John Desnoyers-Stewart, PhD
Biography
Dr. John Desnoyers-Stewart is an interdisciplinary artist-researcher who creates immersive installations and performances to connect people and evoke new perspectives on our shared reality. He received his PhD in Interactive Arts and Technology working with Dr. Bernhard Riecke and the iSpace lab at Simon Fraser University. He realizes new possibilities working across disciplines through extensive experience as an engineer (P. Eng), artist (MFA), and researcher (PhD). His multi-user mixed reality installations, Star-Stuff, Eve 3.0, and more have been shown in over 60 exhibitions around the world. Through these installations and over 30 peer-reviewed publications he hopes to encourage social connection and collaborative creativity, exploring positive social applications of virtual reality and better understanding the experience of embodying abstract bodies.
Dr. John Desnoyers-Stewart — Portfolio
Dr. John Desnoyers-Stewart — CV
Research Summary
Mixed reality, interactive art, social connection, embodiment and tactility, pseudo-haptics, research in-the-wild.
Degrees
PhD in Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University, 2024
MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Creative Tech and Computer Science), University of Regina, 2018
BASc in Industrial Systems Engineering (Co-Op), University of Regina, 2011
Select Grants & Awards
Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant (2021−22)
SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2018−2023)
Engineers Canada TD Meloche-Monnex Scholarship (2019)
National Academy of Sciences Student Fellows Symposium Award (2018)
Saskatchewan Innovation and Opportunity Graduate Scholarship (2017)
Projects
Being in Virtual Worlds: How Interaction, Environment, and Touch Shape Embodiment in Immersive Experiences
Embodiment is an everyday experience that typically goes unnoticed. While we often take it for granted, with the adoption of virtual reality (VR) technology, embodiment in virtual bodies and worlds has become an important consideration for designers of immersive experiences. To date, the VR ...
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...
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: 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...
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 ...
Reality - Reimagined
Synedelica reimagines what is possible with immersive technology, providing a new perspective on reality. In this synesthetic mixed reality experience, visuals of the real world are modulated by sound, attuning immersants to the beauty hidden in the seemingly mundane. Synedelica shows the world in a new light, rekindling childlike wonder and encouraging exploration.
...
Sipping the Virtual Elixir: An autoethnographic close reading of Ayahuasca Kosmik Journey a self-transcendent virtual experience.
Recently self-transcendent experiences are gaining interest in the research community because of their ability to support wellbeing. Experiences of self-transcendence can be transformative, leading to a diminishment of self/ego and the feeling of unity with n...
There is a prominent interest in the potential of technology for mediating social connection, with a wealth of systems designed to foster the feeling of connection between strangers, friends, and family. In this project, we are exploring this design landscape to derive a transitional definition of mediated genuine connection and design strategies employed by artists and designers to support the f...
Available on Oculus AppLab at https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3367089710082568/
Inspired by Carl Sagan, Star-Stuff: a way for the universe to know itself is an immersive experience created to remind immersants of their fundamental connection to humanity and the Universe. This hybrid VR artwork brings two people together remotely or in a co-present installation. In both cases, the ...
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...
One must first come to know, through observing oneself — just what one does with breathing. - Elsa Gindler
Breath of light is a generative interactive installation, exhibited at the 13th Shanghai Biennale. The installation aims to foster a feeling of connection and awareness through the process of breathing synchronization. Each of the two participants generates their own light with their breat...
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 ...
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...
Extending Bodies to Stimulate Social Connection in an Immersive Installation
Body RemiXer connects bodies through movement. It is an experiential projection based Virtual Reality installation that explores novel forms of embodied interaction between multiple participants where their bodies mix into a shared embodied representation producing a playful interaction that aims to support the feeling o...
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...
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...
Publications
http://ispace.iat.sfu.ca/wp-content/plugins/zotpress/
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Pennefather, Patrick, Patrick Rizzotti, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Katerina Stepanova, Bernhard Riecke, Leonid Danenkov, Vladislav Ryzhov, Julie-anne Saroyan, William Beltran, and Riya Chak. 2020. “A Fun Palace: A Mixed Reality Event Through the Looking Glass of Cybernetics.” Cybernetics and Human Knowing 27 (2): 61–80.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, J. (2022).
Star-Stuff [Oculus AppLab].
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3367089710082568/
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Desnoyers-Stewart, J. (2022).
Star-Stuff [Hoame VR]. Hoame VR.
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3367089710082568/
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Megan L. Smith, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2019. “Transcending the Virtual Mirror Stage: Embodying the Virtual Self through the Digital Mirror.” In . London, UK.
https://youtu.be/L6ykZLiGC8o.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2022. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” In SIGGRAPH ’22 Immersive Pavilion, 1–2. Vancouver, BC, Canada: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3532834.3536198.
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Sirius. (2021, October 1). [Curated & peer-reviewed Virtual Reality Exhibition]. V-Unframed, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/the-artworks/sirius/
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Stepanova, Ekaterina R., K. Brauns, A Friedl-Werner, Noah Miller, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Ashu Adhikari, Bernhard E. Riecke, and Alexander C. Stahn. 2022. “A Neurophenomenological Approach to Better Understand the Effects of Eliciting Positive Experiences in Virtual Reality.” Poster presented at the Phenomenological Methods in Neuroscience and Consciousness Research workshop, University of Zürich.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Bernhard E. Riecke, and Patrick Pennefather. 2020. “Body RemiXer: Extending Bodies to Stimulate Social Connection in an Immersive Installation.”
Leonardo 53 (4): 394–400.
https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_01925.
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Liu, Pinyao, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2023. “Breath of Light: Towards Reclaiming Shared Breathing through a Meditative Installation.”
Leonardo 56 (5): 1–17.
https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02401.
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Miller, Noah, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Alexandra Kitson, Jim Bizzocchi, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2022. “Sipping the Virtual Elixir: An Autoethnographic Close Reading of Ayahuasca Kosmik Journey, a Self-Transcendent Virtual Experience.” Virtual Creativity 12 (Extended Senses: Embodying Technology): 27–44. https://doi.org/10.1386/vcr_00059_1.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2023. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” Invited Virtual Reality Exhibition. Victoria Extended Reality (XR) Mixer, KWENCH, Victoria, BC, KWENCH, Victoria, BC, October 19.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2022. “Star-Stuff.” VR Meditation App. Hoame VR, July.
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3367089710082568/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2023. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada, December.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2023. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” Invited Virtual Reality Exhibition. Night of Ideas Vancouver | More? Slow is Beautiful, BCIT Downtown Campus, Vancouver, BC, BCIT Downtown Campus, Vancouver, BC, February 1.
pwias.ubc.ca/events/feb-1-night-of-ideas-2023/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2023. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” Invited Virtual Reality Exhibition. Immersive Technologies Seminar Series, University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, BC, University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, BC, February 8.
events.ok.ubc.ca/event/immersive-technologies-seminar-series-expanding-social-realities-through-abstract-embodiment.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2022. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. FIVARS 2022, Toronto, Canada and Los Angeles, Toronto, Canada and Los Angeles, November 28.
https://fivars.net/stories/storiesfall2022/star-stuff/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2022. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. VRE Fest Italy, Milan, Italy, Milan, Italy, October 6.
https://www.vrefest.com/en/official-selection-vre22/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2022. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” Invited Virtual Reality Exhibition. SFU Surrey Community Open House 2022, Surrey, BC, Canada, Surrey, BC, Canada, October 27.
sfu.ca/surrey/open-house-2022.html.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Noah Miller, Patrick Pennefather, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2022. “Synedelica.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. V-Unframed, Center for Digital Media (CDM), Vancouver, BC, Canada, Center for Digital Media (CDM), Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 1.
https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2021. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. V-Unframed, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October.
https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Margherita Bergamo Meneghini, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2024. “Real Human Touch: Performer-Facilitated Touch Enhances Presence and Embodiment in Immersive Performance.” Frontiers in Virtual Reality 4:1–26. https://doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2023.1336581.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Noah Miller, Patrick Pennefather, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2023. “Synedelica.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. Burn in the Forest 2023, Merrit, BC, Canada, Merrit, BC, Canada, April 20.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Noah Miller, Patrick Pennefather, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2023. “Synedelica.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. Intangible Realities Lab Virtual Reality Exhibit, Santiago de Compostella, Spain, Santiago de Compostella, Spain, April 20.
www.intangiblerealitieslab.org.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Noah Miller, Patrick Pennefather, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2023. “Synedelica.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. Otherwolrd, Lake Cowichan, BC, Canada, Lake Cowichan, BC, Canada.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John. 2022. “Star-Stuff: A Way for the Universe to Know Itself.” In ACM SIGGRAPH 2022 Immersive Pavilion, 1–2. SIGGRAPH ’22. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3532834.3536198.
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Ural, Deniz G., Rayne Inkster, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Faranak Farzan, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2025. “BRieFLY: Mindful Breathing and Playful Interaction to Foster Self-Connection in Mixed Reality.”
ACM CHI EA ’25 (Yokohama, Japan), 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3720237.
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Ural, Deniz, Rayne Inkster, John Desnoyers-Stewart, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2024. “BRieFLY: A Meditative VR Experience: Breathe, Connect, and Watch Fireflies Respond to Your Touch.” Virtual Reality Exhibition. Virtual Reality Showcase: IAT 848 - Mediated, Virtual, and Augmented Reality, Surrey, BC, Canada, Surrey, BC, Canada, November 26.
http://ispace.iat.sfu.ca/riecke/teaching/iat848/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Noah Miller, and Bernhard E Riecke. 2025. “Synedelica: Mixed Reality Reimagined.” Proceedings of the ACM on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (PACMCGIT), 1–7.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Pinyao Liu, et al. 2023. “Embodied Telepresent Connection (ETC).” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. Hyper Canada, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, November.
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Miller, Noah, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, et al. 2023. “Awedyssey.” Curated Mixed Reality Exhibition. Cosmic Nights: Humans in Space, H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, November 23.
https://events.sfu.ca/event/37966-cosmic-nights-humans-in-space.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Pinyao Liu, et al. 2023. “Embodied Telepresent Connection (ETC).” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. VIFF Signals - Beta Lounge, Bentall II, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Bentall II, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 1.
https://viff.org/signals/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R Stepanova, Pinyao Liu, et al. 2023. “Embodied Telepresent Connection (ETC): Exploring Virtual Social Touch Through Pseudohaptics.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. Intangible Realities Lab Virtual Reality Exhibit, Santiago de Compostella, Spain, Santiago de Compostella, Spain, April 20.
www.intangiblerealitieslab.org.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Bernhard E. Riecke, and Patrick Pennefather. 2022. “Body RemiXer Virtualization for Recto VRso 2022.” Curated Virtual Reality Archival Work. Recto VRso 2022, Laval, France, Laval, France, April 12.
rectovrso.laval-virtual.com/en/virtual-edition-2020/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Bernhard E. Riecke, and Patrick Pennefather. 2020. “Body RemiXer Virtualization for Recto VRso 2020.” Curated Virtual Reality Archival Work. Recto VRso 2020, Online, Online.
rectovrso.laval-virtual.com/en/virtual-edition-2020/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Bernhard E. Riecke, and Patrick Pennefather. 2021. “Body RemiXer Virtualization for Recto VRso 2021.” Curated Virtual Reality Archival Work. FIAV - Festival International d’Art Vidéo de Casablanca, Laval, France, Laval, France, November 23.
https://www.fiav.ma/assets/pdf/installations/6.pdf.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Bernhard E. Riecke, and Patrick Pennefather. 2020. “Body RemiXer [Online].” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition. Recto VRso Vancouver 2020, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October.
https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/rectovrso2020/.
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Miller, Noah, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, et al. 2021. “Sirius.” Curated & peer-reviewed Virtual Reality Exhibition. V-Unframed, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 1.
https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/the-artworks/sirius/.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2019. “Body RemiXer.” Curated & peer-reviewed Virtual Reality Exhibition. Fun Palace Carnival of Mixed Realities, Center for Digital Media (CDM), Vancouver, BC, Canada, Center for Digital Media (CDM), Vancouver, BC, Canada, June 25.
https://thecdm.ca/events/2019-06-25/the-fun-palace-carnival-mixed-realities.
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Stepanova, Ekaterina R., John Desnoyers-Stewart, Bernhard E. Riecke, and Philippe Pasquier. 2019. “JeL – Bio-Responsive VR for Interpersonal Connection.” Curated & peer-reviewed Virtual Reality Exhibition. Fun Palace Carnival of Mixed Realities, Center for Digital Media (CDM), Vancouver, BC, Canada, Center for Digital Media (CDM), Vancouver, BC, Canada, June 25.
https://thecdm.ca/events/2019-06-25/the-fun-palace-carnival-mixed-realities.
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Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Alissa N. Antle, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2025. “Being in Virtual Worlds: How Interaction Environment and Touch Shape Embodiment in Immersive Experiences.” Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (New York, NY, USA), CHI ’25, April 25, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713586.
