Biography
John Desnoyers-Stewart is an interdisciplinary artist-researcher pursuing his PhD in Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is a professional engineer with a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies who seeks opportunities to bring knowledge from diverse disciplines together to promote creativity and innovation. He is also a consultant with a broad array of expertise including graphic and product design and has developed mixed reality instruments and tools for music and training applications.
His current focus is developing immersive installations to encourage new perspectives on immersive technology and to better understand its true potential and study its effects. He has exhibited his multi-user mixed reality installations, Transcending Perception, Body RemiXer, and JeL at art galleries and festivals throughout the Greater Vancouver Area and in Regina, Canada. Through these installations 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.
Research Summary
Mixed reality, interactive art, social connection, embodiment and tactility, pseudo-haptics, research in-the-wild.
Degrees
BASc in Industrial Systems Engineering (Co-Op), University of Regina, 2011
MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Creative Tech and Computer Science), University of Regina, 2018
PhD Candidate in Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University, in progress
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
Design Strategies for Genuine Connection
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...
Star-Stuff: a way for the universe to know itself
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 - 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...
Breath of Light
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...
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...
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...
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...
