John Desnoyers-Stewart

• Master of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Applied Science
• PhD Student at Simon Fraser University

Despite being an embodied medium, virtual reality (VR) prioritizes vision and sound over the other senses. While touch has been demonstrated to foster a sense of presence and embodiment, most haptic research in VR focuses on uncanny vibration motors or limited experiences of touch with simple props. Meanwhile, immersive performances such as Eve 3.0...

In search of missing tactile sensations in telepresent virtual reality (VR), we set of to explore how we might be able to apply pseudo-haptics to elicit an embodied illusion of social touch. We developed ETC (Embodied Telepresent Connection), a prototype that allows two participants to interact remotely through pseudo-haptic touch via their abstrac...

Breath of Light is an immersive breath-responsive installation aiming to reclaim the connective nature of sharing breath in public spaces. During the exhibition at the 13th Shanghai Biennale in March 2021, the lead author observed and interviewed participants to better understand their experience. A subsequent follow-up interview was conducted in J...

In 1998, Bourriaud proposed relational aesthetics as an art form that took interhuman relations as its content to confront the progressive commoditization of those relations and propose alternative ways of living. Twenty years later, relational aesthetics has become even more relevant as a tool to reveal the relationality between technology and eac...

This article is the culmination of an intervention designed to improve active engagement with emerging technologies at a public mixed reality event. An opportunity arose to experiment with the design of interactive audience experiences at the The Fun Palace: Carnival of Mixed Realities-an event that took place in 2019 and featured 10 installations...

Inspired by Carl Sagan and emerging from the ashes of a rejected design, Star-Stuff: a way for the universe to know itself is a unique immersive experience that transforms immersants into galaxies and constellations. The two-player hybrid experience can be used telepresently or in a physical installation, connecting anonymous strangers through abst...

The global pandemic has brought numerous challenges for designers, researchers, and practitioners whose work involves children and new technologies. While many of us have found creative ways to address the obstacles of facilitating activities with children remotely, inciting critical reflection through making, which is already difficult in in-perso...

Self-transcendent experiences are often an integral component of ancient cultural practices that use psychedelic substances during spiritual ceremonies, such as ayahuasca ceremonies. Yet, ayahuasca contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which is illegal in many countries. Due to its illegality, ayahuasca experiences are scarce despite potential benefit...

Human connection is essential for our personal well-being and a building block for a well-functioning society. There is a prominent interest in the potential of technology for mediating social con- nection, with a wealth of systems designed to foster the feeling of connection between strangers, friends, and family. By surveying this design landscap...

Body RemiXer is a mixed reality installation that connects immersants across the virtual/actual divide through emergent tactility and abstract embodiment. Using a virtual reality headset, Kinect and projections, the installation explores the potential of immersive technology to create copresent experiences that foster intercorporeal relationships b...

Bio-responsive immersive Virtual Reality can transform our interactions to bring awareness to our physiological rhythms fostering connection with our bodies, each other and nature. JeL is an immersive installation that aims to foster a feeling of connection through the process of breathing synchronization. Two immersants synchronize their breathing...

As Michael Polanyi claims, "we know more than we can tell." As such, much of the author's tacit knowledge remains beyond the reader's grasp. However, by engaging with the text through embodied action, readers can gain their own tacit knowledge which may approximate or even expand upon the author's knowledge through the reader's own situated analysi...

While global leaders in Virtual Reality (VR) simulation maintain a strong presence in use-of-force scenarios, their VR systems are consumer-oriented. This leads to compromises that lack crucial qualities such as appropriate pistol weights and missing magazine clips, which military personnel train to recognize and control through muscle memory. Usin...

Virtual reality is an embodied medium. It extends reality by altering the perception of the bodily senses. However, many virtual reality experiences ignore the body, attempting to leave it behind upon entering the virtual space. As virtual reality is experienced through the body, the conflict between mediated and unmediated senses splits the self b...

Over two years, artist and researcher Dr. Megan Smith cycled through image tile after image tile of the Google Street View platform, physically working her way across 6300 km of highway-redefining what the great Canadian road trip can be. Starting out with a goal to network a stationary bike with the internet, along the way she dropped into an othe...

JeL is an interactive, breath-responsive Virtual Reality (VR) installation that subtly and playfully encourages two users to synchronize their breathing. JeL explores a novel form of interpersonal interaction in VR that aims to connect users to their physiological state through biofeedback, to each other through physiological synchronization, and t...

Transcending Perception is a virtual reality (VR) installation which encourages play, expression, and creativity in social spaces. Over one thousand participants have engaged with this installation in public spaces including an art gallery and a disused storefront. It provides an excellent opportunity to explore the problems and possibilities of sh...

We present JeL-a bio-responsive immersive installation for interpersonal synchronization through breathing. In JeL, two users are immersed in a virtual underwater environment, where their individual breathing controls the movement of a jellyfish. As users synchronize their breathing, a virtual glass sponge-like structure starts to grow, representin...

In this paper we present a collection of virtual interfaces used to augment a MIDI keyboard synchronized in physical and virtual space. Several virtual interfaces are developed and evaluated. Some utilize the tactility offered by the keyboard's surface, while others rely on the improved presence offered by the keyboard. An evaluation of these virtu...

As interest in Virtual Reality (VR) grows, there is a need to critically engage with it, to explore the possibilities created by it, and to understand the technology and content required for its success. VR is considered in terms of its purpose and function rather than being fixed to any particular technology. To keep pace with the rapid progressio...

As virtual reality gains popularity, technology which better integrates the user’s physical experience in the virtual environment is needed. Researchers have shown that by including real physical objects to interact with, the experience can be made significantly more convincing and user-friendly. To explore physically connecting the user to the vir...

As virtual reality gains popularity, technology which better integrates the user's physical experience in the virtual environment is needed. Researchers have shown that by including real physical objects to interact with, the experience can be made significantly more convincing and user-friendly. To explore physically connecting the user to the vir...

The Mixed Reality MIDI Keyboard is a prototype designed to augment virtual reality experiences through the inclusion of a physical interface which aligns the user's senses with the virtual environment. It also serves as a platform on which the uses of virtual reality in music interaction and art installations can be experimented with. The main prob...

The BIO SKI is a composite alpine ski, designed and manufactured using bio-derived material that reduces negative environmental impacts but maintains comparable ski performance. Natural flax fibres and a bio-derived epoxy resin replace traditional fibreglass components. Tensile and flexural material properties were tested and optimized, and prototy...