MXR 2025 Keynote Speakers

Katherine Isbister, Ph.D., is a Human-Computer Interaction and Games researcher specializing in digital games and playful, computer-supported experiences. Her work focuses on emotion and social connection, exploring how design choices impact these qualities. Currently a full professor in Computational Media at UC Santa Cruz and director of the Center for Computational Experience, she previously held roles at NYU and globally, including research labs and startups. Author of Better Game Characters by Design and How Games Move Us, her work has been cited by Wired, Scientific American, and NPR. Recognized as a TR100 Innovator by MIT Technology Review, she continues shaping the future of technology.

Mark Roman Miller, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. His research focuses on virtual and augmented reality, exploring their implications for communication, security, and data science. With interdisciplinary roots from his Ph.D. in Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab under Jeremy Bailenson, Miller investigates how AR impacts person-to-person communication and privacy, including challenges like virtual pop-ups disrupting common ground. His work also explores the vast potential of VR/AR data for understanding nonverbal synchrony and emotion. His research has been published in leading venues such as IEEE VR, JCMC, and Scientific Reports.

Andrea Stevenson Won, PhD., co-director of this symposium, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and a field faculty member within the Department of Information Science at Cornell University and the director of the Virtual Embodiment Lab. The lab’s research focuses on how mediated experiences change people’s perceptions, especially in immersive media. She has received funding from the Department of Defense, National Institute on Aging, and NSF to investigate the clinical applications of virtual reality and how nonverbal behavior as rendered in virtual environments affects collaboration and teamwork.

Anna Queiroz, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Interactive Media Department, and a member of the Frost Institute of Data Science and Computing at the University of Miami. She holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Cognitive Psychology and degrees in business, behavioral medicine, and education, and she completed her postdoc in a double appointment at the Graduate School of Education and the School of Communication at Stanford University. 

Dr. Queiroz leads innovative VR initiatives in communication, education, and climate change in public settings across the United States, Latin America, and Europe. Her research focuses on emerging media’s cognitive, social, and psychological impacts on human behavior, charting new frontiers in education and communication. 

Oliver Kreylos holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and serves as the virtual reality research specialist at the UC Davis DataLab: Data Science and Informatics. He has pioneered the development of augmented and virtual reality software for research, teaching, and outreach. Dr. Kreylos secured the UC Tech Awards Program Larry L. Sautter golden award for Innovation in Information Technology in 2024. He works with researchers across the UC Davis campus to develop visual data analysis methods, using virtual reality as a medium. He also operates the VRoom! virtual reality facility inside DataLab. Oliver has an impressive 20+ years of experience in virtual reality and scientific visualization.