Dr Tom Garner BA(hons.), MA, PGCE, PhD, FHEA
Senior Lecturer of Interactive Technologies
- Department of Computing
- Centre of Excellence in Terrorism Resilience Intelligence and Organised Crime Research
- Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre
- Industry and Innovation Research Institute
Summary
Senior Lecturer in Interactive Technologies and Senior Research Fellow at CENTRIC. Research and innovation interests include design for serious games and extended reality (XR) technologies as applied to training and operational enhancement, auditory perception theory, and psychophysiological data collection methods.
About
Dr Garner is a Senior Lecturer in Interactive Technologies at Sheffield Hallam University and Senior Research Fellow at the counterterrorism and intelligence research centre, CENTRIC. Tom has expertise in auditory perception theory, psychophysiological research methods and design for serious games and extended reality (XR) technologies as applied to training and operational enhancement. He has led software development projects across several universities for over 6 years and has written extensively on matters of trans-diegesis and mixed-reality, physiology-based approaches to user experience (UX), audio-centred biofeedback in game design, and auditory perception in virtual reality. Tom has published three books, conducted research on behalf of BAFTA, and collaborated on XR projects with notable partners including The Royal Shakespeare Company, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), Epic Games, The Mary Rose Trust, and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Senior Lecturer
Teaching
College of Business, Technology and Engineering
– 2022. On-demand adaptation to operational stressors. Funded by HSSRC, Human Augmentation Fund. In partnership with Exeter University and the University of Chichester
– 2021. Enabling XR Enterprise. Funded by UKRI, UK Renewal Fund. In partnership with The Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth Aspex Gallery, The D-Day Museum, and The Spinnaker Tower.
– 2021. Visual technologies to support naturalistic HCI in multiuser VR. Funded by Innovate UK, Knowledge Transfer Partnership fund.
– 2020. Dream. Innovate UK Audience of the Future fund. In partnership with the Royal Shakespear Company, Epic Games, and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
– 2019. XR4TE: Multi-user VR for communication and collaborative skills training in a military context. Funded by DSTL, R-Cloud Lot 4 fund. In partnership with QinetiQ.
– 2018. DentaSIM: VR for empathetic skills training in dentistry. Funded by theOral and Dental Trust, OHI PreViser Award. In partnership with Queen Mary University of London.
Applied Computing
Courses taught:
BSc. Computer Science for Games
BSc. Computer Games Technology
Modules taught:
Fundamentals of Gameplay Programming
Programming 2D Games
Mobile Games & Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality Development
Research
- Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence and Organised Crime Research , Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre
- Industry and Innovation Research Institute
Current projects:
– 2023. ACCOMPLICE: Asymmetric multi-platform XR and transmedia design for military training. Funded by the Ministry of Defence, DASA (Defence and Security Accelerator) fund. In partnership with LimeTools, the University of Central Lancashire and Affective State.
Selected Publications:
1. Garner, T. (2022) How the World Listens. Routledge. UK.
2. Garner, T. (2021). Leveraging Motion and Conceptual Frameworks of Sound as a Novel Means of Sound Design in Extended Reality. Designing Interactions for Music and Sound. Routledge. UK.
3. Garner, T. (2019). A bridge between worlds: Exploring how digital game sound and the imagination can obscure the distinctions that separate the real from the other-real. The Oxford Handbook of Sound & Imagination, New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Garner, T., Powell, W. & Brown, P. (2019). Exploring Tracking Drift Compensation in Mobile VR for Locomotion Rehabilitation. IEEE VR: 2019. Osaka, Japan. March 23rd-27th 2019.
5. Garner, T. (2018). Echoes of Other Worlds: Sound in Virtual Reality. Palgrave Macmillan. UK.
6. Garner, T., Powell, W. & Powel, V. (2018). Everyday Virtual Reality. Encyclopaedia of Computer Graphics and Games. Springer International.
7. Powell, W., Garner, T., Shapiro, S., & Paul, B. (2017). Virtual Reality in Entertainment: The State of The Industry. BAFTA.
8. Grimshaw, M. & Garner, T. (2015). Sonic Virtuality: Sound as Emergent Perception, New York: Oxford University Press. US.
Several of Tom’s software projects, including several student projects, can be found online. Examples include: Village of the Year [VR Game]; DentaSIM [VR dental training sim]; Outworld Stories [AR GPS audio-game]; VICE: The University Simulator [PC game concept]; Summoned [biofeedback PC game]; and Goblins! VR. [Virtual reality game].
Publications
Journal articles
Robb, J., Garner, T., Collins, K., & Nacke, L.E. (2017). The Impact of Health-Related User Interface Sounds on Player Experience. Simulation & Gaming, 48 (3), 402-427. http://doi.org/10.1177/1046878116688236
Garner, T.A., Powell, W.A., & Carr, V. (2016). Virtual carers for the elderly: A case study review of ethical responsibilities. DIGITAL HEALTH, 2, 205520761668117. http://doi.org/10.1177/2055207616681173
Reeves, J., Powell, W., Dickson, B., Carr, V., & Garner, T. (n.d.). Project RITA: Developing a digital advocate & care service with an empathetic heart and inquiring mind. International Journal of Integrated Care, 14 (8). http://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.1825
Conference papers
Grimshaw, M., & Garner, T. (2013). Sonosemantics. Proceedings of the 8th Audio Mostly Conference. http://doi.org/10.1145/2544114.2544126
Garner, T. (2013). Identifying habitual statistical features of EEG in response to fear-related stimuli in an audio-only computer video game. Proceedings of the 8th Audio Mostly Conference. http://doi.org/10.1145/2544114.2544129
Grimshaw, M., & Garner, T. (2012). The use of sound to represent data and concepts as a means to engender creative thought. Proceedings of the 7th Audio Mostly Conference: A Conference on Interaction with Sound. http://doi.org/10.1145/2371456.2371458
Garner, T., & Grimshaw, M. (2011). A climate of fear. Proceedings of the 6th Audio Mostly Conference: A Conference on Interaction with Sound. http://doi.org/10.1145/2095667.2095672
Garner, T., Grimshaw, M., & Nabi, D.A. (2010). A preliminary experiment to assess the fear value of preselected sound parameters in a survival horror game. Proceedings of the 5th Audio Mostly Conference: A Conference on Interaction with Sound. http://doi.org/10.1145/1859799.1859809
Book chapters
Garner, T. (2024). Sound, Extended Reality, and the Cinematic-Interactive Dichotomy. In The Oxford Handbook of Video Game Music and Sound. Oxford University Press
Garner, T. (2024). A Functional Approach to the Psychology of Video Game Sound. In The Oxford Handbook of Video Game Music and Sound. Oxford University Press
Garner, T. (2024). Everyday sound through the ears of the professional sound designer. In Filimowicz, M. (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Sound Design. Routledge
Garner, T. (2024). The Globalisation of Sound Design. In Filimowicz, M. (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Sound Design. Routledge
Garner, T. (2022). Leveraging Motion and Conceptual Frameworks of Sound as a Novel Means of Sound Design in Extended Reality. In Filimowicz, M. (Ed.) Designing Interactions for Music and Sound. CRC Press
Garner, T. (2016). From Sinewaves to Physiologically-Adaptive Soundscapes: The Evolving Relationship between Sound and Emotion in Video Games. In Emotion in Games Theory and Praxis. Springer
Garner, T. (2014). Embodied Virtual Acoustic Ecologies of Computer Games. In The Oxford Handbook of Interactive Audio. Oxford Handbooks
Garner, T. (2014). Sonic Virtuality: Understanding Audio in a Virtual World. In The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality. Oxford Handbooks
Books
Garner, T.A. (2022). How the World Listens The Human Relationship with Sound Across the World. Focal Press.
Garner, T.A. (2022). How the World Listens The Human Relationship with Sound Across the World. Sound Design.
Garner, T.A. (2017). Echoes of Other Worlds: Sound in Virtual Reality Past, Present and Future. Springer.
Grimshaw, M., & Garner, T.A. (2015). Sonic Virtuality Sound as Emergent Perception. Oxford University Press, USA.
Internet Publications
Garner, T. (2023). How Christmas music in adverts and shops harnesses nostalgia to encourage you to spend more. https://theconversation.com/how-christmas-music-in-adverts-and-shops-harnesses-nostalgia-to-encourage-you-to-spend-more-219277#:~:text=Nostalgia%20diminishes%20our%20desire%20for,affective%20nature%20of%20Christmas%20shopping
Postgraduate supervision
Tom is an experienced PhD supervisor and provides supervision across all undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He welcomes research degree inquiries across any of the following specialisms:
– HCI theory: Embodied cognition, cognitive load, affordance, perceptual motor theory, gamification, diegesis, social presence theory
– XR technology platforms: Virtual, augmented, mixed-reality, simulation, mobile applications
– XR systems: Asymmetric multiplayer, gesture/hand interaction, head/eye interaction, Real-world data integration, multisensory feedback, embedded artificial intelligence
– Serious games application: Skills training, real-time operational enhancement
– UX/Psychophysiology technologies: EEG, EMG, MEG, Skin conductance, HRV, eye-tracking