2024 Provost’s Program Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholar: Zachary McKendrick (he/him)

Zachary’s work sits at the nexus of Drama, Technology, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). With a background as a director (MFA), actor, and technician, he has investigated ethnographic shifts towards immersive and extended virtual reality (VR and XR, respectively) in the live performance sector and broader HCI research community. Leveraging the parallels between XR and Drama as cathartic encounters wherein the participants (audience) suspend their disbelief and engage in layered realities, Zach positions actors as interaction specialists capable of existing in multiple states of being simultaneously, making them ideal collaborators in immersive HCI research. Zachary’s research goals are twofold: 1) use XR to support and enhance live performance and 2) incorporate principles and practices from Drama to create more holistic, user-centred immersive experiences; he seeks to enhance interaction while mitigating the adverse side effects of contemporary VR technology. Research at the intersection of XR, Drama, and HCI provides unique opportunities to engage in hands-on projects across disparate domains, enhancing collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving skills for a rapidly growing new medium. Zachary’s research requires expertise from diverse fields, encouraging collaboration between researchers from the arts, engineering, computer science, and other disciplines. This collaborative approach mirrors the university’s strategic goal of fostering a culture of innovation and interdisciplinary research. 

• Host interdisciplinary workshops at the University of Waterloo to generate XR performance frameworks, with participants from local and global creative and technical industries.  

• Identify and address the considerations and societal implications of integrating XR in live performance settings to establish design principles and best practices for XR interaction design in these contexts. 

• Translate insights into creative practices for community engagement through XR prototypes and interaction design frameworks, culminating in two live XR productions. 

• Support innovative undergraduate and graduate research explorations by establishing a collaborative interdisciplinary research lab. 

• Enhance pedagogical methodologies by developing and disseminating experiential and interdisciplinary courses and curricula. 

Zach is a back-to-back recipient of the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship for Doctoral Research (2022/23, 2021/22) through the University of Calgary. He earned a Mitacs Globalink Research Award (2021/22) for his work in Human Drone Interaction (HDI), allowing him to establish networks of international collaborators. He was recognized for his work between the School of Creative and Performing Arts and Computational Media Design with a Teaching Assistant Award (2021/22). While obtaining his MFA, Zach worked as an Assistant Director at The Shaw Theatre Festival through the Transformative Talent Internship (2018). 

Zach and his team are currently developing two immersive theatre pieces that utilize virtual and extended reality environments. 

Publications include: 

Zachary McKendrick, Lior Somin, Patrick Finn, and Ehud Sharlin. 2023. “Virtual Rehearsal Suite: An Environment and Framework for Virtual Performance Practice.” In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX 23), 27. https://doi.org/10.1145/3573381.3596158 

Zachary McKendrick, Ori Fartook, Patrick Finn, Ehud Sharlin, and Jessica Cauchard. 2022. “Waiting in the Wings: Performance Interventions for Human Drone Interaction.” Graphics Interface, Second Deadline. Victoria, BC. 

Ori Fartook, Zachary McKendrick, Tal Oron-Gilad, and Jessica R. Cauchard. 2023. “It is Up to You: A Personal Robot’s Expression of Emotional Support and Regulation Based on Their User’s Emotions.” https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.4658176 

Lior Somin, Zachary McKendrick, Patrick Finn, and Ehud Sharlin. 2021. “BreachMob: Detecting Vulnerabilities in Physical Environments Using Virtual Reality.” In Proceedings of the 27th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST 21). https://doi.org/10.1145/3489849.3489883 

Owen Brierley, Zachary McKendrick, Loic Cremer, Ehud Sharlin, and Patrick Finn. 2022. “A Protocol for Improving XR and Game Performance.” MobileHCI 2022 Adjunct - Publication of the 24th ACM International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services. https://doi.org/10.1145/3528575.3551433

Noor Hammad, Owen Brierley, Zachary McKendrick, Sowmya Somanath, Patrick Finn, Jessica Hammer, and Ehud Sharlin. 2021. “Homecoming: Exploring returns to long-term single player games.” Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445357 

Pursuing an interdisciplinary postdoc at the University of Waterloo offers numerous advantages, not the least of which is the opportunity to work with my supervisors, Prof. Dan Vogel, Prof. Craig Kaplan, and Prof. Andy Huston. The university is renowned for its innovative research environment and strong industry connections, providing opportunities to collaborate on real-world problems and potentially commercialize research. With access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources, postdocs can engage in high-quality research while being part of a vibrant academic community that values interdisciplinary work. Additionally, Waterloo’s location in Ontario’s tech hub and proximity to the country’s largest professional theatre company offers a high quality of life and a diverse community. A postdoc at the University of Waterloo can significantly boost one's career, given the institution’s global reputation and impact across various research fields. 

Zach is most looking forward to collaborating with a diverse and talented group of researchers from diverse and dynamic disciplines within the postdoctoral scholar community at the University of Waterloo. The university's innovative research environment and strong industry connections provide a unique platform for interdisciplinary projects that can have real-world impact. Zach is excited to be part of a vibrant academic community that values interdisciplinary collaboration. He looks forward to contributing to a culture that allows him to learn from and with a wide range of perspectives, working with the cohort to enhance research practices at the university. 

When not in the lab, studio, or VR, Zach can be found at the theatre, museum, art gallery, opera, or local indie wrestling show!