (multimedia mirroring) and investigating how alternative channels of selectable stimuli and interfaces impact residual damaged sensing in (re)habilitation. Brooks is famously acknowledged as coining/branding “Virtual Interactive Space”;”Aesthetic Resonance”; “ArtAbilitation”; “GameAbilitation”; “AquAbilitation”; “SoundScapes”; and “TeleAbilitation”… alongside being recognized as a first pioneer investigating self-created gesture-based invisible sensing apparatus mapped to interactive computer feedback in the form of selectable digital content i.e., music, sounds/effects, visuals, audiovisuals, robotic devices, video games, virtual reality, and more, applied within healthcare (re)habilitation and well-being research. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1334-6230
Associate Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Dr. Maria Roussou is Assistant Professor in Interactive Systems (Human Computer Interaction, Virtual Reality, Videogames) at the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of London (UCL), a Master in Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Electronic Visualization from the School of Art and Design, University of Illinois at Chicago, a Masters of Science (M.Sc) in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from the same university, and an undergraduate degree in Applied Informatics from the Athens University of Economics and Business. In 2003 she founded and co-directed (until 2016) “makebelieve”, a consulting company designing digital experiences for museums. Previously, she established (in 1998) and directed (until 2003) the Virtual Reality Department at the Foundation of the Hellenic World. For most of the nineties (1993-1997), during her extensive work with the CAVE® at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory in Chicago, she focused on the design, application, and evaluation of virtual and digital media environments for education and the representation of cultural information.
CEO & Co-Founder of Pinscreen, USA
Associate Professor Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, UAE
Dr. Hao Li is CEO and co-founder of Pinscreen, a startup that builds cutting edge AI-driven virtual avatar technologies, as well as associate professor at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI). He was previously a Distinguished Fellow of the Computer Vision Group at UC Berkeley and Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California, where he was also director of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. Li works at the intersection between computer vision, computer graphics, and machine learning, with focus on virtual humans, reality capture, and AI synthesis. With the rapid advancement of AI-driven content creation technologies, he is committed to prioritizing our safety and wellbeing by developing tools to prevent new forms of cyberthreats such as deepfakes used for disinformation campaigns or harassment. Li was also a visiting professor at Weta Digital, a research lead at Industrial Light & Magic / Lucasfilm, and a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia and Princeton universities. His startup, Pinscreen, was recipient of the Epic Megagrants in 2021, and in 2022, Li was featured in the first season of Amazon’s documentary re:MARS Luminaries.
Distinguished Investigator & Co-director Event Lab, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Spain
Prof. Mel Slater is a Distinguished Investigator at the University of Barcelona in the Institute of Neurosciences, and co-Director of the Event Lab (Experimental Virtual Environments for Neuroscience and Technology). He was previously Professor of Virtual Environments at University College London in the Department of Computer Science. He has been involved in research in virtual reality since the early 1990s, and has been first supervisor of 41 PhDs in graphics and virtual reality since 1989. He held a European Research Council Advanced Grant TRAVERSE 2009-2015 and has completed second Advanced Grant MoTIVE 2018-2023. He is a Research Award Winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2021, and was elected to the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy in 2022. He is Field Editor of Frontiers in Virtual Reality, and Chief Editor of the Human Behaviour in Virtual Reality section. His publications can be seen on http://publicationslist.org/melslater.
Senior Research Scientist Manager, Google, USA
Dr. Mar Gonzalez-Franco is a Computer Scientist and Neuroscientist at Google working on a new generation of immersive technologies and generative AI. With a background in real-time systems in her research she uses different disciplines: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Avatars, Computer Graphics, Computer Vision, AI, and Haptics. All while studying human behavior, perception and cognition.
She is a prolific scientist with over 100 publications and does regular service as program committee, chair and reviewer in top venues (ACM, IEEE, Nature Publishing, Royal Society, AAAS Science). She was awarded the IEEE VGTC VR New researcher award in 2022. Apart from her prolific scientific output and academic recognitions, her work has also transferred to products used on a daily basis such as Avatars in MS Teams was awarded Times invention of the year in 2022 and it is to date the largest deployment of avatars in any platform for productivity, available to the 270 million daily users.
Associate Professor, Université Paris Saclay, France
Reader & Dance Artist UAL Creative Computing Institute University of the Arts London, UK
Dr. Sarah Fdili Alaoui is a reader at the Creative Computing Institute at the University of the Arts London and an Associate Professor at LISN-Université Paris Saclay and Ex Situ INRIA research team in interaction design, human-computer Interaction, and dance. She is a choreographer, a dancer, and a Laban Movement Analyst. Previously she was a researcher at the School of Interactive Arts+Technology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, within the MovingStories project. She holds a PhD in Art and Science from the University Paris-Sud 11 and the IRCAM-Centre Pompidou and LIMSI-CNRS research institutes. She has a Masters of Science (M.Sc) from the University of Joseph Fourier and an Engineering Degree from ENSIMAG in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, and about 30 years of training in ballet and contemporary dance. She is interested in intersecting research in interaction design with dance-making and choreography. She has been involved in many art and science projects, collaborating with dancers, visual artists, computer scientists, and designers to create interactive dance performances and interactive installations, as well as systems for supporting choreography and dance learning and documentation.
Senior Robotics Engineer, Dubai Future Foundation
Dr. Ahmad AlAttar completed his Bachelor’s in Mechatronic Systems Engineering at Simon Fraser University, Canada, in 2017, graduating with honors. He obtained his Master’s in Electronics Engineering and Management from King’s College London in 2019. Ahmad earned his PhD in Robotics Engineering from Imperial College London, focusing his research on robot motion learning. He now works at Dubai Future Labs as a Senior Robotics Engineer, where he focuses on robotics research, talent development, and R&D management. Ahmad is also interested in exploring the intersection of art and technology. He founded REALIITY, an Emirati Art + Tech startup specializing in creating kinetic and interactive art installations that celebrate and reflect the UAE’s rich culture and heritage.
