About

Fox Harrell is a Professor of Digital Media & AI in both the Comparative Media Studies Program and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. His research focuses on the relationship between imaginative cognition and computation. He founded and directs the MIT Imagination, Computation, and Expression Laboratory (ICE Lab) to develop new forms of computational narrative, gaming, social media, and related digital media based in computer science, cognitive science, and digital media arts. He is the author of the book Phantasmal Media: An Approach to Imagination, Computation, and Expression (MIT Press, 2013).

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Mathematics
• Social psychology
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Human–computer interaction
• Cognitive psychology
• Mathematics education
• Knowledge management
• Pedagogy

Selected publications

• The Effects of Roleplaying Orientations on Transformative Learning and Perspective Taking in Virtual Reality

  Lecture notes in computer science · 2024 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Artificial Intelligence
  DOI

• From My Vantage Point: Exploring The Effect of First-Person and Third-Person Perspectives on Social Acceptance in VR Roleplaying Games

  2024

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • Computer Science

  MUM ’24, December 01–04, 2024, Stockholm, Sweden

  DOI

• Through the Looking Glass: The Role of Virtual Mirrors in Shaping Empathy in Virtual Reality Perspective Taking

  2023

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • Artificial Intelligence

  In this study, we explored the effect of seeing one’s avatar in a virtual mirror during a virtual reality (VR) perspective taking experience. Participants were divided into two groups, with one experiencing the VR environment with the presence of a mirror showcasing their avatar and the other without. Results revealed that the sense of presence was comparable across both groups. However, a notable difference emerged in terms of empathy; participants who viewed their avatars in the mirror exhibited reduced empathic responses. These findings illuminate the nuanced dynamics of self-representation in virtual environments, suggesting that inducing self-awareness through a virtual mirror in VR might have unintended emotional consequences.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• Caglar Yildirim

  Northeastern University

  3 shared

• Sercan Şengün

  University of Central Florida

  3 shared

• Mehmet Akhoroz

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  2 shared

• Eyup Engin Kucuk

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  2 shared

• Susan E. Cozzens

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  1 shared

• Gregory H. Nobles

  1 shared

• H. J. Etienne

  1 shared

• Adjo Amekudzi

  University of Minnesota

  1 shared

Awards & honors

• NSF CAREER Award for his project “Computing for Advanced Ide…
• Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behaviora…
• Lenore Annenberg and Wallis Annenberg Fellowship in Communic…

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