Portrait of Dr. Arindam Dey

I’m a researcher and builder, and I spend most of my time on adaptive, multimodal extended-reality systems. My interests sit where XR meets empathic computing, physiological and affective computing, and HCI — and I enjoy work that moves between careful research and things people can actually use.

I’m also a mixed-methods UX researcher: I combine qualitative work — interviews, contextual inquiry, usability studies, and thematic analysis — with quantitative and physiological measures, controlled experiments, and statistical modelling. Pairing the two lets me understand not just what people do in immersive systems but why, and turn those insights into designs that hold up in the real world.

Most recently I was a Staff Research Scientist at Meta Reality Labs, working on mitigating visual discomfort in immersive environments using physiological computing, and contributing to VR.Net, a large-scale VR motion-sickness dataset that was kindly recognised with the Best Paper award at IEEE VR 2024.

Before Meta I held academic posts at the University of Queensland, where I started the Empathic XR & Pervasive Computing Lab, and at the University of South Australia, along with earlier roles in the US and across Australia. Along the way I’ve also built and shipped applications across AR, VR, and mobile.

These days I also consult on XR and physiological computing through Embute Labs, where I help teams bring research-grounded immersive ideas to life.

I’ve had the privilege of supervising 30+ students, working on projects backed by more than $1.5M in research funding, and helping organise the community — including as a General Chair of IEEE ISMAR. None of it has been a solo effort; I’ve been lucky in the people I’ve worked with.

For the full record, see my CV.

Career

Timeline

  1. 01

    Consultant — XR & physiological computing

    2024–

    Embute Labs

    Helping teams bring research-grounded immersive ideas to life.

  2. 02

    Staff Research Scientist

    2022–2024

    Meta Reality Labs · Redmond, WA, USA

    Worked on mitigating visual discomfort in immersive environments using physiological computing; contributed to VR.Net (Best Paper, IEEE VR 2024).

  3. 03

    Lecturer / Director, Empathic XR & Pervasive Computing Lab

    2018–2022

    The University of Queensland · Brisbane, Australia

    Founded and led the Empathic XR & Pervasive Computing Lab.

  4. 04

    Research Fellow, Empathic Computing Lab

    2016–2018

    University of South Australia · Adelaide, Australia

  5. 05

    Postdoctoral Researcher, HIT Lab AU

    2014–2016

    University of Tasmania · Launceston, Australia

  6. 06

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    2013–2014

    Worcester Polytechnic Institute · Worcester, MA, USA

  7. 07

    Researcher

    2008–2009

    James Cook University · Cairns, Australia

  8. 08

    PhD, Computer & Information Science

    2013

    University of South Australia · Adelaide, Australia

    Thesis on augmented reality visualization and perception.

Recognition

Selected awards

  • Best Paper Award — IEEE VR 2024 (VR.Net)
  • Best Paper Nomination — OzCHI 2017
  • Best Paper Nomination — IEEE ISMAR 2012
  • CIS Research Award — University of South Australia
  • First runner-up — Australian Entrepreneurs’ Challenge (BrowsAR)
  • Business-plan competition wins

Full list in CV →