Philip Heslop

Phil is interested in engaging and empowering populations – especially the digitally marginalised – to understand and utilise the technology that impacts on their lives, in particular with their health, wellness, education and engagement with society. He is interested in working alongside participants, academics and industrial partners to enable, teach and develop technology-enabled experiences that deliver engagement and empowerment across a wide range of platforms, including Games, Internet of Things (IoT), web/mobile apps, Virtual Reality (VR) and bespoke tangible technologies.

Phil has a rich and varied history in Human Computer Interaction, Internet of Things, Informatics, Data Visualisation, Computer Graphics, Virtual Reality and Games. He began his career as a game-developer focusing on AI and graphics, then moved into academic support and development where he managed Newcastle University’s Virtual Reality facility for more than 10 years and a Fabrication Lab for more than 3 years.

His research career started in Educational Technology, and he was awarded his PhD in 2015. Since then, he has worked on a wide range of projects from Educational Technology to Medical Informatics to Internet of Things.

He is currently working on the Hi Act project, investigating how the transition to green, net-zero energy can be actively informed and influenced by the digitally marginalised populations who are likely to experience the greatest impact.