Dr. Harry Robert Wilson, Dr. Richard Cole, Dr. Sarah Campbell, Eirini Lampiri & Ruth Mariner

Dr. Harry Wilson
Dr. Harry Wilson is an artist-researcher based in the Theatre department at the University of Bristol. His research focuses on interdisciplinary explorations of live art and performance, photography, documentation, digital art and new media through critical theory and artistic research.
Recently Harry has been exploring intersections between immersive technologies and intimate performance and examining the increasing use of digital and internet technologies in performance work during COVID-19.
Harry was Digital Thinker in Residence at the National Theatre of Scotland (2018-19) and Research Associate on the Walking Publics / Walking Arts project (2021-22) at the University of Glasgow. He has been programme director of the MA Immersive Arts, University of Bristol since January 2024. Harry’s co-edited book (with Will Daddario) Rethinking Roland Barthes through Performance was published by Bloomsbury/Methuen Drama in June 2023. Harry is currently writing a book on the Expanded Dramaturgies of VR Performance for Bloomsbury’s Performance and Digital Cultures series.

Dr. Richard Cole
Dr. Richard Cole is Lecturer in Digital Classics at the University of Bristol and co-Director of the Bristol Digital Game Lab. His research focuses on how the history and culture of antiquity intersects with new media, in particular video games, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. From 2020-2023, he worked on the multidisciplinary Virtual Reality Oracle project, which created a ground-breaking VR experience of ancient divination that is improving educational outcomes in schools. He has published leading research on Classics in video games, while his latest work looks at how questions around the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey can help us better understand AI generated texts today. Through the Game Lab, he is leading the research component of a collaborative R&D project with industry partner Meaning Machine on generative AI systems for video game dialogue. The aim? To understand how players respond to conversing with AI-powered characters.

Dr. Sarah Campbell
Sarah is an award-winning researcher, educator, trainer, innovator and entrepreneur with over 15 years’ experience developing award-winning personal and professional development programmes and embedding innovative support systems within organisations across UK academia, global higher education, and the private sector. Her published work on professional skills is used on international MBA programmes, and her post-doctoral research at Surrey University has focused on Human-Computer Interaction research to develop user-centred designs with assistive media. Having co-founded a successful B2B wellbeing app for workplaces, she is now founder and CEO of Play Well For Life, an award-winning training company using game-based approaches to psychological skill development to support young people and staff in healthcare and alternative provision settings. Sarah has developed increasing expertise around generative AI, using it as part of the creative process within Play Well For Life, delivering training and as an invited speaker at national events about ethical AI use and working on ethical and legal use of AI on a MyWorld project, RENO. Sarah has also authored a chapter on the use of generative AI in digital psychological interventions, which was recently published by McGraw-Hill in “Psychological Digital Practice: the basics and beyond” (Pote, Moulton-Perkins & Campbell, Eds., 2025).

Eirini Lampiri
Eirini Lampiri is a Greek interdisciplinary experience designer, producer, and practice-based researcher based in Bristol, UK. With a background in film, performance and immersive experiences (XR/MR/VR/AR), Eirini designs hybrid XR experiences that seek to bridge the physical and the virtual worlds through real-time tactile and bodily interactions with physical props and/or live performers. Her work explores how participants can maintain connection with their physical bodies, their senses and the environment around them, while immersed in a virtual environment, through the use of theater staging (props, performers) and cinematographic techniques (light changing, sound effects, movement).
Using co-design methods, Eirini collaborates with creatives and marginalized audiences to imagine more inclusive, thought-provoking, and responsible digital futures. A long-term resident at the Pervasive Media Studio and a MyWorld Advisory Board member, Eirini has been twice nominated for TechSPARK’s “Best Use of XR” award for her projects “Is This My Body?” (2023) and “Cognition” (2022). Her work has been showcased at acclaimed venues including, Ars Electronica (Austria, 2024), BEYOND Innovation Expo (Greece, 2022), Bristol Beacon (UK, 2021), Arnolfini (UK, 2021).

Ruth Mariner
Ruth Mariner is a creative director and narrative designer specialising in story-driven experiences across immersive technology (XR, VR, AR) video games and immersive theatre. She is currently the Narrative Lead at Damp Gnat Studios, working on an unannounced VR title, as well as the Creative Director for Shapeshifter, a narrative VR LBE funded by BFI Network and Arts Council England. She is Creative Director for I Am Your Mirror, an interactive installation created in collaboration with Bluman Associates. Other recent clients include XR Stories, indie game studio Idoz & Phops, and Aardman Animations.