Phaedra Longhurst
Phaedra Longhurst is a research assistant at the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists and a postgraduate student at the Department of Psychology, University of Exeter. Phaedra’s research focuses on body image and appearance-related studies (e.g.,
eating disorders) and developing positivist, interventionist methods which promote healthier body image across diverse populations. Starting in September 2022, Phaedra’s will be researching positive body image in autistic individuals as part of her PhD at the Body & Self Group, Anglia Ruskin University.
Bill Davies
Bill Davies is Professor of Acoustics and Perception at the University of Salford. He researches human response to complex sound fields in areas such as soundscapes, spatial audio and machine listening. He has held a range of roles including Associate Dean and Vice-President of his professional body. Bill was PI on the EPSRC-funded Positive Soundscape Project, co-PI on Making Sense of Sounds and he led work on perception of complex auditory scenes on the S3A programme grant. His work has influenced standards (e.g., ISO 12913 soundscape assessment), fed into Defra soundscape policy and been translated into novel spatial audio demonstrators by BBC R&D. Bill was diagnosed autistic in 2017, aged 52.
Suzi Sapiets
Suzi Sapiets is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, working with the Sharland Foundation Research and Impact Network. She recently finished her PhD at the University of Warwick on access to early support for children with developmental disabilities (e.g., intellectual/learning disabilities, autism) and their families, from recognition and identification of need, through to the provision of support from services across education, health, and social care systems. Suzi has completed research on various topics related to developmental disabilities, such as early intervention, the use and impact of restrictive interventions in schools, gathering the views of people with communication challenges, and embracing complexity in research across neurodevelopment and mental health. Suzi is also autistic and has lived experience of mental health conditions.
https://twitter.com/suzijsapiets
https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzisapiets/
https://www.kent.ac.uk/social-policy-sociology-social-research/people/3668/sapiets-suzi
Discussion Points
We appreciate that some of our panel members might not be experts in VR, but we would like to start a more general conversation and also relate to the talks presented at the conference so far.
What is the general understand of what VR and immersive technology in general are? Is it still perceived as a science fiction or has it made its way into the popular culture?
Based on previous knowledge and talks presented at the conference, how well do you think VR has been utilised in autism research? What are the benefits and downfalls so far?
How do you see VR used in autism research in the future? What are the main challenges?
In light of other technological applications in autism research (such as games, tablets, computers etc etc), how well does VR compare to these? Does this technology have similar challenges we can learn from or is it on a completely different journey?
As part of our special issue for Journal of Enabling Technologies we discussed the importance of PAR and informing XR developers of the field of neurodiversity, as the knowledge of researchers and practitioners working with technology is often limited. What would be your advice on how we can achieve this better? How can we ensure that autistic community’s voice comes through in future XR research and applications?
Accessibility is being discussed in XR research more and more. What would be the first hurdles we would need to get through in order to ensure we include all of the relevant communities in research and design for the future?