Assistant Professor in HCI · University of Birmingham

Making virtual
worlds feel
more human.

I'm Daniele Giunchi, an Assistant Professor in Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) at the University of Birmingham and an Honorary Lecturer at UCL.

I explore how artificial intelligence and immersive technologies can help us create, collaborate, and interact more naturally. My work brings together HCI, computer graphics, and intelligent XR interfaces.

Explore my research Publications
Daniele Giunchi beside a window overlooking a city
At the intersection of people & technology
Birmingham, United Kingdom52.45° N / 1.93° W
A few things I think aboutExtended realityHuman–AI interactionCollaborative environmentsPerception & graphics

01 / Selected research

Ideas you can step into.

Explore publications ↗
Immersive interaction ↗AI & creative tools ↗Shared virtual worlds ↗
Research figure from DreamCodeVR
Speech-driven programmingIEEE VR 2024

DreamCodeVR

Exploring how speech can make behaviour design in virtual reality more accessible.
Research figure from the PaintBranch virtual reality art project
Collaborative creativityVirtual reality

PaintBranch

Exploring asynchronous art creation in VR through branching, version control, and shared creativity.

Projects & resources

From collaborative interfaces to the physics of image formation.

Research figure from STREAMSPACE
Mixed reality · 2024

STREAMSPACE ↗

Window streaming for collaborative mixed reality environments.

Figure from the quantum computer generated holography thesis
Optics & quantum information · 2023

Quantum holography ↗

My master's thesis, connecting computational imagery and quantum information.

02 / Selected publications

The work behind the ideas.

Selected papers, with research images, citation details, and links to the published work.

Full bibliography ↗

Citation badges are supplied by Dimensions when available. Counts can differ from Google Scholar; a missing badge does not mean zero citations.

Showing 5 selected publications

2026

Tuning Immersion and Performance with Adaptive Generative Music in VR

J. Wen, Daniele Giunchi, P. Cascarano, R. Bovo, E. Ofek, A. Steed

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer GraphicsJournal article
Read paper ↗
Dimensions citations
Cite this paper

J. Wen, Daniele Giunchi, P. Cascarano, R. Bovo, E. Ofek, A. Steed (2026). Tuning Immersion and Performance with Adaptive Generative Music in VR. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2026.3679907

03 / A little background

From cosmic structures
to virtual worlds.

University of BirminghamAssistant Professor in HCIUniversity College LondonHonorary Lecturer

I'm an Assistant Professor in HCI at the University of Birmingham, working on scene understanding and smart environments, and an Honorary Lecturer at University College London.

At Birmingham's VR Lab, I work with Prof. Massimiliano Di Luca and Prof. Eyal Ofek. My research spans computer graphics, human–computer interaction, machine learning, computer vision, and large language models, exploring individual and collaborative interaction in VR, AR, and XR.

Until April 2025, I was a Research Associate in UCL's Virtual Environments and Computer Graphics group. I completed my PhD at UCL in 2021, supervised by Anthony Steed and Niloy Mitra, with a European Commission Marie Curie Fellowship. During my PhD, I undertook a research internship at Microsoft and a research visit to the Max Planck Institute for Informatics.

My path into immersive computing began with astronomy at the University of Bologna and years of industry experience. I later studied optics and quantum information at Sapienza University of Rome, connecting this background with my interests in perception and digital environments.

My university profile ↗

Master in Optics and Quantum Information

Sapienza University of Rome

Quantum holography thesis ↗

PhD in Computer Science

University College London · Marie Curie Fellow

MSc in Astronomy

University of Bologna

04 / Teaching & supervision

Learning by making.

Current teaching at the University of Birmingham, alongside selected past teaching and mentoring.

Teaching archive ↗

University of Birmingham

Lecturer

  • Current
    Intelligent Interactive Systems

    University of Birmingham

    Module Leader · Lecturer

  • 2025/2026
    Term 2
    Visualization

    University of Birmingham

    Lecturer

UCL

Teaching Assistant (TA)

  • Virtual Environments

    Immersive computing and virtual environments.

  • Computer Graphics
  • Python programming induction

    For Computer Graphics and Virtual Environment.

  • Image processing

Supervision

Student thesis projects.

Selected MSc and BSc projects, alongside research mentoring.

Mentoring archive ↗

MSc thesis projects

BSc thesis projects

  • Portals and preview interfaces for VR navigation

    Youngbin Park · BSc Computer Science

    University of Birmingham

Other research mentoring

  • Embodied LLM-based Programming

    Rowan Meng · summer intern, UCL

  • Asynchronous Collaborative Art Creation

    Ana David · thesis project, Lisbon University

05 / Research community

Beyond the papers.

Selected activity

Experience & research support

  • Research Associate · UCL

    Virtual Environments and Computer Graphics.

  • Research internship & visit

    Microsoft research internship and a research visit at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics.

  • Marie Curie Fellowship

    European Commission funding supporting my doctoral research at UCL.

Let's connect

Good ideas start with a conversation.

Interested in immersive interaction, collaboration, or a research conversation?