Bio

Dr. Diane Gromala is the Canada Research Chair and Professor in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada.

Gromala is the founding director of the Transforming Pain Research Group.

This interdisciplinary team comprises artists, designers, computer scientists, medical doctors, an engineer, psychophysicist and a neuroscientist. They are investigating how immersive virtual reality (VR) and other technologies may be used to treat patients who suffer from chronic pain, a disease that is estimated to affect 1 in 5 North Americans.

Gromala was among the earliest artists to work with immersive VR, beginning withDancing with the Virtual Dervish, co-created with choreographer Yacov Sharir in 1990. Produced at the Banff Centre for the Arts from 1990-1992, this piece was exhibited internationally from 1993 to 2003. It informed later immersive VR work designed for stress-reduction and pain distraction during chemotherapy. Dr. Gromala's work is currently in use in over 20 hospitals and clinics.

With Jay Bolter, Gromala is the co-author of the MIT Press book Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art and the Myth of Transparency. Gromala's interdisciplinary research operates at the confluence of design, media art and computer science, and has focused on the cultural, embodied and health-related implications of digital technologies. Her work has been widely published in the domains of Design, Interactive Art and Computer Science.  

Gromala holds a PhD in Computing Science from the University of Plymouth, England and an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University. From 1982-1990, Dr. Gromala worked as a designer, primarily at Apple Computer, Inc.

Her prior artistic and design work ranged from interface design and interactive costume design for dancers to interactive typography and visualizations. This work focused on self-awareness of interactors' cognitive, affective and physiological experiences. It has been performed and exhibited worldwide.