TEAM — Intangible Realities Laboratory

SCIENTISTS – ARTISTS – PHILOSOPHERS – ENGINEERS

IRL FOUNDER and research lead

DAVID GLOWACKI, PhD, MA

David Glowacki is a cross-disciplinary researcher, artist, author, and activist whose interests span computer science, nanoscience, aesthetics, cultural theory, & spirituality. He has worked extensively in scientific simulation, and more recently in VR applied to interactive scientific simulation and visualisation. He is the founder of the ‘Intangible Realities Laboratory’ (IRL), a research group working at the immersive frontiers of scientific, aesthetic, computational, and technological practice. He is the recipient of several research awards, including a Royal Society Research Fellowship, Philip Leverhulme award, ERC grant, SIG-CHI best paper award, and more. Originally from Milwaukee, he graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 2003, where he studied a range of subjects, including chemistry, mathematics, philosophy, comparative literature, and religions. In 2004 he obtained an MA in cultural theory & religious studies as a Fulbright finalist. In 2008, he completed a PhD in molecular physics. He has published across several domains, including classical & quantum molecular dynamics, computational biochemistry, human-computer interaction, high-performance computing, computer graphics, evolutionary algorithms, machine learning & data science, digital aesthetics, interactive computational art, religion & power, cultural theory, optics, and scientific instrument development.

His artistic work at the frontiers of scientific simulation, interactive computing, and digital aesthetics has been experienced by more than 200,000 people on three continents, and displayed at a number of well-known cultural venues across the world.

glow-wacky.com

TEAM

JONATHAN BARNOUD, PhD

Jonathan has been a PostDoc at the IRL since March 2019, with a background in bioinformatics and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. He is now working on developing Narupa to get more biologically relevant insight.

github
RACHEL FREIRE

Rachel is an artist, experimental designer, technical facilitator and researcher, working in technology design and integration as well as Hollywood film (Dune) and high end couture fashion (McQueen). They design and artistically direct the gestural interface MiMU Gloves and work as a guest speaker/lecturer in Etextiles at institutions such as RCA London (MA Soft Systems) and University of Copenhagen (post-doc HCI Design)

rachelfreire.com
RHOSLYN ROEBUCK WILLIAMS, MSC, MCHEM

Rhos graduated with an undergraduate Master's in Chemistry from the University of Leeds (2018). She specialised in theoretical and computational chemistry during her postgraduate Master’s at the University of Oxford (2019). Rhos is now a PhD student exploring our perception of `touch’ and `feel’ in virtual reality by examining our interaction with virtual molecular objects in iMD-VR.

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COLLABORATORS

Catherine Andreu

Catherine obtained her biological degree and PhD in Neurosciences in Chile. She investigated the effects of meditation practice on cognitive control using electrophysiological measures. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the MIDAP Millennium Institute (Chile), and received the Francisco Varela Award from Mind and Life Europe. She currently works as a María Zambrano postdoctoral researcher at the University of Valencia, Spain. Catherine is a Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) teacher from the Compassion Institute. Her current research focuses on the effects of compassion-based interventions on psychobiological measures and how to enhance non-ordinary states of consciousness through the practice of meditation and the use of virtual reality.

publications
Valérie Bonnelle

Valerie did her PhD and early research career in cognitive neuroimaging at the Imperial College, UCL and Oxford University. Neuroscientist by training, consciousness explorer by heart, she found in psychedelic research a promising field in which to merge her interests. She joined the Beckley Foundation in 2017, where she has been co-ordinating a wide portfolio of psychedelic research. In the past few years, she developed a keen interest for interoception, embodied cognition, and the communication heart-brain. She is now researching the impact of the autonomic nervous system on the quality of our present-moment experience (in meditation), and on self-transcendent experiences. She will be exploring with Prof Glowaki and his team biofeedback-based VR designs to enhance contemplative experiences and train interoception.

beckleyfoundation.org
Robin Cahart-Harris, PhD, MA

Robin Carhart-Harris founded the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London in April 2019. In July 2021, Robin moved to University of California, San Francisco, becoming the Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor in Neurology and Psychiatry, where he serves as Director of the new Psychedelics Division within the translational neuroscience Centre, Neuroscape.
Robin has designed human brain imaging studies with LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and DMT, a clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, a double-blind randomized controlled trial comparing psilocybin with the SSRI, escitalopram, for depression, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and a multimodal imaging study in first time users of psilocybin. Robin has a PhD in Psychopharmacology from the University of Bristol, an MA in Psychoanalysis from Brunel University, and a BSc in Psychology from Bournemouth University. He has published over 115 scientific papers.

neuroscape.ucsf.edu
Mike Chatziapostolou

Mike is an integrative practitioner working across the domains of Gestalt philosophy, creative technology and engineering. In seeking a deeper, experiential understanding of reality, he applies phenomenological methods and field theory as unifying pillars to underpin his research. He is an environmentalist, experience designer, a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Engineering and Technology and currently training as a psychotherapist.

LinkedIn
Joe Hardy, PHD, MBA

Joe obtained his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from UC Berkeley. Supported by the National Science Foundation, he studied psychophysics, in an effort to understand how the brain processes visual information. As a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, Davis, he developed a number of techniques for studying the aging eye and brain. As Vice President of Research and Development at Lumos Labs, he led a team of researchers and game developers in creating cognitive training programs used by over 70 million people worldwide. He was the lead author of the largest randomized, controlled trial of cognitive training ever conducted, involving over 10,000 participants. Dr. Hardy has expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence intelligence, and is an accomplished data scientist. He has published 28 papers in the fields of psychology and neuroscience.

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Till Holzapfel

Till is currently finishing his Cognitive Science Master at the University of Osnabrueck. He involved himself in this field to follow his passion for investigating the human experience on a philosophical as well as an empirical level. During his studies he found VR to be a great opportunity to combine his acquired coding skills with his fascination for psychedelic therapy in order to design experiences that increase our understanding of human consciousness while also leading to meaningful live events.

publications
Jamie Pike

Jamie's specialism is in bridging and translating understanding between diverse modalities of theory and practice. He is an experience designer, drama therapist, facilitator, and master of making things happen. His work draws from diverse wisdom traditions along with contemporary human development discourses and is focused on system change through reconnecting humans to wholeness by engaging with both inner and outer nature

jamiepike.org
Justin Wall

Lama Karma Wall is the director of Milarepa Retreat Center in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, USA under the direction of Guru Vajradhara Chamgön Kenting Tai Situpa. He also works as a numadelic experience designer for aNUma.

lamakarmajustin.com/
MARK WONNACOTT

Mark is a maker and creative technologist specialising in designing simple and approachable tools for digital creativity. Within the Glowacki Group Mark is currently co-developing the next generation of the Narupa framework for interactive molecular dynamics in multi-user virtual reality.
Mark has backgrounds in computer science, software engineering, and game development. They are also enthusiastic about self-publishing, the low-tech movement, and sustainable computing

candle.itch.io/