DR. FARHAD DASTUR

Principal Investigator

Dr. Dastur is the Director of KPU’s Virtual Reality Lab and a faculty member in the Psychology Dept. He is interested in using extended reality technologies to better understand persistent problems in psychology and to explore new frontiers in the human mind.

KIRAN DOGRA, BA (HONS.)

Lab Manager

Kiran graduated from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2020 with an honours degree in Psychology and a minor in Counseling Psychology. Her honours thesis investigated the relationship between Virtual Reality and Memory. Along with her involvement as Lab Manager with the VR Lab, Kiran is currently working as a research assistant in Dr. Daniel Bernstein’s Lifespan Cognition Lab, which examines how thinking develops across the Lifespan. Kiran is also a founder and reviewer for the Kwantlen Psychology Student Journal, where she edits undergraduate submissions (analytical and empirical) for publication. See Kiran's publications

In her free time, Kiran can be found outdoors hiking, reading her collection of novels in the shade, cooking her favourite comfort foods, or binge-watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

ZERLINDA CHAU, BA

Assistant Lab Manager

Zerlinda completed her BA in Psychology, Minor in Counselling in 2016. Zerlinda is obsessed with the psychology of design. She believes the most important aspect of design is leveraging psychology to create human-centred products, organizations and experiences. Her interest in extended reality technologies includes the design of VR/AR environments and their application in education and professional development. 

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Beyond the lab, Zerlinda works in international youth education as an event coordinator and leadership coach. She is a foodie, an urban adventurer, an athlete, a car lover, a gamer, a musician, a photographer.

SIMI DHALIWAL

Technology Development and Marketing Manager

Simi is a Bachelor of Science student majoring in Psychology. Her research would focus on helping to expand virtual reality in education. She also works for course analytics and mental health projects along with Dr. Levente Orban.

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Simi enjoys going on coffee dates with her friends in old-school cafés, hiking the Grouse Grind, running the Crescent beach stretch, reading murder mystery novels, and listening to Amrinder Gill and Dua Lipa.

KAYLA GARVIN

Research Assistant | Social Media Coordinator

Kayla is a fourth year Psychology student with a history in Philosophy, Linguistics, and Computer Science. Her research focuses on how the emerging media and technology of today can be used to help better the experiences of everyone. On top of her work at the Bee Cognition Lab and the Kwantlen Psychology Society, Kayla also serves as a student representative on several committees.

With interests ranging from Human Geography all the way to UX Design, her multifaceted talents are a perfect fit for the VR Lab.

DAVID MURRAY, BA

Research Assistant | Graphic Designer

David graduated from KPU in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Minor in Counselling. His research interests in the VR Lab involve applications of virtual reality related to disgust sensitivity. Aside from research David is also the VR Lab’s resident graphic designer.

For fun, David enjoys distance running, going to the gym and cooking savoury food.

JASMINE CHEN, B.Sc. (HONS.)

Research Assistant | Web Administrator

Jasmine has earned an honours degree in Health Sciences from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2020. She is passionate in public health research. She is interested in researching and exploring more applications of virtual reality targeting nutritional health and general public health with the hope to integrate them into various public settings to promote health and well-being.

In spare time, Jasmine enjoys trying new restaurants, traveling around the world, and playing badminton.

CALVIN CAMPBELL

Research Assistant | XR Podcast Outreach

Calvin is a fourth year student seeking to receive his Bachelors in Applied Arts Psychology with Minors in Counseling. Though he seeks following his bachelors to work as a counselor, his time in school has taught him the importance of quantitative research for retaining a realistic image of the world. His research interests lie in social justice, emergent media and its impact on social psychology, and human communication.

Calvin spends what free time he has painting, playing video games, reading sociology books and fantasy novels, and facilitating a frankly irresponsible amount of Dungeons & Dragons.

YU-HSIN (SOPHY) LIN

Research Assistant

Sophy is a fourth year Health Science student with a minor in Counselling. Her previous research experience focused on investigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health and cardiovascular health of various populations. Her research interests include using virtual reality technology for health promotion, rehabilitation, and psychotherapy. 

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Sophy enjoys volunteering, practicing calligraphy, trying out new recipes, and learning about cat behaviour in her free time.
 

JOSEPHINE STEEVES

Research Assistant | XR Podcast Producer & Host

Josephine is a fourth year Bachelor of Science student majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy. Her research interests include the psychology of design, aesthetics, cognition, and communication. She believes that we live in a world that we have designed for ourselves. So, with technology rapidly advancing we should strive to use this technology to design our environments to cater to our cognitive needs, along with our physical needs. She is curious to see how VR/AR can be used to facilitate these advances. She also works as a research assistant for Dr. Levente Orban on mental health projects, for Dr. Chartier at the CONEC lab in Ottawa, and for Dr. Tarry researching the impact of Covid-19 on education. 

In what little free time she has, Josephine can be found at band practice playing the drums, working in her garden, writing screen plays for her amateur film making career, and playing dungeons and dragons with her friends.

ANDREI BUNICI

Research Assistant | XR Podcast Co-Host & Editor

Andrei is a first-year student pursuing a degree in psychology and a minor in philosophy, with the goal of becoming a counsellor. He is very fun-loving and naturally curious about his immediate surroundings and has a deep interest in altered states of consciousness and the mystical. Andrei is also a very avid gamer and has a deep connection to the ever-growing field of XR, and with this is more than excited to help where he is able and lead where he is passionate. Andrei is on his way to becoming a research assistant in the lab and has been working with the Lab's XR podcast team as an editor and co-host.

CHRISTINE KWAN

Research Assistant

Bio coming soon...