Team
ANNIE WAN
Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, Creative Studies, Digital Arts and Humanities, Media Studies
Dr Annie Wan is an international digital media scholar, primarily research interests in adopting extended realities technologies for well-being and for social good. In 2012 she earned a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Washington, United States (one of the Public Ivies, ranked 16th best in the World (ARWU 2020)), in Digital Arts and Experimental Media. She grew up in Singapore and UK, has been living in Sweden and the US. Her creative works have been exhibited in festivals in Europe, Asia and North America, including Hong Kong Human Rights Art Prize 2018, Art Neureau: A neuroscience- inspired art show in Seattle in 2017, The Hong Kong Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), Hong Kong in 2015, Hong Kong Contemporary Art Awards 2012 (Hong Kong, China) and International Festival of Creativity, Ogaki Biennale 2010 (Ogaki, Japan), Innovation & Digital Culture (Canary Islands, Spain), ZeroOne/ ISEA 2006 (San Jose, United States), French Pavilion in 10th Venice Architecture Biennale (Venice, Italy), Art +Communication Festival 2004 (Riga, Latvia), Multimedia Art Asia Pacific Conference 2004 (Singapore), etc.
RONNIE CHENG
Research Assistant, Administrator, Interviewer, Translator
Ronnie Cheng is a queer Hong Konger interdisciplinary artist/researcher whose primary mediums are lens-based art, animation, new media art, and creative writing. Their research interests lie within the intersections of Hong Kong/East Asian studies, migration/disapora studies, queer theory, affect theory, decolonization, and media studies. Ronnie graduated from the Bachelor of Media Studies program with a minor in English at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan), and is currently based on the unceded and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
BOWEN HE
Research Assistant, Generative AI Research Assistant, VR Game/Interaction Developer
Bowen He is a multimedia designer and researcher whose practice spans virtual reality, generative AI, interactive media, and immersive storytelling. Their work investigates how emerging technologies can create new spaces for identity, belonging, and cross-cultural narratives. With a background in media studies and communications, Bowen has contributed to projects ranging from VR stress-relief games and immersive dining experiences to AI-driven video generation and digital heritage preservation. Their research interests intersect human-computer interaction, diaspora studies, and creative technology, with a focus on how immersive media can foster empathy and reframe collective memory. Bowen is currently pursuing graduate studies in Integrated Design & Media at New York University.
MARCUS HOBKIRK
Research Assistant, VR Developer
Marcus Hobkirk is an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan) pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies with a minor in Theatre Studies. He is a multidisciplinary artist whose primary area of focus involves developing interactive, immersive digital media experiences, including games and VR applications. His goal is to blend traditional and digital art forms like writing, animation, performing arts, and illustration into surreal multimedia experiences whilst focusing on accessibility and ensuring that as many people as possible will have the ability to engage with his work. Marcus’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions within his university and downtown Kelowna.
LAUREN NAIDOO
Research Assistant, 2D Animator, Concept/Character Artist, Website Designer
Lauren Naidoo is a Canadian-based interdisciplinary artist with a focus in digital art/illustration, graphic design, and 2D animation. She recently completed a bachelor of Media Studies with a Minor in Visual Arts from UBC Okanagan. Her most recent bodies of work focus on her mixed race identity through the representation of the discordant nature of hybridity. She strives to create work that subverts expectations through narrative and composition play, no matter the medium. Her work includes both public facing and exhibition/video installation work, to graphic cover design work.
