The Organizers
Joelle Zimmermann, Magic Leap
Dr. Joelle Zimmermann is a Mixed-Methods UX Researcher in AR/VR, with a strong research background in Psychology and Neuroscience. Joelle leads the User Research program for Solutions at Magic Leap, where she is responsible for end-to-end User Research for AR/VR enterprise applications. She has over 10 peer reviewed publications and 2 patents pending, and has organized panels, workshops and talks at CHI, CSCW, GHC and AWE conferences.
Bektur Ryskeldiev, Mercari R4D
Dr. Bektur Ryskeldiev is a Kyrgyzstani-born multidisciplinary researcher and creative technologist, focused on spatial and social computing, human-computer interaction, immersive media, computational creativity, and digital art. He is currently a senior research scientist at Mercari R4D and a long time educator, organizer, and content producer at SIGGRAPH.
Mark Billinghurst, University of Southern Australia
Mark Billinghurst is Professor of Human Computer Interaction at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia. He earned a PhD in 2002 from the University of Washington and researches innovative computer interfaces that explore how virtual and real worlds can be merged, publishing over 300 papers in topics such as wearable computing, Augmented Reality and mobile interfaces. Prior to joining the University of South Australia he was Director of the HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury and he has previously worked at British Telecom, Nokia, Google and the MIT Media Laboratory.
Kai Kunze, Keio University
Kai Kunze works as Professor at the Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan where he leads an interdisciplinary research group “Geist”, focusing on Augmented Humans and applied Wearable Computing research.
Previously, he held an Assistant Professorship at Osaka Prefecture University, Japan. He received his Ph.D. from Passau University, Germany.
Jie Li, Epam
Dr. Jie Li is a mixed-methods researcher with a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction received from TU Delft and has a background in Industrial Design Engineering (https://jieli-research.com). She is currently leading the XR/Metaverse Research at EPAM Systems. She is experienced in designing and evaluating human experiences for emerging technologies such as Social Virtual Reality (VR) and has successfully co-organized many academic workshops (e.g., ACM CHI 2020 and 2021 Social VR Workshops). Besides her research career, she is a cake artist, owning a boutique café in the Netherlands (https://cake-researcher.com).
Julie Williamson, University of Glasgow
Julie Williamson is a Professor at the University of Glasgow. Her research focuses on interaction in immersive environments, including co-located virtual reality, head-mounted displays for social and public settings. She is an expert in interaction design, and evaluation, and deployment of immersive experiences.