Jacquelyn Morie is a pioneer in the domains of computer graphics and virtual reality. She is the founder of All These Worlds, LLC, a company that creates and supports Virtual World experiences and research. Her clients have included NASA, the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies (USC/ICT), XPRIZE and the Army Medical Command.
Her ongoing research focuses on how immersion can affect and benefit participants, how the use of Avatars changes both our social connections and our deep understanding of our sense of self, and how multisensory elements combine to create a cognitive gestalt that enhances the feelings of Presence in virtual experiences.
Her 2007 PhD thesis – Meaning and Emplacement in Expressive Immersive Virtual Environments – has been downloaded hundreds of times by emerging VR communities, serving as a deep first introduction and guide to the many important aspects of this new medium, from its female-centric history to a design methodology for emotional impact. It was completed under the supervision of Dr Lizbeth Goodman at the SMARTlab Digital Media Institute University College Dublin, Ireland.
Dr Morie is a long time educator, having created digital programs at the University of Central Florida, the Ringling College of Art and Design, and Otis College of Art and Design. She is the original developer of the first computer animation training program for Walt Disney Feature Animation in the 1990s, as well as similar training programs for companies in the Digital Effects industries, such as Rhythm and Hues Studios. She is a former member of the DARPA ISAT Group, tasked with investigating new topics for DARPA research, and a founder of the USC/ICT, where she served as Senior Scientist for 14 years. She is a three decades member of ACM SIGGRAPH and has served that organization in many capacities over the years.