Noah Miller

profile

Position:

PhD Student

Contact:

noah_miller at sfu.ca

Affiliations:

Biography

Noah joined the iSpace team in Fall 2018 as a PhD stu­dent. He has a Bachelor and Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota Duluth. In his Master’s, he researched the dif­fer­ence between inter­face affor­dances of real-world and vir­tual objects in vir­tual real­ity. During this time, he also worked in the inter­dis­ci­pli­nary MMAD Lab as a motion cap­ture tech­ni­cian and research assis­tant where he worked with Biomechanics, Engineers, Dancers, Artists, and Mathematicians. His research focuses on inter­dis­ci­pli­nary approaches to using vir­tual real­ity for self trans­for­ma­tive expe­ri­ences aimed at mental health issues, reduc­ing post­op­er­a­tive pain with VR, self-transcendence, and loco­mo­tion in VR. His other inter­ests include phi­los­o­phy, game design, and HCI.

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...


Synedelica

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. ...


Autoethnographic Close Reading of Self-transcendent VR Experiences

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...


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...


Embodied & Intuitive Flying for VR, Gaming, and TeleOperation

Flying has been a dream for mankind for millenia - but flying interfaces for VR, gaming, and teleoperation (e.g., drones) typically rely on cumbersome double-joystick/gamepads and do not allow for intuitive and embodied flying experiences. Here, we develop low-cost embodied flying interfaces that adapt leaning-based motion cueing paradigms thus freeing up hands for additional tasks beyond just na...


NaviBoard: Efficiently Navigating Virtual Environments

Here we propose a novel and cost-effective setup of a leaning-based interface ("NaviBoard") that allows people to efficiently navigate virtual environments - with performance levels matching the gold standard of free-space walking, without any increase in motion sickness Abstract Walking has always been the most common locomotion mode for humans in the real world. As a result, it has also been co...


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...


Gamified Research

Gamifying Research - Researchifying Games While traditional experimental paradigms offer tight stimulus control and repeatability, then tend to be a bit boring and removed from many real-world situations, which can limit real-world transferability of results. How can we bring together the methodological strenghs of research with the intrinsic motivation of playfulness and gaming? The ...


Publications

Kitson, A. J., Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Miller, N., Adhikari, A., Stepanova, E. R., & Riecke, B. E. (2020). Can We Trust What’s Real? Using Fiction to Explore the Potential Dissociative Effects of Immersive Virtual Reality. Ethics of MR’20  Workshop at ACM CHI 2020 (Exploring Potentially Abusive Ethical, Social and Political Implications of Mixed Reality Research in HCI), Honolulu, HI, USA.
Sirius. (2021, October 1). [Curated & peer-reviewed Virtual Reality Exhibition]. V-Unframed, Vancouver, BC, Canada. https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/the-artworks/sirius/
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.
Miller, N., Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Kitson, A., Bizzocchi, J., & Riecke, B. E. (2022). Sipping the Virtual Elixir: An autoethnographic close reading of Ayahuasca Kosmik Journey a self-transcendent virtual experience. Extended Senses (Full Paper), 1–8. http://extendedsenses.co.uk
Miller, N., Stepanova, E. R., Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Adhikari, A., Kitson, A., Pennefather, P., Quesnel, D., Brauns, K., Friedl-Werner, A., Stahn, A., & Riecke, B. E. (2023). Awedyssey: Design Tensions in Eliciting Self-transcendent Emotions in Virtual Reality to Support Mental Well-being and Connection. Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 189–211. https://doi.org/10.1145/3563657.3595998
Miller, N., Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Kitson, A., Bizzocchi, J., & Riecke, B. E. (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
Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Noah Miller, Patrick Pennefather, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2023. “Synedelica.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition presented at the Intangible Realities Lab Virtual Reality Exhibit, Santiago de Compostella, Spain, April 20. www.intangiblerealitieslab.org.
Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Noah Miller, Patrick Pennefather, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2022. “Synedelica.” Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition presented at the V-Unframed, Center for Digital Media (CDM), Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 1. https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/.
Miller, Noah, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Ashu Adhikari, Alexandra J. Kitson, Denise T. Quesnel, Patrick Pennefather, and Bernhard E. Riecke. 2021. “Sirius.” Curated & peer-reviewed Virtual Reality Exhibition presented at the V-Unframed, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 1. https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/the-artworks/sirius/.
Miller, Noah, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, Ashu Adhikari, Bernhard E Riecke, Patrick P Pennefather, Alexandra Kitson, and Denise Quesnel. 2023. “Awedyssey.” Curated Mixed Reality Exhibition presented at the Cosmic Nights: Humans in Space, H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, November 23. https://events.sfu.ca/event/37966-cosmic-nights-humans-in-space.