Human-experiential Design of Presence in Everyday Blended Reality : Living in the Here and Now

John Waterworth is a full Professor of Informatics and member of the Q-life research group at Umeå University in Sweden. He has a PhD in Experimental Psychology and has carried out research on human-computer interaction over a long period - in the UK (British Telecom Research Labs), Singapore (Institute of Systems Science) and Sweden (Umeå University and the Interactive Institute). Recent research has focused on the subjective experience and psychological impact of using new information and communication technology on quality of life and health. With over 200 publications to his name, he is best known for his work on topics such as information exploration, interaction design, and the experience of presence and creativity in mediated environments.

Kei Hoshi is a senior lecturer in product innovation design at the University of South Australia, with over 20 year’s professional and academic experience in design. Prior to joining UniSA, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Zurich, as part of the Neurology and Rehabilitation group, exploring new therapy and assessment solutions based on wearable technologies. He has a Ph.D. in Informatics Umeå University, Sweden and a Master of Design from the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology.  As a professional designer, he has worked on A/V & telecommunication systems for a major Japanese manufacturing company, and worked with Isao Hosoe, a Milan-based designer in Italy. His research interests include methods and theory in human-computer interaction, and their application to designing interactive systems.