Ethics

Lynne is a Professor Emerita of Interactive Experience at the University of Sunderland. Lynne has over 30 years of experience designing, developing and evaluating user experience with emerging technologies from approaches to empathic engagement with embodied AI-agents to innovative interactions with dance and sculpture in AR/VR, leading large-scale and outward-facing research projects. She has researched technologies in the home and family, including evidence presented for the Online Safety Act. After leaving Sunderland in 2022, Lynne set up Crane Innovation Limited and has focused on applications targeting the home and families, with regionally funded projects providing metaverse experiences for rural creatives and audiences; and currently, with a Creative Catalyst award developing novel ways to engage with XR focusing on the over-55s.

Driven by a passion for fusing strategic insight, cutting-edge technology and human-centred storytelling, Anton defines and executes transformational technology strategies for global organisations, to deliver groundbreaking, Guinness World Record breaking, and multiple award-winning immersive platforms, experiences, destinations and content for major clients, including Rolls Royce, Mastercard, NEOM, Universal Studios, Disney, JLR, Ford, MLB, Visa, and Lego.

Designed and built XPKit®, Imagination’s pioneering industry-first global experience platform, founding board member of Innovate UK’s Immersive Tech Network, Ethics Working Group Co-Chair, and founding trustee of the Trust 3.0 charity.

I have spent the past 20 years in senior global leadership roles in the consumer products and management consultancy industries including Diageo, L’Oréal, EY and Unilever. But in 2022 I broke from the corporate world to study a full time Masters in immersive technologies and was awarded a distinction from University West of England in 2023.

My original thesis entitled, ‘The cultural symbolism of consumer brand NFTs within the metaverse and the case for a more equitable future’, unearthed many problematic issues from data integrity to criminality, most of which is silenced behind sparkly headlines, feted by the consumer products industry. As my interest in the construct, artefacts and culture within inter-operable immersive societies grew, I founded Hiro Studios. Its purpose is to provide organisations and brands with advice on how to innovate with AI and emerging immersive tech in an ethical and responsible manner.

I have since worked with brands and organisations on building emerging-tech capabilities, ideating immersive brand storytelling, exploring Web3 opportunities and navigating GenAI content generation, all underpinned with ethical guidance on innovating safely and fairly with emerging-tech.

My passion for improving diversity and representation within the creative tech sector and the ethical practice of emerging technology has also extended to working with start-ups and SMEs within the sector. I am a Board Advisor at Ida XR Studios, a network for women, non-binary and trans people working within the immersive tech sector. Furthermore, my role at University of the Arts London (UAL) digital Grow accelerator allows me to combine my marketing tech knowledge, creativity and leadership coaching to help entrepreneurs launch their next big bets. I also remain strongly connected to academic institutions and research. This has included being the lead researcher for an NSPCC commissioned academic report, Child-Safeguarding & Immersive Technologies, which identified risks associated with child sexual harm in virtual worlds.

Finally, I have been awarded a position on the Storyfutures Centre for Doctoral Training in October 2025 in AI for Digital Media Inclusion. It is my intention to pursue research in the application of progressive ethics at the intersection of GenAI and immersive media to help support the marketing and media industry.

Director of Imminent XR (XR content creation and production, currently developing XR Content for the new Meta Quest 3 & 3S MR headsets) and Dillmeadow Media (virtual music and film production technical services). Member of the 2024 Expert in Residence cohort at the Turing Institute looking at digital provenance and ethical frameworks for XR content production.
Academic: Doctoral candidate : PhD in Interactive Media (writing up) University of York, School of Arts and Creative Technology. Master’s degrees in Film (Westminster) and Theatre Production (Goldsmiths) Trained in Virtual Production at NFTS and Production Park.

I am the founder and director of INVIDAR, specializing in immersive technology and real-time 3D solutions. With extensive experience in XR, I have led innovative projects for global brands like Lego, Samsung, and Milwaukee. My expertise lies in developing immersive experiences that blend virtual and physical realities, with a strong emphasis on ethical considerations such as user privacy, data security, and social impact. I am committed to promoting responsible innovation in XR technology, ensuring that advancements are made with mindfulness towards ethical implications.

I am an experienced technology solicitor specialising in emerging technologies especially those in web3, metaverse, XR & blockchain. I am the Author of Law in the Metaverse - which is due to be published in January 2025 by Bloomsbury Professionals. Amongst other issues the book explores the rule of law and ethical principles of behaviour in the metaverse. More information on the book can be found here https://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/law-in-the-metaverse-9781526530776/

I am also a member of the IEEE Spatial Computing for Metaverse Initiative.

Over the past seven years my Practice-led PhD research has sought to examine the ethical dilemmas of working in virtual reality and XR in a therapeutic context. My background is as a documentary filmmaker with an interest in psychotherapy. The intention of my recently completed PhD from UCL Anthropology was to experiment with different representations of a psychotherapy client's child-self as a way to develop more compassion towards the time in the client's history the child represents. Working with an interdisciplinary team, we began with the tried and tested method of the client working with a photograph of themselves as a child, then I got funding from Innovate UK to experiment with making an avatar based on the actual childhood photograph. Our research group all attended boarding school and identify the experience of being sent away as contributing to developmental trauma and as a form of broken attachment from their primary caregivers. This method of dialoguing with one's child-self is widely used in psychotherapy and as I had found it hard to dialogue with an empty chair in my own therapy, the idea of the avatar came about as a possible method to help heal broken attachments.

The photorealistic avatar was perceived as being too confrontational and the whole gist of my thesis then moves towards the power of the symbolic when dealing with developmental trauma. My research discussed the effectiveness of VR exposure therapy in relation to Skip Rizzo’s work on PTSD with war veterans. I contrast this with his team’s paper about Military Sexual Trauma (MST). This analysis was helpful because of the way Mozgai et al (2020) described the threat figure and the different depictions they experimented with. What was of note was Baños' 2009 paper helped guide me towards my final desktop-based experiment, rather than continuing in VR.

I am a design researcher and creative technologist with a background in animation, AR and VR and emerging technologies. I am currently a PhD student at Oxford Brookes researching how AR and VR can be delivered for community engagement in planning in a way that fosters trust. I also work part-time as a tutor on the Digital Direction MA at the Royal College of Art and have worked on several projects at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the RCA.

These projects include the design and development of a VR therapy for people with psychosis, where I led the participatory design with individuals who have lived experience of psychosis. Other projects involved researching the use of immersive technologies in libraries, and how AR or VR can be used to support survivors of conflict-related violence in their role as witnesses at the International Criminal Court.
Throughout my work, I have been focused on researching the ethical use of immersive technologies. The projects have addressed important issues such as data privacy, the impact of immersive experiences on mental health, and the potential for manipulation and bias. I approach these challenges by exploring how to design ethically and inclusively.

I have an MA in 3D Computer Animation, and a MSc in Computer science. I have worked on popular game titles, for network television and on web projects. I set up and co-ran the Web XR London meetup group for three years, have taken part in a number of W3C workshops, including the workshop on inclusive design for immersive web standards and have been a Mozilla tech speaker. I have published a number of papers on the development of the VR therapy for people with psychosis, and have published a book about using Arduino with web technology.

I hold a BA in Games Design and an MA in Virtual and Augmented Reality, with my dissertation focusing on biofeedback and user data to enhance gameplay. I then worked at Imperial College as a Technical Artist and later as the Senior XR Consultant in the Digital Media Lab. During my time there, I expanded a small team from 2 to over 10 members, collaborating on various projects across the college. I co-authored a paper utilising student heart rate and eye-tracking data in a study on 360-degree emergency medicine.

Throughout these experiences, I engaged in significant discussions about ethics in VR, particularly concerning student interactions with technology, AI usage, human tissue act and biofeedback data. We observed a pressing need for ethical guidelines as the pace of technological advancement often outstripped legal frameworks. This was one of many reasons that motivated me to establish my own creative studio, World1-1, where I aim to develop original IP games and collaborate with private sectors and universities, including Imperial College, York St John University, and UCL.

Dee Harvey is an award-winning director and producer working in immersive media. Her film Heartbeat, a verbatim VR documentary about miscarriage, won Best Narrative at Raindance Immersive in June and will be in competition in Kaohsiung and Aesthetica Film Festivals in Autumn 2024. In 2023 she directed Lost in the Luminous City, an augmented reality poetry reading exhibited as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival. She's currently directing Medusa's Notebook, a dome projection experience that will debut in November 2024. She was a member of the group of women in VR that released a manifesto for best practice in virtual reality in 2018 as part of a research project with King’s College, London - A Vision for Women and Virtual Reality. She is involved in governance through her role as a board member of Young at Art charity that runs Belfast Children’s Festival. She also volunteers as a Tribunal Representative for Community Advice, helping people access benefits they have been unfairly denied through the application process. She has a background in Philosophy and a keen interest in ethics and helping organisations to navigate ethically tricky areas with clarity of purpose and an appreciation of trade offs.

Alex is a creative strategist and narrative designer with a passion for technology and the positive impact it can have on individual and societal ways of life. He spent his early career in the murky waters of finance but quickly realised it was leaving him dissatisfied. He gained his MBA at Royal Holloway and used the broader strategic vision it gave him to shift into the creative industries. He became a highly successful brand strategist, working on a vast array of local and global brands over a 12 year career, most recently for the global agency FutureBrand.
He became a co-founder of award-winning digital experience practice ARCADE XR in 2018 and, alongside his fellow founders, has built the business into one of the most exciting emergent players in the immersive technology landscape. He brings his rigorous planning and creative writing skills to the fore in all of ARCADE XR’s work, splitting his time between managing projects and designing the narratives they portray.

He developed an interest in ethics whilst studying philosophy modules as part of his degree, and has remained fascinated by the challenge posed by addressing the ethical implications of technology, especially as new technologies emerge faster than any legal or ethical frameworks can be developed.

I'm currently the Head of Operations at BBC News in London, responsible for all of our TV, radio and digital studios and their 300+ staff. Prior to that I have 18 years experience as a journalist and senior editor, producing and overseeing international news content for the BBC. I am fairly new to the XR community and am working on pivoting my career into the industry. I'm a member of the BBC's Metaverse Working Group and was involved with all of the AR and XR graphics for the BBC's general election coverage in July. This summer, my team and I also contributed to an EBU Virtual Production pilot with Sony and White Light at the Science Museum in London. What I'd bring to the working group is a deep knowledge and understanding of BBC editorial policy and values along with hands-on experience of decison-making under deadline and often in high-risk international news situations. I have considerable experience of balancing the needs of content makers with the safeguarding of staff, contributors and audiences in the UK and around the world, as well as the the practical application of media law, international copyright; commercial, regulatory and legal constraints; impartiality, fairness and the risks around exposure to graphic content.

I am the founder and MD of D5 Design. We are an ISO 27001:2022 certified creative studio with a worldwide reputation for bringing the science and technology behind a product to life. For over a decade we have been trusted partners working closely with scientists and R&D teams from global FMCG brands – creating the visual language and experiences to explain complex ideas in a simple, memorable way. XR is a major focus area for our business and we are very active in educating our clients on the emerging tech landscape, adoption and integration of XR into their business toolbox. We are also invested in raising the profile of SciComms as an industry globally, encouraging science and engineering students and start-ups to include XR when working out how to explain their innovations to investors, customers and consumers. As we work with new adopters of tech it is vital to include discussions around awareness of the impact of these tools on individuals, business and society.