Gavin Buckingham

Gavin Buckingham

Senior lecturer at University of Exeter
Track: 2 Talk, 30 minutes + hands on session
Start Time: 12.00 Level: No prior knowledge / entry-level

Hacking human perception - illusions and virtual reality

In this session, I will highlight how our brain scaffolds our perception of the world around us, with a particular focus on how our experience of objects' properties can be readily manipulated. I'll describe my research on weight illusions, including recent work I have undertaken using immersive virtual reality to make objects feel heavier or lighter than they actually are.

Finally, I'll lay out a roadmap for how it is a better understanding of human perception, rather than advances in computing hardware, which will be key to the next generation of immersive technologies.

Session takeaways

  • Experience perceptual illusions
  • Gain insight into how psychology can drive technology development
  • See how scientists use VR to conduct research

Bonus pic!

Bio

I received my PhD in psychology from the University of Aberdeen in 2008, after which time I moved to Canada to work as a postdoctoral fellow at the Brain and Mind Institute at Western University. During this time, I began to study human visual and haptic perception, with a particular focus on our experience of how heavy things feel when we interact with them.

I moved to the University of Exeter in 2016, and am currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Sport and Health Sciences.

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