Patrick Pennefather

profile

Position:

Assistant Professor, UBC

Contact:


https://theatrefilm.ubc.ca/persons/patrick-pennefather/

Affiliations:

Biography

Colleague, co-instructor of Semester in Alternate Realities course, and col­lab­o­ra­tor on var­i­ous projects.

Projects

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 adaptive coping and resilience skills, and authentic social connection. We welcome queries from potential collaborators and members of...


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 ...


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. ...


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...


Body RemiXer

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...


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...


VR/MR/AR 4 Good: Creating with a Purpose

Interested in connecting & joining? If you're interested in connecting to others engaged or interested in the xR4Good field, you could join the xR4Good facebook group, or fill out this online signup sheet and state what you're interested in Introduction Over the past five years, we have seen awareness and creation of Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented Reality (VR/MR/AR or, the ‘immersive realit...


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...


Publications

Pennefather, P., Rizzotti, P., Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, K., Riecke, B., Danenkov, L., Ryzhov, V., Saroyan, J., Beltran, W., & Chak, R. (2020). A Fun Palace: A Mixed Reality Event Through the Looking Glass of Cybernetics. Cybernetics and Human Knowing, 27(2), 61–80.
Riecke, B. E., Pennefather, P. P., & Quesnel, D. T. (2018). VR/MR/AR 4 Good: Creating with a Purpose. ACM Siggraph Birds of a Feather, 1. http://ispace.iat.sfu.ca/project/mr4good/
Pennefather, P. P., & Desnoyers-Stewart, J. (2022). The Fun Palace: Designing Human Experiences at Mixed Reality Events to Increase Engagement. ISEA 2022, 1–5.
Quesnel, D., Stepanova, E. R., Aguilar, I., Pennefather, P., & Riecke, B. E. (2018). Creating “AWE”: Combining artistic intuition and research-based design for an emotionally-profound art installation. 2018 IEEE Games, Entertainment, Media Conference (GEM) (Full Paper), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1109/GEM.2018.8516463
Sirius. (2021, October 1). [Curated & peer-reviewed Virtual Reality Exhibition]. V-Unframed, Vancouver, BC, Canada. https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/the-artworks/sirius/
Riecke, B. E., & Pennefather, P. (2019, June). A Fun Palace: Cybernetics, feed(loops)back and mixed reality [Invited Keynote]. Acting Cybernetically: 2019 Conference of the American Society for Cybernetics, Vancouver, BC, Canada. http://asc-cybernetics.org/2019/
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Liu, P., Kitson, A., Pennefather, P. P., Rhyzhov, V., & Riecke, B. E. (2023). Embodied Telepresent Connection (ETC): Exploring Virtual Social Touch Through Pseudohaptics. Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3585843
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
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Riecke, B. E., & Pennefather, P. (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
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Liu, P., Kitson, A., Pennefather, P. P., Rhyzhov, V., & Riecke, B. E. (2023, April 20). Embodied Telepresent Connection (ETC): Exploring Virtual Social Touch Through Pseudohaptics [Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition]. Intangible Realities Lab Virtual Reality Exhibit, Santiago de Compostella, Spain. www.intangiblerealitieslab.org
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Miller, N., Pennefather, P., & Riecke, B. E. (2023, April 20). Synedelica [Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition]. Intangible Realities Lab Virtual Reality Exhibit, Santiago de Compostella, Spain. www.intangiblerealitieslab.org
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Miller, N., Pennefather, P., & Riecke, B. E. (2022, October 1). Synedelica [Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition]. V-Unframed, Center for Digital Media (CDM), Vancouver, BC, Canada. https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Riecke, B. E., & Pennefather, P. (2020). Body RemiXer Virtualization for Recto VRso 2020 [Curated Virtual Reality Archival Work]. Recto VRso 2020, Online. rectovrso.laval-virtual.com/en/virtual-edition-2020/
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Riecke, B. E., & Pennefather, P. (2022, April 12). Body RemiXer Virtualization for Recto VRso 2022 [Curated Virtual Reality Archival Work]. Recto VRso 2022, Laval, France. rectovrso.laval-virtual.com/en/virtual-edition-2020/
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Riecke, B. E., & Pennefather, P. (2021, November 23). Body RemiXer Virtualization for Recto VRso 2021 [Curated Virtual Reality Archival Work]. FIAV - Festival International d’Art Vidéo de Casablanca, Laval, France. https://www.fiav.ma/assets/pdf/installations/6.pdf
Miller, N., Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Adhikari, A., Kitson, A. J., Quesnel, D. T., Pennefather, P., & Riecke, B. E. (2021, October 1). Sirius [Curated & peer-reviewed Virtual Reality Exhibition]. V-Unframed, Vancouver, BC, Canada. https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/v-unframed/the-artworks/sirius/
Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Riecke, B. E., & Pennefather, P. (2020, October). Body RemiXer [Online] [Curated Virtual Reality Exhibition]. Recto VRso Vancouver 2020, Vancouver, BC, Canada. https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/rectovrso2020/
Quesnel, D., Stepanova, E. R., Aguilar, I., Kitson, A., & Riecke, B. E. (2017). AWE [Invited Virtual Reality Exhibition]. SPLASH, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Quesnel, D., Stepanova, E. R., Aguilar, I., Kitson, A., & Riecke, B. E. (2017). AWE [Invited Virtual Reality Exhibition]. TEDxEastVan, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Quesnel, D., Stepanova, E. R., Aguilar, I., Kitson, A., & Riecke, B. E. (2017). AWE [Invited Virtual Reality Exhibition]. TEDxSFU, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Rajwinder, R., Michels, R., Wanner, E., Lee, J., Pennefather, P., & Riecke, B. E. (2019, March 15). Rising Waters [Virtual Reality Exhibition]. How to Stay Afloat: Tackling the Oceans & Climate Change, Burnaby BC, Canada. https://www.evensi.ca/climate-change-oceans-pecha-kucha-halpern-centre/297537642
Aguilar, A., Aung, O., Danenkov, L., Lalli, R., Lee, J., MacKay, N., Martinez, A. K., Orlandea, R., Ramsay, N., Ritter, L., Ryzhov, V., Sandor, I., Shao, A., Temple-Sandison, Z., Wanner, E., Wong, S., Wu, Q., Pennefather, P., & Riecke, B. E. (2019, April 12). VR4Good Demos and Presentation [VR4Good Virtual Reality exhibits and presentations]. Emerging Media BC Community of Practice Meeting, SFU Surrey, BC, Canada. https://emcop.ca/about/
Rajwinder, R., Michels, R., Wanner, E., Lee, J., Pennefather, P., & Riecke, B. E. (2019). Rising Waters [Virtual Reality Exhibition]. FCAT Undergraduate Conference, Surrey City Hall, BC, Canada. https://www.sfu.ca/fcat/events/ugc.html
Aguilar, A., MacKay, N., Aung, O., Orlandea, R., Wu, Q., Pennefather, P., & Riecke, B. E. (2019). The Pitch of Red [Virtual Reality exhibit]. FCAT Undergraduate Conference, Surrey City Hall, BC, Canada. https://www.sfu.ca/fcat/events/ugc.html
Miller, N., Desnoyers-Stewart, J., Stepanova, E. R., Adhikari, A., Riecke, B. E., Pennefather, P. P., Kitson, A., & Quesnel, D. (2023, November 23). Awedyssey [Curated Mixed Reality Exhibition]. Cosmic Nights: Humans in Space, H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. https://events.sfu.ca/event/37966-cosmic-nights-humans-in-space