In this blog post, we profile the professional development Dr Sylvia Xueni Pan, who joined Goldsmiths in September 2015 as a lecturer and researcher in Virtual Reality.
In 2015, deputy head of Goldsmiths Computing Marco Gillies (who had been one of her PhD supervisors) invited Sylvia Xueni Pan to apply for a job at Goldsmiths. She had been with for University College London for 11 years, and was ready to move on. Sylvia had joined UCL for her Master’s in Computer Graphics after studying Computer Science at Beihang University, Beijing. She wanted to answer the question: Beyond mere entertainment, how can computer graphics benefit us?
For instance, she was interested in how socially anxious and confident men interact with a forward virtual woman.
The beginning of a conversation with an avatar
And it gets more personal
Some participants really enjoyed this experience, quite visibly
Continuing on this theme, Sylvia’s PhD research looked at how virtual reality systems might reduce social anxiety, language barriers and cultural difference (something she had experienced personally as a Chinese woman in London). For instance, she studied how the personality of an avatar (shy or confident) could influence our behaviour.
A subsequent post-doctoral position at UCL investigated how people respond when confronted with a moral dilemma in Virtual Reality. Her work was featured in BBC Horizon: Are You Good or Evil? (1’40” to 7’40”). (Related publications here and another here)
Her research interests pulled her towards psychology and neuroscience, resulting in post-doctoral positions at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (UCL), using VR to study the neuroscience of social interaction. Here, she discovered that we subconsciously copy an avatar when playing drums with her.
“But at UCL, the emphasis is on being brilliant at code. But there’s not enough creativity or appreciation of how code might be applied in the real world. I’m not so interested in the technical stuff – I’m interested in how it feels, and whether it works. So it made sense for me to come to Goldsmiths Computing, where creativity is really valued.”
At Goldsmiths, Sylvia teaches third-year and Master’s modules in Data Visualisation, Computer Graphics & Animation, first-year module Audio-Visual Computing, and second-year module Perception & Multimedia Computing. Part of her research interest is on building understanding between autistic and non-autistic people.
“There’s lots of work that tries to teach autistic people how to live in the non-autistic world. For example, at UCL I was working on a camera that can alert its users to emotional meaning by sensing facial expression. But I’m now more interested in teaching non-autistic people how to understand the autistic experience.”
At Goldsmiths, Sylvia is working with her students on VR environments that simulate what it’s like to be autistic. These tools can show non-autistic people what it is like to live in a world where sound affects vision, and where it is difficult to filter or prioritise sensory input.
She’s also keen to involve her students in this research.
She recently challenged her third year Computer Graphics students to create their own work that simulates autism for the non-autistic user. Some students were excited with this idea and decided to do their final year project with her. For instance, see this blog profile of one of her students’ project.
Alongside this, Sylvia has also been working with a team of philosophers, neuroscientists, and doctors on how GPs respond to medical dilemmas in Virtual Reality.
She is excited about the future of Virtual Reality and the unlimited applications in VR that would change our life in all aspects.
“Virtual Reality is going to revolutionise the way we teach, and more and more students will be excited about VR and motivated to pursue a career in this area.”
Angie Fang is a UK-based Chinese digital artist who works in digital media, audio visual performance and interactive installations. Her online video work is created entirely in C++, making use of complex 3D OpenGL and digital signal processing techniques entirely of her own devising.
Lior Ben Gai is an Israeli digital artist, working in various digital mediums since 2008. His work explores potential intersections between artificial life and synthetic biology, examining notions of ‘lab aesthetics’ whilst creating experiences that rely on his strong visual sense.
Matilda Skelton Mace is a London-based artist and designer, working with the building blocks of reality, space, light, and geometric form. She creates her own interactive systems in C, C++, Processing, Java and HTML5.
