Position:
PhD Student
Contact:
akitson [at] sfu.ca
http://ispace.iat.sfu.ca/person/alex-kitson/
Affiliations:
Biography
Alex became a research intern at the iSPACE lab in January 2013, started her Masters in Fall 2014, and articulated into the PhD program in Fall 2015. She has a BSc from the University of British Columbia in Cognitive Systems, a multidisciplinary program that combines psychology, computer science, philosophy, and linguistics. Her research interests involve using an interdisciplinary approach to understand human perception and behaviour. In particular, employing technology as a medium to explore the human psyche, create better human-computer interfaces, and provide clinical applications.
Alex completed her PhD in December 2020, and is still collaborating on various projects in the iSpace lab.
See her recent interview for her experience as a SIAT grad student (and now postdoc).
Projects
Pathways to flourishing
Leveraging Virtual Reality for cultivating compassion, resilience, social connectedness, and healthy habits in emerging adults facing chronic health challenges About half of youths with chronic physical conditions develop anxiety and/or depression, causing significant distress and disruption within their lives over many years. This underscores their need for well-being tools- particularly ones t...
Awedyssey: VR for promoting and enhancing well-being
We are investigating and creating a new virtual reality (VR) experience, 'Awedyssey', for the promotion and enhancement of well-being. Today, digital technology pervasively intersects with our daily lives, and VR stands out as a digital tool capable of fostering positive emotion like awe, self-transcendence, and authentic social connection. Connecting with nature is very important for our mental...
Designing with Biosignals Workshop at ACM DIS 2023
Designing with Biosignals: Challenges, Opportunities, and Future Directions for Integrating Physiological Signals in Human-Computer Interaction ABSTRACT Biosensing technologies are a rapidly increasing presence in our daily lives. These sensor-based technologies measure physiological processes including heart rate, breathing, skin conductance, brain activity and more. Researchers are exploring...
ETC - Embodied Telepresent Connection
Embodied Telepresent Connection (ETC): Exploring Virtual Social Touch Through Pseudohaptics ETC (Embodied Telepresent Connection) is an artistic VR project exploring ways of eliciting a feeling of embodied connection telepresently through pseudohaptics. This project emerged during the beginning of COVID-19-related lockdowns when our social interactions began to inhabit nearly exclusively virtual ...
SIRIUS - Virtual Earthgazing to mitigate effects of sensory isolation
SIRIUS (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station) is a series of on-land isolation experiments modelling long-term spaceflight in order to assess the psychophysiological effects of isolation on a crew and prepare for long-duration spaceflights, such as a trip to Mars. An 8-month-long isolation study commenced in Moscow on Nov 4th, 2021, where a crew of 6 people (from Roscosm...
Virtual Transcendent Dream
Flying dreams have the potential to evoke a feeling of empowerment (or self-efficacy, confidence in our ability to succeed) and self-transcendent experience (STE), which have been shown to contribute to an individual’s overall well-being. However, these exceptional dreaming experiences remain difficult to induce at will. Inspired by the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) to support profound emoti...
BioSpaceVR
Experience space like never before: An awe-inspiring VR experience that takes place in space where the Sun and stars react to biosensors. BioSpaceVR seeks to provide a virtual self-transcendent experience. Self-transcendent experiences are characterized by the feeling of unity with others and the world. Our project is a bio-responsive VR experience that creates an almost childlike experience of ...
Immersive Installation for Creative Expression and Public Performance: Transcending Perception
Artist Statement Transcending Perception is an interactive Virtual Reality (VR) installation developed by John Desnoyers-Stewart that allows participants to collaborate in the creative, improvisational production of multisensory experiences. Bodies and space are transformed into instruments which translate presence into performance. This installation reminds participants that they are cre...
Lucid Loop: A Virtual Deep Learning Biofeedback System for Lucid Dreaming Practice
Can VR and neurofeedback deep learning art help enhance attention and lucid dreaming practice? Lucid dreaming, knowing one is dreaming while dreaming, is an important tool for exploring consciousness and bringing awareness to different aspects of life. We created a system called Lucid Loop: a virtual reality experience where one can practice lucid awareness via neurofeedback. Visuals are creativ...
Connecting through JeL – bio-responsive VR for interpersonal synchronization
Can a bio-responsive generative art installation foster interpersonal synchronization and connection? JeL is a bio-responsive, immersive, interactive, generative art installation designed to encourage physiological synchronization between the immersants. In this project, we will be exploring how novel forms of interaction can be included in immersive technology to foster the feeling of connection...
Connected through "AWE": creating immersive experiences for social connection
Do you get enough “awe” in your life? In our busy day-to-day lives, we often take our experiences for granted. While we have the technology to connect with one another, like smart phones, we don’t necessarily get outside with nature, or stargaze. Such activities may consist of common awe-inspiring moments, and we now understand that feeling awe is associated with all sorts of social and well...
Virtual Earthgazing - towards an overview effect in Virtual Reality
How can we use immersive VR to give people pivotal positive experiences without having to send them out into space? “We went to the Moon as technicians, we returned as humanitarians” reflected Edgar Mitchell after his space flight. This describes the overview effect – a profound awe-inspiring experience of seeing Earth from space resulting in a cognitive shift in worldview, le...
Lean and Elegant Motion Cueing in VR
How do we best design locomotion interfaces for VR that provide "enough" physical motion cues (vestibular/proprioceptive) while still being effective, affordable, compact, and safe? Despite amazing progress in computer graphics and VR displays, most affordable and room-sized VR locomotion interfaces provide only little physical motion cues (e.g., vestibular & proprioceptive cues). To provide...
Lost Spirit
Flight after death: Lost Spirit is an experiential-based Virtual Reality (VR) game whereby the player is transported into the spirit world as they take flight to the afterlife. Experience flight, weightlessness, and wonder. In Lost Spirit, you are stuck in the limbo - a world between the living and the dead. You will drift and fly through different environments, each corresponding to different...
Immersive & Embodied Teleoperation Interfaces
Developing virtual interfaces for embodied tele-operation and locomotion. How can we best design and implement an embodied telepresence system for tele-robotics, so we can safely explore remote, hard-to-reach, or potentially hazardous areas or situations? The goal of the "TeleSpider" project is to design and implement a telepresence system where users can remotely operate a robotic spid...
Motion Seats for VR
Using motion seats for enhancing locomotion and immersion in VR How can we provide a "moving experience" through VR without having to use a full-scale motion platform? Could a compact and relatively low-cost "motion seat" provide some of the same benefits, thus reducing cost, complexity, space & safety requirements? Despite considerable advances in Simulation and Virtual Real...
VR in Architecture Design & Review
How can we use immersive Virtual Reality and embodied locomotion interfaces to to design more cost- and space-efficient solutions for effective presentation and communication of architectural designs and ideas? Our overall goal is to iteratively design and evaluate a novel embodied VR system that enables users to quickly, intuitively, and precisely position their virtual viewpoint in 3D space...
Spatial Updating With(out) Physical Motions?
How important are physical motions for effective spatial orientation in VR? Most virtual reality simulators have a serious flaw: Users tend to get easily lost and disoriented as they navigate. According to the prevailing opinion, this is because physical motion cues are absolutely required for staying oriented while moving. In this study, we investigated how physical motion cues contribute ...
Sonic Cradle
Sonic Cradle suspends the body is a completely dark chamber which encourages experiences comparable to mindfulness meditation. Users compose peaceful soundscapes in real-time using only their breathing. [vimeo 35764652] Introduction and demo of the Sonic Cradle Sonic Cradle is a relaxing human-computer interaction paradigm designed to foster meditative attentional patterns. The current p...