There are myriad ways of being in the world, yet many approaches to experience- and technology-design invoke ‘the user’; a standardised, non-specific person with a fixed perspective. But what biases might be hidden within our assumptions about this mythical user? And how might we instead create experiences and tools that reflect and support diverse perspectives and ways of being?

This panel will examine how extended reality (XR) and interactive media technologies might offer possible solutions, through embracing neurodivergence, disability, and a range of bodily expressions across users. Dr Scott Brown will discuss his current research connecting neurodiversity and spatial sound. His project explores how adaptive multi-channel audio could allow neurodivergent people to engage with cultural experiences in public settings. Dr Julia Scott-Stevenson will explore how features of XR technologies can exclude users, and will examine the notion of glitch in computational media in parallel with concepts of diversity in human bodies. Michela Ledwidge will discuss the challenges of running a studio in an increasingly conservative technology landscape. From working around stereotyped off-the-shelf digital human tools, to building with LLM models that are trained on biased data, finding solutions that push back on the status quo is a complex task.