About

I am Professor of Arts and Technology at the University of Derby and Adjunct Professor of Digital Futures at Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U), Toronto, Canada.

I have published widely on digital embodiment and the arts, the experience of the avatar body in virtual worlds and game spaces, the use of virtual worlds for creative practice, and arts, science, and technology methodologies.

My recent monograph Digital Embodiment and the Arts: Exploring Hybrid Spaces through Emerging Technologies (2024) is published by Intellect and is available Open Access.

I have been the Principal Editor for the Journal of Virtual Creativity, Intellect publishing since 2017.

Teaching responsibilities

I have supported the following PhD projects to completion:

• Madison Miller, University of Wolverhampton, Exploring the relaxation potential of nature Soundscapes and Photography through field recordings and meditation walks, PhD, 2025, Director of Studies.
• Brenda Miller, University of Wolverhampton, Invisible Practices: an examination of hand textile practice within commercial, artistic, and digital contexts, PhD, 2024, Director of Studies.
• Sally Pearce, University of Wolverhampton, Chernobyl Journey: process and subversion in women’s self-reflexive animation, PhD, 2024, Director of Studies.
• Max Berghage, University of Wolverhampton, Twilight of Virtualities: Imagining and Playfulness in an Ambiguous Virtual Reality, PhD, 2023, Supervisor.
• Konstantinos Kerasovitis, University of Wolverhampton, Necrolabour: a post-qualitative contextualisation of contemporary work and the ‘Totality of Self’ and the philosophy of Georges Bataille, PhD, 2023, Supervisor.
• Greg Marshall, University of Wolverhampton, Live Performance in a Digital Context, PhD, 2022, Director of Studies.
• Taey Iohe, SMARTlab, University College Dublin, The House of Translating Space: an Aesthetics of Migration, PhD, 2014, Supervisor.
• Garfield Benjamin, University of Wolverhampton, The Cyborg Subject: Parallax Realities, Functions of Consciousness and the Void of Subjectivity, PhD, 2014, Supervisor (no amendments).

If you are a prospective PhD student interested in immersive experiences, touch, taste, smell in XR, and/or the intersections between arts and technology or associated research please do get in touch.

Research interests

I am interested in digital embodiment, immersion and the senses, emerging technologies, virtual worlds, VR/XR and mixed realities, STARTS, AI, Art-Sci dialogues and methodologies, interactive film, interdisciplinary practice, arts and outer space, philosophies of the imagination, practice-based research methods, phenomenology, performative writing, and digital narratives.

I am interested in the many ways in which technology is changing us and how the arts enable us to shine a light on, and even impact, those changes.

Membership of professional bodies

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), (2018- )
• Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA), (2019- )
• Member of the AHRC Peer Review College (2022-2025)
• CARA (The Council for At-Risk Academics) Mentor (2022-24)

Qualifications

Postgraduate

• PhD Digital Media (Arts and Technology), SMARTlab Digital Media Institute, 2010
• MA Design for Digital Media, Coventry University, 2000
• PG Diploma History of Art and Design, UCE, Birmingham, 1993
• PGCE Art and Design, UCE, Birmingham, 1992

Undergraduate 

• BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting), Winchester School of Art, 1989

Recent conferences

• Doyle, D. (2024) Understanding Virtual Reality Art Experiences through 4E Cognition, Towards a Science of Consciousness 2024 Conference Proceedings, 22-27 April 2024, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
• Doyle, D. (2023) Pioneers of Virtual Reality: Then and Now, Re: SOURCE 10th International Conference on Media Art, Science and Technology, Conference Proceedings, Università Ca’ Foscari Venice, Italy.
• Doyle, D. (2023) Consciousness and Cognition, Embodiment and Virtual Reality, Towards a Science of Consciousness 2023 Conference Proceedings, University of Palermo, Taormina, Sicily.
• Doyle, D. (2022) BeAnotherLab Collective: Empathic Embodied Practices between Art and Science, Extended Senses 2022 Symposium Proceedings, University of Greenwich, UK, 7-9 Sept 2022.
• Doyle, D., Glover, R., Khechara, M., & Groes, S. (2022) Arts, Science and Technology in the ISSM Project and Exhibition, ISEA 2022 Conference Proceedings, Theme: Possibles, Barcelona, Spain, 10-16 June 2022.

Additional interests and activities

Curation

• 2024 Tasker Exhibition by Sarah Selby and Rod D, Made in Wolves Gallery, University of Wolverhampton, UK, Curator, July-October 2024.
• 2020 Identifying Successful STARTS Methodologies Project Exhibition, Made in Wolves Gallery, University of Wolverhampton, UK, Curator, September-December 2020.

Recent publications

Books

• Doyle, D. (2024) Digital Embodiment and the Arts: exploring hybrid spaces through emerging technologies, Intellect Publishing, UK/ University of Chicago Press, USA.
• Doyle, D. (Ed) (2015) New Opportunities for Artistic Practice in Virtual Worlds, IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, ISBN: 9781466683846, DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8384-6.

Book chapters

• Doyle, D. & Baoth-Mooney, T. (2021) The Spirit of Place: Shared Encounters with the Bauls and Fakirs of West Bengal, in Harvey, G. & Kaur, O. (Eds) Religion and a Sense of Place, Equinox Publishers.
• Doyle, D. (2021) Creative and Collaborative Practices in Virtual Immersive Environments, in Wagner, C., & Hui, A. (Eds) Creative and Collaborative Learning through Immersion: Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives, Springer, New York & Oxford.
• Doyle, D. (2018) Imagination and the Phenomenology of Virtual Practice, in Khosrow-Pour, M. (Ed) Enhancing Art, Culture, and Design with Technological Integration, IGI Global, Hershey. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-5023-5.ch007
• Doyle, D. (2017) Astronauts and Avatars: Travels through the Physical, the Virtual and the Imagined, in Lean, G., Staiff, R., & Waterton, E. (Eds) Travel and Representation, Berghahn Books, New York & Oxford, ISBN: 978-1-78533-602-7.
• Doyle, D. (2017) Avatar Lives: Narratives of Transformation and Identity, in Gackenbach, J. (Ed) Boundaries of Self and Reality: Implications of Digitally Constructed Realities, Elsevier Publishers, San Diego, ISBN: 9780128041574.
• Doyle, D. (2015) Exploring Liminal Practices in Art, Technology and Science, in Harrison, D. (Ed) Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Creative Technologies, IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8205-4.ch001.
• Doyle, D. (2013) Meta-Dreaming: Entangling the Virtual and the Physical in Power, D. & Teigland, R. (Eds) The Immersive Internet, Palgrave-Macmillan, London & New York, pp.37-48, ISBN 9781137283016.
• Doyle, D. (2012) Immersed in Learning: Supporting Creative Practice in Virtual Worlds, in Hunsinger, J, & Krotski, A. Learning and Research in Virtual Worlds, London: Routledge.
• Doyle, D. (2012) Living between Worlds: Imagination, Liminality and Avatar-Mediated Presence in Harrison, D. (Ed) Digital Media Technologies for Virtual Artistic Spaces, IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, pp.59-74. ISBN 9781466629615.
• Doyle, D. (2012) Transitional Spaces: Consciousness, Imagination, and the Avatar-Mediated Experience in Gackenbach, J. (Ed) Video Game Play and Consciousness, Nova Science Publishers, pp247-262, ISBN 978-1-62081-133-9.
• Doyle, D. (2011) The Body of the Avatar: Constructing Human Presence in Virtual Worlds in Ensslin, A. (Ed) Creating Second Lives: Community, Identity and Spatiality as Constructions of the Virtual, Routledge, Oxford & New York, pp.99-112, ISBN 9780415884204.
• Harrison, D. & Doyle, D. (2010) Kritical Art Works in Second Life (50%) in Mura, G. (Ed) Meta-plasticity in Virtual Worlds: Aesthetics and Semantics Concepts, IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, pp.198-216, ISBN 978-1-60960-077-8.

Refereed journal articles

• Doyle, D., Glover, R., Khechara, M., & Groes, S. (2023) Emerging Themes in the Identifying Successful STARTS Methodologies Project and Exhibition, ArtNodes Journal, No.32.
• Doyle, D., Glover, R., Khechara, M., & Groes, S. (2023) Exploring the Third Space in Art- Science: The Identifying Successful STARTS Methodologies project, Leonardo, 56:3, pp.257-261.
• Doyle, D. (2021) The Two Waves of Virtual Reality in Artistic Practice, Journal of Virtual Creativity, 11:2, Intellect, ISSN: 20403550, DOI: 10.1386/vcr_00054_1.
• Doyle (2020) Empathy VR and BeAnotherLab, Journal of Virtual Creativity, 10:2, Intellect, ISSN: 20403550, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/vcr_00032_1.
• Doyle (2017) Astronauts and Avatars Symposium Report, Journal of Virtual Creativity, 7:1 Special Themed Issue Revisiting Astronauts and Avatars, pp., Intellect, ISSN: 20403550, DOI: 10.1386/vcr7.173_7.
• Doyle, D. (2016) Travel, Space, and Transformation, Metaverse Creativity, 6:1&6.2, pp. 25- 36, Intellect, ISSN: 20403550, DOI: 10.1386/mvcr.6.1-2.25_1.
• Doyle, D. (2015) Out of this World: Exploring Embodiment and Space through Artistic Processes and Practice, International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 10.1, pp. 1-18, Routledge ISSN: 1479-4713, DOI: 10.1080/14794713.2014.998097.
• Doyle, D. (2015) Art and the Emergent Imagination in Avatar-Mediated Online Space, Leonardo, MIT Press, Vol. 48.3, pp.244-250, ISSN: 0024-094X DOI: 10.1162/LEON_a_00708.
• Doyle, D. (2014) Phenomenologies of Practice: The Artist in Virtual Worlds, International Journal of Art, Culture and Design Technologies, 4(1), pp.1-12, IGI Global ISSN: 2155-4196, DOI: 10.4018/ijacdt.2014010101.
• Doyle, D. (2014) Emergent Imagination: A Developing Framework for the Analysis of Artworks in Virtual Worlds, Metaverse Creativity, 4:1, pp.15-33, Intellect, ISSN: 20403550, DOI: 10.1386/mvcr.4.1.15_1.
• Doyle, D. (2012) Hybrid Worlds, Hybrid Practices, and the Enchantment of Place, Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, Special Issue: The Garden of Digital Delights:
• Rethinking Crossmedia Practices in Contemporary Art and Culture. Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts Press, Lithuania, 67 (2), pp.19-29. ISSN: 1392-0316.
• Doyle, D. (2010) Immersed in Learning: Supporting and Developing Creative Practice in Virtual Worlds. Learning, Media and Technology. Special Issue: Learning in Virtual Worlds. Routledge, Vol. 35(2), pp.99-110. ISSN 1743-9884.
• Doyle, D. (2009) The Body of the Avatar: Rethinking the Mind Body Relationship in Virtual Worlds. Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, 1:2, pp131-141. Intellect Publications, ISSN: 1757191X, DOI: 10.1386/jgvw.1.2.131/1.
• Doyle, D. (2008) Art and the Avatar: The Kritical Works in SL Project. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 4: 2&3, pp 137-153 ISSN: 1479-4713 Intellect Publications, DOI: 10.1386/padm.4.2&3.137/1.
• Doyle, D. and Kim, T. (2007) (50%) Embodied Narrative: The Virtual Nomad and the Meta Dreamer. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 3: 2&3, pp.209- 222. ISSN 1479-4713 Intellect Publications.