Sebastian Vowles

Sebastian Vowles is a PhD researcher at the University of Strathclyde, investigating the intersection of extended reality technologies and generative AI. His research focuses on safeguarding users against manipulative AI-generated behavior in immersive environments.

Since 2019, Vowles has specialized in VR development, spending three years as a teaching tutor on Swansea University's Virtual Reality MSc program. During this time, he developed VR scenarios that contributed to multiple research outputs and taught students Unity-based VR development, C#, and XR tools.

His work has gained recognition in both industry and academia. In 2023, he won the Augmented World Expo (AWE) XR Prize Challenge. Most recently, he co-authored a research paper published in Clinical Simulation in Nursing, titled "Enhancing empathy and understanding: Developing a virtual reality simulation to educate healthcare students on deaf patient experiences."

Vowles' current doctoral research examines how AI NPCs that learn from user behavior and biometric data in XR environments could become manipulative, with the goal of developing real-time safeguarding systems that protect users while preserving privacy.

XR Technologies, Generative AI Implementation, Virtual Reality Production, C# Development, Unity Development