News & Press

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Dr. Asher Marks and Kimberly Hieftje gave a talk entitled, "Clinical XR: When Immersion Isn't the Hard Part" at the Experiential Conference, MIT Reality Hackathon! They spoke about immersion outside of VR (i.e. spatial audio, UX/UI for audio experiences, screen-free immersive experiences).

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Dr. Asher Marks gave a talk during the Grand Rounds at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Paterson, NJ.  The talk was entitled, "The Yale Center for Immersive Technologies in Pediatrics: Using Immersive Technologies to Improve the Health and Well-Being of Youth and Young Adults".

Friday, January 9, 2026

Our Co-Directors Drs. Asher Marks and Kimberly Hieftje, along with our former post-doc Dr. Erin J.K. Truesdell were panelists at the Super MAGFest Panel on January 9, 2026. Their panel talk focused on pushing the boundaries of what games can mean to their players, entitled “What’s Going On With Serious Games? Contemporary Perspectives on Games Beyond Entertainment”

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Dr. Kimberly Hieftje presented “The Grief We Don’t Teach: Virtual Reality as a Tool for Understanding Child Loss.” Her talk explored how immersive storytelling through the VR experience Year of the Cicadas can deepen understanding of parental grief and foster empathy, education, and support. The session highlighted how virtual reality can be used as an innovative tool for emotional learning and community dialogue around grief. 

Monday, December 1, 2025

Year of the Cicadas was selected as a 2025 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge Finalist in the General Audience category and was showcased at I/ITSEC 2025 in Orlando, Florida.

Monday, December 1, 2025

Our postgraduate associate, Shawn Van, presented the game “Year of the Cicadas,” which was selected as a finalist for the Serious Games Showcase and Challenge. The project was showcased in Orlando, FL, from December 1–4, 2025, where it was considered for the competition’s top awards.

Thursday, November 20, 2025

Dr. Veronica Weser presented the talk “Mixed Reality Source Memory Monitoring: Misremembering Digital Objects Presented with Mixed Reality as Real Objects,” co-authored by Crocker, Drs. Hieftje, Marks, and Hoffman. The study examines how immersive technologies such as the Apple Vision Pro influence memory formation and source identification, highlighting implications for cognitive science and the responsible use of mixed-reality tools.

Thursday, November 6, 2025

Drs. Kimberly Hieftje and Asher Marks presented talks at the Pediatric Palliative Oncology Academic Leadership Collaborative & Symposium, November 6 – November 7, 2025, Memphis, TN.

Dr. Hieftje presented her talk “Year of the Cicadas: An Immersive VR Experience Exploring the Enduring Nature of Parental Grief,” and Dr. Marks  presented “Simulated Digital Psychedelics (Si-PHI): A Non-Pharmacologic Immersive Intervention for Pediatric Palliative Care.”

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Dr. Shu Wei was selected as a health fellow with Salzburg Global and joined the week-long seminar at Schloss Leopoldskron, focusing on “Transforming Information Pathways for Health, Well-Being, and Equity”. During the seminar, she spoke on the panel “How can public health programs better engage young people in digital age?” sharing insights from her research on immersive technologies and digital health interventions for youth.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

Our Creative Producer/Project Director, Justin Berry spoke with Stuart Neilson, PhD, about neurodivergent people’s experience of place and space within art museums. This keynote conversation was held at the Yale Center for British Art.