Dr Owen Brierley

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Owen Brierley
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About

I am Dr Owen Brierley, an academic and researcher specializing in real-time simulations and their impact from a human perspective. My work stands at the confluence of drama and digital experiences, backed by over three decades of professional practice in the Creative Industries and a rich understanding of the dramatic arts, drawing from more than 3,000 years of human research.

As a scholar, I am deeply invested in transforming the abstract and non-linear elements prevalent in early stages of project development into tangible, clear concepts. My focus is to aid my team in expanding these early ideas into detailed and definitive solutions, using adaptive responses to evolving opportunities and constraints in the academic field.

My academic journey culminated in a PhD in Computational Media Design (a transdisciplinary degree with Computer Science and Fine Arts as loci) from the University of Calgary, where I utilized game engines to explore the compelling question: "how can technology make us more human?" This query, deeply rooted in understanding the role of technology in human behaviour, shaped my doctoral research and continues to guide my academic contributions. My rigorous pursuit of this investigation earned me the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship and the Alberta Innovates Doctoral Scholarship.

Currently, I am a Course Leader (BA Hons - Events & Experience Design) and Senior Lecturer at Kingston University in the Creative and Cultural Industries department. Concurrently, I am a co-founder of UCalgary's GAMELAB pursing research in computer games production and an Adjunct Research Associate with the LINDSAY Virtual Human Lab at the University of Calgary, co-leading research activities in bioinformatics simulations.

Through an unwavering commitment to transdisciplinary research, I continue to make substantial contributions to our understanding of the interplay between human behaviour, dramatic arts, and digital technologies.

Academic responsibilities

Course Leader & Senior Lecturer

Qualifications

  • Ph D - Computational Media Design

Research

As a transdisciplinarian, my research is published in multiple streams. I have a reputation for collaborative work with my colleagues, as well as a developed practice of my individual pursuit of scholarship and research. Below I articulate the areas of practice that I maintain with a selected list of performances/presentations/publications of my research, offer selected ongoing research that I lead and/or contribute to, and outline my planned research over the next five years.

I deliberately take an entrepreneurial approach to my research. Specifically, entrepreneurs learn early on that success is found by having multiple "irons in the fire." As such, my research plan outlines multiple projects at various stages of progress. I also include an example research proposal that details how I approach these various projects in appendix 1. Allowing these projects the time needed to evolve allows us to adapt our efforts to meet the opportunities depending on funding, student resources, and activity in the research community.

As Research Associate with the LINDSAY Virtual Human Lab, I work with Dr. Christian Jacob on a variety of bioinformatics related projects that examine the multiscale visualizations of biological systems from molecular scale to human scale. Our current research project is working in collaboration with Georgia State University to study the efficacy of VR experiences for learning the process of transcription and translation in a eukaryotic cell.

As a collaborator with Dr. Patrick Finn's GameLab, I investigate the human aspects of Human Computer Interaction. This involves a range of HCI domains including games, mobile/XR, and autonomous vehicle research. Two significant publications are listed below.

Areas of specialism

  • Game Production & AI for Games
  • Events & Experiences Design
  • Digital Scenography & Virtual Production
  • Human Performance
  • Bioinformatics Simulations Using Game Engines

Scholarly affiliations

  • Adjunct Associate Researcher - LINDSAY Virtual Human Lab - University of Calgary
  • Adjunct Researcher - GameLab - University of Calgary
  • Adjust Researcher - START (Spatial Technologies and Applied Research and Training) - Lethbridge College

Social media

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