David Petrescu

Lecturer, Computer Graphics and Virtual Environments

University of Manchester

Speaker Biography

Dr David Petrescu is a Lecturer in Computer Graphics and Virtual Environments at the University of Manchester. His background is in real-time graphics and visual perception, and his work spans XR, psychophysiology and human-computer interaction. His current research focuses on how XR can be used to help with every day cognitive task. Examples are mental imagery and aphantasia, the experience of having little or no visual imagination. With colleagues in Stockholm, he uses VR and AR to study how people with aphantasia navigate and engage in creative tasks such as drawing, and whether immersive interfaces can support them. The work speaks directly to creativity: it asks how people imagine, what changes when the mind’s eye is absent, and what XR can offer in its place.

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