Saliha Akbas, Ph.D.
Intereaction Design Researcher | XR & Embodied Interaction
I investigate how virtual bodies, embodied interaction, and AI agents can support reflection in XR. My work combines practitioner-informed inquiry, iterative design, and XR development.
Research Themes
Virtual Embodiment
Exploring how virtual body representations shape perception, movement, and expression. Research with dancers and athletes informs my approach to the virtual body as a reflective medium.
Reflection
Investigating how immersive experiences invite people to question and reinterpret their perceptions and actions, and how bodily activity, spatial relations, and unfolding events can become resources for reflection.
Embodied AI
Designing and investigating embodied conversational agents in XR. My current interests concern how LLM-based agents could draw on conversation and experiential context to support reflection.
Featured Research
MoveCraft
Practitioner-informed design space for reflective embodiment through avatar abstraction.
Psychosis
Co-designing immersive experiences for reflection on lived experiences of psychosis.
Cosmoception
Exploring how avatar representation shapes movement experience within a remote intercultural dance collaboration.
Migration Experiences
Examining social discrimination in civic settings through VR and an embodied LLM interview agent.
Wound Care XR
Investigating embodied AI coaching for situated learning in immersive clinical simulation.
Selected Publications
Movement Qualities of the Augmented Body in XR: Insights from Dance Practitioners
Saliha Akbas, Kemal Kuscu, Terry Eskenazi, Asim Evren Yantac
AHs ’26: Proceedings of the Augmented Humans International Conference 2026
Reflective Embodiment through Avatar Abstraction: Insights from Movement Practitioners
Saliha Akbas, Kemal Kuscu, Terry Eskenazi, Asim Evren Yantac
MOCO ’26: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Movement and Computing
Virtual Dance Mirror: A Functional Approach to Avatar Representation through Movement in Immersive VR
Saliha Akbas, Asim Evren Yantac, Terry Eskenazi, Kemal Kuscu, Sinem Semsioglu, Onur Topal Sumer, Asli Ozturk
MOCO ’22: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Movement and Computing
Qualitative Dimensions of Technology-Mediated Reflective Learning: The Case of VR Experience of Psychosis
Saliha Akbas, Kemal Kuscu, Asim Evren Yantac, Gizem Erdem, Sinem Semsioglu, Onur Gurkan, Asli Günay, Ali Vatansever, Terry Eskenazi
VRST ’21: Proceedings of the 27th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology