At some point, nearly all of us have asked ourselves, “Who am I?”
For MSc candidate Dara Al-Bakry, that question isn’t just philosophical — it’s the foundation of her research at the University of Waterloo. Using lifelike avatars, “digital twins” of study participants, she’s exploring how the brain merges sensory information and perception to create a sense of self.
“Identity is subjective,” Al-Bakry explains. “One way to study it is by looking at how we perceive our own bodies and movements. If you see a reflection of yourself that looks or moves differently, how does that change how you relate to it — or to yourself?”
Through her research, Al-Bakry hopes to understand how the brain constructs identity — and one day help design avatars that mirror the way we move, think and see ourselves. Her findings could shape how we use virtual reality — translating identity research into practical tools for learning and well-being.
“Imagine immersive training where health workers practise responding to crises with lifelike avatars,” she says. “They could experience the emotions of high-stress human interaction without real-world risk. Or imagine helping people address body-image challenges in a virtual space that feels safe and inclusive.”
When curiosity leads to community
After completing her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Waterloo, Al-Bakry says she went through what she jokingly calls “the basic undergrad existential crisis.”
“I really didn’t know who I was or what I wanted to be,” she says. “I started reading philosophy and I became fascinated by the question of what makes me, me, and others, themselves.”
That curiosity led her back to Waterloo for graduate studies, where she found a community that encouraged her to explore big questions.
“People often think you need a complete research plan before grad school,” she says. “I didn’t. I was just fascinated by consciousness and the nature of the self.”
Her search led her to Dr. Michael Barnett-Cowan, a leading neuroscientist and director of the Multisensory Brain and Cognition Lab in Waterloo’s Faculty of Health. Known for studying how the brain integrates sensory information to shape identity, his work provided the foundation Al-Bakry needed.
“One of the lab’s interests is the sense of self,” she says. “It aligned perfectly with my questions — it felt like the research found me.”
A virtual reflection
In the lab, Al-Bakry creates digital avatars that resemble her participants and experiments with how they behave.
“We scan each participant’s body to build a realistic, 3D avatar of themselves,” she explains. “Inside the VR headset, they see this avatar in a simple digital room. Two avatars appear one after the other, and participants choose which one they identify with most.”
Her current study focuses on changing an avatar’s gender presentation and/or movement to either align with or differ from the participant’s. She plans to explore other variations such as body weight, height, and limb size.
“By exploring how people experience their virtual bodies, maybe we can learn about how the brain builds that sense of identity and presence,” she says.
Even though today’s avatars can be lifelike — “you can even see the peach fuzz on their cheeks,” she says — Al-Bakry thinks VR still has a long way to go before it can create digital personas that people can truly identify with.
She believes her research could help create more realistic and inclusive avatars. And once that happens, she says, the possibilities are endless.
A safe space for bold ideas
For Al-Bakry, the freedom to explore new ideas has been one of the best parts of graduate study. By blending kinesiology with digital art and engineering, Al-Bakry is pioneering a new kind of research, one that doesn’t just study identity, but builds tools to reshape it.
I came in as a kinesiology student, but now I’ve built a toolbox that crosses disciplines. I’ve had incredible mentorship. I feel lucky to be part of a lab that’s so supportive and collaborative — we’re always learning from each other, and I owe much of my growth to that environment.
When asked what advice she’d give to future grad students, Al-Bakry doesn’t hesitate. “Don’t be afraid to start without having everything figured out,” she says. “Bold ideas usually start as vague curiosity. Stay open and keep exploring — even when the path isn’t clear.
“This has been an amazing opportunity to learn and grow, not just as a researcher, but as a person,” she says. “Waterloo is a safe place to make mistakes, explore new ideas and feel like you’re part of something bigger.”