Welcome new PhD student Anh Pham!

Anh Pham is a PhD student at the Nottingham School of Art & Design. She is joining us from Edinburgh Napier University, with a strong academic background in Graphic and Digital Design (BA) and User Experience Design (MSc). Driven by a deep passion for research and a curiosity for the future of technology, her current work is titled Conquering Social Anxiety: Embracing Comfort through Realistic Metaverse Interactions.

This PhD thesis aims to analyse the effect of the Metaverse on the experience of people having social anxiety disorder (SAD). It demonstrates how Metaverse may assist patients with social anxiety since they will have environment and avatars to interact, thereby bolstering their self-confidence in these settings and in the real life. The study will employ a robust mixed-methods approach to explore an experimental investigation that tracks the progression of participants’ social anxiety over time. By addressing the gaps in current understanding of the therapeutic applications of virtual reality, this study aims to contribute valuable insights into parameters and principles of human body movements, facial expressions in the Metaverse context, and social presence factors associated with interactive environments. 

New project on prototyping physical devices with AI

CXL has received funding from the EPSRC pro2 network+ for the project Conversational Prototyping:  Leveraging generative AI to support iterative device production and testing, led by Professor Lars Erik Holmquist. The one-year, £100K project will develop a new way to prototype interactive devices using Large Language Models. We will develop a system where users enter into a dialogue with the prototype to define and refine its functionality. 

The project collaborators are Datalink Electronics in Loughborough, which specialises in high-technology product design, development and manufacturing; Electric Circus, an art robot company in Amsterdam that is pioneering in the field of street-theater; and Poppe & Partners in Amsterdam, who specialise in the combination of culture and technology.