The Division of Games is delighted to announce Dr. Dominic Kao as an upcoming speaker for the 2024-2025 Utah Games Speaker Series.  This speaker is hosted by Dr. Rogelio E. Cardona-Rivera, Assistant Professor of the Division of Games.

When & Where: Wednesday, January 22 2025, from 4:00pm to 5:00pm. Room 5614 of the Quinney College of Law (LAW 5614)

Talk Title:  Virtual Futures: Exploring the Horizon

Talk Abstract: Internet-connected screens now occupy over 40% of our waking hours, with Gen Z averaging 9 hours per day. For the past 15 years, I have focused on understanding how to shape virtual environments—such as games, virtual reality, and online meetings—to enhance engagement, learning, performance, and equity. In this talk, I will discuss my prior research and outline promising directions for future exploration.

Speaker Bio: Dominic Kao received a B.S. degree in computer engineering from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, in 2009, an M.S.E. degree in computer science from Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA, in 2012, and a Ph.D. degree in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, in 2018.

He is currently an Assistant Professor with Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA, where he is also the Director of the Virtual Futures Lab. He researches virtual worlds, games, and education. His research interests include building virtual worlds and leveraging existing ones, primarily in understanding how virtual worlds influence people and developing best practices for creating games and learning environments.

Dr. Kao received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2024.