Thaís Alvarenga is a...
creative technologist
developer
XR-AI researcher

Lately, I've been working on...

Solace

A seated VR experience where users navigate a 360° desert following Rima, a girl navigating loneliness at different stages of her life. Built in Unity for Oculus Quest 2, it uses Western and Emirati poetic techniques to explore new expressive practices in VR. A paper about Solace will be presented at EAI ArtsIT 2024.

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iLLE

A VR therapy app that guides users through a third-person introspective exercise consisting of a catch-speak-release mechanic. This interaction fosters cognitive distancing to help users reframe their thoughts. iLLE was praised at the MIT Reality Hack 2024 for its unique approach to therapy and environment design.

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Road To Acceptance

A gamified VR experience guiding users through the five stages of grief. Players embody a bereaved character tasked with restoring a destroyed fantasy world as a metaphor for acceptance, utilizing VR perspective-taking to deepen understanding of grief’s non-linear path. Road to Acceptance was presented at the 2024 DiGRA Conference.

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Space Trail

Space Trail is a hybrid reality game designed for kids to enhance their spatial intelligence through play and art. Players control a physical rocket to create a trail that generates digital artwork. This activity challenges them to translate real-world physical movements into the 2D digital realm.

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