HIT Lab NZ

23/09/2026

⭐⭐ Professorial Lecture – Professor Heide Lukosch ⭐⭐

On Tuesday 22 September, the DVC Research & Innovation hosted the Professorial Lecture of Professor Heide Lukosch from the Human Interface Technology Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering.

Titled “Playful Impact in a Complex World,” the lecture reflected on Professor Lukosch’s 20-year research journey exploring how games and play can help address complex real-world challenges across transport and logistics, disaster resilience, policing, healthcare, and education.

Her work brings together simulation gaming, digital games, and extended reality technologies—developed initially at TU Delft and further advanced at HIT Lab NZ.

A defining feature of her research is its collaborative and ethically grounded approach. Policymakers, practitioners, educators, and communities—including those engaged in Aotearoa New Zealand’s bicultural context—are involved as genuine co-design partners.

The lecture also explored the future of applied games in a rapidly evolving landscape shaped by artificial intelligence, extended reality, and data-driven technologies.

Professor Lukosch further marked the milestone by hosting a lunch for HIT Lab staff and students, who acknowledged her sustained mentorship, inclusive leadership, and dedication to fostering belonging within the lab — sentiments echoed in a congratulatory message from Professor Rob Lindeman, currently on sabbatical in the UK.

Congratulations, Professor Lukosch, on this important milestone. 💐💐

University of Canterbury UC Engineering

21/09/2026

📣 USER STUDY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Participate in our study exploring how people experience and learn about earthquake preparedness through a scenario-based game.

📍 Location: HIT Lab NZ, Level 2, John Britten Building, 69 Creyke Road, University of Canterbury
👉 Find out more and book a session: https://bookwhen.com/72hours
📩 Contact: [email protected]

Who can participate?
✅ Aged 18 years or older
✅ Able to understand English
✅ Self-identify with an Asian or European background

University of Canterbury UC Engineering

11/09/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Dr Donald Degraen on securing a Royal Society Te Apārangi Catalyst: Seeding Fund grant for a 2-year funded project!

This project - Establishing a Collaborative Network for Somaesthetic Interaction Design and Embodied Sensemaking in Extreme Environments - will explore a novel design methodology using immersive Virtual Reality (VR) to simulate the physical and sensory realities of ICE environments. By enabling designers to experience these constraints in the laboratory, the project aims to support the development of technologies that are more usable, meaningful, and responsive to the embodied realities of fieldwork.

Researchers working in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments — from Antarctic fieldworkers handling wildlife in sub-zero temperatures to researchers operating in other challenging environments — face unique physical and sensory constraints that conventional technology design methods often struggle to address.

Building on Somaesthetic Interaction Design, the project will bring together expertise across institutions and countries to co-design and validate a VR framework with expert ICE fieldworkers.

The collaboration combines:
🔹 World-leading VR simulation expertise from the University of Canterbury
🔹 First-hand ICE fieldwork knowledge from Lincoln University
🔹 Pioneering soma design methodology from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

The Catalyst Seeding Fund supports new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships, with the goal of developing enduring international research collaborations.

This project is an exciting opportunity to connect expertise across New Zealand and Sweden and contribute to new approaches for designing technology that supports researchers working at the frontiers of climate and conservation science.

Project collaborators are:
🔹 Professor Michelle LaRue, University of Canterbury
🔹 Professor Amanda Black, Lincoln University
🔹 Professor Kristina Höök, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden)

👏 Congratulations to Donald and all collaborators on this exciting achievement!

University of Canterbury UC Engineering

07/09/2026

📣 USER STUDY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Participate in our study exploring how VR can be used to reduce the pain people feel.
❓ See advertisement below for specific eligibility criteria.
👉 Find out more and book a session at https://bookwhen.com/jacksonlnjx
📍 Location: HIT Lab NZ, Level 2, John Britten Building, University of Canterbury, Ilam Campus.
📩 Contact: [email protected]

University of Canterbury UC Engineering

03/09/2026

This week we welcome back doctoral student Upulanka Premasiri from a successful visit to the Interactive Content Design Lab (ICD-Lab) at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. The purpose of his visit was to start a collaborative research project based on his PhD work which mainly focuses on the ergonomics and usability of touchpad interactions across different touchpad mount locations in VR.

The collaborative research was organised by Prof. Rob Lindeman from HIT Lab NZ and Prof. Yoshifumi Kitamura from ICD Lab. Upulanka piloted and upgraded the experimental platform and further investigated the research direction. The other research team members are Eunhee Chang, Guanghan Zhao and Prof. Stephan Lukosch. The visit was funded by the International Collaboration of the Cooperative Research Project Program.

University of Canterbury UC Engineering

02/09/2026

⭐ HIT Lab welcomes Zi Ying Wong – our newest PhD candidate! ⭐

HIT Lab NZ was delighted to welcome Zi Ying to the Lab today. She will work with Dr Donald Degraen and Prof Rob Lindeman to explore the role of haptic feedback in supporting multisensory interactions in wellbeing-oriented VR applications, and how to optimize its integration to support mental wellbeing.

Originally from Malaysia, Zi Ying earned her Master’s degree in Computer Science from Korea University of Technology and Education, South Korea, and completed a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science at University of Malaya, Malaysia. Zi Ying’s research will be supported by a UC Doctoral Sponsorship.

We’re excited to have her join the lab and look forward to seeing her research develop!

UC Engineering University of Canterbury

01/09/2026

📢Fully Funded PhD Scholarship - Designing for Extremes: Immersive VR Simulation for Embodied Technology Design in Antarctic Fieldwork

Applications now open for a 3-year doctoral scholarship.

This PhD project will use immersive Virtual Reality to simulate the physical and sensory challenges of Antarctic fieldwork, such as restricted movement, reduced touch, and impaired depth perception.

The ideal candidate will have a background in Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Design, Cognitive Science, or a related field, with strong programming skills (C #, ideally using Unity or Unreal Engine) for VR application development, a basic understanding of user-centred design methods, the ability to design, run, and analyse empirical user studies, and strong written and verbal communication skills.

📧Contact: [email protected]

👉Learn more and apply at https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/study/uc-graduate-school/future-research-students/research-projects/designing-for-extremes--immersive-vr-simulation-for-embodied-tec

UC Engineering

Extreme environments, such as the Antarctic, place extraordinary demands on the human body.

01/09/2026

🌏 A wonderful morning at the HIT Lab NZ yesterday as we welcomed a distinguished delegation from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) with a tour of the lab. 🇲🇾 It was a pleasure to host our colleagues and explore shared opportunities in immersive technology, human-interface research, and international collaboration.

Today we are delighted to be hosting 20+ UTM students with program of demonstrations and plenary talks organised by Dr Kris Tong and Kieron Wall to showcase HIT Lab NZ’s research, strengthen UC’s institutional partnership with UTM, and inspire UTM students to pursue postgraduate studies at UC.

📸 Main photo from left to right: Sakinah Tuan Besar (UC International Partnerships Coordinator), Prof. Nurul Hazrina Idris (UTM Head of Division, Global Strategy & Engagement), Prof. Madya Dr. Ajune Wanis Binti Ismail (UTM), Prof. Ts. Dr. Intan Zaurah binti Mat Darus (UTM Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic and International), Prof. Heide Lukosch (UC HIT Lab NZ, Acting Director), and Chris Buyarski (UC HIT Lab NZ, Centre Manager)

University of Canterbury UC Engineering

31/08/2026

📣 USER STUDY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Participate in our study exploring how people experience and interact with handheld mobile Augmented Reality (AR) in outdoor environments.
Who can participate?
✅ Aged 18 years or older
✅ Able to walk safely outdoors
✅ Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing
✅ Have sufficient English proficiency to understand the study instructions
✅ Comfortable using a handheld mobile device while walking outdoors
📍 Location: UC Central Library, University of Canterbury, Ilam Campus. The study will begin at the entrance of the library and end at HIT Lab NZ.
👉 Find out more and book a session: https://bookwhen.com/qinyangwu
📩 Contact: [email protected]
University of Canterbury UC Engineering

28/08/2026

🎉💐Congratulations to all HIT Lab NZ's Spring 2026 Graduates!

Attending this week's graduation ceremony:
🎓PhD graduates: Dr. Misha Mirza and Dr. Mac Greenslade.
🎓MHIT graduates: Saumya Chanana, Yuton Jin (Richie Kim), Shiyu (Angela) Lyu, and Gabrielle (Gabby) Rosemergy.
🎓Proud supervisors: Prof. Heide Lukosch, Prof. Stephan Lukosch, Assoc. Prof. Adrian Clark, Dr. Donald Degraen and Dr. Susanne Schmidt.

It was great to see some of our graduates return to the lab for a visit. We wish them all the best with their future endeavours!