Symposium on Virtual Worlds Research 2026

The Symposium aims at providing a collective update on the current state of Virtual Worlds Research across multiple disciplines. This is ranging from Games and Entertainment to Applications of Immersive Technologies and Human-Computer Interactions but not limited to. The Symposium’s goal is to provide an opportunity for knowledge sharing between these communities, discussing the Emerging Media, Transformation of the Creative Industries, and Future Lifestyle.

The event is hosted by the University of Staffordshire Games Institute, and will take place on Wednesday 15 April 2026, from 8:30 to 17:00 in the Gallery, Catalyst Building, University of Staffordshire.

Join this event for creative talks and knowledge sharing opportunities. The Symposium speakers are invited from various fields and will provide you with the current state and upcoming updates in their respective fields.

Call for participation

The Symposium invites speakers from various sectors to present their project or research in form of a 20-minute talk/presentation including a 10-minute Q&A.

Additionally, the participants may be invited to submit an extended version of their work for a journal special edition. SVWR 2026 seeks high-quality original research or projects in all relevant areas of Virtual Worlds, including digitisation of real-world objects, human-computer interactions, 3D user interface, applications of immersive technologies across various industries such as entertainment, education, culture, heritage, production, and similar.

Topics

SVWR 2026 seeks contributions in VR/AR/MR including, but not limited, the following areas:

Publication

After the Symposium, participants may be invited to contribute to a journal special edition. Full papers between 6,000 and 8,000 words in length can be submitted to the Journal of Virtual Creativity for review. When submitting your article, please indicate that the submission is for the Symposium on Virtual Worlds Research 2026 special edition. Please note that invitation to contribute to the special edition does not automatically guaranty acceptance of your submitted article. Submission outcomes will be announced to authors once the reviewing process is completed.

• Full paper submission
• Intellect Style Guide for preparing your article
• For further inquiries, please contact Dr Human Esmaeili: human.esmaeili@staffs.ac.uk

Panel members

University of Staffordshire Games Institute

• Prof. Christopher Headleand (Head of Staffordshire Games Institute)
• Prof. Catherine Flick (Ethics and Games Technology)
• Dr. Human Esmaeili (Games Art)
• Dr. Kieran Hicks (Game Design)
• Dr. Mathew Dalgleish (Games Design and Games Audio)
• Dr. David Murphy (Design History, Theory, and Culture)
• Prof. Esther Maccallum-Stewart (Gender and Representation in Games Design)
• Matthew Novak (Senior lecturer in Games Art and Digital Capturing)
• Dr. Emma Fallows (Games Art)
• Dr. Andrew Wedgbury (Games Design)
• Dr. Sharon Coleclough (Games Design, Representation, and Sound)
• Dr. Chris Payne (Games Design and Games Audio)

Department of Creative Industries, University of Staffordshire

• Dr. Monireh Astani (Animation and Immersive Media)

Department of Art, Design and Media, Sunway University & Sunway Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage

• Delas Santano (Senior Lecturer in Audiovisual Communications and Production)