
Biography
Deniz Ural is an award-winning designer, researcher, and speaker dedicated to creating innovative, responsive, and holistic experiences that help people heal. Growing up as a dancer, she developed a deep understanding of movement and presence, which later influenced her first tech project—choreographing a robot dance for a children’s exhibition. She studied industrial design and spent five years in the design industry in various roles, including foresight designer for the future of spatial computing, UX/UI designer, and freelancer. Now pursuing a master’s at SIAT, SFU, she researches technologically mediated and sensory experiences that foster healing and deeper human connection.
Projects
Who Defines Embodiment? Cultural Bias in Interoceptive Wellness Technologies
If interoception is culturally learned rather than biologically universal, how should we design for this variability? Interoception—the perception of internal bodily states such as heartbeat, hunger, and emotion—is foundational to well-being. Despite its significance in wellness technologies within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), existing designs often impose a universalized model of bo...
Sensorium
This mixed-methods study investigates how real versus sham visual biofeedback influences subjective and physiological relaxation, self-connection, body awareness, flow, and self-transcendence within Sensorium 1.5 — an individual, immersive installation combining body-scan meditation, ambient sound, and HRV-responsive LED lighting. Fifty participants will experience both real and sham feedback in...
BRieFLY - A meditative VR experience
Breathe, connect, and watch fireflies respond to your touch and breath BRieFLY is an exploratory VR prototype combining mindful breathing with playful interaction. This 6-minute meditative experience immerses users in a mixed reality environment where shimmering fireflies dynamically respond to their movements, as illustrated in the video below. The session begins with a 3-minute narrated b...