research projects on human-computer interaction,
engaging media, artificial intelligence, and sociotechnical futures

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image by Jurgis Peters

Bioadaptive media

2025 — present

keywords: adaptive media, biosensing, hyperpersonalisation

Bioadaptive media are interactive systems that use real-time physiological signals (such as heart rate and variability, or brain activity) to adapt or generate media content. Rather than responding only to user behaviour (e.g., clicks or viewing time), these systems form recursive feedback loops in which bodily states become inadvertent inputs.

This project investigates bioadaptive media as an emerging paradigm in the media landscape, situated at the intersection of human–computer interaction, engaging media, and generative AI, while integrating critical perspectives from feminist HCI, critical media studies, and STS.

Beyond this specific, closed-loop form of human-media interaction, bioadaptive media can be understood as an extreme or end-case of adaptive systems more broadly. By making the feedback loop between user and system explicit and embodied, they offer a lens for examining how all adaptive media operate, including systems that rely “only” on behavioural and algorithmic data. In this sense, the project contributes not only to understanding bioadaptive media, but to theorising adaptive, personalised, and AI-driven media in general.

The research explores both the experiential and sociocultural implications of such systems. On one hand, bioadaptive media may enable deeply personalised, inclusive, and potentially meaningful experiences. On the other, they exacerbate issues surrounding agency, power, algorithmic amplification, engagement optimisation bias, and related dynamics, particularly when users may not be aware that their internal states are shaping what they see and experience and they have no way of subverting the loop.

Methodologically, the project combines futures anticipatory research and empirical studies of systems or their prototypes. It includes speculative scenario development, large-scale surveys on societal perceptions, and laboratory experiments using implemented or simulated bioadaptive systems to explore lived experiences and perceptions of such systems.

Overall, the project aims to develop conceptual frameworks, typologies, and other tools for designers and evaluators of bioadaptive media, contributing to their responsible and ethical development while advancing broader understanding of adaptive media systems.

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DIAL: Digitally-induced altered states of consciousness

2023 — 2026

keywords: disruptive technologies, human-computer convergence,
futures anticipatory research, societal resilience

  • There is an emerging phenomenon of using new technologies and art to induce Altered States of Consciousness (ASoc) - such as psychedelic VR environments, "digital drugs", and binaural soundscapes. These practices are examples of a larger development of varied integration of technology into all facets of human life and culture. Given the current rate and trajectory of this development, it is not difficult to conceive a future where digital products which bypass contemporary media formats in order to induce Altered States of Consciousness are a commonplace phenomenon. 

    Although the realisation of digital technologies which induce ASoC is currently in its infancy, a detailed examination of this issue is necessary in order to explore, understand, and anticipate the possible ramifications of digitally-induced ASoC across a range of socio-cultural domains. DIAL researches the possible directions of digitally-induced ASoC and their implications for individuals and society; the research combines anticipatory anthropology with futures research to identify and investigate the social, cultural, legal, and economic antecedents and effects of digitally-induced ASoC. 

    The primary scientific impact of DIAL is in laying the foundation for the study of an entirely new phenomenon: digitally-induced ASoC; it will create a roadmap for future academic work across a range of disciplines, from HCI to social policy. Furthermore, by examining areas of interest through the lens of futures research, DIAL provides insights that inform the understanding of contemporary issues of note, such as biohacking, digital security, and problematic media consumption. In addition to scientific impact, DIAL will also produce notable societal and cultural impact by allowing policy-makers, regulatory bodies, and NGOs to plan future strategies and educational actions.

    DIAL is dedicated to paving the way for a new field of research and its communication with the society. At the core of DIAL is interaction with a wide range of stakeholders, from technology professionals to the general public.

  • Doctoral students

    • Anatolii Belousov

    • Terho Ojell-Järventausta

    Postdoctoral researchers

    • Mila Bujić

    • Joseph Macey

    Professor

    • Juho Hamari

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Postemotion

2021 — 2025

keywords: collaborative VR, embodiment, personalisation

  • The need to move human interaction into virtual spaces has been increasing steadily over the years – largely due to the climate crisis, which has forced us to rethink our lives, and recently the pandemic that changed the ways we work, play, and communicate. This digital exodus has gained momentum through developments in VR technology.

    Immersive VR and video games provide new affordances of social interaction that may prove more beneficial for collaboration, even compared to face-to-face interaction because games and VR are not limited only to what is “real” but can instead convey richer socio-affective information through e.g. visualizing measured biosignals as biofeedback to the users. Social VR allows for multimodal and multisensory digital representations facilitating meaningful co-existence, interactions, and collaborations. However, although these possible benefits of augmenting social interaction via VR have been hinted at by previous research,  we still lack concrete and in-depth knowledge in terms of implementing augmented EA to VR environments in a holistic way by taking into account critical aspects such as embodiment, tactility and various bodily information. Thus, the goal is not only to compensate for the lack of socio-emotional cues but also to complement means of interaction by technological solutions and adaptations.

  • Postdoctoral researchers

    • Mila Bujić

    • Simo Järvelä

    • Bojan Kerous

    • Zhenxing Li

    Professors

    • Oğuz ‘Oz’ Buruk

    • Juho Hamari

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A man with glasses and a beard is wearing a virtual reality headset in a dark environment.

  • The IMMERSIVE-project examines the use and consumption of virtual technologies and content from the perspectives of users, developers and utilizers. The project focuses especially on questions such as how and why do people use and consume VR/AR/MR media content and how can companies be supported in their utilization and adoption of these technologies. The IMMERSIVE-project examines the multifaceted VR/AR/MR phenomenon with a wide set of methodologies and thus produces rich, effortlessly adaptable knowledge on the topic.

  • Researchers/Doctoral students

    • Mila Bujić

    • Henrietta Jylhä

    • Max Sjöblom

    Postdoctoral researchers

    • Oğuz ‘Oz’ Buruk

    • Lobna Hassan

    • Timo Nummenmaa

    • Mikko Salminen

    Professor

    • Juho Hamari

Immersive

2017 — 2019

keywords: virtual reality, immersive journalism, immersive media, 360-degree

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