Diane Gromala (born 24 February 1960) is a Canada Research Chair and a Professor in the

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

School of Interactive Arts and Technology. Her research works at the confluence of computer science, media art and design, and has focused on the cultural, visceral, and embodied implications of digital technologies, particularly in the realm of

chronic pain Chronic pain is classified as pain that lasts longer than three to six months. In medicine, the distinction between acute and chronic pain is sometimes determined by the amount of time since onset. Two commonly used markers are pain that continue ...

Education

Gromala received her bachelor's degree (BFA) in Design & Photography from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1982, her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1990, and her PhD in Human Computer Interaction from Plymouth University in 2007.

Career

From 1982 to 1990, Gromala worked in industry as art director for MacWorld and

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

Computer. Gromala was one of the first artists to work with immersive virtual reality (VR), beginning with Dancing with the Virtual Dervish. Co-created with choreographer Yacov Sharir in 1990 at the

Banff Centre for the Arts Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

' Art & Virtual Environments residency, this piece has been exhibited worldwide from 1993-2004. Gromala subsequently designed immersive VR for stress-reduction, anxiety-reduction, and pain distraction during chemotherapy at Georgia Tech. Gromala's work has been used in over 20 hospitals and clinics. Gromala is the founding director of the Chronic Pain Research Institute, an interdisciplinary team of artists, designers, computer scientists, neuroscientists, and medical doctors investigating how new technologies—ranging from

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

and visualization to

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

—may be used as a technological form of

analgesia Pain management is an aspect of medicine and health care involving relief of pain (pain relief, analgesia, pain control) in various dimensions, from acute and simple to chronic and challenging. Most physicians and other health professional ...

and pain management. With Jay Bolter, Gromala is the co-author of ''Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art and the Myth of Transparency''. This book was based on her experience as the Art Gallery Chair for SIGGRAPH 2000, which had the greatest number of interactive artworks in its history. Her work is widely published in the domains of Computer Science, Interactive Art and Interaction Design. Her pioneering virtual reality work has been featured on the BBC, CNN, the Discovery Channel, and the New York Times. Gromala was a faculty member at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

; the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, where she headed the New Media Research Lab; a member of the

Human Interface Technology Lab Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

(HITLab); at graduate programme for Information Design at Georgia Tech's School of Literature, Communication and Culture (LCC); and a member of the renowned GVU (Graphics, Visualization & Usability) Center. She is currently a professor at

(SFU) in Vancouver, Canada.

Awards

In 2017, Gromala has awarded the grand prize at Stanford University’s Brainstorm VR/AR Innovation Lab competition, along with colleagues Faranak Farzan and Sylvain Moreno.

Selected publications

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References

External links